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Preface: When in doubt, ride !
Being from the biker community, we all know how does it feel sitting at home on weekends doing nothing - specially when you have a bike. So it all started with numerous weekends spent lazying around at home or small early morning early breakfast rides to city outskirts in all directions. I was searching for ride partners for the long weekend of eid and couldn't find any(My regular ride parters - my roommates - betrayed me :P). I had decided to ride solo to Badami as I had missed it in my last trip to hampi in 2014.
Then I came across the riding group Bulletizers(https://www.bulletizers.in/), and they were organizing a trip to the same place. I had never ridden in a riding group so this was the golden opportunity to collaborate with like minded riders. I booked the slot.
The bike: I own a Nov'15 Thunderbird 350. To shoot down your notions about being an owner of a Royal enfield, this beast has given me absolutely NO ISSUES - Not a singe drop of oil leak/residue, starting issues(it still starts in half kick and self starter works like a charm), and any problem for that matter. I maintain it more than myself
The first ever issue(Mistake of local mechanic - my first visit): I had been to Calicut in April this year for a friend's engagement in the name of long ride. So, decided to change the engine oil to a Motul semi synthetic, and bought 3 litres. Now, the service centre at Sai ram autoraft(on ORR) refused to simply change the oil to a non- RE oil(What a disgrace). After some argument, they agreed and demanded one of the slip from my ASC(annual service contract) which has 675 rs. worth of service charge waived off for each service. I left silently without a word and got to a local mechanic and got the oil changed for INR. 30. So he applied a sealant to the main(big) drain bolt and tightened it and filled the oil.
So I rode the bike perfectly for next 3 months and had a service in June mid(didn't opt for oil change as it was fairly new oil). Just before the ride day, I was lubing the chain and peeked at the bottom of the engine and saw this big drop of oil on the main drain bolt. The mechanic had not applied the sealant properly. Although it was not falling on the ground, but I was skeptical and worried a bit about the reliability during 1200 km ride. After a brief discussion with group members I decided to trust the bike and went ahead as it was not looking bad.
Plan:
Dates: 24, 25, 26 June, 2017.
Bikes: 2 Himalayans, 3 Classic, 1 Continental GT, 1 Gixxer SF, 1 Thunderbird 350(Mine).
Route: Bangalore -> Chitradurga -> Hospet -> Hampi -> Badami -> Pattadakal -> Aihole -> Almatti dam -> Hospet -> Chitradurga -> Bangalore
Kms total: ~1140
Day 1: Bangalore to Hospet(Hampi)
Kms: 340
Road condition: Bangalore to Chitradurga: Excellent, Chitradurga to Hospet: moderate to bad. There is 4 lane work in progress all over and barring 20-30 kms, the entire stretch is bad. This aggravates with countless trucks plying and extreme crosswinds making it real dangerous.
So it was decided that the meeting point will be McD near Gorguntepalaya on tumkur road. The assembly time was 4:30 AM so I woke up at 3 and got ready by 3:40 to meet 2 fellow riders near my home at ORR mahadevapura.
Bags:
All loaded:
I met Aniket and we decided to proceed as Bijendra was not picking up the call so we thought he dropped from the plan. Aniket turned out to be the jolliest and the most lively guy of entire group. This is the beauty of group riding - you get to meet some wonderful people who you wouldn't have met otherwise. We together reached the meeting point and we were the first to reach there. Gradually people started coming and as it turned out, Brijendra overslept and he was coming.
After a delay of 1:15 hours which is normal if multiple people are involved, we were all set to leave and at 5:45 off we go as soon as Brijendra arrived. Madan and Mahesh are the founders of Bulletizers, and they made wonderful lead and sweeps throughout our trip - our guardian angels on Himalayans. We stopped after some 50 kms for quick tea. Here's a pic:
The second stop was some 30kms before chitradurga for quick butt break:
we crossed Chitradurga at 9 AM and took a right towards Hospet and the bad roads and heavy corsswinds started. The crosswinds in the entire area from Chitradurga all the way to Almatti dam is a real issue for bikers. The winds seem to uproot you from the road and bring right under a moving truck. Event though we were on some of the heaviest bikes - it was real dangerous. Spare a thought to Aniket - on his Gixxer
But the good thing was, all the riders were extremely professional and it was good to see that.
