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This is my first post on Xbhp ...
Let's begin....
I always dream of owning a bike since school days. I am a bike enthusiast but I love cars too. But bikes will always be my first choice, my first preference.
When I was a kid (during school days), My father used to have various two-wheelers, from Vijay Super to Bullet back in 2002. I loved watching them, sitting & playing on them and sometime cleaning them along with my father and have burnt my leg several times with that hot rod exhaust pipe.
There was something that kept me attracted towards bikes. Watching all these bikes standing in front my house urged me to ride them and feel them. But my age and not having a license did not allow me to do so.
We have a total of 6 bikes: Vijay super (scooter), Suzuki Max 100, Bajaj KB 100, Yamaha RX 100, Hero Honda Splendor and lastly, Royal Enfield Bullet. Splendor is the most loved bike of my father. I started learning to ride on the Splendor which I love till date. From here I developed the idea of taking bike on a long ride.
In 2008, I purchased my first motorcycle CBZ Xtreme ATFT (Red and black new version) and I was the first to book it in my area.
Bike breaking in period was done soon as the excitement of riding a new bike helped me cover the first 2000 kms quickly.
One morning, a thought came in my mind for a long ride. Where to go? Lets go Lonavala.
Now, lots of questions started coming to my mind:
I was a little worried about this ride if something went wrong then and at the same time was excited about the new places I'll get to explore, new roads, new people, new surroundings etc.
The day arrived. I woke up at 6 am; brushed my teeth, took a bath, dressed up and all ready by 6:30 am. Put the bike on main stand, turn on the Ignition for cold start and started checking my bike papers/ documents.
All set to leave. Fastened my Helmet, put on the jacket and a backpack. Let’s hit the roads!
I started from Chembur, Mumbai at 7 am and took Sion-Panvel Highway (very good road) at a reasonable speed of 60 kmph. On the highway, I was not alone on the heading towards Lonavala. A lot of biker groups and solo riders were riding along side. Few superbikes went flying and disappeared.
I took my first tea break at Vashi, Navi Mumbai. Garam Chai and Garam Vadapav... best breakfast ever.
After 20 mins of Tea break, back to riding. Continued on Sion-Panvel Highway, reached Kalamboli circle in the next 40 mins. I have to take right to continue towards Panvel. Panvel greeted me with traffic and no followers of traffic rules. Add to that a lot of dust since road and other construction was going on. Before I got frustrated with this traffic, I thought of having another small break. I got into a small hotel ordered Misal Pav and tea. Misal Pav was good and so was the tea. I realized that I spent 30 mins there. It was time to hurry now. Back to road and now, no more stopping in between unless there's an emergency.
From Panvel, Lonavala is just 50-60 kms aways which hardly takes around 1-1.5 hours.
I was excited to reach on top of those mountains through that curvy ghat road. I reached Khopoli soon, but one must be careful while riding in Khopoli since the road passes through the market place, bus station and some very busy areas. People will cross the road without looking out for the vehicles so, take extra precaution.
Khopoli ended, Ghat started. Riding for the first time on the ghat took me a little while to understand if proper gears is engaged or not. Its the that I understood why torque is more important than Bhp. Torque helps your motorcycle to pull/climb the mountains with ease. I was struggling while climbing the mountain and felt lack of torque available in motorcycle. But CBZ Xtreme did the job pretty well, put the bike on lower gear and it is ready to take over.
Finally, after crossing the ghats I reached Lonavala at 10:30 am. Such a beautiful Hill station, Lonavala is famous for Chikkis. Brought a few chikkis and explored a few places before leaving for home.
I took lunch in Lonavala and now it was time to say good bye to Lonavala. I started at around 1:30 pm towards my home and reached home by 3:30 pm without any stops.
Experience of riding always gives pleasure and more if one rides early morning. This ride was special as it was my first ride and first ride always teaches you a lesson. Now, this trip has boosted my confidence for next long trip.
Hope you have enjoyed reading this. See you in next blog. Cheers !!
Let's begin....
