RIDE - LEH

The GT posing at ZOZILLA the best shot of the trip.

The Garud getting ready. New disc petals , Disc pads, cone set and tuning to perfection by our Mechanic ZIYA. he did a great job on the bike.

Planning for Bhutan was in full flow. I had dreams of riding solo to the country of happiness and mountains every night.
Adrenaline rush would pump in if I see any pictures of roads or mountains and I would always cast a longing eye towards the Hyderabad 555 kms post in Hebbal, Bangalore everyday.

After months of planning and thinking, I had decided Leh is calling after a critical calculation of money left with me and my commitments.

I pinged out for the cafe racer. He replied back hi , I replied back hi lets ride to Leh, he didn't pause a second and send let's ride let me confirm in two days.

25 days later after confirmation we hot into a proper  mindset along with building up body and stamina . We were given a send off from two of my biking gurus along with a RE500 and a KTM 390 .Mr.Ravi was my Biker skills teacher and Mr.Navneet was my Bike DIY teacher. we were there standing at our adda 30 kms away from Bangalore and looking at aeroplanes going about their jobs. Just 11months before we had started off to Nepal from this very point then we were unemployed PG students with backpacks and a Pulsar ns 200cc . Now we had saddle bags for Gods sake. The cherry on the cake was we had an additional 535cc's in the form of RE continental GT and we were riding to Heaven across India.

YES 100KMPH IS THE NORM.

CLOUDS FOLLOWED US BUT NOT MUCH OF AN ISSUE.

Poha - Power breakfast @5 rs plate.

 

STRAIGHTS!! 

The Road till Hyderabad was swell and straight. I knew this road and especially the first 300 kms I knew where the tea shops and petrol bunks were located.
By the time it was 8 next morning we had rode into Telangana with the NS taking on the lead simply because it had better visibility.
After we crossed Hyderabad and we knew that roads from here till adilabad were pure fun to ride we started riding and this time the GT took the lead. The GT with its new saddlebags looked like an imported bike or atleast that's what Kishor claimed.
The main reason I left him lead was the NS can catch up with GT with few high speed runs but GT can't catch up the NS.
The GT maintained a good high speed run anywhere between 100 to 110 and the NS silently followed it easily since the same vehicle had ripped these roads at 130's constant with a pillion before.
By the time we reached Nagpur and found our dhabha home it was 6PM.
15 hours and 1250 kms.
We said hi to the hotel owner who immediately asked about our family members. We asked him about his profits especially after the roads were better now and he showed off his newly acquired gold chain with a snigger.
We said hi to known waiters and one of the waiter came ahead and asked kya sir usual na dal roti aur chicken Briyani na.
We nodded saying a yes and at the same time amused by the waiter's memory.
Sitting outside on a thatched cot with roti ,dal and chicken rice ,we dined with trucks roaring ,stars glowing and the moon playing hide and seek and 735ccs for company.

PICNIC PITSTOP.

We woke up after power nap sessions and had tea with biscuits. Said bye to the dhabha goat who was a lamb a year ago.
Forgot his name but he was tied by ropes last time when we saw him ,now he had chains around his neck.
We paid the owner for food and wished him to build one more floor next year.
Under some fog we started riding towards Agra as next destination.
NS took on the lead and started cruising through fog with GT keeping a good follow through behind. After a few hundred kms it was time for jaywalkers,
Every km we encountered hooded people carrying mobile flashlight and labourers with 3M jackets. Many were attending to natures call and our speeds reduced . After the sunrise the GT took on the lead and now it was faster. GT had finally come to the party by becoming more refined . I was able to see Kishor all smiles even with his helmet on:-p
We had some great stretches where visibility was till 2 kms and thats when GT started showing its colour and the bike started to move strongly on the tarmac . Kishor touched 140 before I cut him off at 150 and asked him to slow down . NS guys know its capable of more after all it is one of the best engines to come out of the Bajaj stable.

We stopped at night for dinner and I had no idea where we were . I said I am off to sleep and slept off with Kishor sitting guard . After 3 hours of power nap I woke up and came to know Kishor had a lovely time with the hotel owner . The owner wanted  to show off his Whatsapp skills and Kishor became the target. Kishor's phone was filled with God pictures and messages while he hadn't downloaded the videos yet.

KISHOR TAKING A POWER NAP.

We were near Yamuna express way in morning and it was Kishor's power nap time. He had a good sleep while I explored all the facilities of the pitstop in Yamuna expressway. It was around 6am Kishor got up and 100km/h speeds were the norm. We zipped across Delhi thanks to GPS and witnessed the more silent traffic than namma Bengaluru. People didn't honk that much. We reached Chandigarh in evening and roamed sector after sector searching for room. We had no complaints after all it was Chandigarh the land where cycle rickshaws were the humble abode of lovely women. GT grabbed many eyeballs while the NS slyly followed with eyes full open.
We found rooms in the 42 nd sector and freshened up. Kishor searched bookmyshow and even without asking he had booked us for Bahubali Telugu version.( we had been receiving rave reviews from our Telugu pals.)
We rode fast to mall and jumped into our comfy seats, hands filled with theatre food and chilled cola.
The movie started with not a filled up theatre but it was a good crowd for a Telugu movie in chandigarh.

