Being Mechanics in the garage —
To adventure motorbike tourism.

In Nepal, businesses are rarely just businesses — they are legacies. Skills are passed down through observation and repetition. We had no manuals. What begins as survival then becomes mastery. This is one of our stories.

In the late 1980s, in one of the popular lanes of Thamel, two cousins — Late Ram Krishna Maharjan and Tirtha Maharjan — opened a motorcycle repairing workshop. There was no signboard to announce their presence. No advertising. No brand identity. Just a small garage and dedicated hands to repair and maintain motorbikes.

At that time motorcycles arrived in worn and tired conditions from Nepal's unforgiving terrain. They were re-tuned, re-serviced for the road ahead — often running better than when they first arrived. Owners began to notice. Then they began to thank.

And in a time before algorithms and online reviews, reputation traveled the only way it mattered — owner to owner, rider to rider. Trust builds.

Honda. Yamaha. Kawasaki. Suzuki. These were the machines of the era — the popular Japanese bikes threading through Kathmandu's traffic. Ram Krishna and Tirtha mastered every one of them. They weren't just mechanics. They were craftsmen who happened to work with engines.

Long before adventure motorbiking became a business, it was a classroom. In the late 1980s, the next generation began to find their place in the workshop — through inherited skills, curiosity, observation, and time spent around the machines.

Babu Raja Dangol, the eldest nephew, was among the first. While still in school, he joined the workshop part-time in 1987, tuning the engines. What began as after-school work soon became a lifelong discipline.

Close behind him was Buddha Ratna Maharjan, the youngest son of Late Ram Krishna. As a schoolboy, he spent his holidays in the garage — watching, listening, and asking questions. Not casually, but with intent. There was already a sense that he wasn't just observing — he was training himself.

Both were guided directly by Late Ram Krishna, who transferred more than just technical skill. He passed down a way of working — honesty, with precision. There were no written manuals. No framed values on a wall. Only disciplines and returning customers.

By 1988, Buddha officially joined the workshop — working alongside his father, his uncle, and his cousin brother. What was once a small two-man garage became a ThrillOnMotorbike company of four. They rode their own motorcycles — Honda CG125 and Honda CD100 — machines they had earned through their own effort. They didn't just repair bikes; they lived them.

By 2013, the foundation was already strong. What it needed was a new direction. That shift came with Sujan Maharjan, the youngest of the cousins — son of Tirtha Maharjan. Unlike the generation before him, Sujan's experience wasn't built in a garage, but in the digital world. After spending several years at Vairab Interactive Pvt. Ltd. under the mentorship of Kumar Raja Maharjan, he returned to the family garage with a different vision. Not just passion — but perspective.

While working on a travel-related project, he began to notice a shift. Nepal had long been known for trekking and mountaineering — but quietly, a new kind of adventure tourism was emerging: adventure motorbike tours.

International motorcyclists were arriving with a different intent — to explore Nepal on two wheels. Some brought their own bikes. Many didn't. And what they found was a gap: limited access to well-maintained motorcycles, and even fewer operators who truly understood the demands of long-distance riding in Nepal's geography.

He studied the market, spoke with riders, analysed what existing operators were not catering — a segment of adventure motorbike touring. Then he reversed that study back to the workshop. And he made a case.

In 2015, that idea became reality. City Motorbike was officially registered as a motorbike rental and guided tour company under the Government of Nepal. What began as a small repair garage in Thamel evolved into something far more ambitious — a platform built not just to fix motorcycles, but to power journeys across the Himalayas.

Today, the legacy has moved into new hands. Late Ram Krishna Maharjan is no longer with us, and Tirtha Maharjan now runs his own independent workshop elsewhere in Kathmandu. But the journey continues — carried forward by the next generation: Babu Raja Dangol, Buddha Ratna Maharjan, and Sujan Maharjan.

What began in a popular garage has grown into something far greater. Today, riders from across the world — over 2,000 and counting — have trusted this team to take them through some of Nepal's most demanding and breathtaking routes: Upper Mustang, the Annapurna Circuit, Everest Base Camp, and the Kali Gandaki Gorge.

These are not easy geography. And that's exactly the point. Because behind every journey is a foundation built over decades — not just in guiding tours, but in understanding motorcycles at their core. Every tour engine is backed by masters who have spent a lifetime repairing, refining, and respecting the machines that carry you.

And at the heart of it all, nothing has changed. The same principles passed down in that small Thamel workshop still define every experience today: Be honest. Work hard. Go the extra mile. Not as a slogan — but as a standard every rider can feel on the road.

They are supported by a team of experienced guides — Hira Kaji Maharjan, Badri Bahadur Karki, Santosh Maharjan — and a dedicated mechanic who rides with every tour departure. Every person in the team carries the same founding instruction: honesty first, always the extra mile.

If you're travelling to Nepal on a motorcycle, or thinking about it — come and find them. Check the tour packages. Look at the dates. And don't forget to ask about the repair service too. It's still there. It's still the best in Thamel. Some things don't change.