mind you this for 7-8 kms....maybe now it will be a chelli kundd

The road looks yummy although with slush it will be tricky at certain sections.

seems like you love offroading to neat tarmacs MG

Thanks for the pics! 7-8 kilometers seems OK! If I'm right the roads would come in right after i exit Thekkady and head in direction of idukki?

But I'm heading the other way..

Thekkady - Kumily - VandiPeriyar - Mundakkayam - Peermade - Ponkunnam - Pambadi - Kottayam - Vembanad Lake - Alleppey.

Check this Route Map (Sorry for the ir-regular image size):




Can i have the road conditions for this? Off roading is fine and completely OK to a certain extent.


No terrain is too tough for you eh.. Planning to ride down south sir?

@ananth i travelled through Thekkady - Kumily - VandiPeriyar - Mundakkayam - Peermade - Ponkunnam route it was pretty decent then god knows what monsoon might have done...that off road route in the pic comes after kattapana enroute to kumily...i think you are taking another route to thekaddii...

Thanks! That's the information i was looking at..

Hope fully the roads hold up till next week!

Meeting balajidiwakar

Met up with balajidiwakar yesterday to try and replace the coil on his bike. He has a sparingly used red P150 with a sweet engine. The original DTSi, with 18 in wheels. Absolutely stock except for clear lens indicators, and not a scratch on it.

We met up at Inchakkal and rode to Star Bike Garage, which is run by Shiju. There were also some beautiful rides at the garage, the highlight being a Hyosung Aquila which had come in for a plug change to NGK Iridium, and a mirror replacement. Balaji took pics of everything, which I'm sure he will post later. There was more, but I'll wait for Balaji's pics which will tell the story better.

blatur??nope..i havnt heard of it

StarBikeGarage : Meet up with Vivek

Hi guys,

Yep on Saturday evening around 3 pm me and VivekGK met and vivek took me to this awesome garage Star Bike Garage run by Shiju. Ok story goes like this, Saturday morning I received a PM from vivek having his contact number. I called him around 12:00 PM and we had a lil intro chat and came to the point. I wanted to change the stator plate in my pulsar 150dtsi to Avenger one. Vivek told that he knows some ppl who are good at this work. So we decided the time and place to meet and hung up.

Meeting : As decided I was supposed to reach near Inchakkal Juntion and give vivek a call. We finally met and I got see his orange devil with FFE first time in action. The roaring sound from the beast claimed an imminent presence among the snoring autorickshaws and other vehicles in the road. So appr a 10 min ride from the Inchakkal Juntion we reached the Star Bike Garage. The garage looks like any other ordinary one from outside, but l8r only I got to know about its potential.

The Garage : I could see a few bikes of bajaj, HH etc and in between all these stood some one real clamly being kinda trying to be un-noticed. I did not even tried to look at it until vivek pointed me and told "Hey look its a V-Twin". I was like when, where and then the blue machine stood there trying to grin at its admirers. The Hyosung Aquila V-Twin, a macho machine. See the pics, I dont want to write anything here.





Owner Shiju was not there the time we arrived. Finally he came riding an RX 100 and so the work started. Before getting into his work, the first question shiju asked was why is the need for the coil change. I told him that avgs got more coil windings and produces more power and that way more light. He said ok for the time being and started his work. Deep in my heart something told me that this guy is good at what he is doing, because instead of doing anything what a customer wants, this guy seems to understand the situation and acts accordingly. So he started to check the harness and the coil and he said there is no use putting this coil in the bike. I was like 'oh what', ppl are doing in day-to-day and this guy just says there no point doing it. The thing is that my bike being the UG1, both the coils are more or less the same except for their charger unit. He started explaining the various wires and its functions, (I dont remember wat are those still now). So basically it figured out that, there is not going to be any noticable change after putting the avg coil. He told the only option is to change the RR unit. Then while I was thinking he game me one more option, going for HID. The idea is to install a HID and make the headlight alone DC and install a 9V volt battery. So finally he opened up the console and he said, I will put in LED for the park lights. I was totally happy on hearing those words, i was trying to figure out a method to put LED park lamps in my bike. I got a ready made solution. Here is the pic of the LED bulb


Finally Vivek told me to go for halogens. Me and Shiju went to a near by shop to get a MICO 35W Halogen bulb. The bulb cost Rs.60 INR.

