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One of the main purpose of shelling out for this bike was to ensure that touring with a pillion was conformable... and the N650R stood upto it... apart form the butt aches, my wife was so happy that it was the most comfortable bike she has ever sat on... that being said, we covered 760 kms in 2 days and i have never felt better...
the first of many trips to come.....
** pics taken from cell... apologies for the poor quality
so... this was a long planned trip... i had never taken my wife on a long trip since last December and wanted to make sure i give her a decent one to start with on the Green... little did she know what was coming as what i love to do is annoy her by saying I am going for a trip alone
...
so the planning started.. where to go.. there were choices for a 3-4 day trip but since she started working in a new company getting leave was difficult so had to cut it down to 2 days.. so the options were Coorg, Ooty, Wayanad, Pondy which would be best for 2 days....Though i have been to Pondy, i have never been with her alone as it was mostly with friends... so decided that the roads are great, and am sure she would love to see the beach....
once the destination was decided, i had to plan the route. since I had been to Pondy, i thought i will take the same route - Bangalore > Krishnagiri > Vellore > Arni > Gingee > Tindivanam > Pondy
next was the place to stay. this where i was sad as most good hotels and resorts were booked. i had to settle with a decent place called Laila's Country hLaila's County Pondicherry :: Hotels in Pondicherry, Pondicherry Hotels, Hotels near Pondicherry, Online Booking of Pondicherry Hotels, List of Hotels in Pondicherry, Luxury Hotels in Pondicherry, Pondicherry Hotels India They had some good reviews and thought for a day, this should be good.
well all done, now the luggage. Since i didnt have a saddle bag, i had to depend on our BB pals and Adarsh offered to help. Since we stay close by, i dropped in and got the bag. we checked to see if it fits and it did but the only issue was that if the pillion sits, then the bag will be pushed behind which can break the indicators. i went home, filled it up and tried with D on the bike, it didn't work. so the only choice was to pack a backpack with very minimum stuff and ask D to carry it. In future, planning to get a rear luggage rack
by now D was curious why i asked her to sit to check the saddle bag and i confessed to her that she is coming along. so we started off packing and got all ready for Saturday morning. My plan was to leave by 5 Max so that i can reach Pondy sooner but i had to drop one of my friends to the airport which delayed this. we started off at 8AM in the morning.
Bangalore - Krishnagiri ~95KM
as always, riding is much better than driving. Avoid all the tolls and go through the much headed traffic towards Salem. the roads to KR was ok... some very good tarmac laid out and some patched up. so overall, i was doing good speeds on the good roads and around the 70 mark on the patched up one. had company of some Dukers and Bullet riders on the way ... we stopped by at Sri Krishna Inn for a quick coffee break. after which i knew we will be reaching NH46 to Vellore which is heaven so was excited....
Krishnagiri to Vellore - ~120
what can i say, when you have a 650, you just can't control the throttle.. i told D that this road will end up with me doing some good speeds so hang on but at the same time i knew i shouldn't be greedy.. i was hitting the straight lane at 120-130 speed (which was showing up on my odo as "Economy Riding :P").. at times, i touched the 150 -170 and felt really awesome about the bike. the only pain was the wind burst... the stretch was good untill we reached Ambur which had a few humps and traffic lights so had to slow down.. we finally managed to reach Vellore in 1 hour and 10 minutes...
Vellore to Arni ~38KM
Passing by Vellore was a little painful after a blissful ride... the town was packed with people being a Saturday morning... we managed to go by the town and enroute to Arni.. the road was decent with odd potholes which is not bad but at the same time you can't be doing 100+ as the roads are narrow.
Arni - Gingee ~ 55KM
nice scenic road.. the roads are not the best but you will be happy riding.. little on the bumpy side and still you can do a 100 easily.. the one thing you need to be watchful of are the people and cattle which will come in between so keep your eyes open always in the front
Gingee - Tindivanam ~ 30KM
hell.. that's all i can say as it was just not worth riding.. it took me a good 1 hour and more to complete the 30KM... unfortunately, i was not sure if there was an alternative way to reach Pondy..
Tindivanam - Pondy ~ 38KM
another road to enjoy the fast ride... absolutely brilliant
i never took much pics as i didnt carry any camera. didnt want to carry extra load and with no tank bag, the only choice was my cell phone... we reached Pondy @ 2PM which makes it a 6 hour journey for ~ 370KMs... from there we got to the hotel which was close to Auro beach... freshened up and took a stroll around the city.. nothing much to brag about.. the place was filled with useless people riding bikes with no sense of traffic or concern for others... took a walk by the beach road. .had some street food some pics and we were back to the hotel by 10...
We had decided to be lazy and leave Pondy by 12PM... it had rained that night and from the weather forecasts, there were chances of rain on the route back... after packing up and leaving Pondy at 12PM, we were stopped at the tolls by a policeman to check our bags for alcohol.. the minute he knew the pillion was a lady, he starte to shout at me saying how can you get a lady on a bike.. its too risky and even started to advise D saying don't come on bike, come by car.. more safe.. i agreed and didnt want to start a whole new conversation of why we came by bike...
we came back the same route with a little twist.. we were blessed by the rain gods this time when we were going from Gingee till Vellore... it didnt stop there as half way towards Krishnagiri and it started to drizzle again... well didnt hamper our spirits as we decided to ride the rains...
took some extra breaks on teh way back and we were home by 7PM...
