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27 year old male who was forever banned from riding a bike by his over-protective parents because his father had an accident on a retro royal enfield (irony). I grew up being completely shielded against the idea of a geared two wheeler, I was actually never afforded a chance to learn it, being from a small village, news travel fast. After school I went away to a residential college where vehicles were not allowed, and after that I traveled to different parts of our country for career purposes. Now I've been in Bangalore for 2 years and thinking about settling down here, almost a year back my house got robbed and I lost my macbook in the process, so Ive been saving up bits n pieces in the hope of getting the new macbook. Growing up I always wanted to ride a bike, a scooter just was not enough, but as I grew older, i got more apprehensive about the possibility of learning a new talent. I wondered if I could do it, I'm not ashamed to admit it, I was freaking scared. Somehow though, I decided to take the plunge and get a new bike, I first though of the avenger (didnt really like it all that much, but then I thought it was safer), I thought of the CBR 150, Gixxer SF etc.. finally settled on the Dominar 400. Was apprehensive about my first ride being on a 400cc. I didnt even take a test ride, my friends took it, and they took deliver while I did pillion. An hour later, I got the first taste of something I've wanted for a long time, 1700 km since that moment, I'm still missing every moment that I'm not riding.
The Gokarna Trip
We have been waiting for a chance to take a trip since new year's, that opportunity presented itself last week. The initial plan was to take a zoom car, I shot that idea down citing expenses, but my real intention was simple, I wanted to ride all the way. So we set off on what was quiet an eventful trip.
The Good
Gokarna!! A paradise for anyone who wants a quiet beach, we were at kudle and it was calm and serene as always, just us and a few others, a few hippie families too. Had a grand time eating sea food, waking up to hot chocolate, a perfect getaway from the hustle n bustle of Bengaluru. The beautiful sunset, the silence at night except for the sound of the waves, just perfect in my eyes. The best way to start off is with a small dip in the ocean to wake you up, play some frisbee, just roll around in the sand.
The ride ! The roads to gokarna are amazing, mostly highways and then the Ghat section, riding through that in the night in pitch black is an amazing experience. The bike held through amazingly well throughout the trip. We paced at 80/90/100 for most of the journey, and 50 for the forest area. The pillion had some discomfort due to the hard seat, but the rider was comfortable. We stopped every 100km for freshening up, and all in all, the ride was just amazing. The view, the luxury of just stopping somewhere and admiring the scenery, nothing can replace that. The return ride from Gokarna was amazing, it was a night ride and we reached bangalore by sunrise. The ride to Gokarna on the other hand, had some incidends which I will detail below.
The Bad
Google Map > everything else ! On a fuel stop, this guy recommended a short cut to reach Sirsi, it was supposed to take 20km out of the equation, we eagerly took that route and left the highway, turns out the road was piss poor, we had to go at 40-50 max, and a lot of blocks, delayed our ride by around 2 hours.
Pillion seat, we took turns in riding and whoever was the pillion was having a tough time, especially on my dominar, the seat is way too hard unfortunately.
Seasonal pricing, the worst thing ever, we had dinner at a small joint and the bill was almost 5k, and in that, just lime juice was around 500 :P did not make much sense but wth, we were on vacation anyway.
The Ugly
Drunk Driver
-> shortly after our stop at Chitradurga, we encountered something rather nasty, we were entering the highway and a mini lorry came close to running us over , I'm not exaggerating when I say the difference could be like a cm or two. The entire bike vibrated at the wind force and jeez, my friends on the other bike thought we were done for. Actually, the two of us were in shock more than anything else. The truck stopped and the driver got out, we just wanted to tell him to drive on the road and be a little mindful, turns out he was drunk as hell. So I called the nearest police station, waited for like 2 hours, got him arrested, made sure the police gave him notice/receipt for drunk driving, he had an alcohol level of 297 (normal limit is 100). All of this happened on the ride to Gokarna, took the mood out a little. Its true how fickle life is, a couple of cm's and that would have been it.
Overall
Felt rather proud of myself riding that far after just learning and managing quiet well I'd say, had the best time with my friends and its my first ride on a bike ever. Looking forward to a lot more God willing.
PS: have attached a few pictures
Hope you all like it.
