DO NOT BUY A BIKE FROM MADAAN MOTORS!
If you are considering buying a motorcycle from Madaan Motors in New Delhi, or organizing a tour through them, let me warn you against doing so. I have learned from personal experience that Arun Kumar, the proprietor of Madaan Motors, is a complete crook, and will rip you off if he has the chance.
My Experience
In 2004, I made a six month trip through India on a Royal Enfield motorcycle. At the end of the trip, I decided I wanted to ship the bike home. Unfortunately, it is hard to get a new bike into America, so I decided to trade the bike for an older Enfield, to which the usual import restrictions do not apply. So, I went to Madaan Motors in the Karol Bagh district of New Delhi and traded my bike for a vintage 1967 Royal Enfield (I had to pitch in another thousand dollars), which was to be shipped to me within 3-4 months. At the time, I really liked Arun Kumar, and felt that I could trust him to honor the deal we had made. The next day, I left for America.
After several months had elapsed, I called Arun to ask why the bike had not arrived. He assured me it would be arriving in a few weeks, and I was satisfied. When, two months later, the bike had still not arrived, I once again contacted Arun. He explained that there had been problems with the shipment, but that the bike would be arriving soon. Once again, the bike did not arrive.
Finally, after a year and a half of this dance, I threatened to contact the authorities. Arun then sent me an email vilifying the honesty of Americans, and said that because he was Indian and believed in karma, that I would be receiving the bike soon. Despite his angry protestations, however, I still did not receive the bike.
Having tried to resolve this dispute myself, I finally contacted an Indian friend in New Delhi and asked him to try to sort this out for me. At first, when he contacted Arun, Arun tried to put him off. Finally, my friend went to Arun's shop and asked him directly for the shipping information. Arun was immesnely apologetic and said he would fax it to him the next day. When my friend called back the next day, Arun wasn't there. Needless to say, Arun has still not faxed the information. So, after almost two years, I am still waiting for the bike.
Update (December 2006)
Since I created this website, there have been further developments in the Madaan Motors saga. After viewing my website and apparently taking exception to it, Arun offered to return my money to me in return for my taking down this website (belieing his claim that he had sent the bike). I agreed to these terms and Arun promised to send me the money. After Arun claimed to have transferred the money to me, I went to my bank and discovered that the money had not in fact arrived. For two weeks Arun continued to insist that he had in fact transferred the money to me. Finally, when I asked Arun for the tracking information for the money transfer, he fell silent. He has not responded to any of my emails ever since.
Do not trust this man! He has somehow managed to prove even more dishonest that I had originally believed.
DO NOT BUY A BIKE FROM THIS MAN!
Two and a half years after purchasing a motorcycle from Madaan Motors, I have finally received a full refund of my money.
After the last update in December, in which I had once again been deceived, I contacted a friend of a friend in New Delhi who, having first-hand experience of of Arun's dishonesty, offered to do whatever he could to help me retrieve my money. In early January, my friend agreed to initiate a lawsuit again Arun in the Delhi courts. After I notified Arun that we would soon be filing a lawsuit, and told him who was working on my behalf, he suddenly became much more responsive. In short order, he agreed to repay me my money, and began working out the details of the refund.
It still took another fours months to get the full amount, but in late April I did indeed receive the final installment of the $2000 Madaan Motors owed me.
So there it is. I'm sure I squandered thousands of dollars in wasted time trying to get my money back from Madaan Motors, but I'm glad I did it, because it is Arun's belief that no one will ever go to this trouble that encourages him to keep ripping people off. Hopefully he will be somewhat chastened by this experience and reconsider the things he has been doing to people for many years. But I doubt it. The man is rotten through and through and, like all scoundrels, regrets not what he did but only that he got caught. For this reason, I will be leaving the website up as a permanent warning to stay away from this man.
Others’ Experiences
Unfortunately, it seems my experience is not an isolated incident. Having spent some time searching the internet and doing Google searches, I have found several other stories similar to mine, as well as testimonials to Arun’s dishonesty. It seems one of his tricks is to sell you one bike in New Delhi and then ship you a totally different and vastly inferior bike. That’s if he ships you the bike at all.
Conclusions
Basically, it comes down to this. Arun sells very nice vintage Enfields, and knows how to arrange all the paperwork and get the bike shipped to you. If you meet him in person, he also comes across as a nice guy who you can trust. However, he is nothing but a thief and will rip you off to the extent that he can get away with it. If you were to buy a bike from him directly in New Delhi and were able to supervise its construction, then you might get the bike you wanted. If you purchase a bike from him from outside of India, however, or if you buy the bike in India and pay him to ship it to you, then you are in trouble. Arun is an opportunistic thief. Consequently, if you’re out of the country and have already paid him for the bike, then he’s going to take advantage of you. He will either not send you the bike at all, or if you’re persistent he’ll send you a piece of shit bike. He knows there’s almost nothing you can do once you leave India.
You’re much better off going to Inder Motors, which is just around the corner from Madaan Motors and is run by a guy called Lalli Singh, who is a famous and tremendous fellow.
Contact me
My name is David and I am an American living in New York City. If you have any questions about my experience, please feel free to contact me at arunisathief@gmail.com. Also, please contact me if you have had a similar experience with Madaan Motors. I might post your story on this website. It seems there are a lot of you out there.
Links
Here are a couple other links.
Indiamike is a forum for getting information about traveling in India.
Fugacious is a collection of stories and observations about traveling in India and other places.
BulletWallas is a motorcycle club in India; talk to Balu, he knows the scene.
The Footprint travel guide recommends against going to Madaan Motors.
MotoSites is a good website for finding lots of information about motorcycles.
Nabble has this interesting exchange on its message board concerning Madaan Motors.
More good advice from Nabble. And more.
(Looks like this website is catching on: check it out.)
Yet another happy customer!