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The Bike : 3,000km old Ninja 250
The Route : Mumbai - Vadodra - Ahmedabad (overnight halt) - Udaipur - Chittorgarh - Kishangarh - Jaipur - Gurgaon - Greater Noida
Total Distance : 1616kms each way
Fuel stops : 3 each way (not counting the full tank i started with)
Gear : Cramster jacket, MotoAirs, Rocket kneeguards, Cramster tank bag, Rjays saddle bags, Rocket rear seat bag (for a spare helmet), Foot pump, nylon rope, WATER
Date : Onward - May 27th to 29th, Return - Jun 10th to 12th
Top Speed : 163kmph (with 90kgs on the bike and about 10 litres in the tank)
Fuel economy : 27.3 onwards, 28.1 return
Apologies for the really late travelogue.
Finally managed a long vacation from office and decided to make full use of the trip packing it with this bike trip with a 7 day scuba workshop in Andamans in between
Had not had a chance to really test the baby Ninja except on a couple of short rides to Lonavla and Kashid, so chose the easy route, all through on NH-8 from Mumbai to Delhi, except Udaipur to Kishangarh which was NH-79. Wisest decision made with inputs from fellow bhpians, beautiful roads all along the way. The bike behaved perfectly well, never once giving even a spot of bother.
Plan was to start really early on Friday (hoping for 5am) and reach Ahd by lunch time, get a break and leave really early for Delhi the next day. Well, wrapping up things a day before the vacation took a bit longer than expected and I could come back home only by 8am on Friday morning (really long Thurday that was). Decided not to change plans, packed and was on the road by 9:30am. Did the first 100km in fairly good time, till my boss realized that there were matters i needed to attend to :-/. Had to stop and get on the phone often in the next 2-3 hours making progress slow. Anyhow, it didn't dampen the excitement of the vacation and we pressed on. Had heard horror stories about the route till Surat with flyovers under construction, so was prepared for the worst. Wasn't that bad actually, rarely had to come below 60kph, the left lane helps.
The real trouble came ahead of Surat where i got caught in a 15km long jam. With the hot afternoon sun bearing down on me, sitting on the baby Ninja with my full gear on, stuck between heat puking trucks, i managed to do 20kms in 90 mins! Surely i thought, that was the worst stretch, wrong.
By the time I got out of the jam and took a break to hydrate myself, it was 4:30pm. Reaching Ahd before sundown looked doubtful then. Good roads ahead of that stretch, right till Vadodra. I woefully looked at beautiful expressway that was welcoming cars travelling at 150kph and more, and turned left to continue on NH-8. I really wanted to do this stretch quick to avoid the headlights coming on. Alas, was not to be. The two way road to Ahd was heavy with traffic and the traffic seemed to be filled with morons. Anyways, made it to just outside the city before the lights came on. Navigating through Ahd is a tough task, and it was only by 8:30pm that i reached my destination. Just in time too, had promised my Ahd pals to meet up for Kung Fu Panda II at 9:30pm
Considering the day I had and the fact that I hadn't slept in 36 hours, decided against making the remainder of the journey the next day. Slept in till late afternoon, ate well, and slept again till early morning the next day.
It promised to be a good day. Left at 4:30am since had over 900kms to cover, and good call that. Riding in the early hours of the morning was beautiful, specially on those roads. Was cruising comfortably above 140kph most part of the time. Target was to get a good breakfast at Chittorgarh, and target was met at around 9am. Touched my top speed of 163kmph on this stretch.
Nothing makes you appreciate water more than Rajasthan! I would usually stop after every 100k, gulp down a litre of water and pour another on my head, stretch my legs and give the sore back side a rest of about 5 mins.
