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Nice pictures. I especially like the last one with the sunset against the profile of your bike.

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Its sunrise we started off at 615am and came back home around 2.30pm.

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This set of pictures is from a super overnight ride last weekend Jan 2 to usher in the new year. Gurpratap and I rode to Daman, our first ride to Gujarat. We left at 7:00 am amidst a cold morning and had breakfast at Ramakrishna Lonavala. After warming ourselves over a some hot tea and fortifying ourselves with breakfast which consisted of idli soaked in sambar (fondly referred to as dip-dip) and a cheese omelet we made tracks for Thane. We reached Thane in no time after taking the Panvel bypass via JNPT and paused for a few minutes to get our bearings. Our plan was to take the Airoli Mulund road which circumvents Thane city and eventually comes out at Fountain Hotel which is situated at the beginning of the Gujarat highway NH8. Post a few kilometers on NH8 the road opens up and is fantastically paved to make for high speed cruising, which we both thoroughly enjoy. We crossed Charoti and stopped at a famous Parsi restaurant called Ahura at 12:30 pm where we tucked into some scrumptious mutton cutlets, akoori and sali chicken washed down by a few soft drinks. We then proceeded to cross Vapi and take the turn off to Udwada which is 3km after Vapi toll. We proceeded to the Iranshah Agiary which is the main Fire Temple in India of the Parsis. The town is quaint and peaceful and is like taking a step back in time. After spending a little while there, we began our final leg for Devka Beach, Daman. Ahem, apologies for probably waking up the residents of Udwada with our exhaust notes during siesta time which is 2pm. Our search for a hotel began and we settled for a joint called Summer Resort which was a little off the main Devka beach road and opposite hotel Ocean Inn.

We stepped out to buy some spirits in the evening as prices are much lower in Daman being a Union Territory of India which applies to Petrol as well at Rs.58/-. Daman being the nearest watering hole from dry Gujarat has its fair share of tipplers whose sole aim is to get plastered, So, dont be surprised to see dodgy fellows weaving, raving and ranting from 5pm onwards or perhaps throughout the day. Ride safe.

We eventually parked ourselves at the restaurant located at Miramar Hotel overlooking the sea. The place was packed with a rather boisterous crowd and here I mean even the family variety which were partying away to a lip-syncing live band belting out old bollywood songs. The saving grace of the evening were the excellent tiger prawns off which we had one dish golden fried and the other in a chinese hot garlic sauce. As the evening wore on, we were horrified at the shenanigans of the crowd, who by now were tossing bundles of money at the lip-syncing band and beginning to brawl amongst each other, we scooted for the nearest exit.

We left the next morning at 7am amidst a surprisingly cold morning and after fueling up hit the highway. The highway was busy with some superb bikes out for a morning ride and we rode alongside, rode past, were ridden past and stopped to introduce ourselves at Parsi Da Dhaba to some like minded folk. There was a Ducati Paningale 1198, Ninja 650, Benelli 650, CBR1000 Fireblade and Yamaha R1 which we saw at different points up till Manor. We returned the same way we came in so our return was uneventful except for the superb Vada Pao at Panvel that we stopped for. Another quick bite at Ramakrishna and we reached home at 2:15 pm.

This was a memorable ride indeed though I wasn't able to capture any video footage of my Ninja as the bar mount broke. So, the video coming up of this ride will mostly feature the Bonneville.

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Great going Akshay!

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Thanks Krishna

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You can watch the video from our ride to Daman. Hope you enjoy it.

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These set of pictures are from three rides over the last ten days. The first off which was a ride to Amby Valley with my wife. Pune is especially cold these days and more often than not we end up leaving for our morning rides amidst the weather being around 8 to 10 degrees. I remember that the highway to Lonavala on the Amby Valley ride was filled with fog and that too on the straights, with visibility barely a 100 metres. Met with Gaurav on his Kawasaki ZX14 also returning with his group from Lonavala. Also met with a rider on a well maintained Yamaha R1 2008, in-line four from Mumbai.

The second ride was to Lavasa to join the BS Motoring team who were doing a feature on bikes with 300cc parallel twins in India. So I lent them my Ninja and also took part in the comparo photoshoot with the Yamaha R3 and Benelli 300. BS Motoring were also doing the Car and Bike awards of the Year and so I was able to check out a whole new range of both during the time I spent there. A very satisfying and educational day was spent with a super bunch of folks like Sherman and Karthik to name a few. Also spent some good time with motocross champion buddy Rustom Patel who was part of the jury for the awards. The comparo should hit the March 2016 issue. Do have a look.

The third ride which was Republic Day was another very early start to Lonavala for a quick breakfast as riding buddy Gurpratap had to be back by 9am for some work and I was able to attend the Republic Day celebrations at home. Gurpratap has installed new "Gasser" exhausts from the US on the Bonneville which sings a lovely deep refined tune. As it was unbearably cold enroute, we stopped midway to Lonavala and had tea where I warmed my hands over a pressure cooker which was blasting away at the tapri. We met with friends Ashish Pillai (Friction Team), Ishaan and Yash (heading to Coimbatore Racetrack on the coming weekend) at Ramakrishna for some bonhomie and made plans to catch up at IBW Goa in Feb.

