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Monsoon Ride Report
Monsoon Is Here & In Style...
If I have to categorize riding a bike season wise then Monsoon season will become my favorite riding season followed by Winter and then Summer. Monsoon and Big Bike often don't go hand in hand & we rarely get a sight of big bikes during this season but that's all changing, the change is slow but very much visible. This would be my first time in wet surface handling a 210+ kg machine which produces over 72PS of power. This experience better be good to change my perception of riding her out more often than usual. She is not meant only for dry conditions, She can do it equally good in wet I say to myself.
It all began one fine evening as I had turned the bike to a location for which I don't know any where about and we ended up being in a unknown place.
The weather became windy, lightning showed its presence with dark clouds in background and entire aura became very different to what I have seen in past few months. Parked the bike and it was time to click.
First Rain Drops on Midori
Monsoon caught me off guard and I was completely unprepared for the rains. No Duck-back, No clear shield and I was in for difficult 80 kms ride back home at night. Rode at decent speed (50-70 kph) with rain pouring continuously. As I found, the bike does perform well in monsoon too. It is as good as riding any other Indian bike in monsoon such is the comfort level. The Hazard lights came in very handy during those heavy showers for increasing my visibility for others riding / driving. Thankfully I have upgraded to Steel Braided Hel Performance Brake lines which gave me confidence whenever I braked, they worked like a gem. Dunlop Road Smart tires on N650 also held up exceptionally well on the wet roads & there was no wheel spin, fish tail moment. Transition from stock bulbs to Extreme Vision finally proved its worth as I had no issues what so ever when it came to visibility on road. All that was needed from my side was cautious riding to get her home safely.
Second time in Rains:
Date: 8 & 9th Jun
Destination: Thane - Hard Rock Cafe, Pune - Lonavla - Thane
Distance Covered: 350 kms
Route: NH4
It's getting dark...Beware of Ninja's
2 Birthday's and 1 Wedding Anniversary combo party invitation had come from a fellow biking group. Party hosted at Hard Rock Cafe in Pune gave me yet another opportunity to ride Midori in rains. This time I was prepared with clear shield and rain wear in case it rained. It drizzled while going to Pune so not much to say about while going to Pune. However in the return leg, it was heavy rains all the way from Pune till we reached home. The ride left me speechless, the ride made me feel I dont want to go home early and wished to ride more in rains. We (Sunil & Myself) decided to skip the express way usual road and took the winding road which enters in Khopoli. It was greenery everywhere and we found a different route with a board saying, "Dasturi" Never had I ever rode on that road so we look at each other and say let's see what's there. It was 20 kms of heavenly roads with zero traffic on road and off road. It will look like a haunted road at night, we turned right, we took random roads up hill, we crossed a forest and finally reached a dead end. From the dead end as we took the left turn, viola we find ourselves back to the place where we started. All we could do is look at each other and laugh. WTF!
Fuel Stop at Lonavala
Unknown route post Dasturi
The road less travelled always has its own charm.
The ever green N650 along side black N250R
No vehicles what so ever
While riding on this unknown route there was one WTF moment which I want to write about. It was a very steep slope and bike was in 1st gear, tarmac completely broken and a very tight hair pin. My visor was completely down as I took a deep breath I felt uncomfortable with visor closed and decided to open it but I could not because I cant ride with one hand in such a tight spot. I braked! The Bike Stopped at once! I have the bike completely balanced with both my legs down and such was the angle of the slope that the bike in 1st gear engaged at zero speed goes back gradually with front tire locked. Man! I still keep faith and the bike finally after scaring me for 2-3 seconds stops going backwards. Phew! That was close I said to myself, engaged in neutral and did the visor up and again started to ride on the slope on 1st gear without any issues what so ever. In tight twisty road with lot of mud and unwanted pebbles, you need to be very careful and the bike does tend to become a little uncomfortable as I found. Nonetheless, that would be the case with almost all bikes.
The Magical Monsoon has began and so are the Magical Rides...
Monsoon Is Here & In Style...
