Announcement

**Simran Deep Singh** · 01-30-2013, 12:56 PM

You Sir, are one witty writer....
You sure know how to keep the travelogue alive with suspense...

leaving us wanting for more

Awesome travelogue, even read your other travelogue: thrilling
waiting for more....

**accuengineer** · 01-30-2013, 03:47 PM

Read your spitti travelogue and boy ooh boy it just kept me glued to the chair. The ride to mecca is also just great. I remember the time when my bike(FZ-S) refused to start (No kick start). I though of the same push and start. Any way please please come back soon and fill us with your travelogue. cheers

Mathews

**GuRpReEt SiNgH** · 01-30-2013, 08:44 PM

Thanks Guys, I am gonna finish this episode today itself, justing finishing some office work and then headed back home. Stay tuned!!!

**anshuljain** · 01-30-2013, 11:10 PM

So finally you got the time to start the travelogue. I was with him but still cannot wait to read it and relive the moments.
Gurpreet bhai pura mirch masala laga ke batayga kahani.

**GuRpReEt SiNgH** · 01-31-2013, 12:49 PM

Originally posted by anshuljain View Post

So finally you got the time to start the travelogue. I was with him but still cannot wait to read it and relive the moments.
Gurpreet bhai pura mirch masala laga ke batayga kahani.

Welcome brother, I was hoping to complete a bit more than this and then tell you. But you have stumbled upon this already. Do give your inputs too, I will ask for your help when ever I get stuck.

Dear All,
Please welcome Anshul!

**nagoo** · 01-31-2013, 01:34 PM

Originally posted by GuRpReEt SiNgH View Post

Thanks Guys, I am gonna finish this episode today itself, justing finishing some office work and then headed back home. Stay tuned!!!

waiting......

BTW.. one quick question :- how difficult this ride with Ninja ?? means its low fairing and less ground clearance ... any problem faced ? and how comfort or discomfort taking a fared bike .
this year i am planning in july/aug time frame.
and planning to take GT250R ... so do u think its difficult ? given the terrain .... else i will take my old R15 as i know many have done it on R15 ..but i doubt anyone has done with GT250R

**GuRpReEt SiNgH** · 01-31-2013, 01:55 PM

Day 1 contd.

So guys after a much sought after butt break, I finally decided to leave that dhaba to meat Anshul at Samba. And soon I saw him standing by his Duke waiting for me. We quickly exchanged pleasantries and I used these few minutes to come out of the helmet and riding gear as I was really feeling the heat. While I was doing this Anshul was just looking at my bike when he observed that it is leaking fork oil from the front right fork. There were oil marks/ spots on the tyre and quite obvoiusly oil was seeping into the disc pads too. This is all I wanted and just when we were officially about to start our ride. I just want to remind you all that Anshul had to abandon his plans few months back as his Duke's one of the inverted fork was leaking oil when he reached/ was about to reach Srinagar. Although he continued to ride for a while, eventually the front fork gave away making it impossible to ride further. He then loaded his bike on a truck and came back to Jammu. All this while while riding all I have been thinking of was such a situation that could disrupt my tour. Anshul suggested that as Duke had inverted forks and Ninja has regular one's we may be able to find some help in Srinagar. We quickly left Samba, and the plan was to ride till Mansar lake (24- 25 kms away) and then take a break. Moreover as now the hill riding would start, slowing but surely the weather should become bearable. I was trying to be cautious on the pot holes and as and when I hit one hard I could hear the khat- khat and feel the shocker taking the brunt. Soon we reached Mansar Lake and the ride was uneventful on the pot holed road with okay sort of traffic.

We parked our bikes on the right hand side, under the cool shadows of few trees (towards the lake) as soon as we enterd through the gate on the left side of the road. I was removing my helmet and riding gear when Anshul suddenly collapsed. He has just got down from his bike and was thankfully wearing his helmet and riding gear when this happened. Few onlookers and I rushed to his side and helped him stand up. The reason for this was his leather Joe Rocket riding jacket and a strong sun. He had some water and was fine. As he was resting for a while I called up Delhi guys who serviced my bike few days back. I was given Punjab & HP regional manager and contacted him. He was quite accomodating at that point and assured me of whatever help possible. He informed me that if I want to get it fixed by the Kawasaki trained guys then that is only possible at Amritsar or Mandi (on the Manali- Kullu- Chandigarh route). Upon asking that what can go wrong if i continued to ride on these unforgiving mountain roads, he replied that there is a chance that the fork might give away making it impossible to ride. The decision I was supposed to make was to head back to Amritsar and get it properly fixed or continue riding further with a risk that at any given point of time the fork my give away and then it will have to be put on a truck. Now as the count of curious onlookers was increasing by the minute we decided to leave this place and take rest somewhere else on the highway and also decide about the future course of action.

