Part 3

Kurze Reservoir
We resumed in a while and reached Talasari at around 9:30am. After confirming the directions with a few locals we took the SH29 exit from Talasari and started riding towards Kurze Reservoir. SH29 had a few rough patches but was smooth for the most part. The first glimpse of the Kurze Reservoir on right hand side was just beautiful. You have to do some 100-200 meters of offroading to get to the reservoir. We took quite a few photos here. Parked our bike parallel to the main wall of the reservoir , where Joel tried to bully a bull into giving him his parking space (the bull obliged although not gracefully)!!



Cornering on the way to Dudhani
Then we resumed our ride towards Dudhani. The roads that lead towards Dudhani have some really good corners and this was probably the most enjoyable part of the ride. Some corners are quite deceptive especially the hard corners on the slopes. But riding them was quite fun. Everyone riding their steeds harder, corner after corner. At some point into a hard right hander I saw Abhay (p220) who was riding in front of me turn back to make sure I was behind him (this was right into the apex of the corner and he did it while leaning !!).


Along this route (from Kurze to Dudhani) Aman's R15 was being ridden by many people. It was very tempting for even the Pulsaters to try this R15 since it was fitted with a pipercross air filter and the sound that it made made every rider go (oh yeah) !! Even Pranav admitted that cornering in the R15 is way easier and confidence inspiring as compared to the 'Fastest Indian' (No offence, that does not mean that p220 can't lean, don't believe me?? Check joel's FB display pic taken on our way back from Dudhani !!)

Part 4

Dudhani
On reaching Dudhani we saw motor boats and jet ski's at the Madhuban Reservoir, so after inquiring we all decided to take a ride in the normal (non-motored) boat. Although Praneet tried to bargain really hard, utilizing his hi-funda knowledge of the marathi language we still could not get any discount !! We parked our bikes nearby.



Took some more pic while in the boat, also here Praneet managed to interrogate the boat guy about his background, his native place and what not, the boat guy was a little apprehensive about sharing his bio-data so we let him concentrate on the rowing !!


We then reached the Island Garden which is at the middle of the Madhuban Reservoir. The garden was well maintained and we had quite some fun there. Sagar put his dslr to good use and captured some great snaps. Also here sachin tried to convince a puppy how posing for a DSLR made more sense than posing for a normal point-and-shoot camera !!


Some kids in the garden were trying to impress us with their gymnastic skills. Pranit tried to replicate their moves in a attempt to show fight back but to no avail. So we sent the 'boogiest' and 'woogiest' rider in the group, our very own Joel to show the kids how its done. He managed to pull off a double somersault and after that some other moves. God knows what you call those moves but it was looking very difficult and after that the kids just ran away !! Point to note: Joel managed to scare away not just a bull but also a whole group of kids all by himself !!


After lazying around and multiple photo sessions later in the garden, we again took the boat ride back to where we had parked our bikes (Viraj, like most people including myself were getting desperate for a chicken lunch !!). We proceeded towards "Van Vihar Hotel" which is nearby. We reached the hotel, it was more like a compound with multiple buildings, it had a nice garden and also had some swans. The hotel was clean and had ample place for parking and also to accommodate all the riders. We asked the hotel management to arrange for lunch on the lake front which btw was very beautiful.


On our way towards the building that from the parking space, this guy(looked like a cook) asked me where we were from?? I replied "Mumbai" and he was like "Mujhe laagaa hi thaa" (in typical gujarati tone) !! After that we ordered the lunch and again had a brief intro session. Everyone talked about what educational background they were from, where they worked/studied, previous xBhp rides, previously owned steeds, future rides, etc. While waiting for the lunch some kids were sitting on Viraj's R15 and he heard the alarm go off. So he went to get his bike and parked it near the tables. Here Rahul proceeded to push the swans into the lake/reservoir (whatever it was) just because they never posed for his pics !!


After what seemed like eternity, the food finally arrived and we ate like complete bhukkads. The food was good. After this we shared the expenses and left from the hotel. Viraj did some burn-outs while leaving, it was good to watch but the swans were shit-scared of his R15 !!

It was already 3:30pm by the time we finished our lunch hence we had decided to skip the Silvassa town church on the itinerary since it was getting late and turned back home. While leaving Rahul had said to me that we would have to pace up and then tried to convince me how the Dio could hit triple digit. I told him, "No way, slope pe hi possible nahi hai, straight line mein kya jayega. 90kmph ke upar nahi jaata hai boss !!" But he proved me wrong !!

Part 5

Return Journey
While returning we again passed through those twisties I talked about earlier. At one such corner we had the cornering photo session. The corner was a downward sloping left handler and the curve was clearly visible throughout (no blind spots due to trees, etc). The downward slope ensured a good entry speed into the apex and the slightly banked section of the apex ensured a good lean. Hence it was probably the most ideal place for the cornering photo session. Two group of bikers were formed, to regulate traffic through the corner and to ensure safety of other vehicles on the road. Every one did the corner around 2-3 times, both the p220's and the R15's were very comfortable in the lean but the guy who out shined them all was Joel on his p220. I saw his lean from the front view and it looked way too close for comfort. The pic is misleading and one cannot actually predict the angle completely from the pic. Most probably it was Joel's 'boogie-woogie' warm up that helped him achieve this !!