A pro tip to travelers from Chitradurga to Hospet: There are absolutely NO good restaurants in this stretch. There are all small dhabas where truckers and construction laborers eat. So if you are looking for *Good and Hygienic* places to eat, don't expect that.
We stopped at some random dhaba and decided to have breakfast there as there was no other option. The food was fairly good as we were not expecting anything. Pic near dhaba:
Braving the bad roads and truck traffic, we moved on. One of the Classics broke down after some half an hour and refused to start. After some trouble shooting it turned out that in reserve fuel mode, it was starting. Later in the day at the RE service centre, it turned out there was nothing wrong. Madan's Himalayan was leaking a lot of engine oil from the head but he braved on.
We reached Hospet around 1 PM and got to the hotel. Madan took his bike to service centre where they got the seal replaced, and only 1 litre of engine oil was left in the engine, so he decided to replace the oil after the repair. The guys at RE Hospet are so helpful and courteous. So at around 3:30 we were all set to move towards Hampi which is 12 Kms from Hospet.
Here are few clicks:
Vittala temple:
Riders:
The squad:
L to R: Aniket, Brijendra, Amod(Your's truly), Aravind, Ashok, Madan, Mahesh, Manjunath, Manoj
At around 7, we were back to hospet and after dinner we retired for the day.
Day 2: Hospet to Badami, Pattadakal, Aihole, Almatti dam
Kms: ~ 225
Road condition: Hospet to badami: Excellent with good village roads; Badami to Pattadakal to Aihole: Moderate to bad with couple of huge waterlogged craters; Aihole to Almatti dam: moderate to excellent highway.
It was day 2 and after an amazing breakfast at Hotel Shanbhag, Around 9 am we started for Badami which was 130 kms.
Excellent coffee:
Filling tanks:
We reached Badami and the parking was a chaos with huge crowd and little space in the main courtyard. We had to cramp up between few buses and had to hide our luggage in some random shop because of the nuisance created by monkey bandits. These were ready to tear off anything unattended and even looting food from tourists. When we returned from the caves, few of our bikes were a mess of food and curry items eaten by monkeys on tanks and seats - thanks to ignorant tourists in buses who decided to throw the leftover plates in the parking
Few clicks from Badami:
After Badami, we left for pattadakal post a good lunch on outskirts of Badami. Reached pattadakl in some 30 mins through some bad roads passing through villages. The bikes were getting a lot of local attention with people waving, asking our origin and prices of bikes - felt good.
Pattadakal monuments are one of best maintained premises I have ever seen - flawless. Carrying our luggage was bit of a problem everytime we enteres some ticketed area, but leaving them on bikes was not an option.
Pictures from pattadakal and Aihole:
After Aihole, we left for our final destination for the day - Almatti dam.
Somewhere after Ahiole:
We reached Almatti dam at 6:40PM. There is a musical fountain show organised in the evening at the dam premises which is excellent. The entire area has been amazingly maintained and developed - which is a treat to eyes.
We finished our day with a hearty dinner organised by hotel staff specially for us - the hotel owner was Mahesh's friend. Thanks to them !
Day 2: Almatti dam to Bangalore
Kms: ~ 497
Road condition: Almatti dam to Hospet: Excellent highway, Hospet to Chitradurga and Chitradurga to Bangalore: Mentioned earlier.
This was the final day(26th June) and we had decide to leave early to avoid the evening traffic while entering Bangalore. We left at 5:40 from Almatti. The Higway was amazing and we did good speeds up to Hospet. After hospet, again the bad roads started and we made slow but steady progress. The crosswinds were at work again.
Few clicks during a quick butt break:
Enfield fun:
We rode continuosly after couple of breakfast and lunch breaks and I reached my home at 4 PM. The 273 Km stretch from Almatti to Chitradurga took around 6 hours and 20 mins with 1.5 hrs in breaks.
Final odo for day3:
Total odo(Another 40 kms before I started the trip meter):
Here's the first part of the video recorded by Aniket:
It was a great trip with some wonderful people around. Madan and Mahesh proved to be excellent planners and riders.
Hope you guys enjoyed the writeup. Thanks for reading. Until we meet next time !