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This is an excerpt from the March issue of Motoring World featuring my bike and I in a photoshoot done for the magazine in January.

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Things have been slow since February as I had a toss on my bike at Chorla Ghat, Belgaum whilst riding to Goa for IBW 2016. The fall resulted in a broken arm, one of which was a clean break and the other a fracture near the elbow. Post hospitalization and surgery which has left me with a titanium plate inserted in my arm alongwith screws to hold the bones in place and which also involved painful bone grafting, I am in the recuperating stage. It was fortunate that I was riding with a group and especially my riding buddy Gurpratap, as they not only took care of me but also sent my damaged bike back to Pune. This was my first major crash ever since I began riding a bike and it is one helluva experience I tell you. Since then, my bike is back from repairs and looking meaner then ever, ready for business, but it wont be for at least another month that I will be. Ha!

This year's ride to IBW was fraught with accidents, including a couple of fatalities. I am fortunate that I came out of this episode relatively lightly and thank God for being by my side.

The crash was captured on my camera which was mounted on Gurpratap's bonnville, which was ahead of me, and which I refer to frequently whilst I'm laid up recovering as to how I could have handled the situation in a better way. Have a look.

Quote: "There are only two types of bikers, those that have crashed and those that will."

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Recover soon buddy. Take care.

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Thanks. I am hoping my Doctor gives me the green light next week so i can begin riding once again. My fingers are crossed.

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Hey Sorry to hear about your crash and injuries. Hope you recover fully and quick. Every crash is a learning opportunity and it's good to see you're treating this as one. Since you've put it out there, I assume you don't mind me presenting my forensic analysis on your crash:

In Summary - Your lines are all wrong for all the corners you take in the whole video. Basic principle of cornering is to start the corner wide and finish tight. Instead you're starting the corner wide and finishing tight. For right handers, you want to start somewhere near the edge of the road and aim to finish the turn near the centre line. For left handers, you want to start the turn near the centre line and aim to finish near the edge of the road (on your side). Of course you don't want to be exactly at the edge of the road but assuming perfect road conditions and no traffic, that sort of swooping line gives you the safest and smoothest line through a corner.

0:05 - You are too close to the centre line for the right hand turn. This is probably because you've just overtaken another bike and haven't had time to select your ideal line.
0:08 - You are way wide when you finish the corner and are in a bad position to start the left hander. You should be close to the centre line at this point
0:11 - Because you started the left hander in the wrong position, you end up way wide (into the oncoming lane) when you finish the left hander
0:15 - Another tight left hander comes up and you are totally in the wrong position to take it. You should be near the centre line looking through the left hander right now. Instead, you have panicked, locked your arms while braking and are looking straight down in front of you. Your speed was not that high that you couldn't have made the corner. You should've setup your line so you were close to the centre line, finished braking before you turn in (or trail brake if you know how to), looked through the corner and turned the bike. I guarantee you would've made the corner. Even your mate, who's bike the camera is mounted on, went way wide on the corner and is lucky no-one was coming the other way.

Clear learnings you can take from this crash:
1. Practice better lines. If you are not able to take the lines you want to, this means you're going too fast for your skill level, slow down. Read some books or watch videos on the best lines to take through corners for road riding.
2. Look through the corner. This has saved my life so many times. Whenever you think you are going way too fast to be able to make the corner, don't panic, force yourself to look where you want to go. 99% of the time you will be able to make it. Your bike will go where you look. But if you don't look through the corner and look at where you should not be, 99% of the time you will not make it.
3. Trail Braking - Being able to brake while leaned over is a very handy skill to have. Not only for going fast but also as a safety technique when you need to wash off speed or change your line quickly in a corner while leaned over.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

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Thanks for taking the trouble to analyse and pen down your valuable insights and advice. Whilst what you say is true and sage advice, it sometimes becomes difficult to overcome ones "SRs" in the heat of the moment. Yes, I have been reading "twist of the wrist". However, if one should be in the pursuit to better ones riding technique, then perhaps something like this could have been avoided. Also, you may have missed the fine film of mud that was on the inner corner of the turn which I was trying to avoid by trying to go around, but went in too hot, panicked and then the shit hit the fan. I had shown this video to friend NK, CEO Ducati Pune who also noticed my awry lines from the beginning of the video and attributed this to dehydration which usually results in lack of concentration. Nevertheless, I appreciate your advice and hope to inculcate the same when I'm out riding next.

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So sorry to see you crashed. It's a classic target fixation issue by looks of it. I wish you recover fast and hope it did not hurt too bad.

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Thanks. It was mighty painful for the first couple of hours till I received the pain killers.