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First Long Ride.
A brief text about my new bike:
Least did I believe that I will own a bike and that dream would be fulfilled by my parents. It came during a very important phase of my life where I had to make a transition from a dull and timid college student to an outgoing and happy teenager. After a lot of confusion I got my bike – A TVS Apache RTR 180 ABS in pearl white and christened her ‘Sasha’. At this juncture I would like to thank everyone who patiently suggested me so many bikes and their pros and cons.
Beyond all the likes and dislikes, the bike grew on me as though it was meant to be mine. Everything from price and availability satisfied my requirements. Initially before the first service I had a very bad time in getting along with the new engine. It was rough and I let it stall numerous times. It was painful when I first rode it for ~50km at a stretch. Probably because of no proper test ride. But later that week the pain was off and I had decided to bond more with the bike. I finally found a sweet riding posture and internet very much helped me with that. I am a very passive rider and due to my college, I could only take my bike out during weekends. With time I became more aware of riding properly and proper riding gears. This trip made me correct my mistakes and increased my bond with the bike.
My bike
:
The ride:
During the same period, one of my friends had got the Suzuki Gixxer which was also just under the break in period. Also, one of my schoolmates who owns a duke came in contact so that the following weekend we could ride in the morning on the East Coast Road – ECR to Mahabalipuram for breakfast. So it was finally three riders out of which two were totally new and one very well experienced.
On Feb 8th 2015, we decided to start at 6:30 am from Guindy Industrial Estate. But that was again delayed due to early morning blues which made us meet at 7:30 am. I had to take the GST road and the famous Kathipara clover leaf flyover to get there. So this was the first time I took my RTR on a nice curve on one of the clover shaped flyover wing! It was such an exhilarating start for the day with mild weather and breezy curve. I waited there for the other two to join me and we checked petrol and air levels at a nearby bharat petroleoum bunk.
before the ride, waiting for the other rider to join
Early in the morning the roads till Thiruvanmiyur were crowded by MTC buses. So that’s when we planned to make a quick run out of the city to reach ECR. That was also the time when I first revved my engine to 6k rpm and above to make quicker runs. We crossed Thiruvanmiyur and sped up to ECR. My friend’s duke was so well maintained and it has the remarkable distinction of returning 55kmpl mileage on highways on an average. Also the duke is popular at Adyar, Ashok Pillar KTM showrooms and Jai Bajaj at West Mambalam for the same. My friend Sarathy, is the proud owner of the bike and he has named it Pinsar( a pokemon’s name I guess). During the quick runs we were not able to find where the other riders were and slowed down abruptly to check if they’re following as a unit.
So now, came the best part. We crossed MGM Dizzee World and the roads opened up. Previously my duker friend had reached speeds upto 138kmph on his duke. My other friend, Shyaam, who was riding the Gixxer had not done a top speed run yet. But still he decided to ride sedately. Sarathy and I decided to do a top speed run and I trusted my bike. As I have seen many speed runs with crouched riding posture, I ducked in and rested my head on the tank with my eyes focused on the road upfront. Slowly I was building up speed and the engine revved upto 8500rpm. The first time ever I had goosebumps on a machine all by myself. The duke on the other hand was at my back waiting for me to complete the run. I vaguely remember, because of all that ad-rush and nervousness and all eyes on the road before, around 9k rpm, the bike took me upto 104kmph. There was a slight curve and I took notice to slow down. Next my friend who is used to the top speed runs on his duke 200 which is 12k km old did a 120kmph run. My gixxer buddy still waited doing 70s and 80s. The roads opened up again, this time we looked around and everything appeared good. I was more confident this time and did a 106kmph(not a big difference but the numbers mattered most).
