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Solo ride | 3300 km circuit | Kolkata – Chennai – Kolkata | 4 days on road | Duke 390
Never before wrote a blog, never before thought of sharing a write-up on public forum about my experiences. Thanks to the members of Chennai Duke Group, this bug finally had bitten me.
Please bear with me, if you find this boring or unprofessional or not tidy enough for good read. Please provide any suggestion you may have to improve this newbie.
To talk about this journey, the first thing is, it was UNPLANNED i.e. not a product of any to-do list, neither part of any passion nor a kind of dream-drive destination. It was result of below things combined:
However, it does not mean that I had not planned for the journey itself. It was very much there, the essential ones: Breaks, Route, Safety, Body Conditioning and importantly preparing my Mind.
What amiss though was: Dates, Confirm Hotel booking, contingency plan in case of any untoward incidence and confidence if I can really do “THIS”. Overcoming the shame and admitting my guilt here that I relied heavily on my LUCK, and I would suggest none to miss these things ever, especially the contingency plan for any mishap.
3 Weeks prior to the journey:
The journey:
I planned it in a very simplistic way. Though not all points listed below are thought out before hand, rather came forth as part of instinctive decision. It would be crime of sort if I don't admit that I had BIG doubt whether I have enough mental robustness to follow through this.
Chennai to Visakhapatnam (Vaizag):
Again like previous day, journey started at 04:00a.m. After about 10km city ride, Google put me into a road, which at first instinct I thought to abandon. It was complete dark road, a narrow, undivided two-way one and there was no sign of another vehicle or any settlement. Both sides of the road were covered with dense vegetation or at least that was how it appeared to me. I kept on riding; it was an uncanny experience of fear of unknown, being lost and excitement. And given a chance, I would like to ride through it again.
Finally when the road ended, it led me back to NH16. I took a sign of relief, but very short lived one. Next challenge was fog along with strong stubble burning smell all around. Add to the misery, fog was not consistent, at parts there was none, or thin or so dense that nothing can be seen 20ft ahead. And god decided to add some spice into the cauldron in the form of trucks, road was full of trucks carrying oversize, protruding heavy machinery. It was literally playing temple run on road, you never know when and in which form the next obstacle would appear and yet I had to cover a substantial distance so did not have luxury to ride with safe 20-30kmph speed. It tested all my riding skill and experiences to made it through, and yet when I looked back, I realised so many things could go wrong, not necessarily on my part but from other drivers/riders, and that I really cannot say whether I was lucky or it was really my skill or it was the beautiful KTM engineering. The only satisfying part is, in my knowledge I have not committed any mistakes which even a road safety documentary could points out except the speed part. Downside is I cannot remember anything about that road as I committed all my attention to riding.
By the time of sunrise, I was greeted with a spellbound view of a river, a small village on the bank of it and an under construction 135ft Lord Hanuman statue. To sweeten the deal further, met two kindhearted person. I could not speak their language and yet, conversing with them was worth every bit as was that beautiful morning.
My journey continued, in same manner, tea break at every 100km, stretch my body and chit-chat with locals. Experienced a little bit of city traffic jam in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar and invitation from a squid for a race – phew they are everywhere. Somewhere in between, a lorry driver told me about an incidence he witnessed, out of concern; about a bikers’ group thinking I was a part of it. One biker in that group kept blanket over his silencer and in the middle of road that caught fire, could not understand from them if the bike and biker came out safe/unscathed.
I carried on from there and but soon after the road became unpredictable, not because vehicle but for cows, not sporadic sighting, rather full herd after herd nonchalantly seating on divider or crossing the road at their whims and fancy putting traffic at their mercy. The journey became interesting.
One incidence I must narrate here, it was funny. In one such patch of road, where I spotted few cows crossing the road, and instinctively I slowed down, when I was close enough I noticed few cows are standing on the divider but hidden by the decorative trees. Sensing possible danger, I hand-signalled the car behind me to slow down, as it was following the fast lane, closest to the divider. However, instead of slowing down, the car chose to continue apace. Luckily nothing happen, but to me it was testing ones very good part of luck. And then after about 100km further down the road, I met the same car again and in similar kind of situation. As usual the car chose to maintain the speed, when along with me other vehicle slowed down. But this time, they got the lesson for their misadventure, one adolescent calf jump over the bonnet and only missed by a foot or less. Aftermath, a huge panic brake and the car keep slowing down and came to almost halt as far as I can see in my mirror. I guess a lifetime lesson is served.
