V40 @ R M X 2010

V-40s ride to RM-X @ Vikramgad

Ride at first light and keep riding hard until sun down; this was our game plan for our trip to rider mania, RM-X at Vikramgad. The venue was a nature resort around 120 kms north of Mumbai, off the Mumbai – Ahmadabad highway and we planned to make the trip in 3 days. Six “On any Surface” riders from V40 had planned to make the 3,000 kms round trip.

With the exception of Dom, it will be the first Rider Mania event for all of us. For me (Ram), it will be the first big ride itself. The only other rides I have done has been the overnight to Yercaud for the photo shoot (see earlier trip report “A bridge too far...!!!... A recruit's first ride”) and a day ride to Pondy the weekend before we left for RM-X with Mahesh to help in run in his new Classic 500. I was also the only rider in this pack riding a totally un-modified stock bike. I still had issues making the curves on ghat roads and had doubts on my ability to keep up when there were rough patches.

Original plan was to jump off at first light from the usual starting point at Savitha Dental on the Poonamalee bypass on Wed 20th Jan. Since three riders, Dom, Sudeep and Sankar were already in Ranipet getting their bikes ready, we moved the jump off point to Ranipet. Goutham and I decided to ride out on Tue 19th to Ranipet while Prakash who was riding his new Classic 500 will ride out early on 20th and join us at Ranipet.

Rider log:
Date stamp: 19Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1815 Hrs.
Jump off @: Chennai, Poonamalee Bypass.
Target destination: Dom’s place in Ranipet for an overnight halt.
Distance to cover: 125 kms.
# Riders: 2; Goutham and Ram.
Route Plan: Plan to take NH 4 all the way to Ranipet / Walajapet and exit highway

I was the first to reach the usual spot on the Poonamalee bypass and used the time to get my thermal liner out of my bag and wore it. I did not realize I would need it for the night ride since it was a warm evening. However, as I approached the bypass junction, I had the chance to open up and realized that at a higher speed, the evening air hitting you could be very cold.

Goutham arrived a few minutes later and after a quick discussion on signals, we took off. Goutham led and I followed on his tail. Since I had done the complete return leg of the Yercaud ride at # 2 behind Goutham I was comfortable. The traffic was light and did not pose much of a challenge. We made it to Shankar’s workshop inside Ranipet in less than 90 minutes.

Rider log:
Date stamp: 19Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1945 Hrs.
Planned Stop: Shankar’s workshop. (En-route to Dom’s place)
Distance Covered: 125 kms
Road conditions: Good. Although riding at night, could make good speed. Usual late evening traffic. Perfect riding weather.

The next day, we were kitted up and ready to ride by 0600 hours. Prakash had already left his place in Chennai at 0430 hours and was riding towards us. He met up with us soon after we reached Shankar’s work shop.

Rider log:
Date stamp: 20Jan2010 (Day 1 of the ride)
Time Stamp: 0630 Hrs.
Jump off @: Near Shankar’s workshop Ranipet.
Target destination: Some place near Hubli for an overnight halt.
Distance to cover: 620 kms.
# Riders: 6; Dom, Prakash, Sudeep, Goutham, Sankar and Ram. Dom to lead and Sankar to sweep. Prakash rides from Chennai and catches up with the rest of the pack in Ranipet. All bikes tanked up.
Route Plan: Plan to take NH 46 to Krishnagiri and then NH 7 to electronic city, use the NICE Road bypass to Tumkur road and then proceed North on NH 4 towards Hubli / Pune

All the bikes were topped up. Formation for the complete ride was decided. Dom will lead, I will follow at # 2, Sankar will sweep. The other three quickly picked their spots, Prakash at # 3, Sudeep # 4, Goutham # 5 and will also share some of the sweeping work with Sankar.

NH 46 all the way to Krishnagiri is perfect for riding. No serious or challenging curves. As I took the Vaniyambadi Bridge, I checked my meters. I was clocking over 95 kmph. This was one bridge that I could not cross the last time I tried at the same speeds. I was feeling better now. Pass Krishnagiri, we took NH 7 to Bangalore. Here Dom opened up a little and picked up our pace. We were now averaging between 95 – 100 kmph and doing it with ease.

