Oyeee... lets have some more tips from ur recent trip - BUnny!!

Quick question here since we have all the seasoned folks posting. What do you do about roads which are iced over. How does it feel on two wheels and how do you negotiate it?

@ajith : ice and snow can be in two forms
BLACK ICE : i call it killer ice. a layer of almost transparent ice. forms when water freezes on the road. best option on a bike , go slow , say at 20-25 in a lower gear , say 2nd , and stick ur feet out , milimeters above the road so that u feel confident while negotiating the stretch. if its a turn , be dead slow at 10-15kmph.

SNOW ROAD : wen there is snow on the road , its sort of better than black ice. atleast u get some traction. follow the same steps as above ( a bit faster )

@maxi : soch ke likhunga

Thanks Bunny. Appreciate the help. I got a few more questions to go. Cant think of all of them at once

Any special guidelines on footwear? I am trying to figure out what type of sole gives me best grip. The biggest test i have seen is a wet (nearly)smooth stone (granite) surface. Or if you know any brands of footwear which do well at this....

hmmmm.. try those woodland sort of shoes. i was wearnin normal sport shoes. didnt provide too much grip..
or try testing by wearning various shoes and try walkin on slabs of ice from the local ice wala hehehe

Well my present pair are the Woodland shoes. The sole reminds me of knobbly tyres. But it is no good. A little bit of water and it is as good as standing on banana peels.

lolzzz.. den PM lovemax n nikhil , dey wil be able to help ya out

@ ajith : usually the shoes with plain sole are not suited for snow but are best for rock climbing as u need to have grip with no air left in its sole to provide u grip.
But on snow case is different, try shoes from Salomon but only go for non breathable shoes.
I got the one which breathes, so on snow they are goood but not waterproof for long walking in snow.
But as bunny said, for a small while u cn take em on rent from local shoe stores.
Yes, they do rent the shoes for hours or days.

[u]Precautions</u>: When you want to check the road conditions, although chances might be bit difficult that they will gladly interact with a civilian but its worth a try and pay a friendly visit to the regional office of GREF (Border Roads Organisation) and ask the latest update, remember they are army guys and have latest input from remote and far flung roads. IMHO condition of roads is not a problem but landslides info is what you need to ask, till around 12,000 feet slides happen frequently.

[u]Money</u>: Plan your whole trip and do a proper budgeting beforehand, cut some slack towards miscellaneous unforeseen expenses and add some more as rain check. Never keep all money stashed in one place. Spend from one reservoir for like 2 days before you open the next stash. Think of unlikely places to hide money, like you can always find 1,500 Rs in 500 denominations in air filter box of my RD Even I got mugged at NH1 in Ambala on way to Manali-Leh last year but it still saved me as I was carrying only enough money to see me thru till hotel bills in Manali.

[u]Interacting with locals[u]Clothing & Shoes</u>[u]On the Road</u>: When in hills try to change your mind set from plain road driving. You will see other drivers will respect your driving as well. Be patient and learn to wait for pass, which may take a lot longer then plain roads. Not because the other guy is racing with you but because there has to some EXTRA space around before he can side step without breaking his pep and loosing speed. Nobody is going to give you pass just because you honked for it and come to grinding halt himself from this 3rd or 2nd gear and then when you overtake, start raving all over again in 1st gear.

Truck drivers are the nicest lot in hills, try and be nice to them in return. It will pay someday if not on same trip. I had this trucker coming to me in morning when I got up and realized clutch plates on my RD350 are stuck because night was so cold, it snowed a bit as well and that STP infused Megnatec engine oil went bricks. And he offered whatever help he can give. He was driving a coal truck up to Leh and he seemed like a messiah in that wilderness to me. My situation was all the more aggravated because my tool kit got pinched by some firangee in Manali the previous day and I noticed this fact only 10 mins ago this morning. He not only gave me some spares to open clutch cover but also heated a pan of coal to put under her belly and sure enough she started in second kick. And WHY did he was helping enough???? I said many thanks to him and he said no no its ok, you are good guy I saw you two days back at ludhiana and then near manali and both times when I gave you pass, you waved me bye!!! Bottom line is BE NICE TO ALL.

[u]While Driving[u]Tools[u]Medicines[u]Mountain Sickness[u]Inner line permitswww.mapsofindia.com is the best site I know. I was taking to someone from there and soon they are coming up with trekking maps of Himalayas too. Just that do not use their maps without permission and post on net as reference.

Happy Riding

That was good. I need to print this for reference.

yeah, beautifully written, he's covered everything.

Hey Hippie ..very nicely compiled..
worth a read And indeed just few bold indentations would have made it lot easier for lotta people but still gud work done bro.

Hey Hippie ..very nicely compiled..
worth a read And indeed just few bold indentations would have made it lot easier for lotta people but still gud work done bro.

Lovemax bro, am not very comp savvy, hence I dint knew how to activate them underline and bold commands, i hv worked it out finally I hope this will do the needfull, do tell me if anything is still left out in those topics.
Cheers

Lovemax bro, am not very comp savvy, hence I dint knew how to activate them underline and bold commands, i hv worked it out finally I hope this will do the needfull, do tell me if anything is still left out in those topics.
Cheers