The most memorable incidence occurred when I was about 100km away from West Bengal border. As usual I took a tea break, and here I met with a family, who showed some real respect and fondness for the biker community as whole. On their request I pose for them for a family photo. However, a realisation dawned upon me, that this respect was not earned by me, but rather a result of good deeds by so many other bikers for so many years. I decided that in my personal capacity, I will not do anything which can be detrimental to this image.
Apart from this the next memorable incidence was a bull fight, nope not the Matador style, but the real one, where two bull fight with each other to claim control over a herd. Unfortunately, I was so mesmerised that I forgot to record it.
Rest is uneventful, and at the destination, trip information was showing 1600+km cover at an average speed of 74kmph.
Return journey:
List of item I used :
Helmet: Revolt | https://www.revolthelmets.com/turismoblu
Jacket : BBG SPITI | BB SPITI Jacket – Bikingbrotherhood
SAS-TEC armour : I replaced BBG L1 armour with SAS-TEC L2 armour
Moto- Protection Shorts : Bought from trek-n-ride OMR store, again I was keen on trial for fitment. | (https://www.treknride.com/moto-prote.../pid-102607571)
Glove - Scoyco MC15B-2 : I use this to fend of cold, as it is still part of winter. Bought from trek-n-ride OMR store after trial. (https://www.treknride.com/glove-scoy.../pid-101105565)
Ride-On-Air : https://rideonair.in/product/nexgen-mini-prime/
Balaclava- Dryfit : https://www.treknride.com/balaclava-dryfit/pid-96424501
Smartphone/GPS Mount : Money well spent, literally waterproof, tested under heavy rain. Stable even in triple digit speed. (https://www.treknride.com/smartphone.../pid-108665069)
MC USB Plus Cig: Mobile charger served really good. Happy with it. (https://www.treknride.com/mc-usb-plus-cig/pid-91313729)
Tank Bag: DIRTSACK KTM Racepack (with Rain Cover) (https://www.outdoortravelgear.com/pr...k/orange-black)
Main luggage: RYNOX Expedition Trailbag - 37L (https://www.outdoortravelgear.com/pr...ilbag-37l/grey)
Action Cam: SJCAM 5000
tyreprotector Home - Tyre Protector
Never before wrote a blog, never before thought of sharing a write-up on public forum about my experiences. Thanks to the members of Chennai Duke Group, this bug finally had bitten me.
Please bear with me, if you find this boring or unprofessional or not tidy enough for good read. Please provide any suggestion you may have to improve this newbie.
To talk about this journey, the first thing is, it was UNPLANNED i.e. not a product of any to-do list, neither part of any passion nor a kind of dream-drive destination. It was result of below things combined:
- Getting a leave from office on my choice of time was becoming difficult, so to plan for ticket within budget.
- A long cherish wish to touch some part of nature which I used to see while travel by train.
- A new bike which I am in love with.
- Motivated seeing other bikers up-close-personal.
- And a literal Agni-Avisekh in my earlier Bhutan ride ignited something in me.
However, it does not mean that I had not planned for the journey itself. It was very much there, the essential ones: Breaks, Route, Safety, Body Conditioning and importantly preparing my Mind.
What amiss though was: Dates, Confirm Hotel booking, contingency plan in case of any untoward incidence and confidence if I can really do “THIS”. Overcoming the shame and admitting my guilt here that I relied heavily on my LUCK, and I would suggest none to miss these things ever, especially the contingency plan for any mishap.
3 Weeks prior to the journey:
This was the phase about the so called preparation.
It was becoming clear to me that office leave has to be sudden on my next available opportunity. So apart from my usual exercise routine I started exercising more on core strength, neck and shoulder muscle.
In parallel I started upgrading my safety gears to CE Level-2 armour.
