Wow - Haroon bhai, nice writeup and lovely pics there. Looking forward for the rest of the writeup and pics and when do I get to pillion with you again?

I envy you Haroon.. I envy you sooooooooo much..

Someday.. Someday I gotta ride that bike....

I remember this bike from Long way down/around, Evan Mcgregor, Charlie Boorman riding this beast all over Amreeka and Asia.

Now you did the better part of Asia on the same!!


I don't know how.. but I missed the meet in Bangalore. Unlucky me..

BTW superb log Haroon bhai. Loved each n every bit of your keptaps!!!


OT: Keep posting abt BMW bikes, They r just osum.....

Haven't gone through the text yet - watched the video - this is great !
but the last dialog by the reporter was not required

Thanks harikeshpk. You should do it on the bike & it will be a very different experience

Yeah Sri, I am also surprised how my wife managed to snap it. Actually, in the family circles news about our trip spread like wildfire and hence unexpectedly we got a lot of invitations. Besides, it was a nice break in between to have some homely food & hospitality as against the monotonous hotel food & the artificial 'welcome sir, bill sir...'.

Thanks Yaser. As for more pics, thats the added advantage of taking wife!
The GS including all my riding gear etc are on a ship somewhere in the Arabian Sea ETA mid-Feb. Missing the bike, but hoping our continuous rains in Jeddah will stop by that time it arrives. Sure, we shall do a Kamel or Madraka ride.

Thanks crack_mech. Glad you are liking it. If one rides in India, it covers literally all kinds of road, climatic, traffic, topographic, etc conditions in Asia. The meet you missed in blr was really nice. There is a nice riding video coming up on my next post from Kochi to Kanyakumari. BTW I have also just added another third party link on the BMW Tutorial thread.


+100 on the unwanted dialogue about GS possibly getting vaporized on Kerala roads. In reality, the GS made mincemeat of the roads in Kerala & I am sure my bike is very hurt hearing it. Also they added their masala to top speed, heated grips cooling you in hot climate etc.....

"GS getting vapourised on Kerala roads"

Guess future BMW GS riders should be told about this astonishing phenomenon
Heated grips - Cooling in hot climate ???

Oh I wish I knew a bit of Malayalam

Whats with the top speed ?
Haroon, You need to say what were the things the Malayalam channel crew knew abt the BMW GS that we dont , Plz

hello haroon,
kalakki!..hats off to you.. thats simply amazing ride..and the efforts u have taken for it just deserves it....and u have a very supportive family too.. all the best for you and ut wife for ur future riding ventures....

@haroon . Very nice trip log .Been reading about your meets and other things.Couldnt catch up even once when you were here ,may be some time ,some place ,we will bump into each other . .

Have been reading silently , but I liked this video YouTube - KALEIDOSCOPE-INDIAVISION . Although I understood only less than 1bhp ,they pretty much sumed it up .

WoW!!! Missed looking at this thread for 4 days...

Quite a lot of updates and nice experiences to read. My even break went well reading this.. keep updating Haroon

The speedo shows 220kph. I have touched 200 in Jeddah and on the India trip, my solo best was 170 and 2-up with all the luggage etc was 160 on the way to Madurai and also on the Chennai-Blr road. Whereas the TV guys fixed the top speed at 250kph! The other thing was the handle bar gives heat during cold climates and cool air during warm climate! All said, I am still grateful they did a feature on my trip so its OK with me.

Thanks shinoyansari. The trip was adi-poli! I am thankful to my wife & kids for their support.


Thanks nfsnfs. Sure, lets hope we can meet up sometime

Hey Srikeerthi. Where have you been? Missed seeing you in blr. Nice that you are catching up. The gorgeous MC Road to trivandrum is coming in my next post.

Day -5 Kochi to Kanyakumari

The original plan was Kochi to Trivandrum, but some other unexpected commitments meant that we head until Kanyakumari today. Packed up early and had a simple breakfast at Woodlands that consisted of Idiappam, Idli, Vellappam and departed thru Thevara bridge and then proceeded towards the Allapuza direction.