Once we passed Hosur the traffic density picked up rather quickly. Our pace slowed down a bit and we started looking for the sign boards for the NICE Road Bypass to Tumkur Road. Electronic city comes next. The new bypass road levies tolls for bikes too, Rs. 6 per bike per toll. It cost us Rs. 6 for the first phase and Rs. 24 for the second one. It will be a good idea to keep this money handy for a quick transit through the tolls.

With the exception of a diversion through Bannergatta this bypass is a boon to riders who wish to avoid the nightmare that Bangalore traffic is at any time of the day. Once we exited the bypass road, we joined the Tumkur road which transitions to NH 4. This portion of the highway is still under construction and progress was well below satisfactory. With our tanks (both bike and rider) running low, we stopped and refueled (both bike and rider).

Rider log:
Date stamp: 20Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1200 Hrs.
Pit stop: 40 kms ahead of Tumkur.
Distance Covered: 300 kms
Road conditions: NH 46 from Ranipet, via Krishnagiri and Hosur is perfect. Made good speed up to Electronic city. The bypass is still not complete. Good stretch for around 20 kms to Bannergatta and a 5 kms break forcing all vehicles into a single lane road. Slightly better than a dirt road. This is followed by another 30 – 35 kms of excellent stretch to Tumkur road. NH 4 north of Bangalore through Tumkur is still under construction. Road condition is slight better than horrible. All bikes tanked up and took a pit stop.

Once both bike and rider were refueled, we started our ride again. The NH 4 up to Tumkur is still under construction and is a series of pot holes and speed breakers. From the size of some them, I started to wonder whether there was a competition amongst the construction crews on who could build a speed bump that could break a vehicle if you took it at some speed. These were not the gradual rise and fall types build to road safety standards. These were concrete semi-cylinders buried in the road, covered in road dirt and dust; some of them were absolutely invisible until the last moment. We took a few of them at some speed causing quite a lot of discomfort. After Tumkur and the construction of the highway has better progressed. There are good riding patches that stretches for a couple of clicks interspersed by rough diversion patches. In this stretch we could pick up our pace a little.

Rider log:
Date stamp: 20Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1300 Hrs.
Jump off @: 40 kms ahead of Tumkur.
Target destination: Some place near Hubli for an overnight halt.
Distance to cover: 320 kms.
Route Plan: Stay on NH 4 all the way and start looking for a place to stay at around sundown.

Once we crossed Chitradurga we hit longer stretches of finished highway quality macadam. The time was 1700 hours at this point and we found ourselves riding through the town of Ranebennur. Goutham and Prakash needed to tank up and we took a stop here. Inquiries were made one a possible place to stay. Hubli was still just over 100 kms to go. We were told of a larger town called Haveri just 35 kms North on NH 4 with more hotel / motel options. We made for Haveri and started to look for a place to bunk for the night. After some searching Prakash and Sudeep came up with a motel just of the Highway with eating joints and a petrol pump close by. Our first leg of our run was mixed bag of excellent riding roads with some rough patches. We were still 60 kms short of our original target to Hubli. But the deficit was not something that we could not make the next day. We had clocked close to 600 kms on leg 1 with still another 500 kms to Pune to accomplish the next day.

Rider log:
Date stamp: 20Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1800 Hrs.
Pit stop: Haveri (near Hubli) for overnight halt.
Distance Covered: 300 kms (total distance for the day 620 kms)
Road conditions: NH 4 running north through Tumkur up to Davanegere is still under construction at stretches. Average speed drops down. Able to make better pace after Davanegere. Road conditions for this stretch are ideal for a quick transit.

Rider log:
Date stamp: 21Jan2010
Time Stamp: 0700 Hrs.
Jump off @: Haveri (near Hubli)
Target destination: Some place near Pune for an overnight halt (Road shakers are supposed to help us with this)
Distance to cover: 500 kms.
Route Plan: Stay on NH 4 all the way and start looking for a place to stay at around sundown.