Researching on roads lays between Chennai – Kolkata, the distance, weather condition, possible spot for night stay, costs and any good-bad-ugly incidence reported on the route I have selected etc.
Purchasing accessories like bags, charger, mobile holder, power banks, cables etc. the essential items for the ride.
Finally the last few days after I got confirmation of my leave, it was a strange feeling, the proverbial “butterfly in stomach” syndrome. So many thoughts were going in my head, so many negative and horror thought to ward off; can’t even count now. And here comes the mental preparation, to make my mind calm and compose. Thankfully my meditation skill helped me a lot here. The toughest part was facing near and dear ones who really cares, and wanted me to drop this “CRAZY” idea.
About the journey, I wanted not just a ride or a visit or making a point of sort, rather I wanted to enjoy the journey itself, to sip in the beauty of the nature, to experience the interaction with people and to test my own resolve. And all of these were only possible if I have enough physical and mental stamina to tide over exhaustion this journey can throw at me by a fare margin.
Now when I look back, I can say I passed with flying colours. I live through every moment of this journey, as if possessed by the spirit of a true voyager.
Last day before the journey went into mundane stuff, i.e. recharge communication set, power bank, camera batteries etc. Pack luggage. Clean helmet a, put Anti fog and Anti Rain treatment, lube chain, check bike, tyre pressure, refueling etc.
It was becoming clear to me that office leave has to be sudden on my next available opportunity. So apart from my usual exercise routine I started exercising more on core strength, neck and shoulder muscle.
In parallel I started upgrading my safety gears to CE Level-2 armour.
Researching on roads lays between Chennai – Kolkata, the distance, weather condition, possible spot for night stay, costs and any good-bad-ugly incidence reported on the route I have selected etc.
Purchasing accessories like bags, charger, mobile holder, power banks, cables etc. the essential items for the ride.
Finally the last few days after I got confirmation of my leave, it was a strange feeling, the proverbial “butterfly in stomach” syndrome. So many thoughts were going in my head, so many negative and horror thought to ward off; can’t even count now. And here comes the mental preparation, to make my mind calm and compose. Thankfully my meditation skill helped me a lot here. The toughest part was facing near and dear ones who really cares, and wanted me to drop this “CRAZY” idea.
About the journey, I wanted not just a ride or a visit or making a point of sort, rather I wanted to enjoy the journey itself, to sip in the beauty of the nature, to experience the interaction with people and to test my own resolve. And all of these were only possible if I have enough physical and mental stamina to tide over exhaustion this journey can throw at me by a fare margin.
Now when I look back, I can say I passed with flying colours. I live through every moment of this journey, as if possessed by the spirit of a true voyager.
Last day before the journey went into mundane stuff, i.e. recharge communication set, power bank, camera batteries etc. Pack luggage. Clean helmet a, put Anti fog and Anti Rain treatment, lube chain, check bike, tyre pressure, refueling etc.
The journey:
I planned it in a very simplistic way. Though not all points listed below are thought out before hand, rather came forth as part of instinctive decision. It would be crime of sort if I don't admit that I had BIG doubt whether I have enough mental robustness to follow through this.
- Ride will always start early morning like of 4/4:30 a.m. to maximize the day light ride and avoid city traffic.
- No heavy food, to be precise, easy-to-digest food during the journey to stave off any food related health issue. Preferably VEG.
- Every 100KM, a break for 10min to mandatorily taking helmet off to give my precious neck a bit rest, stretch back and limbs. Last thing in such long journey one need is a neck pain or body cramp.
- Night stay at Visakhapatnam (Vizag), which comes almost at the middle of the route.
- Include some time in calculation to spend to enjoy the nature if something really interesting comes up.
- No high value item to carry. NO DSLR, No ornaments, no flashy watch or accessories. Funny part is KTM orange is the BIGGEST flashy eye-candy anyway.
- No stopping in place, which is completely secluded.
- No discussion with people about my destination and road plan.
- No stopping at big restaurants where I have to take off luggage to go inside, has to be only small roadside stall where bike can stand next to me always. Saves time, saves effort. And of course "Save money as well
". - Drink enough water as dehydration is a big issue for me.
