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Malshej Twisties - Welcome ride: Zuma
Riders: Vrijesh & I (Diago)
Cruising companions: Suzuki Inazuma & Pulsar 200 NS
Destination: Malshej/Shivneri
Occasion: To welcome the Zuma into our riding group
My friend Vrijesh (Gyro_speed on this forum) had just returned to Mumbai from Nashik on Sunday with his new Steed, the black Suzuki Inazuma and since we both had an off on Monday & I was itching for a ride for quite some time, we planned a quick day ride to my all time favourite riding destination, Malshej Ghats. The plan was to meet up at Thane below the flyover at 5:00 a.m, ride till Malshej...Stretch our bike's legs for a few hours & return home by evening. This was also a perfect opportunity to test out my new GoPro, courtesy my brother
4:00 a.m
I woke up all excited to gear up, mount the GoPro on the bike & head to the hills...Only my stomach had other plans
Was feeling very uneasy but nothing was gonna stop me from riding as I was excited to see his new Inazuma that he has been going on forever (seriously!!) about :P Anyway, I had some water, a quick coffee and 30 minutes later, was all geared up, phone fully charged & mind already racing ahead with anticipation of the curves & bends on the ghats...
5:50 a.m
Vrijesh had already reached Thane & was waiting for me, while I was stuck behind trailer trucks trying to overtake each other at speeds of 20-34kmph on the Thane Godhbunder road!! After what seemed like forever, I finally managed to overtake them & opened the throttle...15 minutes later as I descended the Thane flyover I saw one of the biggest grins I have seen in a very very long time. Vrijesh was all smiles when I met him and I was happy for him as well, as he had been dreaming of owning the Zuma since the last few months. It was still quite dark at about 5:50 in the morning but from the outlines of the Zuma & whatever I could see of it, it looked like a no-fuss mean machine. Helmets and gloves back on, and we got ready to head to the hills....BUT...The Zuma refused to start!! Vrijesh tried starting it a few times but the digital meter kept showing a "Check" error!! Damn...there goes the ride...
A few minutes later & we figured out that I had flicked the kill switch to the off position while checking the bike by habit of riding my NS...and since his other bike the Discover does not have a kill switch, he wasn't used to turning it on that way :P Keys turned in the right direction (Kill switches too :P ) and off we went towards the Kalyan junction from where we took a right towards the Kalyan - Ulhasnagar route. This stretch is annoying cuz of the really high speed bumps. As we crossed the Kalyan bridge, my NS sputtered and just died out... We were like.....NO!!! What now!!??
My friend pulled over and we started checking what could be the problem. Fuel gauge showed that there was half a tank of fuel and the electricals seemed fine but the bike just wouldn't start!! About 10-15 frustrating minutes, Vrijesh opened the fuel tank again and checked.. the fuel had dropped below the nozzle and in reality the bike was well in reserve contrary to what the fuel gauge had suggested. We waited another 5 minutes, tried again...and the engine roared to life.
7:00 a.m.
I made a quick stop at an ATM and as I returned, another rider had stopped to speak with Vrijesh...on his Zuma!! I had never seen the Zuma in flesh & here I was seeing two of them in front of me!! We headed towards the nearest fuel pump, topped up the tank and headed towards Ulhasnagar. We stopped at Murbad to mount the GoPro as the sun was out now and we would also be nearing the twisties We drank some water to keep ourselves hydrated and continued...
Vrijesh had started to open the throttle on the Zuma and zoomed ahead while I kept a steady 100-110 (Odo reading which actually has an error of 6+ kms). The roads all the way from Murbad to Malshej are brilliant with open stretches that allow for bikers to enjoy the ride without the fear of anyone jumping onto the road suddenly.
9:00 a.m.
We stopped for a snack at a tea stall and feasted on some yummy missal pav & alloo bhajjiya. We refilled our bottles with water and hit the road again. The Zuma started showing it's true colours and a few minutes later, Vrijesh was out of sight...and I was doing 115-120 consistently!! We eventually kept a steady pace and rode together enjoying the breezy morning. We halted at the side of the road for some pics of the Zuma and admired the build quality of the Suzuki. We made another quick halt at the top of the Malshej ghats for a couple of glasses of sugarcane juice. The locals around seemed to realize that the Zuma was a different beast and asked Vrijesh stuff like, "Baahar ki gaadi hain?" "Kitne ki hain" and stuff like that. A couple of locals even took some pics on the Zuma (for Facebook maybe?? :P ).
