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Left Hyderabad at 8:00AM on Friday Morning. Reached Pandalam, Kerala yesterday(Saturday) at 5:45PM. Total Distance: 1342Kms. Fuel Spent: Approx 3,000/-
Route taken: Hyderabad > Bangalore > Salem > Madurai > Tirunelveli > Tenkasi > Punalur > Kottarakkara > Pandalam.
It was a dream ride till Tirunelveli on the AH43. Majority of the times I was able to comfortably sit at 125-130K. And for dead straight stretches after Salem, comfortably able to do 140+ for 5-10mins each even with the luggage at the back. Max I dared going was 160. Apart from a few stretches being a little bumpy or rough, nothing really to complain about at all!
Left Hyderabad at 7:55AM on Friday Morning. Before that, reached Hebbal at 3:40PM. Electronic City Flyover was a blessing. After Bangalore it got dark(thanks to NO bangalore bypass and heavy traffic in ring road), so had to slow down to like 60odd Kmph and took a long chai break at krishnagiri. After dark, the Ghat section with heavy vehicles charging behind you like there is no tomorrow was a little scary. Reached Salem at 8:55PM. If I had left by 6AM, would have reached Salem by 5PM.
Stopped over at Park Plaza in Salem. Left at 7:45AM. The roads after Salem to Madurai was mostly just a dead arrow straight wet dream
Mistake made was entering Tirunelveli town. Should have taken the right before the town to cross it. A stretch of about 10-15Kms from Tirunelveli is a nightmare, shops on either sides, barely 5m wide road with both sides dug up. crazy heavy vehicles blocking the roads etc.. etc..
About 15Kms after Tirunelveli, roads were in much better shape. From the 'S Valavu' uptil Punalur, broken slow twisty roads with some big occational potholes. This was the slowest stretch of all the trip. 20-40Kmph. I'm trying to forget that I did a dead crawl in Tirunelveli town. Punalur to Kottarakkara was very decent roads except for couple of stretches. After Kottarakkara, MC road as usual filled with idiots who are trying to prove a point. LOL
Over all, 0% Back pain which I am very very surprised about but 100% A.S.S Pain
The duke is a very comfortable tourer if you can do something about the seats. The upright position completely eliminates back trouble. Have a left shoulder traps pain but that is not due to this bike, any bike I sit on, I have a left shoulder traps paining after half an hour, something to do with the anatomy of my left side, I will try raising the handlebar to see if it helps.
The biggest thing concerning me was the cyclone Madi. It was smack dab in the exact route I was taking. I'm sure most of you didn't hear anything about it. That's because it had thankfully died down due to the whole week it spent in the sea. I had been following it for a whole week to track it's progress, satellite pictures, weather bulletins and the IMD's 4Hourly report on it. And I was elated to find it dying down although I wish the people of Tamil Nadu got their fair share of rains. They are running at a deficit now.
Didn't take too many pics coz I was running on a tight schedule. A couple of them are below
Route taken: Hyderabad > Bangalore > Salem > Madurai > Tirunelveli > Tenkasi > Punalur > Kottarakkara > Pandalam.
It was a dream ride till Tirunelveli on the AH43. Majority of the times I was able to comfortably sit at 125-130K. And for dead straight stretches after Salem, comfortably able to do 140+ for 5-10mins each even with the luggage at the back. Max I dared going was 160. Apart from a few stretches being a little bumpy or rough, nothing really to complain about at all!
Left Hyderabad at 7:55AM on Friday Morning. Before that, reached Hebbal at 3:40PM. Electronic City Flyover was a blessing. After Bangalore it got dark(thanks to NO bangalore bypass and heavy traffic in ring road), so had to slow down to like 60odd Kmph and took a long chai break at krishnagiri. After dark, the Ghat section with heavy vehicles charging behind you like there is no tomorrow was a little scary. Reached Salem at 8:55PM. If I had left by 6AM, would have reached Salem by 5PM.
Stopped over at Park Plaza in Salem. Left at 7:45AM. The roads after Salem to Madurai was mostly just a dead arrow straight wet dream
Mistake made was entering Tirunelveli town. Should have taken the right before the town to cross it. A stretch of about 10-15Kms from Tirunelveli is a nightmare, shops on either sides, barely 5m wide road with both sides dug up. crazy heavy vehicles blocking the roads etc.. etc..
About 15Kms after Tirunelveli, roads were in much better shape. From the 'S Valavu' uptil Punalur, broken slow twisty roads with some big occational potholes. This was the slowest stretch of all the trip. 20-40Kmph. I'm trying to forget that I did a dead crawl in Tirunelveli town. Punalur to Kottarakkara was very decent roads except for couple of stretches. After Kottarakkara, MC road as usual filled with idiots who are trying to prove a point. LOL
Over all, 0% Back pain which I am very very surprised about but 100% A.S.S Pain
The duke is a very comfortable tourer if you can do something about the seats. The upright position completely eliminates back trouble. Have a left shoulder traps pain but that is not due to this bike, any bike I sit on, I have a left shoulder traps paining after half an hour, something to do with the anatomy of my left side, I will try raising the handlebar to see if it helps.
The biggest thing concerning me was the cyclone Madi. It was smack dab in the exact route I was taking. I'm sure most of you didn't hear anything about it. That's because it had thankfully died down due to the whole week it spent in the sea. I had been following it for a whole week to track it's progress, satellite pictures, weather bulletins and the IMD's 4Hourly report on it. And I was elated to find it dying down although I wish the people of Tamil Nadu got their fair share of rains. They are running at a deficit now.
Didn't take too many pics coz I was running on a tight schedule. A couple of them are below
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