- Attain natures call, was the trickiest part being solo and shy. So it ought to be an isolated part of the road, a direct contradiction of decision not to stop at secluded place.
- Keep reminding myself about potholes and animals ingression on road - just to keep my mind alert.
- Following a steady ride pattern, no zigzags, no sudden rush, and no crazy overtakes; basically make myself predictable to others. Use light, indicator, horn and hand signal before making any change in direction or overtake.
- Constantly reminding myself that, safety is THE first priority, Time is the distant second.
I started off from Chennai at about 04:30 a.m. It was dark outside, unexpectedly resembling dead of night. A quick check on Google shows that sunrise would be at about 06:00 a.m.
Decided that till sunrise no stopping/break; would try to cover as much as distance possible to get away from Chennai traffic.
I kept my speed between 80 – 90kmph, and full concentration was to gauge uneven surface on road. With so many stories about broken alloys, detecting potholes early was my prime task.
These 2 hours was really uneventful, except run over a few minor potholes; however it taxed me mentally for keeping a constant focus on pothole, just as we feel after giving exam.
Here one thing I must say about the light of Duke 390; it was not that bad for me as some felt other way around, it does the job, but wish a little brighter to make life a bit easier.
Anyway, coming back to the ride, at start I was excited; and as I was riding on, slowly the adventure instinct started consuming me and pushing those butterflies away. After about an hour of ride, I was engrossed in riding and enjoying the road ahead. It was a different order of beauty to see the road as tunnel as lighten up by the bike. February weather at the early morning was awesome; and the thermal lining of riding jacket was giving a really warm cosy feeling against the cold wind gusts. All in all, it was a really good feeling.
At the break of dawn, lo-and-behold, the nature started unfolding ahead with its glory, the red sky, lush green firm land. I am now in earthy rural India, left Chennai far behind, the India all wish to experience, the part where Atma of our country still flourishing.
As I was immersed in the nature, damn bugs started hitting me all over and pulled me into reality. I decided to carry on riding until this swarm of bug was done with. My first stop was at a fuel station, where apart from refueling, I cleaned helmet and camera to remove those sticky dead bugs. Next stop was the first available tea stall, where I had my first cup of hot tea with biscuit – my breakfast.
From here on, it was really just enjoying the nature along the beautiful NH16, taking break every 100km, sip tea and carry on riding.
My first encounter with danger was really scary, at around 7/8a.m out of blue I started feeling sleepy, madly sleepy but chose to keep riding. At one point, on a seemingly empty stretch of highway I actually dozed off on bike, how many seconds or minutes I don’t know. With a jolt when I woke up, I found myself riding almost near the median. I got very scary, to keep myself awake, I started shouting, singing songs and giving running commentary of anything and everything I saw. Funnily enough it worked, it rejuvenated me and put back me on track. Now when I think of that, I wish I could have recorded, it would have been a fantastic comedy clip, a memoire to laugh at.
Second scary situation, a possible catastrophe, I encountered was when I was hit by a stone on my right toe. It was just a freak event, where some stone fell down from a lorry ahead of me, which I was about to overtake at about speed of 95+kmph, bounced on tarmac, came straight and hit me and lower part of bike, metallic sound all around. I didn’t have riding shoe; it was just normal leather hiking shoe. My first thought after coming to term with the initial sharp pain was to check if my toe is OK and whether there is any damage to the engine casing or the radiator.
Luckily everything was fine, and reminded me that I have to buy a good riding shoe at the earliest.
And now apart from keep track of potholes, animals, other vehicles; one more item added to list is falling items from vehicles in front of me. But hey, life always change the plan, so here again I was overtaking some truck, loaded with haystack, all check points met, no stone, but now a big chunk of hey fell down and something solid hit on my helmet visor. Again luck was on my side, nothing bad, visor was intact.
There was no more untoward incidence and by 6:30PM I was cooling my heel at a hotel in Visakhapatnam. Traffic jam in Vijayawada and Vizag was unexpectedly high, test of patience, especially the Vizag one when you are just 5km away from hotel and stuck in jam for 1hr. Icing on cake was unruly traffic and pedestrian, may be unruly is understatement here.