Day 2 of our ride, we started at first light. The one lane old style highway turns into a 4-lane split system within a few miles and we crossed Hubli. Belgaum came up quickly and we made a brunch stop at a way side motel. I then remembered that this time I am carrying my camera and starting taking snaps. After this brief break we started our again and before we knew it, illegible and unreadable Kannada signs gave way of illegible and unreadable Marathi signs. We were in Maharashtra. The road all the way was bliss.

Rider log:
Date stamp: 21Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1030 Hrs.
Pit stop: A way side dhaba in somewhere in Maharashtra on NH 4
Distance Covered: 250 kms
Road conditions: Road conditions good. No issues.
By around early afternoon just when I started to believe I could keep up with the rest of the pack I had my first taste of the ghat roads. We hit the first tunnel and I was riding with my cooling shades and listening to music. I will regret this. As soon as we exit the tunnel, the road curved right and down pretty sharply. While the rest just kept going at the same pace they were riding I had to slow down, take the curves and then catch up with the pack again. I was expecting more of the same roads, but to my surprise we did not hit any more of these roads all the way to Shivpur were we stopped and called our Roadshaker friends for directions.

Rider log:
Date stamp: 21Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1600 Hrs.
Pit stop: Shivpur, 25 kms ahead of Pune.
Distance Covered: 200 kms
Road conditions: Road conditions good. Ghat roads still a problem for Ram. Not able to keep up with the rest of the pack. Sankar falls back to keep Ram company and catches up with the rest of the pack on the straight stretches. We check with Roadshakers for a place to stay for the night.

We are directed to continue riding on NH 4, take the bypass to Mumbai and stop at Hinjewadi.

On the ride up NH4, I get some more advice on tackling curves. I unplug my music and do not wear my riding shades. This time when we hit the second and longer tunnel I heard the roar of six bullets going through the tunnel. It was a sound that cannot be described. Also we now had a simpler game plan. If we hit ghat roads, and I am not able to keep pace, I will take them at my pace and Sankar will sweep me until I catch up. This time around I was following some more advice and was able to take the curves a little faster and felt more in control than ever. Once the ghat roads were through we were now on the outer fringes of Pune with evening rush hour traffic to tackle.

We were still riding in staggered formation, despite the traffic and constant break ups.

During the last two days of riding we had seen the odd local biking champion trying to race us on the highway. They will speed up, over take the pack pull ahead, move left and let us go. The guy has now a story to tell his buddies of how he raced a bunch of bullets.

But on the road to Hinjewadi, there was this biker showing of to his female friend in the pillion. He raced us once, pulled ahead and we let him be as we had the others on the way. When he repeated this a second time, we still let him go, but when he did this a third time, Dom, Prakash, Sudeep and Prakash took off. Within seconds they had him boxed and pushed him to over 100 kmph and kept the close box formation on him. I guess this scared the shit out of him, he simply signaled that he wanted out and never troubled us again.

The sun waved good night to us waiting on the road side in Hinjewadi for one of the Roadshaker buds to turn up and guide us to a place to bunk for the night. And eventually given the evening rush hour traffic they did locate us and guided us to a pretty nice place to stay.

Rider log:
Date stamp: 21Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1730 Hrs.
Pit stop: Hinjewadi on the Pune – Mumbai bypass for an overnight halt.
Distance Covered: 50 kms (total distance for the day 500 kms)
Road conditions: Road conditions good. The usual ghat roads problem for Ram.

That night we broke bread with some the Roadshakers and had quite a grand evening with them. If this just a sample of the type of guys we will be riding and bunking with during the RM, we were going to be just fine.

Rider log:
Date stamp: 22Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1500 Hrs.
Jump off @: Hinjewadi on the Pune – Mumbai bypass
Target destination: RM-X venue @ Vikramgad
Distance to cover: 220 kms.
Route Plan: Stay on NH 4 all the way to Navi Mumbai and take the Thane – Godbunder bypass to NH 8 to Manor and exit right to reach the venue.

