Ride .. Theory and Practical

For lazy ass lyk me ride with theme might remain as thought n Theory ....but this time the Theory is about to lead wid Practical practices..yes we had theme for our ride named as Republic day Ride to Border .. this time ride is planned for 1300km in 48 hours*riding hours.. this numeric itself is so happening that GenX might go high with no stuffing required to roll on..

We set team of 5. One new comer, Baniya, Who is backseater plus motion photographer.

Here we thought of launching our page before proceeding to ride so dat we can expose our experience and make others to pick for it.

We did launch our Facebook page and invited our notorious friends to keep track on our ride with likes.

For this we worked technically hard and yes felt great because theoretically planning itinerary was looking so cool.

With busy schedule we missed to book our bus to Dehradoon.. and we reached Dehradoon 2 hrs late. Later caught all keys from mad ass scientist. Pulled all bikes out from garage, wore helmets, knee pad, mask and all set to ride.

We juz crossed 10km and here comes the uninvited fog to ride with us, which accompanied us till the end of the ride.

Target for the day Ride was surathgarh*512km , later changed to Faizilka*463km. So from starting it was clear that we should reach before 7 pm. We rode n rode n rode, never flashed on speedometer, no count on km covered. We just aimed to reach. We altered the stay point 3 times.

We failed coz of a major Bike issue and fog slow pacing our ride all the more, trailing 70km eating dust and night ride fear.

At last we stopped at Abohar*442km and started finding hotel. We always we hunt the best accommodation, the tradition followed and succeeded in coursing Mission hotel hunt.

All riders were completely tortured by fog, gang was full on pain. Had dinner tossed pain killer, lights off, went on to dream next day Ride escaping from fog.

Morning, Again on our avenger cruise 220s took exit from abohar and proceeded to hindumalkot and next to fazilka.. Fog became Pie in the sky. Same weather, normal temperature was 11 degree, riding temp 6-7 degrees..

1st stop was to Hindumalkot 38 km off road from abohar. The border. Proceeded parallel to border. The border and barbed wires were hazy coz of the fog. The later on we proceeded to sadqi, sulemanqi road, NH-7 Faizilka.

We witnessed farmers entry to border fields with permitted papers.

Continued Riding alongside border and reached Amritsar. Heaven on border.

Golden temple, Langar and night halt at Amritsar. Morning Jalianwala bagh. Theoretically, we were planning to visit hindumalkot, fazilka, ferozpur and Amritsar coupled with visit to border in each of the places while practically, we were able to witness border at Hindumalkot alone..After the epic ride, on the third day, we started to ride back to Doon on AH-1 longest route of Asian Highway network.

Raced like crazy dogs on the 8 lane highway, with fingers freezing and wet balls.

Finally reached home at 8pm on third day. Completed 1200 km. In fog, covering borders, mountain roads, fertile plains, blissful monument and innumerable memories.

It is true when they say ride designs its own map.

Cast Iron fights Rann of Kutch

Second time to Rann of Kutch. A place no one regrets visiting multiple times. 

Silhouette - Toothless and Rann. Perfect Combo

Only this time, I planned to ride all the way from Chennai. That is 2500 kms one way.

Roads in India are not brilliant. So, this is not doable in a day. I planned to do it in 3!

This time I am riding with a Chaddi Buddy. 

I rode my buddy’s Desert Storm till Pune and planned to ride a Cast Iron RE loaned by an old friend for the rest of the journey.

At the start of the Ride

I have ridden all models made by RE with UC Engine. Never a Cast Iron Model.

Always wanted to feel the legendary thump!!

1200 kms to Rann. Doable with Cast Iron? In a day? I am willing to take my chances.

Only issue was that the Motorcycle was not serviced properly.

We made it to Bhuj with just minor hiccups in Cast Iron. Draining of Engine Oil, above all.

Luckily, I was able to find mechanics all along the way who fixed minor issues that arose.

We proceeded to Narayan Sarovar and Guvar/Guhar, as a part of my record to reach all corners of country in four months.

Westernmost Village

Next day was to the White Rann. Every day during the ride, there were minor issues with the Cast Iron and maintaining it by riding carefully under control was the biggest challenge of them all. Meanwhile my chaddi buddy was cruising in full force in his beast “Toothless” (His Desert Storm). Damn you bugger.

We made it to White Rann. Peacefully

Ride on the White Rann

Although there is heavy rush in December coz of Rann Utsav, there is a secret road which leads right into the white rann. You can ride your bike there. And that’s what we did!

I never wanted to take chances in the wilderness coz of my Cast Iron. So, we returned the same day back to Bhuj. Twas New Year 2016.

New Year’s Day, We started riding back to Pune. Suddenly my bike stopped. Again, near a mechanic shop. I don’t know whether to call this ride fortunate or not.

After diagnosis, the results were….. Piston Damaged!

There is no way to fix this issue. I made up my mind and sent this Cast Iron to Pune by truck and rode the remainder of the journey till Pune as a pillion in Toothless.

So much for the Thump....