The Idea

It had been a few months since I had been planning a motorcycle trip - a solo trip on my Bullet 500 to get away from all the stress of the daily life. My previous trip - through Nagarjun Sagar, Nallamala forest & Srisailam - seemed like a distant memory and I was yearning for more time on the road.

Google Maps had become the favourite app on my phone. I would spend hours trying to figure out the places I could go to & routes I would take. As luck would have it, I finally got the chance towards the end of September.

My initial plan was to do the entire South India coastal circuit (Hyderabad, Pondicherry, Rameshwaram, Kanyakumari, Varkala, Mangalore, Bangalore, Hyderabad). But I just had 6-7 days and it would've been impossible to enjoy the ride as I would have been constantly worried about "covering enough distance" rather than enjoying the ride.

Instead, I planned the following Hyderabad -> Bangalore (overnight) -> Chikamagaluru (2 nights) -> Goa (2 nights) -> Hyderabad. As luck would have it, at the last moment I had to drop Goa as the road & weather conditions seemed very unpredictable. Instead of Goa I spend a couple of peaceful nights at Nandi Hills.


Pre-ride preparation

Although this was my 2nd solo ride, it was the first time I would be doing such long distances in uncertain weather conditions. So, I wanted to be prepared.

Luggage
1. Rhino tail bag from Gurdian Gears -> to carry everything clothes, spares, took kit, water & food.
2. Tank bag from Viaterra -> for some "emergency" snacks, DSLR, power bank & charging cables.

Both these come with rain covers and that's all that I used. The electronics were, additionally, put in a plastic bag and then placed inside the luggage.

Riding Gear
1. BBG Spiti jacket with the rain liner
2. BBG semi gauntlet gloves.
3. BBG touring boots
4. Bikeratti riding Denims.
5. The riding denims don't have any rain protection, so an XL rain pant was purchased from Decathlon (and it worked flawlessly during the trip).

Items 1-3 were purchased from Gear Up store (Hyderabad) when I got my bike in 2017. The riding denims were recently purchased from Riderz Planet Ghitorni when I went to visit my parents in Gurgaon.

Additional accessories for the bike

1. Since my bike runs tubed tyres, I wanted to be prepared for the eventuality that I'd get a flat. To account for this, I purchased the Motul tyre repair from Amazon. Fortunately, I didn't have to use it.
2. I also wanted to get some sort of wind protection. So, I was looking at windshields that would fit the Bullet 500. I ended up purchasing the official accessory from Royal Enfield. At Rs. 5000 for the windshield + fitting kit it seemed pretty steep at first. But after I purchased it, I found out that it was made by National Cycles, USA. The metal fittings provided had a coating which meant that I wouldn't have to worry about rust. I purchased the windshield from the local RE service centre and installed it myself.


The Actual Ride


Day 1 (22nd September) Hyderabad -> Bangalore


I started off from Hyderabad early morning on 22nd September around 4:30 AM. Here's a photo of me starting for Bangalore (the sleeping beauty under the covers is my Ecosport).




Since I managed to start early I did not encounter any traffic within the city. There was a bit of traffic (mainly trucks) near the Airport exit of the ORR on the Bangalore highway but once I was clear of that, I didn't encounter much traffic till dawn broke.

When I ride, I usually don't stop any more than I have to. I had filled up petrol the night before and as a result, I only had to stop for fuel once during the journey to Bangalore.

The ride from Hyderabad to Bangalore was largely uneventful, as expected. I did come across a group of Harley riders going from Hyderabad to Bangalore. The first time they overtook me, I gave them a thumbs up as a mark of respect towards fellow riders. All the riders responded and waved back as they roared away.

Here are a few photographs from the HYD-BLR leg of the trip.







With my style of riding and the tank capacity of the Bullet, I only had to make 1 fuel stop. Meanwhile the Harley riders had to stop for fuel and food/snacks a few more times than me. So, we had a situation where they would overtake me, stop after a few hundred KMs and then I would overtake them.

This went on a few more times till I stopped for my 3rd and final break about 50 KM from Bangalore for some much needed chai. As I was sipping my 2nd cup of tea, the Harley riders came into view, waved at me one final time as they rode by.

The bike is taking some much deserved rest as I sip some tea.



Since I had started off fairly early in the morning and took only 3 short breaks I checked in to my Hotel (Kanaka Grand in Hebbal) by about 2:00 PM. The hotel was average. My main reason for selecting it was that it had a covered parking and it wasn't in the middle of Bangalore (I didn't want to get caught in the infamous Bangalore traffic).


Day 2 & 3 (23rd - 24th Sept) Bangalore -> Chikamagalur


I have driven between Bangalore & Hyderabad a few times in the past (though never on a bike) so the first day wasn't very exciting. The 2nd day, however, was the ride that I had been eagerly looking forward to for the last few months. And I have to say I was not disappointed at all.

I checked out from my hotel around 7:30 AM and started for Chikamagalur. I was not in a hurry since the ride-time was around 5 hours and I wanted to enjoy the road.

I took Tumkur Road towards NH-75. Got stuck in the dreaded Bangalore traffic for a little while . Anyway, once I made it past the traffic and was on the way outside Bangalore, the roads became really good and I made good time.

A few KM after turning towards NH-75



The Bangalore - Mangalore highway is a stunner. I hadn't expected it to be so beautiful. I think since I was riding towards the end of the monsoons, the different shades of green made everything even more beautiful.

At Hassan I took SH-57 towards Belur. This is the exact route I took.



After crossing Belur I took a small village road (as indicated in the map above). Although I was a little scared of getting stuck somewhere with a flat or worse in the rain with no help I am really glad that I took the road less travelled. This turned out to be the best decision I had taken on this trip so far.

The roads were in a great condition considering the heavy rains that had been pounding the area for the last few weeks.

Here are some photographs.









About 20 KM before I was to reach my home stay in Chikamagalur, it started raining. And when I say raining, I mean it almost felt like a tropical thunderstorm. Fortunately, my rain preparation paid off. I was mostly dry except that my leather riding gloves were soaking wet.

Anyway, I managed to reach the home stay safely. The first thing I did was to inspect if my laptop & DSLR were OK. Fortunately, the rain cover of the tail bag had kept everything 100% dry.


The next day was spent exploring the area around the homestay. I was living in the middle of a coffee estate. In fact, as I took a stroll along the main road I could see coffee plants every where. This was the holiday that I had been dreaming of - in the middle of nature, cut off from the rest of the world with nothing to do but collect your thoughts and marvel at how beautiful Nature is.


More to follow soon...