Anyway, back to the good things, it was really nice and pleasant experience talking to people at those tea stall, mostly for them it was first time they were meeting a long haul biker and seeing my flashy orange bike. I was mostly answering their queries arose out of curiosity about my bike and biker community as whole. It was an oddly satisfying experience considering I myself is not a biker.
Visakhapatnam (Vizag) to Kolkata:Decided that till sunrise no stopping/break; would try to cover as much as distance possible to get away from Chennai traffic.
I kept my speed between 80 – 90kmph, and full concentration was to gauge uneven surface on road. With so many stories about broken alloys, detecting potholes early was my prime task.
These 2 hours was really uneventful, except run over a few minor potholes; however it taxed me mentally for keeping a constant focus on pothole, just as we feel after giving exam.
Here one thing I must say about the light of Duke 390; it was not that bad for me as some felt other way around, it does the job, but wish a little brighter to make life a bit easier.
Anyway, coming back to the ride, at start I was excited; and as I was riding on, slowly the adventure instinct started consuming me and pushing those butterflies away. After about an hour of ride, I was engrossed in riding and enjoying the road ahead. It was a different order of beauty to see the road as tunnel as lighten up by the bike. February weather at the early morning was awesome; and the thermal lining of riding jacket was giving a really warm cosy feeling against the cold wind gusts. All in all, it was a really good feeling.
At the break of dawn, lo-and-behold, the nature started unfolding ahead with its glory, the red sky, lush green firm land. I am now in earthy rural India, left Chennai far behind, the India all wish to experience, the part where Atma of our country still flourishing.
As I was immersed in the nature, damn bugs started hitting me all over and pulled me into reality. I decided to carry on riding until this swarm of bug was done with. My first stop was at a fuel station, where apart from refueling, I cleaned helmet and camera to remove those sticky dead bugs. Next stop was the first available tea stall, where I had my first cup of hot tea with biscuit – my breakfast.
From here on, it was really just enjoying the nature along the beautiful NH16, taking break every 100km, sip tea and carry on riding.
My first encounter with danger was really scary, at around 7/8a.m out of blue I started feeling sleepy, madly sleepy but chose to keep riding. At one point, on a seemingly empty stretch of highway I actually dozed off on bike, how many seconds or minutes I don’t know. With a jolt when I woke up, I found myself riding almost near the median. I got very scary, to keep myself awake, I started shouting, singing songs and giving running commentary of anything and everything I saw. Funnily enough it worked, it rejuvenated me and put back me on track. Now when I think of that, I wish I could have recorded, it would have been a fantastic comedy clip, a memoire to laugh at.
Second scary situation, a possible catastrophe, I encountered was when I was hit by a stone on my right toe. It was just a freak event, where some stone fell down from a lorry ahead of me, which I was about to overtake at about speed of 95+kmph, bounced on tarmac, came straight and hit me and lower part of bike, metallic sound all around. I didn’t have riding shoe; it was just normal leather hiking shoe. My first thought after coming to term with the initial sharp pain was to check if my toe is OK and whether there is any damage to the engine casing or the radiator.
Luckily everything was fine, and reminded me that I have to buy a good riding shoe at the earliest.
And now apart from keep track of potholes, animals, other vehicles; one more item added to list is falling items from vehicles in front of me. But hey, life always change the plan, so here again I was overtaking some truck, loaded with haystack, all check points met, no stone, but now a big chunk of hey fell down and something solid hit on my helmet visor. Again luck was on my side, nothing bad, visor was intact.
There was no more untoward incidence and by 6:30PM I was cooling my heel at a hotel in Visakhapatnam. Traffic jam in Vijayawada and Vizag was unexpectedly high, test of patience, especially the Vizag one when you are just 5km away from hotel and stuck in jam for 1hr. Icing on cake was unruly traffic and pedestrian, may be unruly is understatement here.
Anyway, back to the good things, it was really nice and pleasant experience talking to people at those tea stall, mostly for them it was first time they were meeting a long haul biker and seeing my flashy orange bike. I was mostly answering their queries arose out of curiosity about my bike and biker community as whole. It was an oddly satisfying experience considering I myself is not a biker.