Being from the biker community, we all know how does it feel sitting at home on weekends doing nothing - specially when you have a bike. So it all started with numerous weekends spent lazying around at home or small early morning early breakfast rides to city outskirts in all directions. I was searching for ride partners for the long weekend of eid and couldn't find any(My regular ride parters - my roommates - betrayed me :P). I had decided to ride solo to Badami as I had missed it in my last trip to hampi in 2014.
Then I came across the riding group Bulletizers(https://www.bulletizers.in/), and they were organizing a trip to the same place. I had never ridden in a riding group so this was the golden opportunity to collaborate with like minded riders. I booked the slot.
The bike: I own a Nov'15 Thunderbird 350. To shoot down your notions about being an owner of a Royal enfield, this beast has given me absolutely NO ISSUES - Not a singe drop of oil leak/residue, starting issues(it still starts in half kick and self starter works like a charm), and any problem for that matter. I maintain it more than myself
The first ever issue(Mistake of local mechanic - my first visit): I had been to Calicut in April this year for a friend's engagement in the name of long ride. So, decided to change the engine oil to a Motul semi synthetic, and bought 3 litres. Now, the service centre at Sai ram autoraft(on ORR) refused to simply change the oil to a non- RE oil(What a disgrace). After some argument, they agreed and demanded one of the slip from my ASC(annual service contract) which has 675 rs. worth of service charge waived off for each service. I left silently without a word and got to a local mechanic and got the oil changed for INR. 30. So he applied a sealant to the main(big) drain bolt and tightened it and filled the oil.
So I rode the bike perfectly for next 3 months and had a service in June mid(didn't opt for oil change as it was fairly new oil). Just before the ride day, I was lubing the chain and peeked at the bottom of the engine and saw this big drop of oil on the main drain bolt. The mechanic had not applied the sealant properly. Although it was not falling on the ground, but I was skeptical and worried a bit about the reliability during 1200 km ride. After a brief discussion with group members I decided to trust the bike and went ahead as it was not looking bad.
Plan:
Dates: 24, 25, 26 June, 2017.
Bikes: 2 Himalayans, 3 Classic, 1 Continental GT, 1 Gixxer SF, 1 Thunderbird 350(Mine).
Route: Bangalore -> Chitradurga -> Hospet -> Hampi -> Badami -> Pattadakal -> Aihole -> Almatti dam -> Hospet -> Chitradurga -> Bangalore
Kms total: ~1140
Day 1: Bangalore to Hospet(Hampi)
Kms: 340
Road condition: Bangalore to Chitradurga: Excellent, Chitradurga to Hospet: moderate to bad. There is 4 lane work in progress all over and barring 20-30 kms, the entire stretch is bad. This aggravates with countless trucks plying and extreme crosswinds making it real dangerous.
So it was decided that the meeting point will be McD near Gorguntepalaya on tumkur road. The assembly time was 4:30 AM so I woke up at 3 and got ready by 3:40 to meet 2 fellow riders near my home at ORR mahadevapura.
Bags:
All loaded:
I met Aniket and we decided to proceed as Bijendra was not picking up the call so we thought he dropped from the plan. Aniket turned out to be the jolliest and the most lively guy of entire group. This is the beauty of group riding - you get to meet some wonderful people who you wouldn't have met otherwise. We together reached the meeting point and we were the first to reach there. Gradually people started coming and as it turned out, Brijendra overslept and he was coming.
After a delay of 1:15 hours which is normal if multiple people are involved, we were all set to leave and at 5:45 off we go as soon as Brijendra arrived. Madan and Mahesh are the founders of Bulletizers, and they made wonderful lead and sweeps throughout our trip - our guardian angels on Himalayans. We stopped after some 50 kms for quick tea. Here's a pic:
The second stop was some 30kms before chitradurga for quick butt break:
we crossed Chitradurga at 9 AM and took a right towards Hospet and the bad roads and heavy corsswinds started. The crosswinds in the entire area from Chitradurga all the way to Almatti dam is a real issue for bikers. The winds seem to uproot you from the road and bring right under a moving truck. Event though we were on some of the heaviest bikes - it was real dangerous. Spare a thought to Aniket - on his Gixxer
But the good thing was, all the riders were extremely professional and it was good to see that. A pro tip to travelers from Chitradurga to Hospet: There are absolutely NO good restaurants in this stretch. There are all small dhabas where truckers and construction laborers eat. So if you are looking for *Good and Hygienic* places to eat, don't expect that.