27 year old male who was forever banned from riding a bike by his over-protective parents because his father had an accident on a retro royal enfield (irony). I grew up being completely shielded against the idea of a geared two wheeler, I was actually never afforded a chance to learn it, being from a small village, news travel fast. After school I went away to a residential college where vehicles were not allowed, and after that I traveled to different parts of our country for career purposes. Now I've been in Bangalore for 2 years and thinking about settling down here, almost a year back my house got robbed and I lost my macbook in the process, so Ive been saving up bits n pieces in the hope of getting the new macbook. Growing up I always wanted to ride a bike, a scooter just was not enough, but as I grew older, i got more apprehensive about the possibility of learning a new talent. I wondered if I could do it, I'm not ashamed to admit it, I was freaking scared. Somehow though, I decided to take the plunge and get a new bike, I first though of the avenger (didnt really like it all that much, but then I thought it was safer), I thought of the CBR 150, Gixxer SF etc.. finally settled on the Dominar 400. Was apprehensive about my first ride being on a 400cc. I didnt even take a test ride, my friends took it, and they took deliver while I did pillion. An hour later, I got the first taste of something I've wanted for a long time, 1700 km since that moment, I'm still missing every moment that I'm not riding.
The Gokarna Trip
We have been waiting for a chance to take a trip since new year's, that opportunity presented itself last week. The initial plan was to take a zoom car, I shot that idea down citing expenses, but my real intention was simple, I wanted to ride all the way. So we set off on what was quiet an eventful trip.
The Good
Gokarna!! A paradise for anyone who wants a quiet beach, we were at kudle and it was calm and serene as always, just us and a few others, a few hippie families too. Had a grand time eating sea food, waking up to hot chocolate, a perfect getaway from the hustle n bustle of Bengaluru. The beautiful sunset, the silence at night except for the sound of the waves, just perfect in my eyes. The best way to start off is with a small dip in the ocean to wake you up, play some frisbee, just roll around in the sand.
The ride ! The roads to gokarna are amazing, mostly highways and then the Ghat section, riding through that in the night in pitch black is an amazing experience. The bike held through amazingly well throughout the trip. We paced at 80/90/100 for most of the journey, and 50 for the forest area. The pillion had some discomfort due to the hard seat, but the rider was comfortable. We stopped every 100km for freshening up, and all in all, the ride was just amazing. The view, the luxury of just stopping somewhere and admiring the scenery, nothing can replace that. The return ride from Gokarna was amazing, it was a night ride and we reached bangalore by sunrise. The ride to Gokarna on the other hand, had some incidends which I will detail below.
The Bad
Google Map > everything else ! On a fuel stop, this guy recommended a short cut to reach Sirsi, it was supposed to take 20km out of the equation, we eagerly took that route and left the highway, turns out the road was piss poor, we had to go at 40-50 max, and a lot of blocks, delayed our ride by around 2 hours.
Pillion seat, we took turns in riding and whoever was the pillion was having a tough time, especially on my dominar, the seat is way too hard unfortunately.
Seasonal pricing, the worst thing ever, we had dinner at a small joint and the bill was almost 5k, and in that, just lime juice was around 500 :P did not make much sense but wth, we were on vacation anyway.
The Ugly
Drunk Driver
-> shortly after our stop at Chitradurga, we encountered something rather nasty, we were entering the highway and a mini lorry came close to running us over , I'm not exaggerating when I say the difference could be like a cm or two. The entire bike vibrated at the wind force and jeez, my friends on the other bike thought we were done for. Actually, the two of us were in shock more than anything else. The truck stopped and the driver got out, we just wanted to tell him to drive on the road and be a little mindful, turns out he was drunk as hell. So I called the nearest police station, waited for like 2 hours, got him arrested, made sure the police gave him notice/receipt for drunk driving, he had an alcohol level of 297 (normal limit is 100). All of this happened on the ride to Gokarna, took the mood out a little. Its true how fickle life is, a couple of cm's and that would have been it. Overall
Felt rather proud of myself riding that far after just learning and managing quiet well I'd say, had the best time with my friends and its my first ride on a bike ever. Looking forward to a lot more God willing.
PS: have attached a few pictures
Hope you all like it.
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