Re: Day Rides

Thanks, though not being able to get out much due to the rains and also riding buddy Gurpratap's leg being back in a cast for the next month or so.

Re: Day Rides

This set of pictures is from an overnight ride to Goa last Diwali weekend. I began my ride at 5.30 am on Saturday with the weather turning cool past Wai and made a tea break stop at Sai Inn Kolhapur where I bumped into a guy called Biju Nair who was driving a BMW GT. After a little chit chat it turned out that he preferred riding his Activa scooter as a preferred means of transport within the city. I then headed for Belgaum and thereafter the lovely Chorla Ghat where I encountered a couple of young lads who were out for photography and wanted to take some pictures with my bike, so I let them have their way.

At the crest of the ghat I made another quick stop at Delta restaurant and couldn't resist taking this picture. Talk about Sussado in Goa. Ha!
I reached Donna Paula jetty at 14:15 and after a little trouble amidst the crowds that throng this place for the watersports and sightseeing, I found the hotel called Zuari View which was where I was to stay with riding buddy Gopal who had shacked up here since Thursday.

After a short rest, some lunch of Bombil masala fry and dal and wiping my bike down (riding ritual), Gopal and I headed to Siridao beach. Gopal took in a swim whilst I sat on a parapet and soaked in the sights and sounds.

We then left for Panjim to shop for some spirits and headed back to the hotel. Gopal wanted to catch up with some friends at a local dive called Josephs Bar whilst I wanted to catch up on some R&R, so I stayed back and chilled out watching the view from the balcony.
The next morning we left from Zuari View at 6.30am and rode through Old Goa where we encountered a lot of Police who had stopped vehicles due to Bridge Inspection. Considering that Goa has had its fair share of bridge collapses, I guess it's better to be safe than sorry. We then found an alternative route thanks to Gopal's local knowledge of Goa and continued towards Chorla.

Chorla Ghat is always a treat to ride and especially in the mornings. This morning didn't disappoint and we took our time video shooting and enjoying the scenery.

We crossed Belgaum without a fuss and met up with Chezian on the highway around 10.30am. He was returning to Pune from Bangalore on his Ducati Hyper Motard. The three of us then rode back together and after making a quick stop at Nipani and thereafter to MacDonald Kolhapur for lunch.

We left from Mcd at 14.30 and thereafter the ride went badly downhill. It began with a traffic jam at Satara and heavy rain shortly thereafter. We got seperated and as I wasn't carrying any rain gear decided to push on as it didn't make sense to wait under a tree and get soaked to the gills. I then stopped past Wai for a cup of tea where I met Rajneesh on his new KTM390, also returning from Goa and looking as harried as me. We decided to ride back together. A few kilometres ahead began a series' of traffic jams where the numerous diversions that plague this highway before Pune have emerged. My heart went out to the numerous families I saw on bikes who were returning from holidays and had to brave this return home probably because of the MSRTC strike. Nevertheless, I reached home at 20.00 with Gopal and Chelian back in their cribs at 21.00. Never has it taken me so long to return back from Goa, 13.5 hours, Ugh!

Re: Day Rides

This is the video from the Goa ride. The footage is from the return leg and will take you on a journey through old Goa and the beautiful Chorla Ghat. Do subscribe to my Youtube channel.

Re: Day Rides

This set of pictures is from yesterday's Sunday morning ride to Lonavala. The weather was a cool 17°C and the change from rain gear to thermals has been quick this year. This ride gave me the opportunity to break in my new set of tyres and inaugurate the new Airoh lid. Both performed magnificently. Enroute and Lonavala was packed with bikers this morning which is a harbinger of the scene to come for this riding season.

I then visited riding buddy Gurpratap whose leg is in a cast and will be out of action till mid December at least. A breakfast of three aloo parathas later, I took his ThruxtonR out for a spin to keep the battery charged. I then rode on to visit Anji and came across Rahul's Velocette parked at his place. This bike was restored by the Solomon brothers here in Pune.

Have a look at this stripped down Sunbeam all ready for restoration work. Notice the unusual suspension setup. Did you know that a fully restored bike like this can go for as high as Rs. 20 lac in London!

Re: Day Rides

I left for IBW 2017 on Friday morning from Pune at 6am. I stopped for breakfast at Satyawati hotel, Nipani where I met Capt. Aakarshan on his R1 also wanting to head the same way to Goa via Chorla ghat but didn't know the way, so in spirit of brotherhood I offered to ride together alongwith his friend Prashant who had flown down from Jammu to attend this epic festival and was riding a R15. After negotiating the busy Belgaum traffic we began our ascent into the hills and stopped at Delta for lunch.