So we moved out of the Lake complex and few Kms down the road we parked our bikes and again started the discussion. The manager HP& Punjab called back saying that he has spoken with the Bajaj service center at srinagar and they will provide all help necessary. But they do not have the capability and spares to fix the Ninja. Meanwhile he suggested to use the toilet paper (tissues) to wipe out the oil from disc, the fork rod, etc. He also suggested to keep on cleaning the fork rod as due to leaking oil the dust particles tend to stick to the rod and this could make scratch marks on the rod. In such a scenario, we would have to change the rod as well. I was also suggested to ride a bit carefully on the pot holes, etc. and also the cornering need not be too hard. I was quite heartbroken with all this and the thought that at any point in time the fork can give away was not making it any easier for me to ride. Anshul, the darling he is, was comfortable, if I decide to head back to Amritsar and come back the next day. And I was confused as hell!

more soon, I am hitting the highway again (in a car though

); I will take this forward on Sat; thanks for all the support!

**accuengineer** · 01-31-2013, 03:32 PM

It is better that the oil leak was found earlier than late or else You would have ended up like Ansul. Anyway all is for the best. cheers

Mathews

**Divya Sharan** · 01-31-2013, 04:24 PM

Originally posted by nagoo View Post

waiting......

BTW.. one quick question :- how difficult this ride with Ninja ?? means its low fairing and less ground clearance ... any problem faced ? and how comfort or discomfort taking a fared bike .
this year i am planning in july/aug time frame.
and planning to take GT250R ... so do u think its difficult ? given the terrain .... else i will take my old R15 as i know many have done it on R15 ..but i doubt anyone has done with GT250R

If I'm not wrong, GT is way too sporty in riding stance for such terrain. GC will bother you, but not much.
Ananth did his Leh trip on ZMR which has 159 mm GC, yours has 155. You may scrape it on a few occasions, but if you're careful, you'll have no broken parts.

**anshuljain** · 01-31-2013, 11:03 PM

A clarification,
after discovering the oil leak in the fork in Srinagar(fortunately), I immediately parked my bike at the nearest hotel and checked in, and called KTM technician for guidance, and eventually had to abandon the trip.

**kurtrules** · 02-01-2013, 04:00 PM

Good one there. A nice read. Looking forward to more..

**xpranav** · 02-02-2013, 02:30 PM

what a super story-telling !!! ......... n guess what "the saturday is here"

............ looking forward

Just one little question: Is it possible to make this trip on a Honda Stunner ?? What can be the possible issues with it ?? I am carrying a dream to get Leh'd by this July

**theHolyBiker** · 02-02-2013, 07:30 PM

Super write up sir...

**sam4858** · 02-04-2013, 06:27 PM

Kithe ho Veere??

**GuRpReEt SiNgH** · 02-05-2013, 01:39 PM

Originally posted by nagoo View Post

waiting......

BTW.. one quick question :- how difficult this ride with Ninja ?? means its low fairing and less ground clearance ... any problem faced ? and how comfort or discomfort taking a fared bike .
this year i am planning in july/aug time frame.
and planning to take GT250R ... so do u think its difficult ? given the terrain .... else i will take my old R15 as i know many have done it on R15 ..but i doubt anyone has done with GT250R

I do not find it difficult, riding position is neutral and as I am not a daily rider, it takes about half a day for all the muscles to get used to riding a bike. Post the initial pain (not like pain pain but slight discomfort) your body gets used to the same and then there is not problem. All these years I have only complained about the hard saddle, thats a big pain, especially in summers. I did spiti too and this bike did bottom out on few bad "nullahs", thats it. Leh was a longer trip but as compared to Spiti one, riding was easy on the Leh trip, so do not worry and enjoy.

Originally posted by anshuljain View Post

A clarification,
after discovering the oil leak in the fork in Srinagar(fortunately), I immediately parked my bike at the nearest hotel and checked in, and called KTM technician for guidance, and eventually had to abandon the trip.

Thanks Bro, I don't knoe why I used to think otherwise, I am bad.

Originally posted by kurtrules View Post

Good one there. A nice read. Looking forward to more..

Thanks Bro!

Originally posted by xpranav View Post

what a super story-telling !!! ......... n guess what "the saturday is here"

............ looking forward

Just one little question: Is it possible to make this trip on a Honda Stunner ?? What can be the possible issues with it ?? I am carrying a dream to get Leh'd by this July

Thanks bro, stuck up in the office work, got late in jaipur and reached Delhi on Sunday, sorry guys, I will surely make up for this!

Originally posted by tdjbiking View Post

Super write up sir...

Thanks Sir!

Originally posted by sam4858 View Post

Kithe ho Veere??

Yahi par bro!

Announcement

Ninja Goes to Leh!

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment