ken cool

The First Ever RIDE SAFE Newbie Induction Ride

INTRODUCTION

xBhp recently conducted the first ride of its kind to introduce newbie/rookie riders into touring with the criteria of Safe Riding as the essential element and the liet motif of the entire exercise. This exercise was conducted on November 29th and November 30th, 2009, during which a number of aspects of Motorcycling were studied, experimented and put into practice, namely, night riding, city riding, highway riding for long hours, riding in the cold, hill riding for long hours and even off-road practice on established Rally stages! And in all of this, the underlying motif was to Ride Safe with proper riding gear. The whole idea was conceived and executed by Aryan, Bobby ROY CHOUDHURY and Ken, Krishnendu KES.

The selection process among new riders was a difficult and meticulous one since there were quite a few candidates. The process even included two test rides, also encompassing various aspects of motorcycling, finding your rendezvous point, being punctual, mental and bike preparedness, coordination between team members.

The team members who were finally selected and who went for the tour are as follows in alphabetical order according to their ids:

PetrO:
Gulshan NANDWANI

DOB: 29th Dec. 1987
Background: He is persuing a diploma course in Animaton;
He is driving his bike from last 4 years & done more than 60000 kms just as a commuter;
He has had done only 1 trip which is the Induction Ride in xBhp with the experienced tourers which was to the hills.


Psycho_mcCrazy:
Saurabh Agarwal




DOB: 26th February, 1984
Background:
Currently, working as an assistant manager in Maruti Suzuki India Limited, in the Engineering Research and Development Division, working six days a week with long hours, and with whatever time he gets free, he is a biker....

Over the last six and a half years of owning his bike, he has done about 25000 kms, mostly commuting, and in the plains.

Had taken that one trip with Desideep to Agra in Jan. 2008, one day, 509 kilometers. And then there was this one to the hills, for the first time.

Apart from that, he considers himself to be a very lazy person, a Mechanical Engineer and a Heavy Duty Geek. More interested in automobiles, computer hardware and cameras than is perhaps healthy. Also interested in photography, though honestly speaking, do not get enough time to actually go out and shoot some to hone his skills


Sikhbiker:
Jasmeet Singh Chopra




DOB: November 27th, 1987.
Background: Working as an analyst with HCL Technologies. He has been riding scooters and bikes since a long time. Total kilometres done would be close to 50000. He has done several short tours in the plains and as a pillion. He considers himself a simple religious guy who loves biking.

theChamp:
Abhishek TRIPATHI





DOB: November 12th, 1986,
Working as Software Engineer with TCS, biggest IT company in Asia. He has been biking for 6months and just 8000 kilometres. First bike bought, HH Glamour in May 2009, sold it in September and bought a Pulsar 180 in September.
Number of trips: 2;
Delhi – Moradabad. 350 kms, one day.
Delhi – Shimla – Delhi: 850 kms, 2 days.

Zayn:
Wasey Khan



DOB: 22 sept 1989
Short background:

1> He is doing Engineering in Mechanical Automation

2> He has done 20000km on his personal bike and around 10000km on his dad's and his friend’s bike.

3>He has done 3 trips
Noida to Nainital,(Total 700 km above)
Noida to Lansdowne,(Total 550 km)
Noida to Shimla.(Total 950km) this one with the Induction Ride.

4>Many Trips planned up for next year like
Noida Binsar Munsiyari Kausani, Noida. in feb with Manan bhai and 2 more not been decided yet.

Here I would also like to add that Sava had also qualified for this particular ride but did not participate due to personal reasons.

I must appreciate the enthusiasm of the concerned chosen riders who teamed up, organized and planned quite a few aspects of the ride on their own. Aryan and I had informed them that we would be around just to supervise and check and consult and correct. They were told to go about things in the fashion that they though fit. I was looking after bookings and logistics as well. But Aryan and I let the riding up to these guys. And what a ride they showed us. Their discipline and safety in night riding and highway riding was exemplary.

