Topic Approved

@mike-Welcome to xBhp.Good way to start your journey in xBhp.Will wait for more updates.

Welcome to xbhp.

Its strange that even a new member started posting teasers ??

Kriss, He told he has been following the tourer section.

Welcome to xbhp Mike. Waiting for more details.

Hi Mike... welcome to the gang...

How old is your Blue R15 now? How did it take on the pot holes and that little ghat section? what was ur top-speed through the reserved forest area's slightly inclined straight road?

Thanks for approving the thread. Will provide a detailed log of the trip, But help me in how to display images in the thread itself instead of opening the attachments.That will make the thread interesting.

upload the photos to web albums like picasa / flickr / tinypic / xxxx / yyyy and link the photos here.

It all started on friday evening after the office when one office friend made a visit to my home.

23 Jan ,around 7:00 PM.
We were talking about the Ladakh region, Nubra valley and the Khardungla top and the way ppl make the trip on the bikes. I was introduced to these trips by another friend of mine...who is thinking of buying a Bullet and to make that trip....I will call him the Bullet Guy for further referring him in this log.


I was showing my friend the images of the Ladakh region and we started surfing through the related threads of the region in the touring section of Xbhp.Slowly the beauty of the region filled our minds,We were already starting dream for that trip.
But I only made a trip to my Home town near Vijayawada on a bike which is roughly 300KM,and I returned 4 days later.That was a solo ride.My friend would go down to his house in Warangal often which is around 130KM.

So, I said before making such ultimate trips one would be needed to make short trips to see if they are made for that adventure or not.Here group riding skills are important...so we decided to ride on each one of
our beloved UNICORNs.Which we both(more myself), admire a lot.


Then the next question ....where to make those short trips......the following places made rounds
Vizag and Araku(700+ KM)
Thirupathi(Around 600+ KM)

Then thought that they would be a bit long and require us to spend atleast two days, If not three,
And as we do only Normal Commuting on our bikes, All we have is basic riding gear-Normal Helmet and Jackets.
That is ruled out for now adding to that we did not plan earlier.

But We have had three consecutive days-OFF from the office....Sat,Sun and R'Day.
That has started jumping in my mind and I started bugging my friend....
"Three days in a row and we cant afford to miss this opportuinity...come on"
I was starting to bug because my friend was to go to his home the next day,But I din't want to miss the opportunity.
But prior to this he has said that he would be staying there only for a couple of days and will be back.
"Come on Three days in a row ..difficult to get and next month we are occupied a bit "

So finally we decided to make a single day trip.On the R-Day and the search for the destination started.
Criteria for selection.
a)Start in the early Morning, Enjoy the ride........
b)Start back and reach city by the time it becomes dark..
c)If you can get a place where there is some thing to see...that will be a bonus.
Instant thought was ...Nagarjunasagar,which is around 150KM and will meet our criteria.Then I called my another friend..the BulletGuy.He had been making some trips during the past year with his Palio.
On phone he said he was near my house and so I asked him to come to my house after finishing his work.


After sometime the BulletGuy arrives.
I explained our plans and asked for any places in the North Telangana region,where we can make our trip and return.I have not been to that region before and thought it will be good to cover that part of the state.
He mentioned some places like Basar which has a Saraswati Temple, Vemulawada and Vikarabad he said was good and roads interesting.
So me and my friend were a bit undecided. My friend wanted to leave to his home now...it was around 9:00PM.Before he left it
was decided that I would decide on the destination and inform him.
After he left.I was talking to the BulletGuy about his recent tours and then came the mention of SRISAILAM and about the Ghat roads, also mentioned that the traffic would not be allowed in that stretch during nights,.after a while BulletGuy also left with yet another friend of us who picked him up.
At around 9:50 PM after searching a bit on the internet I SMSed My friend....: "Destination SRISAILAM 242KM".

Trip preparations

interesting preparation Mike... keep the log flowing

I got my R15 in August,Now after the trip it has completed 2900KM.As I was worried about the pot holes(They are like Villans now) I took it easy, also that I never been on that route previously., In the straights 118KM was the top speed, But I took the Ghat roads very cautiously, so it was around 72KM I think.But I have touched 130 mark when I went to Vijayawada.I had to get into the aerodynamic position to reach that speed.

The trip begins

25 January 5:00 AM

I wake up with the alarm ring, Call my TM ,He looks to be awake by then, Ask him to get ready by 5:30. He says "OK and give a missed call when you start" He stays at a distance of 2KM from my house.I get ready myself by 5:40 and call him......He is not lifting the phone....I keep it ringing...he picks it up...
Me:I hope your CellPhone camera will be OK for taking images, How many pixels?
TM: 3 Megapixels
Me: Good that will be OK.And I am starting.
So I decide not to carry my neighbour's Nikon which seemed like a bit of luggage.Now I say a sorry to my Dear Uni and wipe the dust clear on my R15.Say bye to my Mom,she earlier agreed to let me on the tour on the condition that I would call her every 3-4 hours during the trip.
So here we go...

I start for the trip, its still dark....And I wanted to get outside city by the time sun is out.I set my trip meter to Zero.After 2 KM..My TM is at the point where he asked me to pick up.
our planned route
ECIL---->Habsiguda----->Uppal---->LB Nagar----->Airport----->Srisailam Highway----->Srisailam

So we were slowly cruising between 50 and 60 KMPH, My next point was to fill my Bike at Shell station near Habsiguda actually it is nearer to Uppal X Road which is at a distance of 12 to 13KM from my house.I thought they will be open by 6:30 AM.While moving I see the Shell at Nacharam Still not functioning even though they have removed all the barricades they had put when they shut shop unable to compete with the subsidized prices at which the state owned (read HP,BP,IOC,IBP) Oil Corporations were selling the fuel. Now that the crude is fallen back to around $40 a barrel from the previous $147 a barrel highs,its time to reopen...or so I thought.I started mentioning to TM the need to take images so that I could write the blog on Xbhp.

At 6:20 AM we reach the Shell Habsiguda station,Its still dark and the fuel station is not open, We asked if they would open at 6:30..They said they
would open only at 07:00 AM, Disappointed, I dint want to lose any more time, Cursed that I should have got it fueled yesterday...But anyway..
Time to find a good bunk, If Autos are filling in at a petrol station then that is an indication that the fuel there is Good and the quantity is
correct.
So start riding again the traffic was minimal at that time and the road has been recently widened to make the travel to airport easier.I ask my
TM to take some snaps.



Tacho and the R15 is on High beam which is a rare with me


Road in the morning near Uppal X Road

So then find a HP fuel pump near Nagole and about 40 Autos were in queue there, then I see a BP bunk which I recall is busy during the evenings.
So We move into the Bunk,only one other two wheeler was being filled, a Splendour. Then its the turn of my Bike.My tank was already having some fuel,it was showing three bars, So I fill it with Rs.400 of Normal Unleaded fuel.Then its time to bring tyres up to their pressures.
Its still dark out there, And no one was near the airpump. I decide to stay there before one guy comes to do his duty.I say 28 and 34.

was it that cold in at 6:30 AM? all the photos came out shaken

Yes it was as it will follow with the log. But yeah the images are from a cell phone camera.

Now the bike is ready for the trip, When we come out out the Petrol bunk ,the darkness is starting to disappear but the temperature is becoming cooler.
My unprotected hands are starting to a feel the chill and I have asked TM to now atleast tie his Hankie around his nose to save himself from catching cold.
As we were moving it was becoming cooler with every minute or should I say every mile. We were steadily moving at 45-60 KMPH even though the roads are inviting. So now on more images and less words.



This is DLRL campus


image at some road