Hi David,
So I *think* you would be fine importing your 90 for tourist use, see the link below, rule 71 (interestingly Nepal has many of their laws online). Be sure to do your research, this is an area that I don't know much about since I am a resident here. I would probably get in touch with the Nepali embassy in the UK and see if they can help you out with the laws. Also I can get you in touch with a guide we use who, for a fee, could probably help navigate the complexities of Nepali law here.
http://customs.gov.np/faq/opri.php
B.S Enterprises is who I have used, the owner is Pravin Bir Singh Kansakar:
These are his landlines: 4230528, 4224099. His email is
[email protected].
He speaks very good English and runs a nice parts shop that is professional, organized and if he doesn't have the part, he will call around and find it for you, which in KTM is invaluable. There's no such thing as going on the internet and finding something, or even a phone book, it's all just asking people.
My Td5 was bought here and has required a lot of work to restore it to a more drivable, road worthy condition. It was "maintained" by a local firm that I would only recommend using out of desperation. I'll give you more details by PM, but I had them do a variety of things when I first bought my 110 and it was comical how bad the work was. (The best was trying to fix a leaking heater core by covering the plastic box it is housed in with putty. And stripping the oil drain plug made for several fun evenings.)
Make sure all your steering and suspension balljoints are in good shape. (When you see the narrow roads and the cliffs that you are often only feet from with no guard rails, you'll understand what I mean!) Same with brakes. Pads and rotors should be in good shape and have plenty of life on them. Wheel bearings, u-joints, etc. should all be checked out. Suspension will take a beating here. I don't recommend lifts or anything special either, just make sure your shocks are in good shape, tires have plenty of tread, etc. For your engine spares will be more readily available too.
Definitely bring extra air filters, as the roads can be very, very dusty depending on the season and where you are. If you don't have A/C, a interior fan can be nice since you may often be stuck behind poorly maintained diesel trucks belching out black smoke.
Another thing, I've never seen a tow truck here, at least in the traditional sense. Most cars/trucks are fixed on the side of the road no matter how major a repair, so having spares with you is rather important to get you to somewhere where a more proper fix can be done.
As for mods, I put in a set of 55w/100w Hella bulbs in some cleaned up stock light units and a ARB relay loom to handle the extra wattage. That made an amazing difference. I also have a set of Hella 55w fogs on the front, which I actually use a lot to illuminate the sides of the road, as there is a lot of people, bicycles, goats, children, rickshaws, broken down cars/trucks/motorcycles etc. to navigate through. I also added a set of KC rectangular backup lights to my Brownchurch rack. Those are wonderful, and they both light up the world behind you as well as warn people you are backing up. Often people will be so close to you that you can't see their headlights, or they aren't working, etc. I do have a full rack and an aluminum box on top that carries spares, a medical kit, tools, etc. I'm also adding a hi-lift jack to my kit. There are deep gutters in the sides of the roads in the hills/mountains here and if you fall into one, which is easy to do, it can be a big problem. I have done other things like an EGR delete and use a computer (nano com), but those won't apply to you. One or two jerry cans are helpful, as diesel can be difficult to get sometimes due to a poor system of state-run imports.
That's all I can think of now!
John