BAHUBALI - TAMMANA IS ALL I REMEMBER.

Tammanah looked gorgeous and with that I slept off only to be woken up by Kishor after the movie ended.
I thought Kishor would have a word or two with me but he kept quite later I came to know he missed the last one hour of the movie :-p
We had our dinner and retired to the bed with the tv playing some Hindi movie and woke up to devotional chants early morning.
Started off from Chandigarh and rode to manali through some of the most beautiful roads. Entering manali we found some Swiss tents and went to check rates . We got the place at 500 R's and willingly jumped into the bed.

SWISS TENTS @ RS.500

THE BEAS NEXT TO US.

We purchased boots and jerry cans along with some other things. Got our Bikes educated with PUC where they didn't even write the exam but passed.
We crossed Rohtang Pass the next day afternoon after browsing through the streets of manali and getting to know the place.

We had actually rode in hills before and not in the mountains and cafe racer was very eager while NS was not yet sure about the terrain and was getting used to it. But by the end of the day after we lodged ourselves into a room in Jispa both the Bikes were on the same page of comfort level.
I was getting many errands done by the usually lazy cafe racer all because I still had network on my phone and he had calls to make. 

HAPPINESS.

The next morning we started off and encountered our first nalla and I went ahead and NS - I guess wanted to show off its underbelly silencer and it switched off right in the centre of the nalla.
I had to hold my nerve with water gushing over my seat and with the saddle bags on i was slowly getting pushed. I cranked up the engine and the NS kind of swam out of it. I stopped my bike and saw the GT taking on the nalla as if it was a pothole in Bangalore city.
The next two days proved to be a heavenly ride across mountains , streams and the ever changing landscape. I just knew the main points and didn't know what to expect next and every minute of the ride was full of surprises. We had covered around 1500 kms in a day down south but we were covering 150 kms in a day here and we weren't complaining.
We sat in places we wanted to, talked gibberish , discussed work , family issues and surprisingly the conversations ended fast with solutions.
The Moore plains especially left us both dumbfounded. We met cyclists and were awed at their courage and determination, varied messages for them to Leh. Rode with many a bikers and happily saluting to every biker who is crossing us. We met people and heard stories, listened to advice's and testimonials on life.
We admired the small flowers, respected the huge mountains and never knew when we reached Leh it was truly a vagabonding slow ride.
Leh was filled motorcycles and best part was the acknowledgement that the Bikers shared with each other throughout the Leh sector.

To be continued..

Sweet Simple Scooty

The TVS Scooty evokes a lot of emotions whoever it maybe, the ladies adore that cute vehicle for its ease of use, the college going girls consider it as thier BFF after all it is the key to freedom for many after being chaperoned by thier brothers and father for years,  but the guys have a love hate relationship for the pocket rocket and Iam one of them because I can sing the song I Hate you like I love you for the scooty anytime.

It was a vehicle for many of us the after the bicycle, even though it left us without pocket money since we used to fill fuel for 10 rupees at times and take it for a spin.
The scooty is a lovely commuter, the curves along with that extra steel guardings make it look oddly cute. The headlight gave it a look of a teen girl in her first day to college, all excited and nervous at the same time.
The underwear storage was just about enough to carry things and beer bottles 
The initial thrust, even if it lasted for a second is fun and the top speed being a very hard to achieve 65km/h was good, considering the small engine.
The pink scooty was an eye sore when you see uncles and guys riding it; but a real heart throb when you spot a girl scooting away in the streets with the duppatta flying behind, which gives you an opening line "hello dupatta dupatta" :-p
The fluttering stole not only fluttered around but stole our hearts everytime we see it.
Just when we thought the scooty was done and dusted, TVS came back with 99 colours as options now the streets were filled with colours, which if rode by women was a beauty to behold and if rode by guys it was totally absurd.

The scooty was later replaced by the Activa and Access but the love for scooty will remain forever, for any guy who got the hand me down scooty from Moms and sisters which made the vehicle more special :-).

Scooty a small, sweet and super scooter forever :-)

Royal Enfield REALLY ???

• The one brand of motorcycle which is a legend by maintaining the same authentic design and building motorcycles with love. 
• The design cues of the motorcycle are brilliant getting admiring looks wherever it goes and the sound is a music to ears. (Many make noise nowadays that  kill many dogs with the after market megaphone exhaust etc).
• The One Ride is one of a kind among many events that the company does providing a platform for RE Owners to mingle and discuss (I have been to One ride once and that was the only time forever ).
• Royal Enfield is a motorcycling company which is considered by many as the ultimate symbol of macho, manly, royality, prosperity, adversity, diversity from other machines, stud bike, gethu, gichhu, massu basically every good word in the dictionary that is synonymous with man and great.

