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I did this ride my very first long motorcycle ride long time back, but i guess its never too late to share it. I've done quite a few rides after this but this was special. This is my first travelogue so kindly excuse me for any wrong.
Its called the "Southern Raid" organized by the Jawa-Yezdi clubs of South India. This was the 7th edition and my first!
Destination: Kodaikanal,TN
Ride date: Oct 09, 2015
Riders from Bangalore, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Mumbai and Pune attended the meet. We also had the privilege to ride along with Deepak Kamath. He is a legend in Indian biking circuit. First Indian To Travel Across The Globe On A Indian Motorcycle Yezdi and circumnavigated the globe in 119 days, out of which he spent 49 days riding a motorcycle. All this in 1994.
I was thinking about this ride for months from the time i got my B. (i call my Bike "B", its a YEZDI B Model built in 1978)
Roughly 40 riders from Bangalore registered for the ride.
I had no experience in preparing for long rides and this being my first, this is how my bike looked fully loaded. The blue rain coat you see stuffed between the two bags went flying somewhere on the highway and never got it back.
I was the first to reach the start point at 5 am, just after the EC toll gate. I stood in silence for 15 mins and then heard the familiar beats. Few bikes approached the start point. A Yezdi 350 and a Jawa perek (of 1950s) were among them, the group was riding from Pune. I had a little chat with them, so their plan was to take a break in a near by hotel somewhere and start off fresh to kodaikanal. The group left the spot after a while. I was still alone waiting for the BLR guys to come. Finally we all assembled near the EC toll gate at around 6 am. I really didn't know anyone before the ride. I was only familiar with few faces. Remember this was my first long ride and my heart was pounding hard. I was excited and nervous at the same time. And so we started at 6:30am roughly. Within a short distance i was cruising in 90's, covered about 30km and my engine dies suddenly. I made a signal to my fellow riders and stopped. I had no clue what happened and that dreadful thought came into my mind of transporting the bike in a truck or something and my trip is over. But no, it was engine seize, I kicked it and B roared back to life again. (i bet only on a Yezdi you can do that) I was advised to mix more oil with the fuel and be gentle on the throttle. Praveen who rode a Roadking was riding sweep with me. We went along cruising in 60s and 70s and by now I really started enjoying the ride and felt lot more relaxed. Our first break was at Krishnagiri for Breakfast. One of the riders Prithvi had a flat Tyre just as we reached for breakfast. I was all excited, so removed my tools and helped him get the tyre out and got it fixed from a near by puncture repair shop. On the breakfast table, one of the seasoned riders who has been to all southern raid edition so far, looked at my B parked outside from the hotel window and said, that bike once belonged to me. It was a little nostalgic moment for him i guess. So after a nice breakfast, we all started again. I was maintaining a steady 65-70 speed from there on. But just 10 mins into the ride, i saw 2 riders parked there bike on the side and trying to kick start there bike. It was Vicky Rahul on their Roadking and monarch. The monarch refused to start for some reason. Praveen who was tagging with me all this time, asked me to carry on as i was riding slow and he would help Rahul with the bike. Just as i was reaching Salem i saw Sam on his camouflaged B. We rode together from here to Kodai. On the stretch from Salem to Dindigul, i felt a slight wobbling on my rear tyre. Sam was with me and we stopped to investigate, suspected a flat Tyre but all was OK.The time was roughly 1 pm by the time we reached Dindigul. Had a nice Biriyani from Thalappakattirestaurant and started again. This was the most the exciting part of the ride as we started to climb. My B was in his element now, climbing effortlessly. I was still feeling that something is not right with the rear tyre. But anyways just ignored it and enjoyed the ride and breathtaking scenery with the little drizzle of rain. Me and Sam stopped at a tea shop and just as we were enjoying the tea, Sam noticed that one of rear shocks of my B had broken, in fact it was hanging. He asked how come you didn't know. We both were very surprised. So basically my B was riding on one shock for roughly 120 kms. Sam advised me to keep my weight on one side and ride carefully. We finally reached the top at 4 pm.......to be continued.