A self evaluation programme was also briefed to them with various aspects to Safe Riding, riding skills before and after the ride. The concerned candidates will be presenting their experiences and their self evaluation notes.

More to come.

Post Ride Meet:





The stories of the participants can be read here:

Psycho
http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/341081-post27.html

Zayn
http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/341009-post23.html

the Champ
http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/340948-post18.html

Jasmeet
http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/341224-post37.html

__________________
The Wheel was a great invention; Two Wheels with a Motor in between was even better!


My Humble Photo Gallery

Xbhp's Indo-French Kashmir-Ladakh Tour

Sunny

Excellent stuff! I would love to see their pictures with their certificates as well.

__________________

ken cool

Thanks.

Will be done. Pictures of the ride which I do not have and a short video of their interview (which I do not have either) is being prepared.

__________________
The Wheel was a great invention; Two Wheels with a Motor in between was even better!


My Humble Photo Gallery

Xbhp's Indo-French Kashmir-Ladakh Tour

ankitmohan

waiting for the pics. eagerly., wanted to meet you all but was not in town on those dates...

__________________

darkknight

Ken:why only five people??
are the reason as under
1)logistics & accomodation
2)easier to handle/impart knowledge
3)only these were available

as I understand a similar initiative at respective xbhp chapters (mumbai,pune,banglore etc ) wherever mods are present physically should be arranged.

there are atleast one or two newbies joinng almost every one of our regular trips

__________________

Shivanshu

Amazing Ken Da, bring them on... eagerly waiting for the whole trip log

__________________

Save the Earth - We are the one who are running out of time, as Earth will take it own time to heal but that time may not be enough for us.

http://www.ridesafewith.me
I dont just ride my bikes, I live with them.
Yamaha RX100 (1987)
Yamaha YZF R15 (2010)

Aryan

I have always wanted to do something for those riders who were not 'tourers', so to speak. Suddenly, one day, this idea clicked that why don't we, at xBhp, do something whereby the newbies get an opportunity to ride somewhere - and what better than the hills! Plans were chalked out, riders were asked to apply for the same and ultimately, after heavy scrutiny five (5) newbie riders were selected for this ride, namely:
1. PetrO
2. Zayn
3. thechamp
4. Sikhbiker
5. Psycho Mc.Crazy

The newbie group of riders:

(From L to R: Zayn, Sikhbiker, thechamp, PetrO, Psycho Mc.Crazy)

A couple of pre-ride meets were arranged whereby we had disucssions regarding the ride, and different aspects of a long ride. Everyone was very excited about this, since it was their first time riding so long and overnight, at that! All things planned, machines serviced, plans decided, the group (in-total seven of us) headed towards the destination - Shimla. While the guys were riding, we (me and Ken da) were reviewing their each and every move minutely and wherever/ whenever they did some mistake(s), we tried and corrected them in whatever way we possibly could. Overall, I would say these guys rode wonderfully well, provided they were riding on the highways and the hills for the FIRST time. I would even go on to say they rode BETTER than a few of us who like to call themselves 'seasoned tourers'.

Anyhow, there is nothing much to share about the journey as such. More or less, it was 'boring', as in there is no specific incident worth sharing. Don't take the term 'boring' in literal sense here. I was ENJOYING my ride like I have never enjoyed it before; I was enjoying NH-1 and later NH-22 like I have never-ever enjoyed it before, and ofcourse I was absolutely enjoying every ounce of attention that I (or rather the Superbike) was getting - right from a Skoda Superb all the way from an Audi Q7!

However, in the context of 'boring', I like such "boring" rides as compared to "eventful" ones. I dislike having any "event" while on the move, while on the highway, riding, if you know what I mean. Once we hit the hills at Panchkula, the group was stopped, we re-grouped and we discussed for a little while the strategy that each one needed to follow in the hills. Riding on the curvy roads require a different attitude altogether than riding on straight highways. Even here, they showed that they might be newbies as far as their riding experience is concerned, but they are mature enough to understand the risks involved while riding/ driving on the road.

