Re: K2K with my wife on a Karizma R

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Re: K2K with my wife on a Karizma R

Congratulations on deciding to do the ride! You can confidently go ahead with your bike on this trip. Since you might ride in the night too please upgrade to a 55W bulb for the headlight. By my opinion Karizma has one of the most comfortable pillion seats(at least in its segment). You can do 80-90kmph all day with a pillion on a Karizma. Since this is a pretty long journey you might want to plan perfectly. A lot of riders here have done solo rides but I am not sure about such a long pillion ride. You can check out other similar rides. Check out the Karizma R Ownership thread for more details on the touring capabilty and other aspects of the bike!

Re: K2K with my wife on a Karizma R

Please do a substantial endurance ride with your super interested Wife for a short 600 Km round trip, especially on the roads of Allapuzha-Sherthala. Or best would be to do Kochi - Paravoor - Guruvayoor - Ponnani - Beypore - Kozhikode - Thalassery - Kannur - Kanjangad - Kasargode one D1 & the return journey immediately on the next day. Do frequent stops to visit beaches.

Come back, check upon your substantial endurance with each other & then post your feedback here. We'll continue with the discussion then.

Re: K2K with my wife on a Karizma R


Very very valid point made by Aargee. The interest & enthusiasm is one part, but the physical & more importantly mental strength is also a substantial part.

When you do a small test tour, you will get to know the strengths & weaknesses of yourselves & the bike. Accordingly, you will have to make the required preparations/adjustments for the big ride. Besides, for you as a rider its lot of work & fun riding all day enjoying the twists & turns and challenges, whereas for your wife its just sitting on the saddle and looking around, which sometimes can get very boring, therefore make sure you have sight-seeing & other stops to make things exciting, therefore dont make very long riding distances on the saddle day in & day out. Besides K2K means you have to also be prepared to take precautions for High Altitude sickness. Lastly for a ride this long, I will highly recommend a bluetooth intercom such as Scala or Senna etc. It makes the trip so much more enjoyable communicating with each other thru the intercom.

Therefore suggest do a few small rides and then embark on a big one. Physical fitness is also very important

Re: K2K with my wife on a Karizma R

long rides are always supposed to be done in a progressive manner. 50kms, 100kms....and so on ...that too with timings and feel on completion. if you and your wife have done long rides in past then you know what im talking about. prepare a good trip plan or itinerary and do post it here. stuff, days, stays, return,emergency, etc...

the bike is always ready for rides, given maintenance and check ups but humans are often not. The objective of the ride needs to be clear. sight seeing, record attempt ( just for a certificate), personal satisfaction, etc...
there are loads of tourers here to give immense support online and offline...

Re: K2K with my wife on a Karizma R

Congrats first of all on your marriage to a lady who wants to tag along with husband! Also, you ve got the right bike for the job# ! My wife rates ZMA-R as the best touring bike in India! As Aargee suggested try a weekend ride up and down 400kms each way as a mini/prototype run with all the right safety gear, luggage et al. Try wearing rain gear too in the middle of the ride, so as to simulate rain riding... If both of you are 'truly' happy that you want to do a long one K2K - then go for it.

Re: K2K with my wife on a Karizma R

Sir, in addition to all the valid points you mentioned, there's one more, which I keep saying to everyone always...

Doing 1000 Km in a day, even if it's under 12 hours, is completely different from doing 600 Km day on day even if it's for 3 days.

People might oversee 1000 Km over 600, but the fact is, 3 days X 600 Km is likely to torture people more than 1 Day X 1000 Km

Except [MENTION=11002]Haroon[/MENTION] ji & [MENTION=34531]ridermax[/MENTION] ji, there're no better person who can advice on this thread.

Re: K2K with my wife on a Karizma R

All our biker friends have some truly valid point here. Apart from the all important 'Trial Ride' they mentioned, for such a long ride its vital to be totally prepared- both mentally and physically besides of course keeping the bike in top condition. Plan the details well in advance and always remember to understand your limitations, if you feel exhausted after a 400 km stretch- break!
And then of course its most important to enjoy the ride...the destination will surely follow

All The Very Best & Do Ride Safe

Re: K2K with my wife on a Karizma R

Thanks all for the valuable inputs... A rightly said by Aargee and all others... its better to do a trial first regarding long rides and then discuss further.. Eid holidays are coming up and we are planning a few things... will update you guys along the way.... need to get some accessories first for her...

Re: K2K with my wife on a Karizma R

Its absolutely fantastic that you're married to someone also interested in such longie touring. Great enthusiasm. Do keep us interested folk... updated.

Cheers.

Re: K2K with my wife on a Karizma R

Have you ridden some good potholes full roads with your better half , say some good half/full day ride?? Ride it and see.
There will be only two possibilties:
Either you will drop the idea of riding pillion to leh ladhak or you will get more strong to see forward.

Dreaming a ride and actually riding it needs preparations.
The best way you prepare yourself the best you will reach your goal.

Re: K2K with my wife on a Karizma R

Congrats bro... Guess we can call this Honeymoon on two wheels :P just kidding..

Here you can check this post.. A friend of mine has done the trip from K2k on the same model of bike you are using.. Karizma R



All the best Mate

Re: K2K with my wife on a Karizma R

try getting matching riding gear for your wife too.... mostly it does the trick and helps in team work!

Re: K2K with my wife on a Karizma R

Reminds me my single day 500 kms round trip on ZMA with wife a year back... The ride was her plan and she too was enthu about it. Though the first half was far more exciting for her, on return she had either lost in thoughts ( as she claimed) or sleep caught onto her due to boredom (as i know it) she startled for a 'second' and gained balance. Happened twice. In the process she upset the bike's balance unexpectedly for me. Though nothing serious happened, a delayed response by her or me in such situation would have resulted a fall in the middlle of the State Highway. She has improved ever since and keeps up with me on such sprints now.

Just make sure you keep her involved in the ride and breaks at appropriate times does the trick. Try plugging in some music too. It helps.

Good Luck for the ride.