Again like previous day, journey started at 04:00a.m. After about 10km city ride, Google put me into a road, which at first instinct I thought to abandon. It was complete dark road, a narrow, undivided two-way one and there was no sign of another vehicle or any settlement. Both sides of the road were covered with dense vegetation or at least that was how it appeared to me. I kept on riding; it was an uncanny experience of fear of unknown, being lost and excitement. And given a chance, I would like to ride through it again.
Finally when the road ended, it led me back to NH16. I took a sign of relief, but very short lived one. Next challenge was fog along with strong stubble burning smell all around. Add to the misery, fog was not consistent, at parts there was none, or thin or so dense that nothing can be seen 20ft ahead. And god decided to add some spice into the cauldron in the form of trucks, road was full of trucks carrying oversize, protruding heavy machinery. It was literally playing temple run on road, you never know when and in which form the next obstacle would appear and yet I had to cover a substantial distance so did not have luxury to ride with safe 20-30kmph speed. It tested all my riding skill and experiences to made it through, and yet when I looked back, I realised so many things could go wrong, not necessarily on my part but from other drivers/riders, and that I really cannot say whether I was lucky or it was really my skill or it was the beautiful KTM engineering. The only satisfying part is, in my knowledge I have not committed any mistakes which even a road safety documentary could points out except the speed part. Downside is I cannot remember anything about that road as I committed all my attention to riding.
By the time of sunrise, I was greeted with a spellbound view of a river, a small village on the bank of it and an under construction 135ft Lord Hanuman statue. To sweeten the deal further, met two kindhearted person. I could not speak their language and yet, conversing with them was worth every bit as was that beautiful morning.
My journey continued, in same manner, tea break at every 100km, stretch my body and chit-chat with locals. Experienced a little bit of city traffic jam in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar and invitation from a squid for a race – phew they are everywhere. Somewhere in between, a lorry driver told me about an incidence he witnessed, out of concern; about a bikers’ group thinking I was a part of it. One biker in that group kept blanket over his silencer and in the middle of road that caught fire, could not understand from them if the bike and biker came out safe/unscathed.
I carried on from there and but soon after the road became unpredictable, not because vehicle but for cows, not sporadic sighting, rather full herd after herd nonchalantly seating on divider or crossing the road at their whims and fancy putting traffic at their mercy. The journey became interesting.
One incidence I must narrate here, it was funny. In one such patch of road, where I spotted few cows crossing the road, and instinctively I slowed down, when I was close enough I noticed few cows are standing on the divider but hidden by the decorative trees. Sensing possible danger, I hand-signalled the car behind me to slow down, as it was following the fast lane, closest to the divider. However, instead of slowing down, the car chose to continue apace. Luckily nothing happen, but to me it was testing ones very good part of luck. And then after about 100km further down the road, I met the same car again and in similar kind of situation. As usual the car chose to maintain the speed, when along with me other vehicle slowed down. But this time, they got the lesson for their misadventure, one adolescent calf jump over the bonnet and only missed by a foot or less. Aftermath, a huge panic brake and the car keep slowing down and came to almost halt as far as I can see in my mirror. I guess a lifetime lesson is served.
The most memorable incidence occurred when I was about 100km away from West Bengal border. As usual I took a tea break, and here I met with a family, who showed some real respect and fondness for the biker community as whole. On their request I pose for them for a family photo. However, a realisation dawned upon me, that this respect was not earned by me, but rather a result of good deeds by so many other bikers for so many years. I decided that in my personal capacity, I will not do anything which can be detrimental to this image.
Apart from this the next memorable incidence was a bull fight, nope not the Matador style, but the real one, where two bull fight with each other to claim control over a herd. Unfortunately, I was so mesmerised that I forgot to record it.
Rest is uneventful, and at the destination, trip information was showing 1600+km cover at an average speed of 74kmph.
Return journey:
It was the same NH16 to follow back. Same time pattern to be followed as well. I have nothing much to share about the journey except few incidence.