After the photo session we resumed towards NH8, there was some confusion whether to take a shortcut on SH29, but later everyone followed the same route that we took earlier. Rony was not too happy about this but we tried to pacify his highness and managed to laugh it off !!

Once we joined the NH8 it was smooth sailing for the most part. Me, Rony and Gautam (pillion - miss. Sarita) were riding in a group for the most part, and the rest of the riders in the other group which was ahead of us. Hence not many details here. At some point during this I managed to clock 100kmph on my Dio, which previously I thought was not possible. Although it took a long patch of road to achieve this, Rahul finally proved me wrong !!

We just continued cruising, with the horizon at times visible to our left/right and the sky changing colors as it started getting dark. We had earlier decided to stop for tea. We pulled into some hotel, but didn't find and other riders there so we left, just ahead we saw the other riders waiting for us at another hotel. Here we came to know that most of the p220's in the group that left earlier than us had managed to clock speeds in excess of 150kmph. Truly living up to the punchline - "Fastest Indian". However the fastest among the 'Fastest Indians' was Rahul who managed to clock 155kmph and he stayed at that speed for a good 5 mins !! I told him that even I had managed to hit the triple digit mark on my 100cc automatic. We also came to know that Swapnil had lost the gear nut on his p220 which left him unable to change gears, so the pulsar brotherhood tried fixing it. We then had tea/coffee and resumed. Some guys stayed behind, to help get Swapnil's p220 fixed. Probably took it to some mechanic. I don't know much since again me, Rony and Gautam left early.

After some time it was dark. Riding in dark is something I haven't done much, but we cruised at safe speeds occasionally speeding up to overtake. At some point when we encountered traffic I saw Rony lift up his left hand and showed me the middle finger !! I thought it was some hand signal that I wasn't sure of, although it was closely reminiscent of a similar gesture I already knew about !! Later I came to know he was showing the kind gesture to some SUV which without warning overtook his bike from left side at the end of a diversion.

As we reached the outskirts of Mumbai we encountered heavy traffic. Around 8-10 members got together around Ghodbunder road junction at around 7:30pm. We exchanged goodbyes and then every one left for their respective destinations. I reached my place at around 9pm. It was an amazing ride, probably my best till date.

Things I learned in this ride:-
1.)Group riding techniques that I was not so sure about.
2.)You don't need a higher cc bike to enjoy a G2G although it's preferred(given that you have disciplined riders who don't mind having a 100cc automatic in the group).
3.)You can rip a Dio till 100kmph while carrying a two liter extra can of fuel in the boot without setting your arse on fire !!
4.)That you don't need much to connect with a fellow passionate biker.
5.)That my mum appreciates that I go on my crazy tours with fellow passionate bikers rather than touring solo.(She actually hates that I ride a bike but when I told her about xBhp G2G's and the safety protocol that we follow, shes was actually less concerned for my safety(and that's a good thing!!)


"THANKS"
@rony - for organizing such an amazing ride.
@dk - for providing jackets to me and Gautam.
@all - for the turn up and disciplined riding.
@you - for reading this.


PS: Pics for this section would be uploaded by Rahul Matiwadekar (qwerty_rm) and others who have them ready !

a big LOL good one manas...'steam engine' hahaha even i used to wonder if MALBORO sponsors him !!

@rony...good that you came up with the rest of the log quickly...but with all those quick posts...half of the images dont load ! (not that i havent seen them..but just for the sake of others...you should have posted them one by one...i mean if you understand..)

even better..provide a picasa link too...

Here is the picasa link => Picasa Web Albums - Rohit Jain - Bike Ride to ...

Thanks ninad, even i felt so, just wondering how he managed the whole day with just one pack !!

Nice compilation rony ekdam zakaas !!

Very Beautiful log.. It seems this g2g & the ride was indeed a great fun. Pix are superb. Quiet delighting to know about the coordination part you guys maintained in the ride throughout, which certainly resulted in a Safe & Fun-filled ride..

Thanks rachit - means a lot, coming from you...

100!!!

Same as Activa except for the performance. Good to hear. It gives a worst mileage when that engine is ripped!!!

Good to see a good write-up & pics. Excellent.

Yes Sunny, it was an awesome ride and we all had lots of fun that too safely !

Thanks Rachit bhau ... Now since you are married you both can join us with your 2 bikes ..... looking forward to ride with you !

Thanks aargee ... Do visit this place in monsoon, I bet it would be an heavenly experience !

Very beautiful pics rony and thanks for doing the honors of writing the log manas...

Thanks aargee.

Thanks sachin, actually not all photos are there in this thread, wanted that pic where you were trying to make the puppy understand why it was better to pose for the dslr than the point-&-shoot

Here you go ^^^, poor lil puppy...


P.S.: No animals were harmed while taking this pic ..

Best travelogue I've seen yet, organised like butter and jam on bread Looks yummy