But apart from the above things there is one thing that pisses many non RE owners .The Royal Enfield Riders who claim "RE is for MEN and other bikes are toys of boys".

Just because a motorcycle has the old world charm , along with a thump effect (Yes its a good feeling where in the balls vibrate - Eyeballs) and built sturdily(which loosens up later) doesn't automatically mean its a Man Machine.

The Why never a Royal Enfield is discussed by many one such is below-

Yogesh Sarkar - Why I would never buy a Royal Enfield?

I have rode the RE and it feels good .

But no I am not here to discuss the flaws or greatness of the Royal Enfield, I am here to put across a point to a large number of RE owners, just because its old and legendary doesn't make it a "Mean Man Machine".
To bring things into perspective, the atlas cycle below is like the Royal Enfield sharing many a characteristics alike but that doesn't mean all the new geared cycles with steel frames and aluminium rims are for boys

I don't hate royal enfield (I loathe the RE Riders with "RE is best and rest is shit attitude") just like I have no hatred for the age old atlas cycle, on which I have monkey pedaled to glory many a times, but I would never say the cycle is the man cycle and same goes for the RE.

The youngsters out there who are awe inspired by the RE and go happily to book the motorcycle with the whole family remember this - "Its a good two wheeler, so is the TVS 50 and many other machines across the world".
There are so many amazing riders out there who are exploring the country right,left and center on their RE and I have immense respect for them.
I guess the memes and puns are generated by the guys who hashtag #roadtrip and ride to Nandhi hills while gorging on Paranthas from Indian Parata Company.

Its not about what you ride, Its not about what kind of rider you are, Its all about the amount of respect you give to other motorcycles. Stop Comparing - Start Riding. Peace.

#Bikerism

Image Sources
Facebook
Bikepanthi.

Link source

Www.yogeshsarkar.com

Helmet or Hair ?

All the tinsel towns spread across the country showcase that hero on his motorcycle with wavy hair and riding his motorcycle along with a cool BGM. What they don't show is when the hero falls and his head gets a bang then there will be no more BGM but just a long silence.

Indians are known for not following safety precautions (all kinds) and the reasons they give for not wearing a helmet are as weird as it can get. One of my pal said he couldn't speak to his girlfriend if he wore a helmet and that moment I wanted to bang that guy's head with my helmet.

I have got two challans/Fines for not wearing helmet
11.45 - Yelahanka - Riding without helmet
11.55 - Yelahanka - Riding without helmet.
I had gone to buy groceries in a local store on other side of the highway and the good traffic cop of my area made sure I was noted both the times.

So from that day on wards I started wearing helmet, even when my brother would shout out loud from behind "to buy milk he wears a helmet" followed by a rolling laughter which would subside when my mom smacked his head for laughing.

I recently got involved in a Whatsapp group battle on pillion helmet rule implemented in Bangalore and reasons like its very uncomfortable to carry an extra helmet , it ruins my hair and also my pillions hair, what if you meet a friend unexpectedly, its all government scam and police just need another reason to loot you were raised.

While some coolly said I travel by office cab so "I don't bother!" about the discussion, hearing which I nearly burst a vein.
What people need to understand is your head is how you perceive the world to be and if you bang that head somewhere then there is no perception left, you become a vegetable on a table.

So whatever your perception may be on helmet rule, just perceive that to keep on perceiving you need a head. Wear a Helmet for a long Perceptive Life :-)

P.s - If you still want to protest read how this protest ended.

Buying Two Wheeler ?

In India one doesn't simply buy a motorcycle. You buy a motorcycle with your friends and family.

The biggest dilemma for a person in India is not which political party you vote for but which motorcycle you buy.

We at first have our personal opinions, followed by our mom's opinion which in tow will have the economical opinion from dad, the style opinions will flow in from friends while the performance opinions will make you mad by various websites.
For some lucky (or unlucky) their GF/BF will have a say and for some, the highest authority thier wife will crib about your choice.

Buying a motorcycle in India has never been so confusing I literally made a handwritten three page document to zero in on my first bike - Pulsar 135, while my dad had two options in his time Rajdoot or Yamaha and he ended up buying a cycle because my grandfather said save money.
While in later part of his days I saw my dad pitching for a Star city or a Hero Honda Splendour but he ended up with a Scooty pep plus because Mom wanted to ride too. When Dad protested he faced logical explanations of the scooty being a perfect vehicle for shopping, hauling kids to various activities and future use for both of the kids.
My dad gave way and bought a Red scooty which was never rode by my mom nor was it used to haul us. It was later ripped around my streets by me without license and at times 4 guys used to be my pillion :-)

In the end buying a motorcycle is a tedious task it is equal to that of a Christian girl choosing the dress for her walk down the aisle.
So be like the Christian girl go for test rides, see all the colours, get the quote of budget from dad, ask your mom's opinion, consult your friends style advice ,but choose a vehicle that is comfortable for you and makes you happy, because at the end of the day you are the one who is gonna ride it.