Re: Harley's Ride To Spiti!

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Amazing writeup and beautifully detailed with some crisp pictures.

Re: Harley's Ride To Spiti!

Great ride. Surely not something that you see Harleys do everyday.
Thanks for sharing

Re: Harley's Ride To Spiti!

Good to see these beautiful machines put into testing by their determined riders, not many have the jist to take their beloved expensive cruisers to experience the beauty of raw nature. Absolutely beautiful

Re: Harley's Ride To Spiti!

Nothing could be more awesome than to see the Gods of Tourers in heaven itself !!! Awesome guys... glued for more pics and details

Re: Harley's Ride To Spiti!

Well done, a brave effort indeed. The mother of all hardship rides this must have been. How did you manage on those roads (er, tracks) with the bikes low ground clearance? I wonder what the wear-and-tear damages post ride were, after all its not that parts for the harleys cost a couple of hundreds from Karol Bagh, Delhi. Given your unique experience, could you share some details of how the Harley performed in such adverse conditions.

Re: Harley's Ride To Spiti!

Please upload more photos. Almost a torture for wanderlust souls......

Amazing!!!!!

Re: Harley's Ride To Spiti!

I really feel nice and like to appreciate all those harley Triump owners who all buy such a heft price bikes and really tour. Else most of them just ride it on weekends that too only 80-100kms and return by afternoon. That's it!! Over!! And story starts today did 100-120-140-150kmph etc..

Touring is what is meant for such bikes...

Good one..keep them coming!

Re: Harley's Ride To Spiti!

Brilliant narration! Thumb up.

Sent from my Xperia L.

Re: Harley's Ride To Spiti!

A few more picture of the ride -

Re: Harley's Ride To Spiti!

xBhp caught up with the riders who undertook this challenging ride on their Harley's!

xBhp - How did the bikes perform during your ride, particularly at high altitudes?
Flying Twins -The bikes performed very well. As it was a high altitude ride, we were expecting power loss due to less oxygen but nothing of that sort happened. Primarily due to the heavy capacity engines from 900 to 1700 cc!The low ground clearance was an issue on most places of Spiti but it was managed with riders' skills. The highways from Ahmedabad-Chandigarh and Shimla-Delhi-Jodhpur-Ahmedabad was a cakewalk as it was tarmac.

xBhp - Did you face any trouble with the bikes during your ride?
Flying Twins - We did face few troubles. The oil chamber of Vishwas' bike got punctured due to impact from bottom side at Chatadu and we repaired it with M-seal and later got it welded in Kaza. Next day, clutch plate of our back up vehicle gave up in those river streams before Batal and we have to get a mechanic from Manali to get it repaired. Harshul's bike was running on a single cylinder due to electrical fault but it was repaired by our technicians and few glitches here and there but as we were carrying back up and technicians it was a major help.

xBhp - Did you have to carry any extra fuel during your ride.
Flying Twins - Yes. We did carry cans of fuel with us as once we started from Manali and reached Narkanda, getting gas was a difficult task in between. The lone petrol pump at Kaza was also running dry due to landslides and not receiving fuel, food and other important supply. As Harley Davidson bikes are heavy weight, big engines and constant riding in 1st gear also impacted mileage heavily.

xBhp - What was most memorable moment of your ride?
Flying Twins - There were many moments but collectively if we have to agree on one, then it was an unplanned stay at Chataru which we had to take due to breakdown of Vishwas's bike. It was a blessing in disguise as riding a kilometre after that was torturous on body. We found a small lone dhaba in that vicinity which was surrounded by beautiful mountains and River Chandra flowing by. We stayed in a makeshift arrangement where the owners generally keep their cattle. No phone network and electricity in that area and only satellite phone in the range was few km away. We switched on our music, ate whatever was available, danced and enjoyed that day like never before. By 8 pm, we were off to bed and slept like babies till the next morning. That was an experience, we all can't forget and it teaches if it's happiness you seek then it's in small things!

xBhp - Any bad incidents?
Flying Twins - By God's grace, the ride was completely incident free. Still would like to mention that Vinay rode his bike without rear brakes almost for the whole ride because the part required to rectify the issue was rare and wasn't available with us. Vishwas too rode without rear brakes for couple of days. Riding in ascending and descending mountains with abrupt hairpin turns and to traction in form of asphalt under the tire makes it quite difficult and dangerous. But they never wanted to give up and cancel the ride hence they trusted on their skills and completed those terrains with the help of front and gear braking. On our return leg we rerouted and rode to Gurgaon to get those brakes fixed.

xBhp -What was toughest and the most beautiful portion of your ride?
Flying Twins - Let me start with the most beautiful portion. It was our visit to Chandratal Lake. We started walking towards it; we were fighting to breathe as it was at 14,000 ft. altitude. But every step towards the majestic lake was filled with changing colours of mountains and landscape. Upon reaching there, we all just stopped talking, and sat at the corner of it. Seeing the reflection of mountains in crystal clear pure water. We all were speechless seeing the beauty of it. We drank that pure and cold water till our stomachs got full and tried to fill our heart with those beautiful memories as much as we can. For all of us, it was nirvana. We were content and with memories in our heart and purity of it in our soul, we walked back.
Toughest Portion: That was at Kaza. The road ahead was blocked with landslides, mudslides and constant rains since 5 days and it was not sure when it would be opened. Kaza town started running out of its basic supplies too. We thought that the ride will end there. 3 of us had no time to spare so they took a call to return from Kaza and others started contemplating about it too. We all had phobia of shooting stones, landslides and mudslides which is deadly for riders in those treacherous terrains. But with the support of each other and the tough times we faced together, remaining 5 decided to move ahead no matter what against the advice of locals and other tourists. With heavy heart we had to say Goodbye to those 3 and that's the toughest part.