Taking a few breaks en-route, soaking in the wonderful, chilly atmosphere, we all reached Shimla late afternoon, post which the group went walking to the usual spot in Shimla - 'Mall Road', where we had our lunch, soaked in the beauties (both the views and the damsels!). Before we could realize, it was already dusk! We all sat there and reviewed our ride so far - what we did right, what we did wrong, what could've been better, what we could do tomorrow while riding back, and the likes. The newbies also poured in their suggestions and experiences which helped a lot. It was really heartening to see them speak their minds out about every aspect of the ride they just had.

Tired and hungry, we had our dinner at this wonderful Tibetan restaurant before going back to our hotel rooms, whereby we had a few rounds of 'quiz', after which we all crashed onto our cozy beds. The next morning they were to get a few surprises. One more thing which I would like to mention here is, every guy who went for this ride didn't complain at all when we asked them to wake up early morning because we had "something extra to do" before we left back for Delhi. Punctuality is something that I value a lot, and it was lovely to see the lads up and running at the scheduled time! It takes a lot of headache off of you when everything goes according to time.

Next, we took them to some off-roading trails, somewhere around Fagu, Ken da took all of us through this small diversion which led to an off-road trail, which finally led to Mashobra. It was 18.5kms. of off-road (with some patches of tarmac in between), where each one of us (including me!) got their share of off-road fun. Ofcourse, the R1 was not ridden on those tarmac for obvious reasons, but the off-roading session had it's own experience. Off-roading done, we all went back to the HPTDC Hotel, picked up the R1and left for Delhi at about 12 in the afternoon, following which we reached home between 9:30pm and 10:30pm, each.

I am keeping this triplog short and precise, and not much "interesting" because I want the newbies to pour in their experiences of this ride. I am sure, each one of them MUST have something worth sharing. First long ride is always special...

A few pictures, from my end:

Old World


Old House lying in ruins


The town of Shimla


The Christ Church, Shimla


Dusk


Eerily Beautiful


Framed!


Vantage Point - the Mall Road, as seen from a high point


Christ Church, at dusk!


In shades of black & white


Colors of Nature


Early morning sun-rays filter through lush green trees. (This is the road to Fagu)


Shady!


Fagu Village




The off-roading trails...


Blue!


Bloody Poser! (Photograph: Ken da)


I and the Yamaha YZF-R1, completed 770 kms. (Delhi - Shimla - Delhi) (Photograph: Ken da)


Finally, with their certificates, the newbies and the mods (PetrO is missing in the following picture):

__________________
...in search of that perfect world - My Travel Blog

kirosh_03

Congratulations to all the first time tourers. Congrats to Ken and Aryan for making this happen. I am sure there is going to be more tours like this coming up.

Ride safe!

P.S.: Apart from Ken and Aryan, I would appreciate if the first-time-tourers too share their experiences here. This would be of great help (a source of inspiration) for many aspiring tourers.

__________________
All men dream, but not equally. Those that dream at night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act upon their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. - T. E. Lawrence

Kriss and ELD, you guys will always be remembered.

ken cool

Try some other time. Haven't met in a long time.

There were not too many candidates. And if you have read, there were selection criteria. Logistics is also an issue. And so on...

We will definitely look into this.

Let others bring it on as well.

__________________
The Wheel was a great invention; Two Wheels with a Motor in between was even better!


My Humble Photo Gallery

Xbhp's Indo-French Kashmir-Ladakh Tour

kurtrules

And I reiterate Ken : "Superbly articulated"

Good to hear that the riders rode wonderfully well! What better place to start off with then Shimla.

Apart from the Newbies, you guys too must have enjoyed the newly laid tarmac Parwanoo onwards!