We had a late start the next day. Ride plan was to leave Pune in the afternoon and ride to the venue to reach later in the evening. Prakash’s bike needed some work on the front rim as he had hit a stone on the way. More of an irritant and a safety issue. Sudeep wanted to check whether he could have his front brake shoes cleaned. I wanted to get my bloody phone working on roaming. We went about our chores in the morning and by 1400 hours were kitted, loaded and ready to go. Santhosh from RE joined us with his Classic 500 and Easwar from the Bangalore club Fat Bastards had already joined us the previous evening. Around 30 Roadshakers were riding out and adding our 8 we were going to be quite a bunch on the road. I had no idea on the road conditions and I got ready to roll.

The first leg of the ride was over a 4-lane system with sweeping curves and I got my first experience of riding with another club. This was not the structured staggered formations I was used to with the V-40 riders. It was a bit more chaotic. They had a 3 to 5 bike lead creating a beach head like effect in the front. The rest just rode in the wake of the lead at there own pace and style. Speeding up and slacking off at their choice. A couple of riders swept the pack and kept them to as a tight formation as was possible.

After the first few clicks we all had to stop for banking business. Monetary needs taken care; we now got back to riding in staggered formation. And then, we hit ghat roads again. Not only I had to slow down and adjust, in the confusion of the larger pack and traffic I missed my club buddies waiting for on the road side for me to catch up and went past them. Prakash rode hard to catch up with me and stopped me. Tea break and all later, we rode out again. I could sense that I was responsible for the slower pace of the complete pack and was pushing my bike as much as I could and almost missed taking the exit the rest had taken. A brief correction and I was back in the pack and fortunately for me, the worst was over. It was the end of the ghat road and we were in a terrain I was more comfortable with.

Rider log:
Date stamp: 22Jan2010
Time Stamp: 2030 Hrs.
Pit stop: Fountain plaza on the junction of Thane-Godbunder road and NH 8
Distance Covered: 200 kms
Road conditions: Road conditions good. The usual ghat roads problem for Ram.


If any of us were complaining of the traffic so far, we were going to be proved wrong. Once we entered New Mumbai, then onto Thane and then the Thane – Godbunder bypass to NH 8, the traffic proved to be thick. More and more bullet riders from other clubs were starting to appear on the road, adding to the confusion. Here the experience and skill of the Roadshakers came to bear. Their ability to make quick head counts, rely on their fellow riders to look out for each other and quickly adjusting the pack ensured that we did not have loose riders in our pack. We stuck together and came in as a pack when we rode into the fountain plaza on the corner of the Thane bypass and NH 8.

After dinner and some rest, we rode out again. This time our destination was the RM-X venue at Vikramgad.

Rider log:
Date stamp: 22Jan2010
Time Stamp: 2220 Hrs.
Jump off @: Fountain plaza on the junction of Thane-Godbunder road and NH 8
Target destination: RM-X venue @ Vikramgad
Distance to cover: 20 kms
Route Plan: Take NH 8 north to Manor and exit into connecting roads to venue. Sudeep’s bikes seizes on the way. Sankar and then Dom tow it into the venue.

On the short spurt up NH 8 North there was a brief interruption as most of the Roadshakers tanked up their bikes. I was stilling running on main and not knowing what awaits me or how long we need to ride to the venue, chose to follow their example and tanked up. The rest of the V-40 pack had opted to wait it out and once I was done, we rode out. Due to the night, we missed making the turn into the side road leading to the venue and went sailing straight on NH-8. Just when we were wondering why we were not seeing any Roadshaker bikes ahead, Sachin caught up with us and turned us around. He led is back South on NH 8 and guided us to the turn. We formed up behind Sachin and rode through this single lane local road. Good surface and Sachin set up a good pace. Even through some tight turns and curves he kept the pace up. I had opted to trail the pack just in case I hit a curve I could not take and had to slow down.

Then without warning we heard a loud "thunk" noise and saw Sudeep slow down and stop on the side of the road. Sachin and the leading riders in the pack kept going while the rest of us stopped. It looked like Sudeep bike’s engine has seized on itself. We let the motor cool down and waited on the road side. Head count revealed that Dom had continued riding with Sachin while the rest were together along with some of the Roadshakers. After letting the engine cool a bit, a few kicks were attempted but the motor would not turn. It was decided to tow the bike to the venue. Prakash took lead, followed by Sankar towing Sudeep’s bike; Goutham will cover the pair while I took the tail. After a few clicks we realized we were lost. We parked on the road side and Goutham re-traced our route to figure out the right directions. After a while he returned with Dom who now towed Sudeep to the venue.