xBhp - How many bikes were there and which ones?
Flying Twins - We were having 7 Harley Davidsons which included 1 Iron, 1 Streetbob, 2 Fat Bob and 3 Fatboy. We also had one Triumph Tiger 1200.

xBhp - Tell us something more about the rider team structure (their profession, etc.)
Flying Twins - The team was of 8 entrepreneurs. Saurin Shah is a prominent criminal lawyer and rides a Triumph Tiger and an HD Heritage. Pratik Hambardiker is an IT business owner and rides Fatboy. Vinay Rajput is a textile businessman and rides Fatbob. Harshal Patel is owner of Engineering Machine tools business and rides a Fatboy. Vishwas Daswani is offline and online marketing expert and rides a Fatbob. Harshul Patel is a Lighting Solutions provider and rides an Iron. Bhavin Parikh is textile business owner and rides a Streetbob. Vikram Singh Gahlot is in BPO business and rides a Fatboy.

xBhp - Any team leader?
Flying Twins - Nope. We planned it all together and executed the ride together. All the riders were having good experience of riding before this trip.

xBhp - What was the route that you took?
Flying Twins - 5 of us started from Ahmedabad towards Jaipur on 15th July. Next day we reached Chandigarh where remaining 3 riders joined in. From Chandigarh, we rode down to Manali on 17th. Got our permits from Manali on 18th. Started from Manali on 19th rode to Rohtang Pass and entered in to Spiti Valley and stayed at Chataru. 20th we rode to Batal and stayed there. 21st morning we visited Chandra Tal and rode to Kaza. 22nd we visited Key Monastery and Asia's highest village and Monastery, "Komic". We also visited world's highest post office. 23rd 3 riders returned from Kaza to Manali and on 24th remaining 5 rode to Kalpa from Kaza Visiting Tabo enroute. 25th we stayed in the range of Kinnaur Kailash and visited a local primary school. On 26th, we started from Kalpa and reached Narkanda. 27th we rode down to Shimla from Narkanda. 28th we rode to Gurgaon via Delhi from Shimla, got the bikes repaired and stayed overnight. 29th we started in heat towards Jodhpur and at Pali, we were welcomed with heavy rains. We stayed at a place of a fellow HOG at Jodhpur and started our final run to Ahmedabad in constant rains on 30th. By evening, we reached Ahmedabad where we were greeted with our remaining 3 riders and friends.

xBhp - How did the idea of this ride come into your mind?
Flying Twins - Pratik and Harshal visited Leh on Bullets in 2014 and had amazing stories to tell. We all heard it and wanted to do it. But as they both did Leh, they wanted to do something different. So idea of Lahaul Spiti Valley came in. The initial plan was to ride Bullets but as time progressed, idea of doing something which was never done before came in. So the proposal for riding on our HDs was put forward by Vinay and Vishwash which was accepted. The experience and history was against it and other riders who did it also ridiculed it saying that the ride will never be completed and bikes will be heavily damaged risking your life too. But that only motivated us to plan this adventure on World's most Treacherous Terrain with the bikes which were never made and meant to be there. It was a challenge and was accepted by 7 of us. Hence, the ride to Spiti on HDs and the first group ever who rode these bulky bikes on this route. We conquered mountains but lost our hearts to it as well. Already planning the next as we can't wait to get back.

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Re: Harley's Ride To Spiti!

This is massive; I mean the fat tyres and the fat bodies seen on a terrain such enduring - one helluva accomplishment. Far more pleasant and intriguing to see the same bike on long American highways. Kudos to the riders and their will. Beautiful pictures; I wouldn't mind a few more pages at all.

Re: Harley's Ride To Spiti!


Thanks A lot. Appreciate it.

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Thanks for the Kind words. You can check out the page Flying Twins on Facebook and you can find the videos posted over there.!



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Thanks a lot for kind words. You can find more snaps and videos at following link.!



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Thanks a lot guys. Indeed it was a lifetime experience and craving to go back already.!

For more videos you can check out

Re: Harley's Ride To Spiti!

I presume you're talking about this "pagal nala".



I went there in 2015 as part of the Royal Enfield Himalayan Odyssey, albeit from the Shimla side en route Leh. We absolutely struggled at this crossing and were forced to halt at Chhatru as we took forever to cross all ~70 bikes. How did you guys manage on the Harleys? I presume it would have been better in the morning as lesser ice would have melted than in the evening when we reached.

Since I want to go back there (someday) on my Street 750, I would love to hear your input on how difficult/ easy were the river crossings on the Harleys. Did you have to lift/ push the bikes anywhere?

Thanks,
Vignesh