We had reached Malshej without breaking a sweat and decided to continue on to Shivneri which is beyond the hills after Malshej. The roads in Shivneri were superb during the last rains and I wanted Vrijesh to experience them on his Zuma but the condition isn't that great right now with potholes decorating the stretch till the climb back up the hills. We reached Shivneri and had a quick snack. I had not ridden the Zuma before & this being his new bike, didn't want to ride it yet so asked him to take me for a small spin. Sat as a pillion on the Zuma and it glided over the speed bumps and rough patches with ease. The braking seemed quite assured as well. Overall, the bike seems like a very good package but unfortunately our Indian market hasn't matured enough to appreciate the value of twins yet and Suzuki did no favours by pricing the bike at about 3.4 lakh when it was initially introduced here.
12:00
I don't usually ride with music on but the wind noise was getting very irritating and there was very less traffic as well so I plugged in the earphones that I had just purchased (surprisingly decent quality for just 70 bucks :P ) from a shop near the Shivneri bus stand and we headed back towards Malshej. This was the start of one of the best rides I've had in a very very long time. The winding roads along the Malshej ghats were inviting us to attack the corners and with minimal traffic around, we both accepted the invitation with huge grins on our faces! We halted just after the small tunnel at the Ganpati temple at the top of the ghats and helped ourselves to some yummy ginger flavoured sugarcane juice at the same place we had halted earlier.
The next hour and half were pure unadulterated biking pleasure. Shifting weight on turns was never this fun! Vrijesh and his Zuma were carving corners with superb precision and my Faithful NS and I were enjoying our time together like crazy as well. The best part was neither of us was riding rashly or dangerously. We kept alternating between leading the other, making sure we always had the other in our rear view mirror in case the other needed any help or stopped for any reason. This practice has helped us on other rides as well and we continued this till we reached Murbad. I was loving the way my NS handled on the bends and was all smiles as we were having the time of our lives.
13:40
We were having so much fun that we didn't realize the afternoon heat. Vrijesh had some chaas/buttermilk being sold by a street-side vendor & we both had some watermelon as well to remain properly hydrated. We decided to meet up at Thane or in Kalyan if it got any hotter. We were brought back to reality as the traffic started getting thicker once we reached Ulhasnagar. I kept riding ahead expecting to see Vrijesh waiting for me at one of the junctions along the way and rode all the way to Thane. I figured that he must have forgotten to wait for me and must have headed home so I did the same. My mind was still filled with the images of the beautiful curves along the Malshej ghats and although I have ridden there countless times the ride there keeps getting better and better. Reached home and after a quick shower I went through the pictures taken from my phone and the videos captured on the GoPro. Shared the ride pics with Vrijesh and our common biking friends and hit my pillows...
Tomorrow back to the slave house...Till the next ride...
Cruising companions: Suzuki Inazuma & Pulsar 200 NS
Destination: Malshej/Shivneri
Occasion: To welcome the Zuma into our riding group
My friend Vrijesh (Gyro_speed on this forum) had just returned to Mumbai from Nashik on Sunday with his new Steed, the black Suzuki Inazuma and since we both had an off on Monday & I was itching for a ride for quite some time, we planned a quick day ride to my all time favourite riding destination, Malshej Ghats. The plan was to meet up at Thane below the flyover at 5:00 a.m, ride till Malshej...Stretch our bike's legs for a few hours & return home by evening. This was also a perfect opportunity to test out my new GoPro, courtesy my brother
4:00 a.m
I woke up all excited to gear up, mount the GoPro on the bike & head to the hills...Only my stomach had other plans
Was feeling very uneasy but nothing was gonna stop me from riding as I was excited to see his new Inazuma that he has been going on forever (seriously!!) about :P Anyway, I had some water, a quick coffee and 30 minutes later, was all geared up, phone fully charged & mind already racing ahead with anticipation of the curves & bends on the ghats...
5:50 a.m
Vrijesh had already reached Thane & was waiting for me, while I was stuck behind trailer trucks trying to overtake each other at speeds of 20-34kmph on the Thane Godhbunder road!! After what seemed like forever, I finally managed to overtake them & opened the throttle...15 minutes later as I descended the Thane flyover I saw one of the biggest grins I have seen in a very very long time. Vrijesh was all smiles when I met him and I was happy for him as well, as he had been dreaming of owning the Zuma since the last few months. It was still quite dark at about 5:50 in the morning but from the outlines of the Zuma & whatever I could see of it, it looked like a no-fuss mean machine. Helmets and gloves back on, and we got ready to head to the hills....BUT...The Zuma refused to start!! Vrijesh tried starting it a few times but the digital meter kept showing a "Check" error!! Damn...there goes the ride...
A few minutes later & we figured out that I had flicked the kill switch to the off position while checking the bike by habit of riding my NS...and since his other bike the Discover does not have a kill switch, he wasn't used to turning it on that way :P Keys turned in the right direction (Kill switches too :P ) and off we went towards the Kalyan junction from where we took a right towards the Kalyan - Ulhasnagar route. This stretch is annoying cuz of the really high speed bumps. As we crossed the Kalyan bridge, my NS sputtered and just died out...
