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**anshuljain** · 02-05-2013, 05:55 PM

I know you are bad, no need to say it.

**GuRpReEt SiNgH** · 02-08-2013, 05:21 PM

Day 1 contd.

I was considering all the options and finally decided that we should move on and continue the ride. We will try to do some "jugaad" in Srinagar tomorrow. The worst case scenario was the I will have to abandon the tour, load my bike on a truck and head back to Chandigarh. I was "ok" with the worst case scenario, thus I continued, albeit more carefully on the corners, specially the right handers and on pot holes. I dont remember when and where we had lunch as my mind was only thinking about the bike and what's gonna happen next. But soon we reached and crossed Udhampur and continued towards Srinagar.
**Here I would request Anshul to fill in with any important update that I am missing; specially the lunch part as my mind goes blank when I try to remember about the same.**

Now due to all this we lost a lot of time and then hardly stopped to click a picture. Following is the only other pic I have and this is when I signalled Anshul to stop and check his bags as one of them was touching the silencer.

I could hardly enjoy the journey as my mind was occupied with strange thoughts and was never at peace. The surroundings were changing, we were gaining altitude and used to stop time and again for our butt breaks. On one of these stops I managed to get through to a friend (branch manager at my bank) who has a super bike and a sports car and a good knowledge about such issues. I have been trying to call him as and when we used to stop and this being a Saturday was his day off so he was not answering my calls. On this occasion I texted him that I am in trouble and need help, I also used the "SOS" to gain his attention and boy oh boy it worked, he called and what a lifesaver he was.

**Guys please read the following carefully as it might help you if and when you face a similar issue, God Bless!**

He suggested that I should first wipe the iron rod with a soft tissue; Anshul had a toilet paper roll, so it helped and i used it. Now I was supposed to remove the dust seal and insert as many tissues I can and put the dust seal back. This will prevent further leakage and then to replace the fork oil I should take help of a mechanic and put around 70- 100 ml of oil. He suggested engine oil as it is thicker and would not leak. He said that I could ride my bike but a bit easy on the pot holes, etc. and I will be able to complete the whole ride without any trouble. This was a big relief and I could not stop myself from thanking him and asked for his availability over phone in case anything else goes wrong.

Anshul and I tried quite hard but with certain degree of caution also so that we may not damage anything, but were unable to remove the dust seal.

We decided to ride ahead till Srinagar and get these repairs (read jugaad) done tomorrow at the Bajaj service centre. With renewed energy Anshul and I continued our ride and only manage to reach Srinagar by 10:30 p.m. We missed the titanic viewpoint (lol) and all such places, which we have already seen in a lot of posts. Further riding through the town part at night was a blessing in disguise as there was hardly any traffic.

We met Sumit (from Bombay), who had taken a room on houseboat on rent and also had arranged for a nice dinner. So this is it we finally made it till Srinagar and now the full group (of 3 guys) will try to get leh'd for the first time.

Day 2 soon!

**GuRpReEt SiNgH** · 02-08-2013, 06:19 PM

Day 2: Srinagar to Kargil (205 kms)

Well this was the plan. We ended up doing just Srinagar to Sonmarg (80 kms).

It was a beautiful morning and we all did sleep well (hopefully; correct me if I am wrong Anshul). The weather was pleasant and I was really pleased as I was far away from the Delhi (read plains) heat. Now I had a task at hand, repair the bike. Sumit said that he was also not satisfied with the way his bike was running and plans to show it to a local mechanic, bullet thing, so we made up a plan to get ready, have breakfast (on the houseboat itself), Sumit will go alone and try to get his bullet fixed and come back asap. Anshul and I will ride till Bajaj service center, get the bike fixed and return asap. And yes, I reminded all to tank up at Srinagar. Some morning clicks:-

**i phone clicks**

Soon we left to complete the tasks at hand and as Anshul and I reached the service centre we found out that it is closed and no one is there. We couldn't even locate the guard. I called up the manager HP& Punjab and he referred me to the owner of the service center. The owner simply said to come tomorrow as today he cannot help me. Instead of arguing with him I again called the manager HP& Punjab and asked for his intervention and help and asserted that we cannot waste another day. Very soon the owner called back and said that the technician would reach the service center in 10 mins.

