wowwwww hats off to u man i've become FAN of you...
when i read first few paras i read them three times to believe that it was not my reading mistake...gr8 boss, amazing

eiygefu 89hifbfiv7rfbe 7e9db
Samajh nahi aa raha kya likhu.
waiting for the next

Amazingly, insanely, awesome man !!!

Pure respect for you !! and eagerly waiting for the rest

@kurtrules: This is what i call a Riding performance, /bow

Man, this is one brutal ride. You were very clear that this was not a Saddlesore attempt, but let me tell you, this is way more than that. If a piece of paper helps, the IBA should give you a certificate right away. This had to be a sheer mind over matter ride.

Vaibhav bhaiya ... You have set the bar very High ! and have given yourself a perfect birthday present i guess.

Shame on me ... i took 12 freaking DAYS ! :|

Wow. Fantastic achievement. I never thought that this was possible. Salute & Respect.

Thanks a lot everyone for your words. It means a lot to me!

Thanks Sunil, and no, I did not face any AMS whatsoever.

you didnt give any time to AMS to get over you

Leg 2: Chill out in Leh (2nd September)

Last night I couldn't get my legs straight and relied on a subtle limp accompanying the walk. The thighs and calves were hurting tremendously. Never before had my legs hurt so much, in one ride! I walked into the hotel room and shoved my stuff and freshened up. As I strode into Gaurav's room the first thing he thrust into my hand was a beer, a cold one at that! He was accompanied by two other fellas, and they had been riding across Zanskar over the last week before hitting leh. Over beer, we sat, we talked, I told them about the calamity called the Manali - Leh highway. But Gaurav was adamant that he wanted to go back via Manali only as they had been scraping knees on the Leh - Srinagar highway for many a days, and he was plain and simple bored of it. Out of the three, two agreed to take the Manali route an one, Neeraj (on his YZF-R15), agreed to come back with me through Srinagar. Gaurav was to leave the next day, whereas I needed to rest the next to bring back some sanity into the brain, eat, drink and make merry! So Neeraj too agreed to spend the extra day at Leh, accompanying me.

The next day Gaurav set off at 8am. We bid him farewell and went on to have breakfast. Ham, eggs, butter toast and juice set my taste buds on fire!
Right, so done with the basics, I started hunting for a bike wash, to get the bike and mainly the radiator cleaned. The tooth-brush although assisting in warding off the surface mud, still, there was much stuck between the fins. A wash was necessary!

I went down the Airport road, and came up the same road. I went across to the fort road, hunted through changspa road, but nowhere could I find an washing station. Then someone advised me to take head out to Choglamsar, where surely I would be able to spot one.

He was right!



Next up we went Shanti Stupa in Leh, a place I hadn't seen before



After the Shanti Stupa we went on to the Hall of fame. I had been on this road four times and I simply fail to adjudge how the hell could I miss such a wonderful memorial! It really was something I tell you, a grandeur, a well displayed ensemble!

I thought of going to Khardungla for a small ride. But sheveled that idea. Time would have been wasted at the DC's office for the permits. Moreover, I was bored of Khardungla!

It was now three, and there was nothing much to do. The rest of the day was spent at the garden cafe feasting on delicacies and gulping down authentic brew.


At night I met up and had a chat with Gaurav Jani, an inspiration and a revelation in himself who had been in Ladakh for the whole year, making his upcoming film "Motorcycle Changpa". He was dining at the same cafe as we so....Incidentally, I met with him last year at Rohtang when he was starting his journey to Changthang. I had come back this year and he was still here! Salutes!..

Slept at around 11...there was a long day ahead of us tomorrow

Leg 3: The Return

3rd September, Leh - Srinagar - Qazigund - Banihal


The plan was simple. Leave Leh early and ride as far as you can. The roads, were supposedly good, as per Neeraj (which I later found to be not exactly true). We did good speed and crossed Nimmu in a flurry. Then at one pothole, one bolt of the left RVM came off to which I have absolutely no idea how and the RVM hung from the other one, scratching the front cowl with it. I unscrewed the other bolt with the allen key that I was carrying and kept the mirror in Neeraj's saddle bag. Left with only one RVM, I continued.


Just before Namik la, a bolt of the other RVM gave way as well. And thus I had no option but to take it off and keep it with me as I was not carrying extra fasteners.


Kargil was minutes away when I begin to feel that the vehicle has developed a mind of its own, emotions included, and was sick of the torture inflicted upon it by its master and hence wanted to throw me into the river on the left! But I ain't no monkey on a saddle, I leashed it furiously, sprung it back to the sideline and brought to a screeching halt!....The reason for all that commotion..A PUNCTURE!

A little stone, quite effective, had found its way into a tread groove and was nestled quite comfortably there before I shred it off!. Luckily (Thanks to Ranjeet), I was carrying the puncture repair kit with me and thus, both Neeraj and I, spent an energy sapping 20 mins, before the CBR's rear was fit for the road again!

Kargil came, we tanked up. We had our lunch in Drass and were able to gather a good crowd of onlookers who were impressed with the extraordinary machines as well as the aliens that were riding them!


Crossed Sonamarg, kangan and took the Srinagar bypass out through Gandebal into Sumbhal, Shalteng and exit at Pampore. On this road three kids on an r-15 started competing/racing with me. I was doing good speeds mostly above 100. These kids would speed up, cross me and slow down. They repeated this 3-4 times and it began to get irritating. Next time they crossed I opened the throttle and that was the last I ever saw of them!


Riding through the traffic infested NH-1D near Anantnag, it took us nearly 2 hours to cross the Jawahar tunnel. It was dark now, I think the time was around 9pm or so. I parked the machine on the side of the road and waited for Neeraj. My sick brain had begun throwing in an idea, an idea to head straight back to Delhi. While waiting for Neeraj, I began calculating time and distance and as per my calculations if I rode sanely, I could hit Delhi in the next 15 hours! That brought a wry grin to my face

But wait, I wasn't alone here. There was a guy on an R-15 who was riding on hills at night for the first time! His opinion had to be the deciding factor! So as soon as he arrived, I laid out my plan and asked for his two cents on it. Although he did not dis-agree but I could see that he wasn't too keen and also, was a bit tired! The last thing I wanted was to risk it. I did not want to leave any margin for safety and hence I decided that Banihal is going to be the halt for the night. However, I would mince no words in stating that Hats off to Neeraj, for riding all the way from Leh to Neeraj which under the circumstances was no easy feat trust me!

We took a room at JKTDC's Hotel Alpine, Banihal for Rs 500 after a bit of bargaining. Ate dal-chawal. Neeraj dozed off after that and I continued with the movie I was watching.

Slept around 1am...

4th September, Banihal - Udhampur - Pathankot - Delhi

We began our journey out from Banihal at 7am, after completing the formalities as the hotel. The first stop came for breakfast at Peera Morh, famous for Rajmash Chawal. For the first time in my life, I had Rajma-chawal for breakfast! And, they were really worth the early stop!


Just as we crossed Patnitop, it began raining, the intensity of which further increased as we descended towards Udhampur. Udhampur was just 5kms away when hell broke loose and the rain, now transformed into a storm, unleashed its full-fury upon the mere mortals on the road. Rained cats and dogs and pigs and sheep! We entered Udhampur drenched. The riding jacket and pants proved to be too meek in resisting water falling in such magnitude!

From Udhampur we took the Mansar lake road to Samba.


Samba onwards it was a rat race! Excellent roads, and on top of that, two quite capable vehicles. We let it go and ripped like crazy, me leading as I was familiar with the directions. Some kilometers after Pathankot I turned around and did not see Neeraj behind me, so I took a halt and I waited. He did not show up. I called. He reciprocated.

"Bike aage nai bad rahi, shayad clutch plates are gone", he murmured.

"Oh crap!", I thought.

I swung around and rode off to where he was stranded. I then pushed the R-15 with my left leg, riding the CBR, and took it to the next town which was 'Mukerian'. We found difficulty in sourcing a mechanic as no one was willing to inspect the R-15. However after searching for a good half hour, a fellow did come to our rescue. There was an issue with the clutch wire, which the young lad promptly identified and finally rectified. "Graacias amigo!"


It was around 4 when we left Mukerain, Delhi being still 7 hours away. The road hereon was superb and I was comfortably cruising at 120 and at times 125.

We stopped for a brief moment at Hoshiarpur, where Neeraj tanked up and rode off straight to Ambala where we took out next halt, after a good 170 kms of riding. I tanked up here and Delhi was not far now.


11pm I entered home much to the relief of my family, tired, in pain but glad that I successfully achieved what I had set off to achieve in the first place!!
I hoped you enjoyed reading as much as I loved writing this log!

-Vaibhav

There should be a parental advisory on your log. Young impressionable bikers -- "Do not try this"

Seriously, you are made of something else! Though i am surprised you didn't lose time due to the blasting taking place on the Khaltse to Kargil section. Just 20 days back, we lost many hours just waiting for the roads to open up in some places!
Hats off to Neeraj too. Its something keeping up with kurtrules!

Yes there was some blasting going on near kargil, but not when we crossed. I guess it was their lunch break

And thanks for those words Mik...I just try my best, the rest falls in place..

Salute to the ride Vaibhav Fantastic pics too
A bigger tank(atleast 18L) would have been more apt for touring.

PS: How did the CBR fare ay higher altitudes ? How about the ground clearance ?

The Ceeber was superb at high altitudes. FI combines with the good low end saw me flying at passes above 16000ft. The GC is an issue, the undercowl got scratched multiple times whilst crossing Rohtang pass.

BTW you are right in stating that a bigger tank would have been just apt. This was a real pain, filling up after every 250-300 kms. The bike gave a mileage between 26-40 varying from terrain to terrain and riding styles.