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East India Express: UK-India bike record bid

LONDON, England - Rider Sushanth Shetty is aiming to set a record by riding his Suzuki Hayabusa from the UK to India in the fastest overland time.

He plans to start on October 25 2014, crossing the English Channel then riding through France and other European countries, heading into Turkey and Iran and either Pakistan or Dubai before reaching India.

Dubbed the East India Express, the journey is expected to take 15 days of riding if permission is granted to travel through Pakistan - a police escort would be required - or slightly longer if a deviation through Dubai is necessary, but Shetty is looking forward to the challenge.

STICKING TO SPEED LIMITS

Shetty, who has previous travel experience through Asia and Europe, said: "I'd always fancied riding a bike from the UK to India and came up with the plan in Bangkok while travelling through Asia.

“I've also done a bit of riding across Europe but I didn't think I was cut out for six months or so of riding and 'finding myself'; I wanted to do it as fast as possible. So I tried and thought about a few different bikes, but it had to be the Hayabusa.

“It should be a good journey and I'm looking forward to setting off. I'm looking forward to going to Sofia in Bulgaria, Ljubljana in Slovenia and Istanbul in Turkey. I'm also a bit apprehensive of Eastern Iran and Pakistan, but I'm also really looking forward to riding through Iran as a whole, and hoping I can do the whole thing to set the fastest overland journey time between the two countries, and that's sticking to speed limits."

Shetty already has his flight booked back to the UK for November 23 while the bike will remain in India for India Bike Week in February 2015 before being shipped back to the UK.

To follow Shetty's journey click here.

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