We rode up to places where there were checkpoints and there were little traffic crowded. There were free roads after this place called Uthandi. We rode after that and were able to find open roads again. After everything was sure, I prayed to my biker angel and crouched on the tank again. My friend on the duke 200 did a 124kmph run. We were going in a line with headlights on. I came out to the right from the line, closed my helmet’s visor and turned on the high beam. I honked until I managed to cross my group of 3. Crouched as much as possible and shifted to 5th gear at around 7500rpm and went on to reach my best top speed of 116kmph. I was there at it for a few seconds and I was constantly on the look out on the road for something that might come in my way. I could feel the blood pumping inside and had goosebumps again! Finally when there was a mild turn, I let down the throttle and hit the brakes to come down back to 60kmph slowly and steadily. What an experience! And I would like to thank my two rider friends here who were keenly following up and giving me confidence that they were there in case of any emergency. My friend on the gixxer didn’t want to push his bike and came around 80s and 90s.
At this time my bike was not even 500km old and I trusted my bike for it didn’t face any engine seizure or stall. Then around 38km off the city we had stopped on the ECR for our first break. I had to stretch out my arms and shoulders. I had a small pain at my legs and it went off after stretching. There were bloody road works which had all the gravel on road. There were patches of good tarmac on the extended part where my duker friend rode to have some acceleration fun. But that ended soon and there were good roads again. I thought it was time to have some fun and accelerated quick playing overtakes and honking.
There was a tough moment when my friend, Shyaam on the gixxer came accelerating between the RTR and the duke and slowed suddenly in front of me. This is when ABS comfortably saved me. Also this was the first time I felt the rear ABS work perfectly with the front. A lesson learnt, we went back to the line formation and reached Mahabalipuram. There is an A2B restaurant at the entrance on the place and we stopped there for breakfast. We ordered food and had a long chat. There were awesome professional bikers on royal enfields, Harley Davidson and bigger duke 390s. We were ogling at the bikes and had some photos of our bikes clicked. We had forgotten to click pics as the ride was so much fun!
at A2B, mahabalipuram
our breakfast!
the bikes
![Click image for larger version
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Views: 1
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After that we had plenty of time and we wanted to ride further. I had been to Radison Bay Temple Blue for the 19th National Symposium on Radiation Physics. Since it was hosted by Atomic Research Institute, I was given accommodation at a hostel in Kalpakkam Nuclear reactor township. That is a small place with well laid roads with a beach. So we decided to loaf around there. It was around 20km from Mahabalipuram. We all have seen the monuments at Mahabalipuram and decided not to go in there again. This stretch was fun again. We continuously maintained 60-70kmph and the two new engines of gixxer and RTR were doing so good. And mine has become more refined on the way! No vibes felt for sometime! There were plenty of culverts and canals which looked nice for shooting pics. But the ride was more intriguing and we decided to continue. We reached the township and rested our bikes under a tree in a scenic street. We shot some pictures and I showed my friends the hostel I stayed in. We took some help and went out of the township to a nearby beach. We halted there for more pics of our rides and did some ‘Us’sie!
We had ideas of returning back for lunch and so we started off. We reached the ECR again and I do not remember what happened to me. Once I picked up speed I never came down again. I was constantly tormenting the engine to do 70s and 80s. And I was in total control of the bike. There was a set of two small corners with speed bumps at the exit. Sarathy and I had awesome time leaning there while coming out of the township. Maybe that’s when I became more lustful towards the roads forward? I left the two behind and went on and on. Shyaam on his gixxer was still not pushing his bike. He was following us and was sedately enjoying the ride. I halted now and then and used the RVM to see if they were following up closely. I was in total control and felt that I had a dragon instead of a bike and that I was a dragon booster :P Sarathy caught up with me whenever I halted and we made quick plans on our next stop. We reached Mahabalipuram back and ended up continuing our ride.
The serene and clean township of kalpakkam
The 'us'sie
Such a shady place
A la beach! this is one of the beaches which was severely hit by tsunami and wears a deserted look since then. There was a bush and beyond that one could find a view of the nuclear reactor. But thats hard to get through as its full of thorns and insects.
On our return journey, we took more breaks as our friend Shyaam had to use eye drops to clear his eyes and we stretched meanwhile. I noticed that my backpack was unevenly balanced on my shoulders and it gave me some pain. I corrected it and started riding. We were riding really spirited till we crossed the ECR toll booth. There is an awesome street with uber cool bungalows and nice roads right next to the toll plaza. Sarathy told us about that and we decided to stop there for shooting pictures. We unpacked the snacks we had there and shot multiple pictures. That’s when I rode the duke again and it was completely fine compared to the very first time I rode it with a pillion a few months back. Because I had plans of buying it before and I was power crazy!
