Sandeep Sir, this is really amazing, kudos to YOU, PRAVEER & IMRAN for accomplishing this and all the members of XBHP family. Waiting for the travel log and pics.....

Thumbs up to OF and the team! Indeed a very special acheivement from you all.

Congrats on the achievement team.

Congratulations to Sandeep sir , Imran bhai and the rest of the team for making it successfullyy.....

Cheers to the xbhp sense of adventure and acomplishment....

Way to go....

P.S. :- i wish the Bike's makers take notice and do sponsor a few more rides like these

Congratulations on the commendable achievement. Now waiting for the writeups!

Congratulations sir its a great accomplishment and very inspirational for all the members here

Congrats OF Sir for achieving this.
xBhp is making History and will continue in future also....

Gr8...Gr8...Gr8...

India Gate, New Delhi, 3 July 2010 0400 hrsWater-crossing number unknown!Near Lachunlung La TopAcross More PlainsTo Khardungla Top

Epilogue: There is lots more in terms of pictures and video footage of this ride. We had an interesting but a grueling journey on the way back but then that's for another day and time. Will keep posting up the pictures as and when we can sort them out and edit them. The video documentary is to be prepared by Mumbai based professionals and will take some time in coming. There is a big surge ahead in xBhp's activities and reach in the next few months. This ride will prove to be just a tiny preview of all that is to follow.

Ride long and safe..
Old Fox

Boy oh boy. This is the ultimate test of man & machine. Again, three cheers. This needs real guts & determination. I always thought the Bandit & V-Strom from Suzuki would have a much wider 'usage' in India rather than all those supersports and cruisers which have a much wider 'audience'!! These are true value bikes that get the work done with least of noise. And from what I have read about the BAM or Trans Siberian route that many riders consider the ultimate riding challenge, your route is no less challenging esp with the limited Oxygen supply up there. Do you think using dual sport tires like Metzeler Tourance or Michelin Anakee can make this bike better for general touring in India where the roads are not always....?

Well done guys and hope this is an eyeopener to a lot of people that superbikes are just not about hp and torque and fashion statement, blah blah. Congrats again.

I think that you managed to do this because of various reasons that I have already cited before: Your Skills. Your Experience. And most importantly your Build and Strength.

I do not think I would have managed to ride this thing in what I rode back exactly a week before you passed that way. I had more snow and ice on the road. You faced them melting. But I would not have been able to handle the bike's weight in the slush.

Besides, I think conclusion after the ride: Even the Bandit is not a sane choice to ride on such terrain if you manage to damage the radiator, the fan, the relay and so on...

Bravo to the team!!
Very well written Report Sir.

And yes three cheers to the crazies of the world.

xBHP is surely making some waves!!

Proud to be an xBHPian.

Thanks Haroon. Though what people do on the Trans-Siberian route is way way beyond my capabilities. Yes, the altitude does make it difficult. That difficulty is probably what makes the ride so attractive. The dual sport tyres would be a boon on this bike through the kind of terrain we faced. My only reservation is the smaller sections, not above 150 available for the dual sports, that would make life difficult or rather tricky on tarmac especially with the kind of torque this bike makes. One needs rubber to put down the power. Even a bicycle with such thin tyres can handle impressive lean angles but putting down power demands a wider patch. The present 180 section tends to spin up when exiting a tight turn even in 3rd under hard throttle on clean and wet tarmac. Some 30% lesser footprint would make it dicier.

Thanks for the good words ken. Yes, things would have been dangerously out of favor for us had we been there a week or so ago. Going by how the bike behaves when I hit a couple of hard ice patches atop Tanglang La, I would have been more on my knees praying for Lord's grace than sitting on the saddle, especially on the way down.

True, even a bike as practical as the bandit is not a sane choice for such a ride. A true off-roader would be logical and more real a choice. The radiator issue is avoidable if one keeps washing off the deposited slush at short intervals, before it gets 'fired' by the heat and sets for good. But still, without the fan et al, the engine was a dream and so was the rest of the running gear. I believe a fully faired bike, disregarding the ground clearence issues for a moment, would have faced severe heating issues at the kind of forward speeds we were forced to do. The Bandit did More Plains to Leh and Leh to k-Top the next day without a working radiator fan and without overheating once even through Leh's now infamous bazaar traffic in the evening. Says a lot about the thermal stability of the engine. Dual sport tyres and sane throttle handling to compensate for the smaller contact patch could make a good all-round tourer of this bike is what I feel now.

Thanks Rachit. And yes, xBhp is sure going places now.

Congrats Chacha, i am going to get my taste of the hills soon. i am still waiting to ride with you as discused. i am sure this was not some thing i would have been doing but surely when you take out your Karizma i will try to be rite on your tail with my Pulsar

Ohhhh My God!!!! Hats off to you guys, you made it to the top in such worst conditions, my goodness cant believe my self. All my assumptions were wrong, it needs a great deal of courage to ride to the K-top. pics and write up are just pure gold. i was taken right into the ride bye the write-up awesome stuff.

Loved reading through the short tex, OF sir, especially the last couple of paragraphs were really engaging and funny!

Pictures and text both are very limited for a mammoth tour like this, but I understand the fact that they are being edited. Would love to see the documentary when it is finally completed.

Congratulations to the entire team for completing such a grueling ride under such freak weather conditions, on an inline 4-cylinder motorcycle no less!