So, its been a couple of weeks since we've been back home to the UK...I am so glad I went on this trip. I am very fortunate to have been able to afford to go on this trip, very fortunate to have a wife who understands me and my need for freedom and adventure. I know it wasn't easy for her stuck at home alone for a month. Very fortunate to have had a travel buddy like Ron P. He came to India with an open mind, never once complained (except for when idiots behind the wheels of oncoming traffic insisted on blinding us with their high beams and bus drivers deafened us as they blasted their hooters at nothing through the night), tried everything at least once (I think he would've drawn the line at Morris dancing) and made me laugh a lot with his jokes. He even almost perfected his "Indian head wobble"! He accepted that hotels were not hotels in India and that they were actually restaurants or cafes and that "lodges" were actually hotels. He discovered that you can haggle the price of anything in India including the cost of a hotel, sorry lodge, room.
Since I was last in India 6 years ago, a lot has changed - some for the worse but a lot for the better. Pollution, rubbish everywhere, madness of traffic have all got worse. However, the quality of many major roads has improved hugely, you don't see as many people smoking in public as you once used to, there are pay and use toilets in many places (I cannot comment on their quality however as I never saw the inside of one), there are far fewer mangy stray dogs. Far fewer. You can get bottled water almost anywhere. I could go on and on.
The wanting-to-help trait of people in India can be both a blessing and a curse. Take that time when we asked for directions in Kerala - this guy told us what he thought we wanted to hear and sent us further in the direction we were going. It turned out to be completely the opposite of where we wanted to be! Instead of saying they don't know people tell you you are going the right way even if you may not be. Moral of story - don't ask if this is the way to X, instead ask which way is it to X.
On the other hand, take the guys who went out of their way to help us find a room for the night - they didn't need to do that. They could've just told us where the lodge was, instead they rode with us and made sure we were settled before leaving.
Turns out it is possible to camp in India. Yes, there are no camp sites as such but there are plenty of places you can camp but accommodation is so cheap you might not want to. £4 a night for two people gets you a grotty place with a couple of mattresses on the floor with dubious stains on them but if you spend around £10 you can get a half decent place. Remember hotels are not hotels.
What I loved about our trip was that we didn't have a plan or an itinerary or any bookings other than our flight back to UK. Therefore we could go where we fancied unlike "organised" trips. We were under no pressure to make it to a particular destination because our room was booked or a meal was waiting for us. We just rode and stopped as we pleased. If we were running out of daylight we would look for somewhere to camp or stay the night. Simples.
In comparison to Ron P's kit I felt that I took too much stuff but I had cut it down as much as possible. See kit list if you are really interested. I used most of it too except for the first aid kit which is a good thing.
Would I do it again? Yes definitely but maybe not for so long. Two weeks riding in the Himalayas appeals to me. Kishtwar to Kailash, Manali to Leh, Ladakh etc. Watch this space.

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Stats and costs:

Overall cost of trip inc. flights, transfers, accommodation, food, drinks, entrance fees, 1 month rental of bike, petrol - everything really - was no more than £1200
We covered 2511 kms (1569 miles) in 3.5 weeks, had 1 mechanical issue - broken throttle cable which cost £1.40 to fix inc. labour.
We camped 3 times. Average meal cost between 60p and £1.
We visited 4 states and had to deal with 5 different languages.