Rider log:
Date stamp: 23Jan2010
Time Stamp: 0030 Hrs.
Planned Stop: RM-X venue @ Vikramgad
Distance covered: 20 kms (Total distance covered - 220 kms)

The evening was still young and the two club members started the process of getting to know each other well. It was in the wee hours of the morning we hit our beds.

Sajan Nature resort was the venue of RM-X. There are now paved roads or any riding surfaces in this place. It is in the middle of a jungle. True to its ad line, “Be one with nature”, the facilities in this place was also pretty basic. In the two days we were there we found the facilities and services could barely keep up with the 600 odd guests who had landed of the event. But as bikers do, we did manage to adapt, adjust and ensured we had a good time in the bargain.

There were some strings pulled and we ended up bunking along with the Roadshakers for the three nights. Home away from home was the venues conference room, cleared of all the tables and chairs, with lines of mattresses on the floor. It could accommodate 45 per the organizers calculation, while I am sure it was fitting a lot more than that at times.

The venue itself was a refreshing change of pace for most of us living in the big cities. Fresh air, greenery all around and absolutely no city noises (except for the roars and thumps of bullets, of course).

The resort is primary a weekend get away for the Mumbaikars who come here to relax. Facilities included a dirt bike trail which we will put to good use, a rather nice swimming pool and excellent tree cover all around. The only draw back was the dust that covered every thing. This was worsened by the participants who took it upon themselves to ride up and down the single dirt road at break neck speeds. Made you wonder what they were hurrying to.


This edition of RM was being organized by the Mumbai based Indie Thumper club and they were sparing no efforts to ensure that the event went off well. Parking areas were well identified; riders from one large club were kept together as best as possible and general organization of events looked well on the plan.

The catch was going to be how well they could execute the plan.

The inaugural ceremony saw the MC call out the moderators of all the participating clubs. Prakash went out and spoke for V-40 and we had arrived for our first RM. After the round of club introductions the planned schedule fell apart. Almost every event had delayed starts and the organizers were obviously struggling strike a balance between maintaining the schedule and an atmosphere of relaxed attitude and fun. The schedule suffered.

I probably have not much to write about the events themselves. They were the usual RM style events, with the exception of one, which I must mention. The bike Olympics, towing event.

The other events were assembly wars, show of riding skills and a time trials on the dirt track. Sudeep from V-40 took part on the time trials and finished with a good time. But there were 5 others faster than him. Baljit Singh and Razza both from Roadshakers took 1st and 3rd place on the time trials.

V-40 did not participate on the other two events but Roadshakers did. They took 3rd place on assembly wars.

Bike Olympics, towing competition saw Dom and Sudeep from V-40. The event called for a bike to be towed over a 100 m long straight dirt stretch. The track started with a 50 m run down a very gentle slop, a flat trough of about 25 m and the rest a steep upward 30o incline to finish.

With Goutham and Prakash away attending the moderators meeting, I had the opportunity to shoot with Prakash’s SLR. He had already set it up and all I had to do was aim, zoom and shoot. I positioned myself on the middle of the flat stretch to catch both sides of the action and had been practicing some shots with the first few riders to get a feel of the settings. I observed that they were losing their momentum on the flat and faltering up the incline.

Then, I saw Dom take up position with his brake side leg on tow. The rest of the team had chosen to tow with their gear side legs. As soon as they set up I started to shoot, without pausing. As he started the run, I could see him pick speed down the gentle slope, allowing me to shoot 2 to 3 good ones. As he hit the flat I got one good shot and turned and adjusted the zoom following them on the flat. I heard the familiar grunt of his gear change and then the signature roar of his 500 as it accelerates. (I should know I followed him at # 2 for over a 1,000 kms). By the time I could turn and take the next shot he was almost 10 – 15 m away from me and within a second up the incline and had finished. The V40 team came first clearly beating the second placed team, Wanderers from Hyderabad, by a clear half a minute. Our sister club, Roadshakers, were placed a distant third.