The orange devil : So when the headlight pblm was solved Vivek offered me to take his beast for a spin. Man the ride was so good. The FFEs plung in awesome power after 4000 rpm. The starting itself felt a small power surge. The 4000 - 7000 was zwoook and you will never know how it came there. mabbe vivek can put in some more info on that. And between all there another chopper rolled in silently. A guy by the name Suraj is the wielder. here is a pic

So finally we got the bulb installed and then we left the place. I tested the lamp the same night, on the pattom highway. i started noticing that ppl show me a lil respect when I flashed the pass light. The headlight spread is really btr than stock. I will put in another pic of the light, the LED

Last but not least, a big thanks to Vivek for introducing me to a really trustworthy and a best mechanic. I hope I did not keep my post too lengthy. Wanted to share the experince I underwent that evening.

@balajidiwakar

Now, where's this place dude?
I don't go to the highway side often. Still I'd like to meet this mech.
sensible ones are real hard to find.
I'm located around the medical college region

Thanks guys.... i was looking for a mechanic who can help me in fixing a Osram Nightbreaker in my zma with a Dual head light relay..........

i think this workshop is situated in bypass right? i have seen lot of Choppers done by them

hey you got the bulb in hand? btw did you get it in pair or as a single one...I may need one. Hope to see you with that for the nxt meet.

Great write-up by Balaji. Lids off to you, man.

The Aquila: The owner has been having some issues, mostly because of lack of proper servicing for his bike. Kinetic offers no service, and Shiju has been working on it with no support at all, not even the owners' manual. It's not his first V-twin, not even the second. Last year around this time there was a Honda 500cc twin that came to him completely dead. It left with a CBR body, I think.

I completely enjoyed the meet, mostly because it was fun to see Balaji's eyes grow saucer-size with every new discovery.

Balaji's headlights: I was a bit disappointed that the coil could not be fitted, even more because this was one mod that I was planning for my bike too, and it would have been good to see it in action.

Does anyone know if the Avenger 180 also has a 55/60 headlamp? Or is that an upgrade that was offered on the 200? If so, it's likely that a coil from the newer bike would give the necessary output.

Shiju knows his HIDs. He'll even procure them, you just have to fork up the cash lol. And his installs are a lot cleaner.

I could see that Balaji just loved the LEDs with the built in diffraction lens. What about a pic of your headlamp with just that LED on, dude? They are also available in various colors, and there's even one that changes color sequentially. I wanted to show him the LED backlit-type number plates, but the shop was closed by the time we got there.

The Garage: I've seen some amazing work done here. Shiju is willing to work with the customers and give them exactly what they want, and at the same time, he will not hold back if he thinks that another way would be better. His brother does most of the fabrication work, but he's no slouch with a gas flame either. It's most rewarding to give him an idea and to see him turn it into reality, because his methods are so ingenious. He's a big fan of everything Ducati. Let me give you an example. There was this guy who wanted a 916 bodykit for a CBZ, and he was having trouble sourcing the headlights. Shiju solved the problem by using the fog lamps from a Hyundai Accent and turning them upside down. Not exactly highly functional, I agree, but it looked the part, and that was what the customer wanted. After all, it wasn't like his CBZ with all that bodywork was gonna go like a 150 let alone a 916.

Shiju doesn't own a bike. But I've never seen him without a ride either. His current ride, the RX is a beast. It pops wheelies in the first three gears without trying too hard.

The Green Serpent: This one belongs to a guy named Suraj. It's based on the Thunderbird, but has a proper low cruiser seat and extra wide handles, as well as custom tank and mudguard. The work is just so cool. Yeah, I know the pipe's joints are rusty, but that was a late addition, and by that time, there wasn't much $$ left do do everything proper. Fear not, Suraj's working on it.

My bike: Thanks for the new nickname for my bike Balaji! Love it! The power in the 4k-7k range is mainly due to the k&N, upjetting to 117.5 and the custom long intake and header, I think. I had to adjust the intake length a bit until I found the right combination for good midrange while not sputtering at full throttle. Keep it too short, and there's no action till 5K. Too long, and it will struggle at the top end. Balaji has seen my intake mod, but I think it's a bit too silly looking to post here.

It's on the Kovalam route, about a kilometer after Inchakkal Jn on the way to Kovalam. It's on the left side, just after a big BOSCH dealer. If you can't find it, call me when you plan to come and I'll hook you up. PM me when.

saucer size .. thanks, yes I really did get excited that day, to meet someone who has knowledge.....

I will put up the LED pic soon enuf.....kinda busy with work schedule