We were like.....NO!!! What now!!?? My friend pulled over and we started checking what could be the problem. Fuel gauge showed that there was half a tank of fuel and the electricals seemed fine but the bike just wouldn't start!! About 10-15 frustrating minutes, Vrijesh opened the fuel tank again and checked.. the fuel had dropped below the nozzle and in reality the bike was well in reserve contrary to what the fuel gauge had suggested. We waited another 5 minutes, tried again...and the engine roared to life.
7:00 a.m.
I made a quick stop at an ATM and as I returned, another rider had stopped to speak with Vrijesh...on his Zuma!! I had never seen the Zuma in flesh & here I was seeing two of them in front of me!! We headed towards the nearest fuel pump, topped up the tank and headed towards Ulhasnagar. We stopped at Murbad to mount the GoPro as the sun was out now and we would also be nearing the twisties
We drank some water to keep ourselves hydrated and continued...Vrijesh had started to open the throttle on the Zuma and zoomed ahead while I kept a steady 100-110 (Odo reading which actually has an error of 6+ kms). The roads all the way from Murbad to Malshej are brilliant with open stretches that allow for bikers to enjoy the ride without the fear of anyone jumping onto the road suddenly.
9:00 a.m.
We stopped for a snack at a tea stall and feasted on some yummy missal pav & alloo bhajjiya. We refilled our bottles with water and hit the road again. The Zuma started showing it's true colours and a few minutes later, Vrijesh was out of sight...and I was doing 115-120 consistently!! We eventually kept a steady pace and rode together enjoying the breezy morning. We halted at the side of the road for some pics of the Zuma and admired the build quality of the Suzuki. We made another quick halt at the top of the Malshej ghats for a couple of glasses of sugarcane juice. The locals around seemed to realize that the Zuma was a different beast and asked Vrijesh stuff like, "Baahar ki gaadi hain?" "Kitne ki hain" and stuff like that. A couple of locals even took some pics on the Zuma (for Facebook maybe?? :P ).
We had reached Malshej without breaking a sweat and decided to continue on to Shivneri which is beyond the hills after Malshej. The roads in Shivneri were superb during the last rains and I wanted Vrijesh to experience them on his Zuma but the condition isn't that great right now with potholes decorating the stretch till the climb back up the hills. We reached Shivneri and had a quick snack. I had not ridden the Zuma before & this being his new bike, didn't want to ride it yet so asked him to take me for a small spin. Sat as a pillion on the Zuma and it glided over the speed bumps and rough patches with ease. The braking seemed quite assured as well. Overall, the bike seems like a very good package but unfortunately our Indian market hasn't matured enough to appreciate the value of twins yet and Suzuki did no favours by pricing the bike at about 3.4 lakh when it was initially introduced here.
12:00
I don't usually ride with music on but the wind noise was getting very irritating and there was very less traffic as well so I plugged in the earphones that I had just purchased (surprisingly decent quality for just 70 bucks :P ) from a shop near the Shivneri bus stand and we headed back towards Malshej. This was the start of one of the best rides I've had in a very very long time. The winding roads along the Malshej ghats were inviting us to attack the corners and with minimal traffic around, we both accepted the invitation with huge grins on our faces! We halted just after the small tunnel at the Ganpati temple at the top of the ghats and helped ourselves to some yummy ginger flavoured sugarcane juice at the same place we had halted earlier.
The next hour and half were pure unadulterated biking pleasure. Shifting weight on turns was never this fun! Vrijesh and his Zuma were carving corners with superb precision and my Faithful NS and I were enjoying our time together like crazy as well. The best part was neither of us was riding rashly or dangerously. We kept alternating between leading the other, making sure we always had the other in our rear view mirror in case the other needed any help or stopped for any reason. This practice has helped us on other rides as well and we continued this till we reached Murbad. I was loving the way my NS handled on the bends and was all smiles as we were having the time of our lives.
13:40
We were having so much fun that we didn't realize the afternoon heat. Vrijesh had some chaas/buttermilk being sold by a street-side vendor & we both had some watermelon as well to remain properly hydrated. We decided to meet up at Thane or in Kalyan if it got any hotter. We were brought back to reality as the traffic started getting thicker once we reached Ulhasnagar. I kept riding ahead expecting to see Vrijesh waiting for me at one of the junctions along the way and rode all the way to Thane. I figured that he must have forgotten to wait for me and must have headed home so I did the same. My mind was still filled with the images of the beautiful curves along the Malshej ghats and although I have ridden there countless times the ride there keeps getting better and better. Reached home and after a quick shower I went through the pictures taken from my phone and the videos captured on the GoPro. Shared the ride pics with Vrijesh and our common biking friends and hit my pillows...
Tomorrow back to the slave house...Till the next ride...
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