Hey Ketan,
Nice work Here man.. it really amazes me how you find time and money to ride 3-4 long ride every year.. man so envy of you.. lol


any ways even i am planning a ride to goa on my bike rest of the gang will be coming by train.. i know sound's like a solo ride till goa can you please assist me on total expense(Appox).. i am sending you a Pm with my number do sms me.. or share you number will call i for the same..

Liked the pics
Somehow I never got enough time to visit these b'ful churches of Goa.

Keep the logs coming...

Thanks Guys!

Thanks! Yup, Goa is a beautiful place, gives you both tranquility on beautiful blue beaches as well vibrant lively night life... All the best for your April ride.

Thanks man.. got your PM. Will message you soon!

Thank you Kashif bhai. Those churches are just amazing. Must visit at least once. The architecture is simply out of this world. You'll understand what I am talking about as I upload day 3 pics and log.

Love the Pics. A Great Way to start the Year.

Thanks Ronak!

It was just a month and a half ago I had been to Goa, and that was for my cousin's wedding. Unexpectedly I ended up touring in Karnataka with family and it turned into a good 1900+ Kms ride on my trusty Sport Touring machine - The R15.

We have our 150+ years old ancestral home in Goa but until 2010, it was in dilapidated state with no one to look after. Reason? Family quarrels.. But we have plenty of our relatives in Central and Northern Goa. Therefore never had to stay in a hotel or lodge. But still, that feeling of staying in our own house was missing..! But finally, in 2010, we renovated our home in the best way possible and we finally had our own shelter. When I first saw the renovated house in November, I was so so happy, not just because we have our own home in Goa but also because it belongs to my great grand parents and it's up and beautiful once again.

Two of my close friends from Dadar, who got inspired from me and my rides with xBhp to join this world of biking, had never seen Goa before. I wanted to take them to the vacation paradise during the best season - the Christmas and the new year. Biggest problem, people face during that particular time of the year is accommodation. Either it's full or very expensive. But now we have our own home. So no Problemo. But unfortunately things didn't work out in our favor and we couldn't go to Goa for new year. As I have mentioned in the intro on first page, there were lot of reasons and problems behind it. But we were not ready to give up and postpone this ride to some other time. We fought and solved most of the problems and finally the dates were fixed. Jan 5th to Jan 10th. 2011. We also considered Jan 11th as the departure day, just in case you see..

This ride was a big challenge to me. Because the other 2 riders for this ride were not particularly experienced and had never done any ride 600+ Kms ride before. More over, we have very close family relation and their parents must have allowed them for such a big ride only after looking at my biking experience and past rides. This was a huge burden on me.. burden may not be the appropriate word but a responsibility or challenge I should call it. I had assured them that I'll guide and take care of them in the best possible way but ultimately we three will be on our individual bikes. So it was their own responsibility to be safe and sensible as much as it was mine. Umesh Khollam who rode Pulsar 200 during this ride, had a crash in city just couple of days before the ride which raised a few eyebrows. And the other guy? Umesh Thorat - the other R15 rider..Well, a few Mumbai xBhpians know his riding style and now a days he's better known as Launch Pad(from Duck tales) Absobloodylutely no sense of braking.. He locks the rear wheel of the bike so often .. boy..got no words to describe.. All these things must have given you some idea of how much stressed I was during the whole ride. And And And.. Launch pad didn't disappoint us and had a small spill just before Sawantwadi.. More on it later...

4th Jan 2011 was dedicated to all the preparations and discussions of the ride. All of us got our bikes checked and repaired if needed. Umesh's P200 needed some major repair work which took quite some time.

It was a full 6 day ride and my small tail bag was not sufficient enough for that much luggage. I didn't feel like borrowing someone's saddle bag neither had time to go to Andheri and buy a new one. So I decided to take my trekking back pack for the ride. ONE BIG MISTAKE..

Tushar generously gave me his camera for the ride.. Thanks a lot dude. I collected it from Mandar on the same day.

Finally the bag was packed and I along with Umesh went to Worli sea face. I briefed him for the next day's ride and while returning tanked up our bikes.

Things I carried for the ride..
1. Clothes
2. Extra slippers
3. Camera
4. Mobile/Camera chargers
5. Tripod
6. First aid kit
7. V6200 saved me from carrying a torch
8. A note pad and pen
9. Water bottle
10. clear visor for my helmet.

As I said, both the co riders weren't that experienced and I didn't feel it'll be safe to make them ride for 650+ Kms in a single day. Also we wanted to start the year by visiting some holy place. What can be better than visiting Ganpati Bappa's Ganpatipule in Ratnagiri. So our destination for Day 1 was Ganpatipule in Ratnagiri, some 365 Kms away from Mumbai. I along with Mumbai xBhpians had ridden to this place some time ago and we stayed at a nice place near the temple. I somehow couldn't remember the name of the hotel and thus called up DK the night prior to the ride. It was Shree Moraya Lodge.

With all things in place and anxiousness and nervousness in mind, I fell asleep and waiting for the clock to ring at 4.30 am in the morning.