Here I met Gautam from Pune on his Harley Street Glide. A little bit of chit chat and I discovered that the biking world is truly small as we had common friends. Gautam is a Director with the Harley chapter of Pune. We continued our ride and after parting ways with my riding companions at Mapusa and searching a bit, I reached my friend Craig's Portuguese Villa in Nerul which is just off Candolim in Goa and with whom I was going to stay. It was a happy reunion after a long time and after stepping out a little later to pick up some dinner and beer we settled down for the evening in his courtyard for the evening with his son Ruskin. We wound up at 3 am. Ouch!

The following morning I woke late and after wiping my bike down we headed to Cafe Lazy Days, Calangute for a late lunch and we were joined by Francis on his Harley Road King. A hearty meal and bon comradrie later, Francis and I left for the IBW show at Vagator. Craig offered me the use of his Aprilia Scooter whilst I was in Goa which I gladly accepted.

After parking the scooter in the parking lot outside the venue I rode pillion with Francis and we entered IBW and parked at the Harley tent. Francis is the Treasurer in the Harley Goa chapter and recently acquired a Big 5 patch. I loved the show except that the music was playing way too loud and made conversing difficult, what with some crack pots revving the tits of their machines et al. I met Sherman after a long time who has recently joined BS Motoring as their Asst. Editor and offered to ride back the next day though via Amboli ghat which I declined. After covering most of the tents, seeing the new bikes launched, the bikini bike wash (Mama Mia), having some chai and buying a Tee Shirt for riding buddy Gurpratap back home, Francis and I left IBW around 7pm.

I then rode past the crowded Saturday Night market at Anjuna and caught up with Kedar, Samir and Tony on Candolim beach where they were chilling out at a shack called Vibrant. I spent a relaxed and wonderful evening with them to wind up around 12.15am and then finally after packing my stuff fell asleep by 2am.

The next morning or after 3 hours of sleep, I met with Kedar and gang at 6.30am Candolim. We eventually left at 7.15am getting a little late blaming Tony's better half Sapna, but remembering that this a woman's perogrative. Ha!

Craig offered to show us a short cut which he claimed would save us 20 minutes to Chorla but instead added the time. I once again met with Gautam on Chorla and thereafter we more or less rode back to Pune together.

A couple of things worth mentioning here was the Harley Cafe situated at Kolhapur which is next to Mac Donald has opened its doors to all bikers and motorists. The ambience is biking centric and food tasty while yet being reasonable. Coupled with their novel initiative of having 4 bunks to riders who want to catch up on some sleep, I think this is a much welcome facility to the biking fraternity. I also met another Harley rider who was accompanied by his daughter for IBW and something that I would also like to do next year. The traffic on the last stretch before Pune was overwhelming to say the least and slowed down the return journey to have me knocking on my door at 6pm.
The video of this entire ride plus IBW I shall post at the earliest possible, do not miss it.

Re: Day Rides

How was the IBW event? I heard from people that it was much smaller this time.

Re: Day Rides

Event-wise it was good. There was a variety of stuff that was covered to suit all types of riders. Some interesting new bikes were launched like in the BMW stable. New products, tyres, cafes etc gives one a sense of where biking is heading to and matured. Perhaps it was a tad smaller, though I really couldn't tell, but in any case who wants to be jostled amongst throngs of people. The parties thrown by Triumph, Harley and BMW went off well, the roads were packed with superb bikes and disciplined riders, so in my book IBW 17 was a success.

Re: Day Rides

This is the video from my ride to IBW 2017. Please subscribe to my Youtube channel.

Re: Day Rides

Another picture from the IBW Ride and an article about Gautam from today's TOI, Goa.

Re: Day Rides

Great first hand pictures!

Re: Day Rides

Thank you my friend

Re: Day Rides

A couple of pictures from yesterday's Sunday morning ride to Lonavala. Dense fog on the highway made the first leg of this ride a cautious one. A quick breakfast of medu vada amongst the throngs of bikers who had congregated at RK's, made this a refreshing weekend.

Re: Day Rides

An impromptu decision Wednesday, saw me leave early morning on Thursday for Goa via Anmod ghat. The weather was freezing and coupled with the wind chill factor made the first few hours a little uncomfortable. There was a point along the way when I stopped that I grabbed the exhaust end can with my bare hands just to get some heat.

This was the first time I rode to Goa via Anmod ghat which was overall a good experience. The positives of this ghat vis-a-vis Chorla is that it is shorter and devoid of speed breakers. On the other hand this crossing had a shade bit more of traffic. Anmod ghat passes through Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and skirts the Doodhsagar waterfalls. The Karnataka wildlife sanctuaries never cease to amaze me with superbly paved roads which are well marked, clean and a sight to behold. After crossing the ghat I arrived at Mollem in Goa and thereafter headed to Margao, Colva beach where I was to stay. Francis my friend and host for this trip had fixed me up at Green View Guesthouse, which offered AC rooms for Rs.1500/- per night and safe parking for my bike.