At the border of WestBengal , met with a person, who was of the opinion that bikers carry a snobby attitude. The reason, before me, he met few bikers, who were not interested to talk with him or plainly avoided/ignored him. To assuage his feelings I spent few more minutes extra talking to him, presented a different perspective. At the end got a happy smile on his face, indicating all his past experiences are forgotten or forgiven. A humble request to my biking brothers and sisters, there are no harm in sharing a few little words, there are no harm in paying heed to others.
Vizag to Chennai, was really a frustrating journey, It was exactly at the busiest time of the day, sorry to say but the traffic was so unruly and unpredictable that it really tested the limit of my patience. I dismayed at the utter disregard about safety and traffic rule shown by the pedestrian and driver alike; at times in front of police.
Since this time road was no longer an unknown path, I just enjoyed every bit of beautiful scenario surrounding me.
At the end, I must say my Duke performed extremely well. Surprisingly I had no body-pain or fatigue at all.
This journey is a memory of lifetime for me.
At the border of WestBengal , met with a person, who was of the opinion that bikers carry a snobby attitude. The reason, before me, he met few bikers, who were not interested to talk with him or plainly avoided/ignored him. To assuage his feelings I spent few more minutes extra talking to him, presented a different perspective. At the end got a happy smile on his face, indicating all his past experiences are forgotten or forgiven. A humble request to my biking brothers and sisters, there are no harm in sharing a few little words, there are no harm in paying heed to others.
Vizag to Chennai, was really a frustrating journey, It was exactly at the busiest time of the day, sorry to say but the traffic was so unruly and unpredictable that it really tested the limit of my patience. I dismayed at the utter disregard about safety and traffic rule shown by the pedestrian and driver alike; at times in front of police.
Since this time road was no longer an unknown path, I just enjoyed every bit of beautiful scenario surrounding me.
At the end, I must say my Duke performed extremely well. Surprisingly I had no body-pain or fatigue at all.
This journey is a memory of lifetime for me.
List of item I used :
Helmet: Revolt | https://www.revolthelmets.com/turismoblu
Jacket : BBG SPITI | BB SPITI Jacket – Bikingbrotherhood
SAS-TEC armour : I replaced BBG L1 armour with SAS-TEC L2 armour
SAS-TEC SC-1/82 Elbow/Knee Pair (SAS-TEC SC-1/82 Elbow/Knee Pair)
SAS-TEC SC-1/81 Shoulder Pair (SAS-TEC SC-1/81 Shoulder Pair)
Back Protector: MANIS D1, I bought this from dianese store in Chennai. I was keen on trial to see the fit. And I didn’t use the original back protector of my BBG jacket. Knee guard: ASPIDA Perseus Internal Knee Guards and again the L1 knox armour I replaced with SAS-TEC SC-1/82 Elbow/Knee Pair. Riding pant and Boot : none.SAS-TEC SC-1/81 Shoulder Pair (SAS-TEC SC-1/81 Shoulder Pair)
Moto- Protection Shorts : Bought from trek-n-ride OMR store, again I was keen on trial for fitment. | (https://www.treknride.com/moto-prote.../pid-102607571)
Glove - Scoyco MC15B-2 : I use this to fend of cold, as it is still part of winter. Bought from trek-n-ride OMR store after trial. (https://www.treknride.com/glove-scoy.../pid-101105565)
Ride-On-Air : https://rideonair.in/product/nexgen-mini-prime/
Balaclava- Dryfit : https://www.treknride.com/balaclava-dryfit/pid-96424501
Smartphone/GPS Mount : Money well spent, literally waterproof, tested under heavy rain. Stable even in triple digit speed. (https://www.treknride.com/smartphone.../pid-108665069)
MC USB Plus Cig: Mobile charger served really good. Happy with it. (https://www.treknride.com/mc-usb-plus-cig/pid-91313729)
Tank Bag: DIRTSACK KTM Racepack (with Rain Cover) (https://www.outdoortravelgear.com/pr...k/orange-black)
Main luggage: RYNOX Expedition Trailbag - 37L (https://www.outdoortravelgear.com/pr...ilbag-37l/grey)
Action Cam: SJCAM 5000
tyreprotector Home - Tyre Protector
Attached Files
Now do treat us with the SJCAM footage and the touring setup photos. Happy miles !!
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