If I have to categorize riding a bike season wise then Monsoon season will become my favorite riding season followed by Winter and then Summer. Monsoon and Big Bike often don't go hand in hand & we rarely get a sight of big bikes during this season but that's all changing, the change is slow but very much visible. This would be my first time in wet surface handling a 210+ kg machine which produces over 72PS of power. This experience better be good to change my perception of riding her out more often than usual. She is not meant only for dry conditions, She can do it equally good in wet I say to myself.
It all began one fine evening as I had turned the bike to a location for which I don't know any where about and we ended up being in a unknown place.
The weather became windy, lightning showed its presence with dark clouds in background and entire aura became very different to what I have seen in past few months. Parked the bike and it was time to click.
First Rain Drops on Midori
Monsoon caught me off guard and I was completely unprepared for the rains. No Duck-back, No clear shield and I was in for difficult 80 kms ride back home at night. Rode at decent speed (50-70 kph) with rain pouring continuously. As I found, the bike does perform well in monsoon too. It is as good as riding any other Indian bike in monsoon such is the comfort level. The Hazard lights came in very handy during those heavy showers for increasing my visibility for others riding / driving. Thankfully I have upgraded to Steel Braided Hel Performance Brake lines which gave me confidence whenever I braked, they worked like a gem. Dunlop Road Smart tires on N650 also held up exceptionally well on the wet roads & there was no wheel spin, fish tail moment. Transition from stock bulbs to Extreme Vision finally proved its worth as I had no issues what so ever when it came to visibility on road. All that was needed from my side was cautious riding to get her home safely.
Second time in Rains:
Date: 8 & 9th Jun
Destination: Thane - Hard Rock Cafe, Pune - Lonavla - Thane
Distance Covered: 350 kms
Route: NH4
It's getting dark...Beware of Ninja's
2 Birthday's and 1 Wedding Anniversary combo party invitation had come from a fellow biking group. Party hosted at Hard Rock Cafe in Pune gave me yet another opportunity to ride Midori in rains. This time I was prepared with clear shield and rain wear in case it rained. It drizzled while going to Pune so not much to say about while going to Pune. However in the return leg, it was heavy rains all the way from Pune till we reached home. The ride left me speechless, the ride made me feel I dont want to go home early and wished to ride more in rains. We (Sunil & Myself) decided to skip the express way usual road and took the winding road which enters in Khopoli. It was greenery everywhere and we found a different route with a board saying, "Dasturi" Never had I ever rode on that road so we look at each other and say let's see what's there. It was 20 kms of heavenly roads with zero traffic on road and off road. It will look like a haunted road at night, we turned right, we took random roads up hill, we crossed a forest and finally reached a dead end. From the dead end as we took the left turn, viola we find ourselves back to the place where we started. All we could do is look at each other and laugh. WTF!
Fuel Stop at Lonavala
Unknown route post Dasturi
The road less travelled always has its own charm.
The ever green N650 along side black N250R
No vehicles what so ever
While riding on this unknown route there was one WTF moment which I want to write about. It was a very steep slope and bike was in 1st gear, tarmac completely broken and a very tight hair pin. My visor was completely down as I took a deep breath I felt uncomfortable with visor closed and decided to open it but I could not because I cant ride with one hand in such a tight spot. I braked! The Bike Stopped at once! I have the bike completely balanced with both my legs down and such was the angle of the slope that the bike in 1st gear engaged at zero speed goes back gradually with front tire locked. Man! I still keep faith and the bike finally after scaring me for 2-3 seconds stops going backwards. Phew! That was close I said to myself, engaged in neutral and did the visor up and again started to ride on the slope on 1st gear without any issues what so ever. In tight twisty road with lot of mud and unwanted pebbles, you need to be very careful and the bike does tend to become a little uncomfortable as I found. Nonetheless, that would be the case with almost all bikes.
The Magical Monsoon has began and so are the Magical Rides...
Attached Files
) soon & start a thread on it.
but completely unintended; I realised after I wrote it hehe.
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