We were also registered to take part in two more events, a bike fault finding / trouble shooting competition and a treasure hunt, both of them never took place due to lack of time.

Discussions about the trip back started and the team expressed their desire to ride to Chennai by way of Goa and Mangalore. This would mean a couple of more days to return and I could not afford not to be back at my desk on Thursday 28th Jan. Hence, I decided to ride back solo. This was received with mixed feelings, on one side, encouragement that I chose to do the solo and on the other caution that a solo trip this long required a good knowledge on fixing problems on the bike, a major area of weakness for me. However, I was confident and after Sankar did a quick once-over declared I was ready to go.

Rider log:
Date stamp: 25Jan2010
Time Stamp: 0700 Hrs.
Jump off @: RM-X venue @ Vikramgad
Target destination: Somewhere inside Karnataka on NH4
Distance to cover: Not estimated
Route Plan: Take NH 8 south all the way into Mumbai, catch the Jogeswari – Vikhroli link road to Eastern Express highway and take the Pune highway through Panvel. Take the Cinchawad bypass around Pune and catch NH 4 to Bangalore. Riding solo back to Chennai !!.

On the morning of 25th I got ready to ride back to Chennai. The feeder roads to NH 8 looked a lot easier to tackle in daylight. On the ride in we had done this in total darkness. I decided to keep a steady pace of between 80 – 85 kmph all through to Chennai and pace myself, a promise I will often break on this return trip.

Once I passed in to Bhayander the early morning rush hour traffic slowed my pace down and old instincts kicked in. Pass Borivili national park, it was reading an old favorite book again. With two years of commuting from our apartment here to my work place in Powai, I knew this road well. Then a lot of the overpasses were still under construction, but now they were all in place. I quickly made it to Jogeswari and took the familiar side road short cut to the link road that bypasses the initial choke points. Once I passed the Marol estates, L&Ts Powai campus beckoned. I made a quick decision and chose the feeder road to Saki Naka instead of taking the over bridge to the Eastern Express Highway. Thakur’s tea shop was still there. Thakur and his Chotu still serving their hot teas in front of Gate no 1. I stopped right in front of the shop and looked up to see a dozen of my old buddies having their pre-work chai.

Rider log:
Date stamp: 22Jan2010
Time Stamp: 0830 Hrs.
Pit stop: L&T Powai Campus
Distance Covered: 120 kms
Road conditions: Road conditions good.

Rider log:
Date stamp: 25Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1000 Hrs.
Jump off @: L&T Powai Campus
Target destination: Somewhere inside Karnataka on NH4
Distance to cover: Not estimated
Route Plan: Continue on the Jogeswari – Vikhroli link road to Eastern Express highway and take the Pune highway through Panvel. Take the Cinchawad bypass around Pune and catch NH 4 to Bangalore.


Had a lot of trouble convincing my old buddies that I had to start my ride again. One guy had the chagrin to suggest that I ship my bike by train and follow after a stay a couple of days in Mumbai. That did it.

Rider log:
Date stamp: 25Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1230 Hrs.
Pit stop: Unknown place on side of NH 4
Distance Covered: Not known
Road conditions: Road conditions good. Ghat road problems persists. Able to make better speeds than before. Guess practice makes perfect (at least a little better). Failed to take the Cinchwad exit for the bypass. Forced to ride through Pune to reach NH 4. Lost time due to this mistake.

The ride through the rest of Mumbai, Panvel and then to the Mumbai – Pune highway was uneventful. Only concern I had was that I had to avoid the Mumbai – Pune expressway on which Bikes are banned (I was told of a flat Rs. 1200 fine if caught).

Had been riding for an hour or so and lost track of distances. Should have stopped and asked for directions and failed to take the Pune bypass at Cinchwad and ended up riding through Pune. Lost more than an hour on this.