From there we decided not to take the Thiruvanmiyur stretch again due to the bus traffic. So we took the OMR, the IT corridor. There to our dismay, the traffic was more than what we expected on a Sunday. I found that Sarathy had developed a liking towards city riding on his 12k km old duke. We followed him through gaps and were going quick till NIFT, Chennai. But then ther was a signal I slowed down to see if my gixxer buddy was following. Without any notice, the duker guy had sneaked in and gone forward. We waited for the traffic to move out of the signal and started riding together. We were constantly on the lookout for Sarathy and were riding sedately. But only later when we reached the starting point we realised he had already reached that place and we were searching for someone who was not in the farthest possible sight at all. Over all the trip cam down to 170.3km on the trip meter until I reached back home at exactly 1:25pm. They both took the opposite turn to their homes and we united back on whatsapp forming a group called ‘s riders’ as all our names started with ‘S’. It was a very short trip but was totally fun filled and gave us many experiences on group riding and coordination. I would not forget this trip and we wish to ride again together for many such quick getaways with more riders all around the city.
During the long return break:
I love the way my bike shimmers under the sun :P like zeus's armour :P
Throughout the trip, I forgot to constantly keep check on the mileage and from the last refill, I managed to calculate an average of 43kmpl out of my bike. Sarathy’s duke 200 returned 49-51kmpl which the meter displayed and also he manually cross checked. After this ride, I found the need for better riding gears and I have decided to buy a better helmet, riding jacket, knee pads and riding gloves.
I feel grateful to my bike, my friends who came with me and the person who taught me riding at my driving school within a month and made me get a bike in the same month along with license. And now when I use my bike I feel this bike has been with me for long and that I’ve been riding long. Above all, I feel more grateful to my parents who got me this bike.
Finally, one good picture with my bike
![Click image for larger version
Name: +91_94456_61161_20150227_223155[1].jpg
Views: 1
Size: 57.2 KB
ID: 1988243](filedata/fetch?id=1988243&d=1430382060)
The odometer after returning from the ride.
Thanks for reading.
A brief text about my new bike:
Least did I believe that I will own a bike and that dream would be fulfilled by my parents. It came during a very important phase of my life where I had to make a transition from a dull and timid college student to an outgoing and happy teenager. After a lot of confusion I got my bike – A TVS Apache RTR 180 ABS in pearl white and christened her ‘Sasha’. At this juncture I would like to thank everyone who patiently suggested me so many bikes and their pros and cons.
Beyond all the likes and dislikes, the bike grew on me as though it was meant to be mine. Everything from price and availability satisfied my requirements. Initially before the first service I had a very bad time in getting along with the new engine. It was rough and I let it stall numerous times. It was painful when I first rode it for ~50km at a stretch. Probably because of no proper test ride. But later that week the pain was off and I had decided to bond more with the bike. I finally found a sweet riding posture and internet very much helped me with that. I am a very passive rider and due to my college, I could only take my bike out during weekends. With time I became more aware of riding properly and proper riding gears. This trip made me correct my mistakes and increased my bond with the bike.
My bike
The ride:
During the same period, one of my friends had got the Suzuki Gixxer which was also just under the break in period. Also, one of my schoolmates who owns a duke came in contact so that the following weekend we could ride in the morning on the East Coast Road – ECR to Mahabalipuram for breakfast. So it was finally three riders out of which two were totally new and one very well experienced.