After resting for a while I went to Viva Goa near Colva beach to spend my evening with Francis. Francis is the proprietor of Viva Goa which is a delightful restaurant with parts of the decor being biking centric, also offers quality food at a reasonable price. We spent the evening chatting till late in the night over some beer and tasty food. Quite a few bikers dropped by and I was able to meet some new people as well. Francis has recently been promoted in his Harley Davidson HOG as Asst. Director and regaled me with his ride stories and the charity initiatives that they have been performing. Good stuff indeed.

With just 3.5 hours of sleep under my belt, I left the next morning via the same route to reach home within 10 hours and a 1000 km ride.

A short video from this ride is below and request you to subscribe to my Youtube channel.

Re: Day Rides

Welcome back Gurpratap. After a long painful knee injury and five months later we rode on both days of the weekend. Saturday's ride took us to Wai and Sunday we headed off to Amby Valley. These shorter rides are primarily to see if Gurpratap can make the 'biggie' we have planned in February. Bumped into Deepak on his Ninja 1000 at RK in Lonavala who showed me some beautiful pictures of himself and his wife (CBR650 F) having recently pulled a ride to Bhutan from Pune.

Re: Day Rides

This set of pictures are from a ride to Indore Jan 25 - 28. I left from Pune at 5.30 am and took the Nasik Phata route. The weather was cold once out on the open roads and I passed the towns of Chakan, Narayangoan and Sangamner before getting to Nasik. Enroute I stopped for tea which was most welcome and a chance to warm my hands off the exhaust. The road from Nasik Phata to Alephata is rough in patches but nothing extreme that a bike can't handle, except that it keeps the speed down.

I reached Nasik around 10 am and took the right from Dwarka Circle following the road under the flyover to eventually join the Mumbai - Agra AH47 highway. Once a little clear from the city I made a break for tea, water (was suffering from leg cramps and drinking lots of water fixes this problem) and bread pakoda.

The highway roads are smooth tarmac roads but there are too many speed breakers, which become irritating as each time you pick up speed it is time to stop. Passing the towns of Malegaon and Dhule brought me to the Maharashtra MP border at Palasner after which I stopped for a bite to eat of delicious green pea pulao. Petrol is cheaper by Rs. 2/- in MP.

I then pushed on and after crossing Mhow entered Indore city and after the Choitram circle following the BRTS corridor to reach my friend Inder's house at New Palassa by 6 pm having rode 650 km for the day. It was a happy reunion after a year and we chilled out on his terrace with the sigdi burning to turn in for the night at around 12.30 am.

I woke up rather late the next morning and after lots of tea and chit chat we hopped over to Apna Sweets opposite his house for the famous chaat that Indore is renowned for.

I had an invitation to attend the Baja 2018 event at Nat Tracks in Pitampur which is a competition involving automotive engineering colleges across the country, but told my buddy Rustom Patel that I couldn't make it due to time constraints. Rustom was in charge of the suspension department at this event. Instead we drove 70 km out of Indore to Dewas in Inder's Gypsy for some off roading and bonfire dinner. We were joined by some friends and we suddenly became a motley crew of eight. The off-road experience was great fun and the Gypsy handled everything thrown at it with ease. We later chilled out amidst a bonfire and sigdi cooking mutton, chatting and drinking in the middle of nowhere till around 3.30 in the morning.

The next day I took my bike to our friend DVs Benelli showroom and got it washed, lubed and polished. Had a delicious chola bhature meal for lunch and then a few of us then went for a short ride and coffee after which I got back to Inder's house and prepped my gear for the return ride the next morning.

I left Indore at 5.15 am with the weather freezing cold which kept my speed moderate out on the highway. Past Dhule, the chain snapped and broke and brought my ride to an abrupt standstill. A passerby on a bike helped tow me to the nearest village which was fortunately downhill and the local mechanic asked me to procure a chain link from Dhule to fix the issue. An oldish man offered to take me on his bike to Dhule and help. I gratefully accepted his offer and we finally got the link at a Bajaj spare service shop for Rs. 60/-. Having had nothing to eat, "Kaka" took me for some kick ass misal pau and bhajiya in Dhule. The chain was fixed in 5 minutes upon my return to the town and I was charged Rs. 20/-. I treated everyone to a round of tea by which time a small crowd had gathered to see my bike and the news had spread in the village like wildfire. After thanking everyone and an emotional farewell, I continued my ride having being set back by two-and-a-half hours. My belief in the kindness of strangers was reaffirmed.
I reached Nasik and then took the newly opened link road which takes you towards Shirdi, Aurangabad and Nasik road which is the same road to Pune I came by. I stopped enroute for an aloo paratha lunch and then encountered some horrendous traffic from Alephata right till Nasik Phata in Pune. I finally reached home at 8 pm.