Its called the "Southern Raid" organized by the Jawa-Yezdi clubs of South India. This was the 7th edition and my first!
Destination: Kodaikanal,TN
Ride date: Oct 09, 2015
Riders from Bangalore, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Mumbai and Pune attended the meet. We also had the privilege to ride along with Deepak Kamath. He is a legend in Indian biking circuit. First Indian To Travel Across The Globe On A Indian Motorcycle Yezdi and circumnavigated the globe in 119 days, out of which he spent 49 days riding a motorcycle. All this in 1994.
I was thinking about this ride for months from the time i got my B. (i call my Bike "B", its a YEZDI B Model built in 1978)
Roughly 40 riders from Bangalore registered for the ride.
I had no experience in preparing for long rides and this being my first, this is how my bike looked fully loaded. The blue rain coat you see stuffed between the two bags went flying somewhere on the highway and never got it back.
I was the first to reach the start point at 5 am, just after the EC toll gate. I stood in silence for 15 mins and then heard the familiar beats. Few bikes approached the start point. A Yezdi 350 and a Jawa perek (of 1950s) were among them, the group was riding from Pune. I had a little chat with them, so their plan was to take a break in a near by hotel somewhere and start off fresh to kodaikanal. The group left the spot after a while. I was still alone waiting for the BLR guys to come. Finally we all assembled near the EC toll gate at around 6 am. I really didn't know anyone before the ride. I was only familiar with few faces. Remember this was my first long ride and my heart was pounding hard. I was excited and nervous at the same time. And so we started at 6:30am roughly. Within a short distance i was cruising in 90's, covered about 30km and my engine dies suddenly. I made a signal to my fellow riders and stopped. I had no clue what happened and that dreadful thought came into my mind of transporting the bike in a truck or something and my trip is over. But no, it was engine seize, I kicked it and B roared back to life again. (i bet only on a Yezdi you can do that) I was advised to mix more oil with the fuel and be gentle on the throttle. Praveen who rode a Roadking was riding sweep with me. We went along cruising in 60s and 70s and by now I really started enjoying the ride and felt lot more relaxed. Our first break was at Krishnagiri for Breakfast. One of the riders Prithvi had a flat Tyre just as we reached for breakfast. I was all excited, so removed my tools and helped him get the tyre out and got it fixed from a near by puncture repair shop. On the breakfast table, one of the seasoned riders who has been to all southern raid edition so far, looked at my B parked outside from the hotel window and said, that bike once belonged to me. It was a little nostalgic moment for him i guess. So after a nice breakfast, we all started again. I was maintaining a steady 65-70 speed from there on. But just 10 mins into the ride, i saw 2 riders parked there bike on the side and trying to kick start there bike. It was Vicky Rahul on their Roadking and monarch. The monarch refused to start for some reason. Praveen who was tagging with me all this time, asked me to carry on as i was riding slow and he would help Rahul with the bike. Just as i was reaching Salem i saw Sam on his camouflaged B. We rode together from here to Kodai. On the stretch from Salem to Dindigul, i felt a slight wobbling on my rear tyre. Sam was with me and we stopped to investigate, suspected a flat Tyre but all was OK.The time was roughly 1 pm by the time we reached Dindigul. Had a nice Biriyani from Thalappakattirestaurant and started again. This was the most the exciting part of the ride as we started to climb. My B was in his element now, climbing effortlessly. I was still feeling that something is not right with the rear tyre. But anyways just ignored it and enjoyed the ride and breathtaking scenery with the little drizzle of rain. Me and Sam stopped at a tea shop and just as we were enjoying the tea, Sam noticed that one of rear shocks of my B had broken, in fact it was hanging. He asked how come you didn't know. We both were very surprised. So basically my B was riding on one shock for roughly 120 kms. Sam advised me to keep my weight on one side and ride carefully. We finally reached the top at 4 pm.......to be continued.
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