On Feb 8th 2015, we decided to start at 6:30 am from Guindy Industrial Estate. But that was again delayed due to early morning blues which made us meet at 7:30 am. I had to take the GST road and the famous Kathipara clover leaf flyover to get there. So this was the first time I took my RTR on a nice curve on one of the clover shaped flyover wing! It was such an exhilarating start for the day with mild weather and breezy curve. I waited there for the other two to join me and we checked petrol and air levels at a nearby bharat petroleoum bunk.
before the ride, waiting for the other rider to join
Early in the morning the roads till Thiruvanmiyur were crowded by MTC buses. So that’s when we planned to make a quick run out of the city to reach ECR. That was also the time when I first revved my engine to 6k rpm and above to make quicker runs. We crossed Thiruvanmiyur and sped up to ECR. My friend’s duke was so well maintained and it has the remarkable distinction of returning 55kmpl mileage on highways on an average. Also the duke is popular at Adyar, Ashok Pillar KTM showrooms and Jai Bajaj at West Mambalam for the same. My friend Sarathy, is the proud owner of the bike and he has named it Pinsar( a pokemon’s name I guess). During the quick runs we were not able to find where the other riders were and slowed down abruptly to check if they’re following as a unit.
So now, came the best part. We crossed MGM Dizzee World and the roads opened up. Previously my duker friend had reached speeds upto 138kmph on his duke. My other friend, Shyaam, who was riding the Gixxer had not done a top speed run yet. But still he decided to ride sedately. Sarathy and I decided to do a top speed run and I trusted my bike. As I have seen many speed runs with crouched riding posture, I ducked in and rested my head on the tank with my eyes focused on the road upfront. Slowly I was building up speed and the engine revved upto 8500rpm. The first time ever I had goosebumps on a machine all by myself. The duke on the other hand was at my back waiting for me to complete the run. I vaguely remember, because of all that ad-rush and nervousness and all eyes on the road before, around 9k rpm, the bike took me upto 104kmph. There was a slight curve and I took notice to slow down. Next my friend who is used to the top speed runs on his duke 200 which is 12k km old did a 120kmph run. My gixxer buddy still waited doing 70s and 80s. The roads opened up again, this time we looked around and everything appeared good. I was more confident this time and did a 106kmph(not a big difference but the numbers mattered most).
We rode up to places where there were checkpoints and there were little traffic crowded. There were free roads after this place called Uthandi. We rode after that and were able to find open roads again. After everything was sure, I prayed to my biker angel and crouched on the tank again. My friend on the duke 200 did a 124kmph run. We were going in a line with headlights on. I came out to the right from the line, closed my helmet’s visor and turned on the high beam. I honked until I managed to cross my group of 3. Crouched as much as possible and shifted to 5th gear at around 7500rpm and went on to reach my best top speed of 116kmph. I was there at it for a few seconds and I was constantly on the look out on the road for something that might come in my way. I could feel the blood pumping inside and had goosebumps again! Finally when there was a mild turn, I let down the throttle and hit the brakes to come down back to 60kmph slowly and steadily. What an experience! And I would like to thank my two rider friends here who were keenly following up and giving me confidence that they were there in case of any emergency. My friend on the gixxer didn’t want to push his bike and came around 80s and 90s.
At this time my bike was not even 500km old and I trusted my bike for it didn’t face any engine seizure or stall. Then around 38km off the city we had stopped on the ECR for our first break. I had to stretch out my arms and shoulders. I had a small pain at my legs and it went off after stretching. There were bloody road works which had all the gravel on road. There were patches of good tarmac on the extended part where my duker friend rode to have some acceleration fun. But that ended soon and there were good roads again. I thought it was time to have some fun and accelerated quick playing overtakes and honking.
There was a tough moment when my friend, Shyaam on the gixxer came accelerating between the RTR and the duke and slowed suddenly in front of me. This is when ABS comfortably saved me. Also this was the first time I felt the rear ABS work perfectly with the front. A lesson learnt, we went back to the line formation and reached Mahabalipuram. There is an A2B restaurant at the entrance on the place and we stopped there for breakfast. We ordered food and had a long chat. There were awesome professional bikers on royal enfields, Harley Davidson and bigger duke 390s. We were ogling at the bikes and had some photos of our bikes clicked. We had forgotten to click pics as the ride was so much fun!
at A2B, mahabalipuram
our breakfast!
the bikes
After that we had plenty of time and we wanted to ride further. I had been to Radison Bay Temple Blue for the 19th National Symposium on Radiation Physics. Since it was hosted by Atomic Research Institute, I was given accommodation at a hostel in Kalpakkam Nuclear reactor township. That is a small place with well laid roads with a beach. So we decided to loaf around there. It was around 20km from Mahabalipuram. We all have seen the monuments at Mahabalipuram and decided not to go in there again. This stretch was fun again. We continuously maintained 60-70kmph and the two new engines of gixxer and RTR were doing so good. And mine has become more refined on the way! No vibes felt for sometime! There were plenty of culverts and canals which looked nice for shooting pics. But the ride was more intriguing and we decided to continue. We reached the township and rested our bikes under a tree in a scenic street. We shot some pictures and I showed my friends the hostel I stayed in. We took some help and went out of the township to a nearby beach. We halted there for more pics of our rides and did some ‘Us’sie!
We had ideas of returning back for lunch and so we started off. We reached the ECR again and I do not remember what happened to me. Once I picked up speed I never came down again. I was constantly tormenting the engine to do 70s and 80s. And I was in total control of the bike. There was a set of two small corners with speed bumps at the exit. Sarathy and I had awesome time leaning there while coming out of the township. Maybe that’s when I became more lustful towards the roads forward? I left the two behind and went on and on. Shyaam on his gixxer was still not pushing his bike. He was following us and was sedately enjoying the ride. I halted now and then and used the RVM to see if they were following up closely. I was in total control and felt that I had a dragon instead of a bike and that I was a dragon booster :P Sarathy caught up with me whenever I halted and we made quick plans on our next stop. We reached Mahabalipuram back and ended up continuing our ride.
The serene and clean township of kalpakkam
The 'us'sie
Such a shady place
A la beach! this is one of the beaches which was severely hit by tsunami and wears a deserted look since then. There was a bush and beyond that one could find a view of the nuclear reactor. But thats hard to get through as its full of thorns and insects.
On our return journey, we took more breaks as our friend Shyaam had to use eye drops to clear his eyes and we stretched meanwhile. I noticed that my backpack was unevenly balanced on my shoulders and it gave me some pain. I corrected it and started riding. We were riding really spirited till we crossed the ECR toll booth. There is an awesome street with uber cool bungalows and nice roads right next to the toll plaza. Sarathy told us about that and we decided to stop there for shooting pictures. We unpacked the snacks we had there and shot multiple pictures. That’s when I rode the duke again and it was completely fine compared to the very first time I rode it with a pillion a few months back. Because I had plans of buying it before and I was power crazy!
From there we decided not to take the Thiruvanmiyur stretch again due to the bus traffic. So we took the OMR, the IT corridor. There to our dismay, the traffic was more than what we expected on a Sunday. I found that Sarathy had developed a liking towards city riding on his 12k km old duke. We followed him through gaps and were going quick till NIFT, Chennai. But then ther was a signal I slowed down to see if my gixxer buddy was following. Without any notice, the duker guy had sneaked in and gone forward. We waited for the traffic to move out of the signal and started riding together. We were constantly on the lookout for Sarathy and were riding sedately. But only later when we reached the starting point we realised he had already reached that place and we were searching for someone who was not in the farthest possible sight at all. Over all the trip cam down to 170.3km on the trip meter until I reached back home at exactly 1:25pm. They both took the opposite turn to their homes and we united back on whatsapp forming a group called ‘s riders’ as all our names started with ‘S’. It was a very short trip but was totally fun filled and gave us many experiences on group riding and coordination. I would not forget this trip and we wish to ride again together for many such quick getaways with more riders all around the city.
During the long return break:
I love the way my bike shimmers under the sun :P like zeus's armour :P
Throughout the trip, I forgot to constantly keep check on the mileage and from the last refill, I managed to calculate an average of 43kmpl out of my bike. Sarathy’s duke 200 returned 49-51kmpl which the meter displayed and also he manually cross checked. After this ride, I found the need for better riding gears and I have decided to buy a better helmet, riding jacket, knee pads and riding gloves.
I feel grateful to my bike, my friends who came with me and the person who taught me riding at my driving school within a month and made me get a bike in the same month along with license. And now when I use my bike I feel this bike has been with me for long and that I’ve been riding long. Above all, I feel more grateful to my parents who got me this bike.
Finally, one good picture with my bike
The odometer after returning from the ride.
Thanks for reading.
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