Nice ride there.Waiting for the rest of the log.

nice write up and some very nice pics.this is something I can never do - ride with a pillion, hey thats me.end of the day, you guys look like you had a lot of fun.

Day3::Mahabaleshwar::Tapola::Mahabaleshwar::Pratap gadh::Poladpur::Ratnagiri::290KM

Day3::Mahabaleshwar::Tapola::Mahabaleshwar::Pratap gadh::Poladpur::Chiplun::Ratnagiri::290KM

Today we got up at 5:30 AM only as we doesn’t want to miss the sunrise at Wilson point, by 6 we reached the sot & few other people also waiting anxiously for the sunrise. It was very cold & almost everyone are like freezing with the cold winds. Luckily our riding gear helped us here. For 45 mins, there are no signs of the sun rise & people started leaving the spot. Mean while we had hot ginger tea & about leave. Then slowly sun started rising from clouds. Immediately we taken our position & started taking few snaps. After that we immediately moved to Tapola, the initial parts of the road are a bit bad, but they are laying a new layer. It was some 30Km journey in the ghats & we were going down the hill. After good 45mins we reached the Tapola village & had some photo session for half an hour and moved back to Mahabaleshwar. Had Utapha at some restaurant & went to the resort.

We vacated the resort by 11 & started journey towards Pratagad. The roads were good, but cannot be compared the other side ghat connecting NH4. As it very hot & we doesn’t want to carry our luggage till the top of the fort. So we bought water bottles from 1 shop & given our helmets & riding jackets to the shopkeeper. We deliberately given 100rs note & asked her to keep the change & said in return we will take after having lassi from her shop. The best part in MH is that forts are very well maintained which is not the same in our state. .We had spent around 40mins in the fort & came down. Has Lassi in the store & started moving towards Poladpur, the roads were at its worst stage after the limts of Satara district. It took us good amount of time to reach Poladpur. Taken a small break at Poladpur on NH 17 & started moving towards Chipulan, as our intial plan was to reach Ganpatipule by evening. We have seen across many foreigners coming in the opposite directions on 2 wheelers, which really made us think when a person from out side country is traveling in our country with the help of maps & GPS, why we are worrying so much for small trips. This really gave us lot of courage & started moving towards our destination.

Just before 11Km to Chipulan, we have seen some 2 dhaba with a good view down the hill. We stopped over there for lunch. Suddenly observed that oil is getting leaked from the engine, I was really worried wat would have went wrong & how much time its going to take the set things to normal. Even its warranty is going to complete in 6KM, as the bike ODO is at 29994 at that point. We finished our lunch & moved towards Chipulan. Stopped a person riding yellow RTR & asked him about the service centre, he asked us to follow him as he is going in the same direction.

In 10 mins the SC guys attended our bike, they said that oil seal was gone & need to replace they fixed in no time & even lubed my chain, the best thing was that they are using the chain spray, which many of the people in HYD service centers doesn't know. Even the guy told me to buy the Castrol spray not TVS one. To my enquiry they told me that they are using the chain spray from the launch of open chain models & it is compulsory requirement of the service center. Even i tried to tip the guy who has worked on my machine, but he straight away refused to take. They charged 20rs for oil seal, 30 rs for chain lubing & 20 for labour charges. A very spl thanks to Shinde TVS, Chipulan for their immediate attention to my bike & was very pleased with their response.

Meanwhile a person from Ratnagiri came to collect his bike & started enquiring about ourselves. He was very helpful about the routes & asked to stay at Ratnagiri rather then Ganpatipule & even asked us to visit his shop for lassi. This decision of staying in Ratnagiri has really costed us the next day with good 2 hrs of time. We started around 5 PM from Chipulan & want to cover the next 90 KM by 6:30. We crossed him on the way & reached Ratnagiri by 6:45. It took us good amount of time to get a decent lodge & we waster around 45 Mins. Finally found a decnt place & stayed over there for the night.


Eagerly Waiting for the Sunrise


Most awaited sunrise..




On the way to Tapola







Pratapgad Fort from distance





Trying to take our shadow


Heavy carriage truck tumbled on NH17

View from the dhaba before Chipulan

My bike completed 30K in 19 mnths.

Was wondering the same. Vishnu could have used the cam in Vivid mode.

Kp,
MH is la that in this season , Its all brownery and 0 greenery.
Same case with all my pics . The cam will be fine :-D

Santa

I see, I had no idea... thanks man

The photos are comparatively pale for that camera. Was it too dry and sunny or were the photos shot in a wrong mode?

That's bungee net for you. Mounts in half a minute. Dismounts in half a minute.

Great pics..... . the baggage seems to be cleverly tied with a lot of knots. Must have been a ***** to untie and put it back

Beautiful photos and nice write-up. Bring on the rest.

Beautiful snaps

Vishnu, ghat roads are alwas mesmerising. btw why is it called sydney point?

buddy i dont know how did u guys manage in that seat, your pillion rider friend would have felt the pain but as you said that you guys didnt feel the pain at all. well thats what happens when you are in a tour. Excitement, thrill takes over your physical pain....

Thanks for sahring and of course bring on the rest.....

nice pics man....keep them coming...

Day2::Pune::Panchagan::Mahabaleshwar::154KM

We thought of starting on day 2 by 8 AM, but we got up only after 8 due to previous day tiredness. After finishing morning chores, we left Pune by 10 AM. After the crossing the tunnel, we have filled or bike bike tank with 12 liters of petrol. Now its time to fill ourselves, dint find any south Indian restaurants. So stopped at some dhaba & had missal pav, wada pav.. They were tasty & some what different from what we have in the morning.,but enjoyed the taste .

Then again continued with our journey & take right from the GQ towards Mahabaleshwar. Near Panchgani went Harrisons Folly poiny, Sydney point & then to the table land. Taken bike to all the corners of the table land & one couple showed interest of taking a pic with my bike. Views from all these locations were amazing. Had lunch at Pnchgani & started our journey towards Mahabaleshwar. Then covered the Kates Point, Needle Hole Point, Elephant Head Point, Monkey point, Tiger spring, Arthur seat. Taken a bunch of snaps around these points & we were in a confusion to stay over night at Mahabaleshwar or move to Satara. It was already 6:30 & our selves decided to stay at the hill station only..

We stopped at a shop to buy some water bottles & enquired about rooms. He has guided us with a person, they have taken us to some resort & shown us the room. We like at the first instant & bargained it for Rs 400. Then we went out to do some window shopping & returned back to room after dinner. The food we had at this place is really pathetic. At one shop we bought some chikki & asked the places to visit. He asked us to go to Wilson Point(sunrise point) in the morning & then move on to Tapola.


Fantastic GQ

The Ghats Started

Some beautifully shaped mountains.



Greenish meadows at Harrisons Folly point.



Posing for the pics

Bike & camel at distance.

At Sydney Point


At Table Land




It has got every ones attention.

River Krishna, if am not wrong


Elephant point.


Gyan about Kates ponit.

Sharp Mountains.

Sunset at Monkey point.

Thanks Buddy, will post theDay 2 log & pics in some time.

Thanks Ravi, we thought the whole night how to tie the luggage & finnaly tried in the morning, it came well, We improved ourselves as days progressed. Pillion had a tough time getting up & down.

We didnt have any back problems except for the butt.

Thanks Buddy.

We didnt face much of a problem at the time, but now we are thinking, how did we manage

Will upload day 2 in some time.