We stopped at some random dhaba and decided to have breakfast there as there was no other option. The food was fairly good as we were not expecting anything. Pic near dhaba:
Braving the bad roads and truck traffic, we moved on. One of the Classics broke down after some half an hour and refused to start. After some trouble shooting it turned out that in reserve fuel mode, it was starting. Later in the day at the RE service centre, it turned out there was nothing wrong. Madan's Himalayan was leaking a lot of engine oil from the head but he braved on.
We reached Hospet around 1 PM and got to the hotel. Madan took his bike to service centre where they got the seal replaced, and only 1 litre of engine oil was left in the engine, so he decided to replace the oil after the repair. The guys at RE Hospet are so helpful and courteous. So at around 3:30 we were all set to move towards Hampi which is 12 Kms from Hospet.
Here are few clicks:
Vittala temple:
Riders:
The squad:
L to R: Aniket, Brijendra, Amod(Your's truly), Aravind, Ashok, Madan, Mahesh, Manjunath, Manoj
At around 7, we were back to hospet and after dinner we retired for the day.
Day 2: Hospet to Badami, Pattadakal, Aihole, Almatti dam
Kms: ~ 225
Road condition: Hospet to badami: Excellent with good village roads; Badami to Pattadakal to Aihole: Moderate to bad with couple of huge waterlogged craters; Aihole to Almatti dam: moderate to excellent highway.
It was day 2 and after an amazing breakfast at Hotel Shanbhag, Around 9 am we started for Badami which was 130 kms.
Excellent coffee:
Filling tanks:
We reached Badami and the parking was a chaos with huge crowd and little space in the main courtyard. We had to cramp up between few buses and had to hide our luggage in some random shop because of the nuisance created by monkey bandits. These were ready to tear off anything unattended and even looting food from tourists. When we returned from the caves, few of our bikes were a mess of food and curry items eaten by monkeys on tanks and seats - thanks to ignorant tourists in buses who decided to throw the leftover plates in the parking
Few clicks from Badami:
After Badami, we left for pattadakal post a good lunch on outskirts of Badami. Reached pattadakl in some 30 mins through some bad roads passing through villages. The bikes were getting a lot of local attention with people waving, asking our origin and prices of bikes - felt good.
Pattadakal monuments are one of best maintained premises I have ever seen - flawless. Carrying our luggage was bit of a problem everytime we enteres some ticketed area, but leaving them on bikes was not an option.
Pictures from pattadakal and Aihole:
After Aihole, we left for our final destination for the day - Almatti dam.
Somewhere after Ahiole:
We reached Almatti dam at 6:40PM. There is a musical fountain show organised in the evening at the dam premises which is excellent. The entire area has been amazingly maintained and developed - which is a treat to eyes.
We finished our day with a hearty dinner organised by hotel staff specially for us - the hotel owner was Mahesh's friend. Thanks to them !
Day 2: Almatti dam to Bangalore
Kms: ~ 497
Road condition: Almatti dam to Hospet: Excellent highway, Hospet to Chitradurga and Chitradurga to Bangalore: Mentioned earlier.
This was the final day(26th June) and we had decide to leave early to avoid the evening traffic while entering Bangalore. We left at 5:40 from Almatti. The Higway was amazing and we did good speeds up to Hospet. After hospet, again the bad roads started and we made slow but steady progress. The crosswinds were at work again.
Few clicks during a quick butt break:
Enfield fun:
We rode continuosly after couple of breakfast and lunch breaks and I reached my home at 4 PM. The 273 Km stretch from Almatti to Chitradurga took around 6 hours and 20 mins with 1.5 hrs in breaks.
Final odo for day3:
Total odo(Another 40 kms before I started the trip meter):
Here's the first part of the video recorded by Aniket:
It was a great trip with some wonderful people around. Madan and Mahesh proved to be excellent planners and riders.
Hope you guys enjoyed the writeup. Thanks for reading. Until we meet next time !
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