I always dream of owning a bike since school days. I am a bike enthusiast but I love cars too. But bikes will always be my first choice, my first preference.
When I was a kid (during school days), My father used to have various two-wheelers, from Vijay Super to Bullet back in 2002. I loved watching them, sitting & playing on them and sometime cleaning them along with my father and have burnt my leg several times with that hot rod exhaust pipe.
There was something that kept me attracted towards bikes. Watching all these bikes standing in front my house urged me to ride them and feel them. But my age and not having a license did not allow me to do so.
We have a total of 6 bikes: Vijay super (scooter), Suzuki Max 100, Bajaj KB 100, Yamaha RX 100, Hero Honda Splendor and lastly, Royal Enfield Bullet. Splendor is the most loved bike of my father. I started learning to ride on the Splendor which I love till date. From here I developed the idea of taking bike on a long ride.
In 2008, I purchased my first motorcycle CBZ Xtreme ATFT (Red and black new version) and I was the first to book it in my area.
Bike breaking in period was done soon as the excitement of riding a new bike helped me cover the first 2000 kms quickly.
One morning, a thought came in my mind for a long ride. Where to go? Lets go Lonavala.
Now, lots of questions started coming to my mind:
- Would it be great to travel alone?
- How safe is it?
- How will I climb the ghats? I never experienced riding in the ghats.
- What if the bike got punctured? How would I handle it?
- What route to take? (back in those days I did not have a smart phone and Google Maps was not there as well)
I was a little worried about this ride if something went wrong then and at the same time was excited about the new places I'll get to explore, new roads, new people, new surroundings etc.
The day arrived. I woke up at 6 am; brushed my teeth, took a bath, dressed up and all ready by 6:30 am. Put the bike on main stand, turn on the Ignition for cold start and started checking my bike papers/ documents.
- Driving License – Checked
- RC – Checked
- Insurance – Checked
- PUC – Checked
All set to leave. Fastened my Helmet, put on the jacket and a backpack. Let’s hit the roads!
I took my first tea break at Vashi, Navi Mumbai. Garam Chai and Garam Vadapav... best breakfast ever.
After 20 mins of Tea break, back to riding. Continued on Sion-Panvel Highway, reached Kalamboli circle in the next 40 mins. I have to take right to continue towards Panvel. Panvel greeted me with traffic and no followers of traffic rules. Add to that a lot of dust since road and other construction was going on. Before I got frustrated with this traffic, I thought of having another small break. I got into a small hotel ordered Misal Pav and tea. Misal Pav was good and so was the tea. I realized that I spent 30 mins there. It was time to hurry now. Back to road and now, no more stopping in between unless there's an emergency.
From Panvel, Lonavala is just 50-60 kms aways which hardly takes around 1-1.5 hours.
I was excited to reach on top of those mountains through that curvy ghat road. I reached Khopoli soon, but one must be careful while riding in Khopoli since the road passes through the market place, bus station and some very busy areas. People will cross the road without looking out for the vehicles so, take extra precaution.
Khopoli ended, Ghat started. Riding for the first time on the ghat took me a little while to understand if proper gears is engaged or not. Its the that I understood why torque is more important than Bhp. Torque helps your motorcycle to pull/climb the mountains with ease. I was struggling while climbing the mountain and felt lack of torque available in motorcycle. But CBZ Xtreme did the job pretty well, put the bike on lower gear and it is ready to take over.
Finally, after crossing the ghats I reached Lonavala at 10:30 am. Such a beautiful Hill station, Lonavala is famous for Chikkis. Brought a few chikkis and explored a few places before leaving for home.
I took lunch in Lonavala and now it was time to say good bye to Lonavala. I started at around 1:30 pm towards my home and reached home by 3:30 pm without any stops.
Experience of riding always gives pleasure and more if one rides early morning. This ride was special as it was my first ride and first ride always teaches you a lesson. Now, this trip has boosted my confidence for next long trip.
Hope you have enjoyed reading this. See you in next blog. Cheers !!
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