Overall.. a very good ride with no issues and a beautiful machine i can depend upon... more to come
The day we reached
the excitement
the beach road
on our way back
taking a quick shower
Vellore Fort
the first of many trips to come.....
** pics taken from cell... apologies for the poor quality
so... this was a long planned trip... i had never taken my wife on a long trip since last December and wanted to make sure i give her a decent one to start with on the Green... little did she know what was coming as what i love to do is annoy her by saying I am going for a trip alone
... so the planning started.. where to go.. there were choices for a 3-4 day trip but since she started working in a new company getting leave was difficult so had to cut it down to 2 days.. so the options were Coorg, Ooty, Wayanad, Pondy which would be best for 2 days....Though i have been to Pondy, i have never been with her alone as it was mostly with friends... so decided that the roads are great, and am sure she would love to see the beach....
once the destination was decided, i had to plan the route. since I had been to Pondy, i thought i will take the same route - Bangalore > Krishnagiri > Vellore > Arni > Gingee > Tindivanam > Pondy
next was the place to stay. this where i was sad as most good hotels and resorts were booked. i had to settle with a decent place called Laila's Country hLaila's County Pondicherry :: Hotels in Pondicherry, Pondicherry Hotels, Hotels near Pondicherry, Online Booking of Pondicherry Hotels, List of Hotels in Pondicherry, Luxury Hotels in Pondicherry, Pondicherry Hotels India They had some good reviews and thought for a day, this should be good.
well all done, now the luggage. Since i didnt have a saddle bag, i had to depend on our BB pals and Adarsh offered to help. Since we stay close by, i dropped in and got the bag. we checked to see if it fits and it did but the only issue was that if the pillion sits, then the bag will be pushed behind which can break the indicators. i went home, filled it up and tried with D on the bike, it didn't work. so the only choice was to pack a backpack with very minimum stuff and ask D to carry it. In future, planning to get a rear luggage rack
by now D was curious why i asked her to sit to check the saddle bag and i confessed to her that she is coming along. so we started off packing and got all ready for Saturday morning. My plan was to leave by 5 Max so that i can reach Pondy sooner but i had to drop one of my friends to the airport which delayed this. we started off at 8AM in the morning.
Bangalore - Krishnagiri ~95KM
as always, riding is much better than driving. Avoid all the tolls and go through the much headed traffic towards Salem. the roads to KR was ok... some very good tarmac laid out and some patched up. so overall, i was doing good speeds on the good roads and around the 70 mark on the patched up one. had company of some Dukers and Bullet riders on the way ... we stopped by at Sri Krishna Inn for a quick coffee break. after which i knew we will be reaching NH46 to Vellore which is heaven so was excited....
Krishnagiri to Vellore - ~120
what can i say, when you have a 650, you just can't control the throttle.. i told D that this road will end up with me doing some good speeds so hang on but at the same time i knew i shouldn't be greedy.. i was hitting the straight lane at 120-130 speed (which was showing up on my odo as "Economy Riding :P").. at times, i touched the 150 -170 and felt really awesome about the bike. the only pain was the wind burst... the stretch was good untill we reached Ambur which had a few humps and traffic lights so had to slow down.. we finally managed to reach Vellore in 1 hour and 10 minutes...
Vellore to Arni ~38KM
Passing by Vellore was a little painful after a blissful ride... the town was packed with people being a Saturday morning... we managed to go by the town and enroute to Arni.. the road was decent with odd potholes which is not bad but at the same time you can't be doing 100+ as the roads are narrow.
Arni - Gingee ~ 55KM
nice scenic road.. the roads are not the best but you will be happy riding.. little on the bumpy side and still you can do a 100 easily.. the one thing you need to be watchful of are the people and cattle which will come in between so keep your eyes open always in the front
Gingee - Tindivanam ~ 30KM
hell.. that's all i can say as it was just not worth riding.. it took me a good 1 hour and more to complete the 30KM... unfortunately, i was not sure if there was an alternative way to reach Pondy..
Tindivanam - Pondy ~ 38KM
another road to enjoy the fast ride... absolutely brilliant
i never took much pics as i didnt carry any camera. didnt want to carry extra load and with no tank bag, the only choice was my cell phone... we reached Pondy @ 2PM which makes it a 6 hour journey for ~ 370KMs... from there we got to the hotel which was close to Auro beach... freshened up and took a stroll around the city.. nothing much to brag about.. the place was filled with useless people riding bikes with no sense of traffic or concern for others... took a walk by the beach road. .had some street food some pics and we were back to the hotel by 10...
We had decided to be lazy and leave Pondy by 12PM... it had rained that night and from the weather forecasts, there were chances of rain on the route back... after packing up and leaving Pondy at 12PM, we were stopped at the tolls by a policeman to check our bags for alcohol.. the minute he knew the pillion was a lady, he starte to shout at me saying how can you get a lady on a bike.. its too risky and even started to advise D saying don't come on bike, come by car.. more safe.. i agreed and didnt want to start a whole new conversation of why we came by bike...
we came back the same route with a little twist.. we were blessed by the rain gods this time when we were going from Gingee till Vellore... it didnt stop there as half way towards Krishnagiri and it started to drizzle again... well didnt hamper our spirits as we decided to ride the rains...
took some extra breaks on teh way back and we were home by 7PM...
Overall.. a very good ride with no issues and a beautiful machine i can depend upon... more to come
The day we reached
the excitement
the beach road
on our way back
taking a quick shower
Vellore Fort
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