The technician (I forgot the name) was playing cricket

and soon came to help us. I called up my Delhi technician and asked him to explain this guy, how to do this job. I think it took us 30- 45 minutes to get going post the "jugaad". Now atleast the bike's front fork was not leaking oil, rest the khat khat was same.

Soon we all met at the houseboat and packed our stuff, paid the bill and left. It was already 02:00/ 02:30 p.m. and we decided to ride till Sonmarg (80 kms away). We all were hungry too and decided to stop somewhere in between for food. I looked up the Google maps on the i phone and we were on our way. Some pics (i phone):-

more soon

**parry122** · 02-10-2013, 12:43 PM

Awesome man....... Spiti & Leh in a succession...that too on a Ninja..... Helmets off!

Keep me updated on your next trip, I would love to join.... BTW I am thinking of doing North East in around aug - sep this year.

**Serrao** · 02-10-2013, 04:04 PM

Nice write-up! The teaser pics are super cool and the last among them looks scary. How did you manage to cross the bridge? BTW, Did you completely recover from the fracture as I have heard it pains more during those bad climatic conditions. Asking this question because I am recovering from a collar bone fracture and eager to get back to some spirited riding...

**GuRpReEt SiNgH** · 02-11-2013, 01:32 PM

Originally posted by parry122 View Post

Awesome man....... Spiti & Leh in a succession...that too on a Ninja..... Helmets off!

Keep me updated on your next trip, I would love to join.... BTW I am thinking of doing North East in around aug - sep this year.

Thanks Bro, sure why not, we will make some plans. I am planning to go back to Leh as there is some unfinished business (you will learn about it in the thread as the story unfolds) over there.

Originally posted by Serrao View Post

Nice write-up! The teaser pics are super cool and the last among them looks scary. How did you manage to cross the bridge? BTW, Did you completely recover from the fracture as I have heard it pains more during those bad climatic conditions. Asking this question because I am recovering from a collar bone fracture and eager to get back to some spirited riding...

Thanks Bro, I was ok during the entire trip, at times the hand used to be stiff, but in the end it got used to the daily beating. Collar bone is serious, please do take good care if yourself and follow your doc's advise. All the best!

**GuRpReEt SiNgH** · 02-11-2013, 02:35 PM

Day 2 contd.

We took our time finding our way out of Srinagar, going back and forth cause I got confused with google maps (iphone). Then when we asked a cabbie he suggested us the regular way out of Srinagar towards Sonmarg. Then again we hit a "V"; Sumeet was leading a took a wrong turn (we had to go right he turned left). I stopped my bike at the "V" and asked for the correct way and then Anshul (who was behind me) volunteered to race ahead and get Sumeet back. All this took time and finally when we were on track and traffic was beginning to thin out we decided to have a lunch break. It was hot as sun was beating down on us. A few pics:-

I was experimenting (read learning ) to shoot pics from my 550D Cannon. Sumeet & Anshul were pros at it. Sumeet has even had an exhibition of his work in Bombay. As a result you will see that some of the initial pics are not as good as it is supposed to be and you all will see that the quality of my work (shoot) would get better as the thread moves on (atleast I believe so; you guys can give your feedback).

We all were refreshed; feeling good to be back on the road as a team with one aim in our mind "LEH". I was also at peace with self and the bike was running beautifully. It was only when I used to hit a bad patch on the road that I used to realise/ remember that one of the shocks is not 100%. We all hit the hills soon and while having our lunch we had decided that we all will stick together most of the times and the guy leading the group has to make sure that we all are on the right path (a similar incidence where Sumeet while leading choose road from the "V" without asking anyone should be avoided at all costs) and also keep the group together. I guess we all would have been riding for sometime when we crossed a small bridge with a waterfall. We all decided to have a photo break

:-

See the following 2 snaps will show you that I was experimenting with the exposure (over/ under exposure)

We started our ride to again stop for a photo break; it was beautiful out there:-

We started riding soon and again stopped when we saw army guys walking down the hill towards us. They were going somewhere and I guess Sumeet did use his camera to click them but I did not. But yes the surroundings were as picturesque as it can be and we got shutter happy:-

Next stop @ Sonmarg; wait for pics,

**GuRpReEt SiNgH** · 02-11-2013, 04:07 PM

Day 2 (final)