But god bless Rajasthan for their roads. It was a blissful ride all the way to Jaipur, except for the occasional stretches where truck-plying-at-28kph-decide-to-overtake-an-incredibly-slower-truck-plying-at-27.5kph-and-take-a-km-to-complete-the-conquest. There were a number of times when i zipped past the middle of such two trucks, liberating feeling that
There were strong crosswinds post Chittorgarh which kept the speed down to 120-140 most of the time. Reached Jaipur by 2:30pm and it looked like we'd be home in time for dinner. I'd been warned about the Jaipur Delhi stretch, but not enough. Those 250odd kms turned out to be the most painful stretch. I could not understand how the entire highway could be under construction at the same time, and yet nothing be constructed! It took 6 miserable hours to hit Gurgaon, and another 1 hour to weave through the Gurgaon to reach my sisters place (who was the only one in the family to know i was en-route). Big surprise for mom and dad, big relief for my tired body and parched throat and a soft soft cushion for my very sore butt.
Gurgaon to Greater Noida was painless, but not a pleasure given Dad had the car right behind me with strict instructions never to cross 90kph. Anyhow, was great to reach home finally.
The way back I could plan a bit better. Did the Delhi Jaipur stretch really early in the morning to beat the traffic. Also more roads on this stretch have been completed than the Jaipur Delhi stretch, so was much less painful. Raced the sun and reached Ahmedabad just before sundown. Slept in the next day and left at 4:30am the following day remembering the beautiful morning ride the last time. This one didn't disappoint either. Short of Mumbai I was welcomed by rains, was really a pleasant change from the weather I'd encountered through the journey. Slowed down, took in the weather and the damp air and the earthy smell, and thanked god for all things good.
The last 50kms are always the most painful someone told me. Well, not if they turn out to be the last 10kms. The signage told me I had another 55kms to reach Mumbai. Just as i was clenching my teeth and going on, I realised it could not be that far for I could recognise the areas i saw. In fact I was barely 15kms away from Bandra. Was swept away by sheer joy of completing the journey and those 15kms passed in a jiffy.
The first thing I did was give the Ninja a well deserved bath. She looked so beautiful, like a hawk, i fell in love all over again
Ordered in lunch and took a hot shower. I couldn't help smiling through the day. Next morning, woke up early, revved her up and drove to office, back in front of ms excel and google, but i still had my smile.
Don't have too many pictures, have a few which shall be up soon, and a very lame attempt at a video (but its poetry listening to that engine speed up to and beyond 140kph)
The Route : Mumbai - Vadodra - Ahmedabad (overnight halt) - Udaipur - Chittorgarh - Kishangarh - Jaipur - Gurgaon - Greater Noida
Total Distance : 1616kms each way
Fuel stops : 3 each way (not counting the full tank i started with)
Gear : Cramster jacket, MotoAirs, Rocket kneeguards, Cramster tank bag, Rjays saddle bags, Rocket rear seat bag (for a spare helmet), Foot pump, nylon rope, WATER
Date : Onward - May 27th to 29th, Return - Jun 10th to 12th
Top Speed : 163kmph (with 90kgs on the bike and about 10 litres in the tank)
Fuel economy : 27.3 onwards, 28.1 return
Apologies for the really late travelogue.
Finally managed a long vacation from office and decided to make full use of the trip packing it with this bike trip with a 7 day scuba workshop in Andamans in between
Had not had a chance to really test the baby Ninja except on a couple of short rides to Lonavla and Kashid, so chose the easy route, all through on NH-8 from Mumbai to Delhi, except Udaipur to Kishangarh which was NH-79. Wisest decision made with inputs from fellow bhpians, beautiful roads all along the way. The bike behaved perfectly well, never once giving even a spot of bother.
Plan was to start really early on Friday (hoping for 5am) and reach Ahd by lunch time, get a break and leave really early for Delhi the next day. Well, wrapping up things a day before the vacation took a bit longer than expected and I could come back home only by 8am on Friday morning (really long Thurday that was). Decided not to change plans, packed and was on the road by 9:30am. Did the first 100km in fairly good time, till my boss realized that there were matters i needed to attend to :-/. Had to stop and get on the phone often in the next 2-3 hours making progress slow. Anyhow, it didn't dampen the excitement of the vacation and we pressed on. Had heard horror stories about the route till Surat with flyovers under construction, so was prepared for the worst. Wasn't that bad actually, rarely had to come below 60kph, the left lane helps.
The real trouble came ahead of Surat where i got caught in a 15km long jam. With the hot afternoon sun bearing down on me, sitting on the baby Ninja with my full gear on, stuck between heat puking trucks, i managed to do 20kms in 90 mins! Surely i thought, that was the worst stretch, wrong.
By the time I got out of the jam and took a break to hydrate myself, it was 4:30pm. Reaching Ahd before sundown looked doubtful then. Good roads ahead of that stretch, right till Vadodra. I woefully looked at beautiful expressway that was welcoming cars travelling at 150kph and more, and turned left to continue on NH-8. I really wanted to do this stretch quick to avoid the headlights coming on. Alas, was not to be. The two way road to Ahd was heavy with traffic and the traffic seemed to be filled with morons. Anyways, made it to just outside the city before the lights came on. Navigating through Ahd is a tough task, and it was only by 8:30pm that i reached my destination. Just in time too, had promised my Ahd pals to meet up for Kung Fu Panda II at 9:30pm
Considering the day I had and the fact that I hadn't slept in 36 hours, decided against making the remainder of the journey the next day. Slept in till late afternoon, ate well, and slept again till early morning the next day.
It promised to be a good day. Left at 4:30am since had over 900kms to cover, and good call that. Riding in the early hours of the morning was beautiful, specially on those roads. Was cruising comfortably above 140kph most part of the time. Target was to get a good breakfast at Chittorgarh, and target was met at around 9am. Touched my top speed of 163kmph on this stretch.
Nothing makes you appreciate water more than Rajasthan! I would usually stop after every 100k, gulp down a litre of water and pour another on my head, stretch my legs and give the sore back side a rest of about 5 mins.
But god bless Rajasthan for their roads. It was a blissful ride all the way to Jaipur, except for the occasional stretches where truck-plying-at-28kph-decide-to-overtake-an-incredibly-slower-truck-plying-at-27.5kph-and-take-a-km-to-complete-the-conquest. There were a number of times when i zipped past the middle of such two trucks, liberating feeling that
There were strong crosswinds post Chittorgarh which kept the speed down to 120-140 most of the time. Reached Jaipur by 2:30pm and it looked like we'd be home in time for dinner. I'd been warned about the Jaipur Delhi stretch, but not enough. Those 250odd kms turned out to be the most painful stretch. I could not understand how the entire highway could be under construction at the same time, and yet nothing be constructed! It took 6 miserable hours to hit Gurgaon, and another 1 hour to weave through the Gurgaon to reach my sisters place (who was the only one in the family to know i was en-route). Big surprise for mom and dad, big relief for my tired body and parched throat and a soft soft cushion for my very sore butt.
Gurgaon to Greater Noida was painless, but not a pleasure given Dad had the car right behind me with strict instructions never to cross 90kph. Anyhow, was great to reach home finally.
The way back I could plan a bit better. Did the Delhi Jaipur stretch really early in the morning to beat the traffic. Also more roads on this stretch have been completed than the Jaipur Delhi stretch, so was much less painful. Raced the sun and reached Ahmedabad just before sundown. Slept in the next day and left at 4:30am the following day remembering the beautiful morning ride the last time. This one didn't disappoint either. Short of Mumbai I was welcomed by rains, was really a pleasant change from the weather I'd encountered through the journey. Slowed down, took in the weather and the damp air and the earthy smell, and thanked god for all things good.
The last 50kms are always the most painful someone told me. Well, not if they turn out to be the last 10kms. The signage told me I had another 55kms to reach Mumbai. Just as i was clenching my teeth and going on, I realised it could not be that far for I could recognise the areas i saw. In fact I was barely 15kms away from Bandra. Was swept away by sheer joy of completing the journey and those 15kms passed in a jiffy.
The first thing I did was give the Ninja a well deserved bath. She looked so beautiful, like a hawk, i fell in love all over again
Ordered in lunch and took a hot shower. I couldn't help smiling through the day. Next morning, woke up early, revved her up and drove to office, back in front of ms excel and google, but i still had my smile.
Don't have too many pictures, have a few which shall be up soon, and a very lame attempt at a video (but its poetry listening to that engine speed up to and beyond 140kph)
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