Kick-off photo after breakfast at Woodlands Hotel and departing from cochin








Earlier, as I was doing the daily routine bike check, I find the oil level a little low but not alarming. I know BMWs being oil/air cooled engines, sometimes they tend to burn up some more oil depending on your riding style, besides my bike was nearing the 10K km mark for its next service. Being a Sunday I knew it was going to be difficult finding Castrol GTX 20-50 oil and hence I started hopping from one fuel station to another and finally gave up and settled for the 20-40 Servo oil. The oil top-up means I again had another live audience at the bunk where I performed the work.




Opening up my seat/toolkit and performing the oil top-up










The common folded loongi in Kerala..


The famed houseboats of Allapuza (better known in Venbanad Lake, Kumaragam)






































The neat display at this fruit shop caught our attention












The GS taking a breather during our hydration break











The pot-sellers colorful display







ENJOY THE RIDE WITH US

YouTube - R1200GS on the gorgeous MC Road


We cross Pandalam, bypass Adoor and are headed in the Trivandrum direction. As I am nearing Pothencode, I establish contact with Lijo from xbhp-Trivandrum team and we decide that I head to Technopark, and meet up with the xbhp gang near Subway restaurant there.





Around 2 pm, myself & wife arrive at Subway and are greeted by Binoy, Nithin, Lijo, Remy, Varun, Jayan(he skipped the ride due to some prior commitment) and also a friend of theirs from calicut who joined on the ride, sorry I forgot his name).





After some chit-chat, we all head in a group ride to Kovalam. Yes, we did create some stir on the roads! It was a pleasure to ride thru trivandrum with a group of like minded souls who are deeply passionate about biking and take their rides seriously and ride very responsibly.






















A relaxed group ride with the Trivandrum xbhp gang

YouTube - Riding with the Trivandrum Xbhp group





Here is a steep descend onto Kovalam Beach with the xbhp Tvm group

YouTube - Descending onto Kovalam beach













Group photo with the Trivandrum xbhp group


I wanted a pic of just the GS against the beach, but no way..





The beach was crowded and then our friendly hosts suggested we head for a secluded clean beach at aazhimala. As we are leaving Kovalam and we align for a departing pic, soon a small crowd gathers like some film shooting is going on. Many of the guys in the crowd jump in front of our own photographers & start clicking snaps as if this is some kind of a once a century event!!!!

The traditional xbhp line-up


Curious onlookers










The big brother keeping a watch over his smaller siblings!














After spending some time in aazhimala beach













Normal headlight


Together with Aux lights ON


The intimidating front view


So the added lighting makes it easier to dodge the potholes, increase my speed a bit and also surprisingly oncoming vehicles are giving me way. Going ahead I head thru Nagercoil and a few small towns and finally arrive at Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin) by 7:45pm where my lovely brother has again made hotel reservations including safe parking for my bike.

Again, as I'd say.. beautifully penned down... I just don't have to words to describe the stir "GS" creates in me.

BTW "once in a CENTURY" thing may be appilcable to most of the ppl there, as u dont see GSs in INDIA, you may see more funky R-"X"s/CBRs/Ninja's but GS is one helluva ride bro.

P.S.: By this I don't mean to say that all other mentioned bikes are somewhat lesser than GS, but my passion for GS just superseeds all other tarmac burning mighty beasts!!

Haroon ji, didn't you visit Shangumugham beach & Veli village? The sunset would be awesome from there.

You know what.... You have put a new ride plan in my head

Traveling across the length of GODs OWN Country and probably touch the southern most point of Peninsular India or Kanyakumari + Plus those long sweeping curves are already calling me and my Karizma for a RIDE

Crowd applauding your wife getting on the bike Hilarious

Waiting for more reasons to RIDE

i was waiting for this post and its one fab pic log to gaze at,and beautifully penned down . i think you ve got only very few pics clicked with the DSLR over here. It was a pleasure to meet up and spend some quality time with you. The effect of the GS is still giving vibes in me with etched up memories for a lifetime. Wish you had little more time to explore more over here.

I have no words to say, you are having a blast, so are we, please continue posting.....