The excitement didn't let me sleep properly and I didn't have to wait for the clock to wake me up. I woke up on my own at 4.25 am, 5 minutes in advance to the set time. Headed straight out and washed my bike. It was damn cold outside and cleaning the bike with cold was really something Our rendezvous point was my place and time was 5.15am. But this bugger, Umesh Thorat, landed at my place at 4.55am.. Reason? Couldn't hold the excitement and got ready way in advance.. Damn.. While he waited for the other Umesh to turn up I took bath, dressed/geared up and took my parents' greetings.

Here's the first click of the trip..
The three musketeers..


By the time we started our ride, it was close to 6 am. We were late by almost 20 minutes but I wasn't unhappy. Because I didn't want these guys to ride on the Panvel Wadkhal patch in dark. Even after leaving 20 minutes late and riding at moderate speeds through the city, we did have to ride some part of that road in dark, before we took our first break near Pen. The wind was so damn cold, that this was a must needed break with a hot cup of tea. I was constantly keeping and eye on the two of them and understanding their riding styles, correcting their mistakes occasionally.





These small breaks and the tea makes a lot of difference and we were again warm and refreshed. Continuing the journey we crossed the risky patch safely and reached Wadkhal. Since we had an early break at Pen, we didn't stop at our usual breakfast hotel and moved on towards Goa. People's reactions were something to cherish for ever.. 3 riders fully geared on Dhoom style bikes and mountains on their backs... riding in formation.. hehe.. Anyone will get distracted.

Without making the other two riders stressed and tired I took another butt break near Nagothane.









Moving on we had a good ride till Mahad with just a few heart in mouth situations with the other two guys. They were still learning the proper way to overtake the vehicles on a single lane highway and had couple of close calls before they finally got used to the highway riding. Just another photo break near mahad and a picture at the breakfast stall at Raigad.







I had a rough schedule of the ride in my mind and was hoping to reach Chiplun, at Hotel Ayodhya for lunch. This is one hotel on NH17 in Chiplun city where I take my lunch when ever I ride to Goa or Konkan. Food is good and affordable as well. Crossing the two major ghat, Kashedi and Parshuram, we reached Chiplun safe and sound for lunch. By this time, heavy bags on our back started showing it's ill effect and we all were experiencing lower back pain.

Our bikes parked in the hotel's Parking..










After having our lunch, we took a good half an hour break outside the hotel and gave our lower back the much needed rest. We talked, discussed our riding styles, difficulties and fun we had till then. Moving ahead, we took our next break near Sangameshwar. This particular picturesque spot made me stop and click a few pics while the other two riders reached the spot.







Since most of the ride was done at economic cruising speeds, all the three bikes returned awesome fuel efficiency and without any problem we reached Hathkhamba, the place from where we turned right for Ganpatipule.



The next 30-32 Kms were on a narrower road but with nice corners. In no time we reached Ganpatipule and headed straight to Shree Moraya Lodge. Hotel owner, Mr. Kadam, did remember our last ride and offered us some discount upon some buttering. Finally we got a good room for Rs. 200/- per person. Not bad I say considering the interiors, TV, safe parking and a good view outside.

We all dumped our luggage and riding gear, took shower and left for Temple. Time was around 4.30-5.00 pm. There wasn't any rush at the temple and we got nice darshan of Ganpati bappa.









After darshan we went for the 1.2 Km long pradakshina to the mountain by foot. The swayambhu Ganesh Idol at Ganpatipule doesn't have the trunk on it. Instead the trunk is found at another place on the mountain, on the way to pradakshina.

We headed straight to the beach after pradakshina as the sun was about to set.















We spent some time on the beach as the sun set. Had hearty laugh over Umesh's jokes and entertainment and then headed to Ganpatipule village in search of good food for dinner. We roamed around for quite sometime, checking out local houses, local gift shops etc. Finally had our dinner at a hotel near by and came back to our hotel room. Since we all were very tired after the ride, especially carrying heavy luggage, soon fell asleep as we chatted.

Day 2 was the ride to Goa via NH17 and a few unwanted surprises.. More on it later...

That was funny

You wash your bike every time you go on trips ... before leaving early morning?

P.S : waiting for the next part !

I do wash every time I go on trips but not early morning. That day had to, because didn't get time to clean it on the previous day. And it was pretty dirty after the mechanic checked it with oily hands leaving oily dirty patches everywhere.

Good stuff Ketan

Keep riding

bugger always cleans his bike--going to ride---coming back from ride--without any ride

yeh humko jalata hai everytime we ride together

ps:ketan the same hotel at chiplun where we stopped on our way to ganpatipule

Thanks buddy!

Lolz... Main nahi jalata..

Yup, it's the same hotel..

Love reading your logs man, waiting for the rest of it esp the part where "launchpad" launches

Incidently during my ganpati phule ride, while returing even we stopped at the same hotel in chiplun.

Thanks buddy!

Sorry for the delay in bringing in the rest of the log.. Don't get much time actually.. Will try to complete it by tonight if possible!

Ride safe!

Great log & pics man you are a true biker from heart. I would really like to go for a ride with you Which engine oil do you use?

Thank you Amit!
I've been using company recommended Yamalube engine oil through out these 27000+ Kms that I've toured on my bike

Surely we'll ride together someday soon

Ride safe! Take care!