We all reached Sonmarg and decided to enquire about rooms in the first hotel we saw on our left. Anshul & Sumeet managed to secure a good deal; room was big enough to accomodate 3; had a balcony with a nice view (see pics); we all soon checked in, changed/ bathed, ordered food, sat down in the adjoining balcony with our respective poison(s) (except Anshul; who was having fruit juice/ cold drink). We clicked many pics, the tripod that I was carrying was also put to effective use, following are few of the pics that we managed to click:-

View from our balcony

Random sky shots

A view (Zojila pass)

Sonmarg glacier

Some night shots

Some guys started a fire

Then we were off to zzzz; tomorrow its gonna be Zojila time; we all knew about police/ army guys restricting traffic movement in the morning, etc., so the plan was to get up and get going as early as possible, we all were quite excited about crossing our first mountain pass of the tour. I am not sure but I will still say that I think that for Anshul & Sumeet this was their first pass on bikes; whats say Anshul?

**anshuljain** · 02-13-2013, 12:46 PM

Sorry for the late response, as i was off to Sattal for a birding trip.
We had lunch somewhere between Mansar lake and Udhampur on the first day.
I was a bit skeptical of the solution for the fork oil leak suggested by Gurpreet's friend but it turned to be a life saver, it worked brilliantly. Here, I must laud Gurpreet's spirit and his will to reach Leh at any cost, without which he may well have abandoned his trip before reaching Srinagar.
I forgot my camera battery at home( my biggest regret of the trip) and used Guurpreet's and Sumeet's camera a few times. The pictures of the Duke and the next one were taken by me, and as all of you can see, I am definitely a novice and not a pro.
Yes, Zojila was my first pass on a bike, and what an experience.

**GuRpReEt SiNgH** · 02-13-2013, 01:52 PM

Originally posted by anshuljain View Post

Sorry for the late response, as i was off to Sattal for a birding trip.
We had lunch somewhere between Mansar lake and Udhampur on the first day.
I was a bit skeptical of the solution for the fork oil leak suggested by Gurpreet's friend but it turned to be a life saver, it worked brilliantly. Here, I must laud Gurpreet's spirit and his will to reach Leh at any cost, without which he may well have abandoned his trip before reaching Srinagar.
I forgot my camera battery at home( my biggest regret of the trip) and used Guurpreet's and Sumeet's camera a few times. The pictures of the Duke and the next one were taken by me, and as all of you can see, I am definitely a novice and not a pro.
Yes, Zojila was my first pass on a bike, and what an experience.

And Bro, now in the next trip you can very well enjoy all the high mountain passes by spending sometime on top. You are more experienced now and moreover you did not feel uncomfortable at Khardung-La (as far as I remember you never used to be right on top of a pass for more than 5 minutes and it was Khardung-La where you spent more than 15- 20 mins); its an achievement

And please share some of your "birding trip" pictures

**anshuljain** · 02-13-2013, 10:53 PM

Yes Gurpreet, looking forward to many more rides and high altitude passes. Although not the right place, still Sharing a photo from the trip to Sattal for you.
Crimson Sunbird.

Attached Files

**Evander_F** · 02-16-2013, 11:47 PM

Very nice write-up, I'm hooked on to this. Kinda sad that Anshul's KTM couldnt make it to Leh

. These fork leaking issues need to be verified (Duke owner myself).
Overall....keep typing out that travelogue, its interesting

**GuRpReEt SiNgH** · 02-20-2013, 03:03 PM

Originally posted by Evander_F View Post

Very nice write-up, I'm hooked on to this. Kinda sad that Anshul's KTM couldnt make it to Leh

. These fork leaking issues need to be verified (Duke owner myself).
Overall....keep typing out that travelogue, its interesting

Bro, Anshul did the trip, it was 2 months ealier than this trip that he attempted and failed because of this issue (front fork leaking oil), thanks for your kind words though

**saquib3005** · 03-01-2013, 11:54 AM

Gurpreet Bro waiting for your posts buddy roll it on.....lovely typo dude and kinda exciting riders u all are

**Hoodibaba** · 03-01-2013, 01:32 PM

So you finally got Leh'd. Congratulations to all.

Hope you enjoyed riding the tarred roads on way to Leh. Hope they are being maintained well since my last trip in September, 2011 (When RedBull Team was also there in October, 2011-which I did not know then but was amazed to see the perfect roads at this high altitude).

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