As I was exiting Pune, I heard the familiar sounds of a pack of bullets. At first I assumed it would be another club riding back to Bangalore or Chennai. Then I saw Dom and Sudeep pass me and I realized that the rest of the pack had caught up with me on their way to Panjim. We road the balance few clicks before they had to take the road to Panjim and I the road south to Kolhapur. There was a moment when I wanted to turned my bike and follow them. But work beckoned and I knew that it was going to be all ghats from here to Goa and then Managalore. I will only slow these guys down and spoil their fun. I waved to them and bore straight while they took off towards Panjim.

Once through Pune and past the ghat roads on the other end, I opened the 500 and started to ride for real. I kept reminding myself about the speed limit of 85 kmph and pacing myself. But the road was too good, the weather just perfect and traffic too light for me to keep this up. 3 hours later I was approaching Kolhapur.


Rider log:
Date stamp: 25Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1700 Hrs.
Pit stop: 70 kms ahead of Kolhapur before a NHAI toll plaza
Distance Covered: Not known
Road conditions: Road conditions good. Was flagged down by a car. Initially thought something was wrong. Met Sudhakar Patil. Was helpful.

Around 75 kms ahead of Kolhapur, I passed a Maruti car from which the driver waved to me. I had seen such waving from other drivers all along the journey and I just waved back and sped away. To my surprise, the driver speeded up and caught up with me, and started to flash his lights and continued waving frantically. Initially I though he was waving to some one else. But after a couple of clicks, I started to wonder whether he was waving to me. I presumed it was something to do with my bike. I saw a toll plaza come and pulled to the left in front of the security cabin. I was not sure what was going on, I kept my engine running, on 1st gear, clutch depressed and ready to go on the first sign of trouble. The driver also stopped the car behind my bike, came up to me and says, “Hi Ram how was the ride?”. That blew me away as I had never had met this guy before in my life. When I switched my bike off and removed my helmet and guy realized I was the wrong Ram. Apparently, the previous week, one of the riders coming to RM-X had a TN registered bike and was also called Ram. He had spent an evening in Kolhapur with Sudhakar Patil (the driver of the car) and it was a case of mistaken identity. Confusion not withstanding, Sudhakar immediately offered his help in locating a good motel to stay for the night and even arranged to have a room booked (at a discount too).

Thanks to him, I not only came away with a good experience but a great bargain on the hotel and food bills.

Rider log:
Date stamp: 25Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1730 Hrs.
Pit stop: Kolhapur for an overnight halt.
Distance Covered: 385 Kms (Total distance covered for the day 500 kms)
Road conditions: Road conditions good.

Rider log:
Date stamp: 26Jan2010
Time Stamp: 0630 Hrs.
Jump off @: Kolhapur
Target destination: Somewhere inside Tamil Nadu on NH7
Distance to cover: Not estimated
Route Plan: Continue on south on NH 4 to Tumkur road, take the NICE Road bypass to NH 7 to Hosur and look for a place to halt

On the morning of 26th Jan, my plan to ride at first light was delayed a bit due to heavy mist on the road. Not only was visibility poor, the heavy mist was fogging up my visor making it difficult to see. With my visor open, I could barely do 50 kmph with no improvement on the visibility. Located a road side tea stall and decided to wait for the sun god to do his thing. By 0800 hours, the mist had thinned out and visibility was good. Now I was riding again and to make up for lost time, pushed the bike up to 90 – 95 kmph, a pace I will do for the rest of the trip when the road conditions allowed it.

Rider log:
Date stamp: 26Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1030 Hrs.
Pit stop: Pass toll plaza on NH 4 before taking Hubli – Bangalore split.
Distance Covered: 200 Kms
Road conditions: Road conditions good. Start delayed by almost an hour due to heavy fog on road. Visor was misting up despite all efforts. Had to wait until 0800 hours to start riding in earnest.

After my experience with Sudhakar the previous day, I decided to time my breaks next to toll plazas. There are security and the toll plaza personnel at hand and a rider stopping alone could take a break with some confidence. I stopped taking breaks on empty stretches of the road here on.

At around 1100 hours, the wind picked up in 10-4 direction. This meant that I was riding into the wind cutting left to right across my bikes beam. As long as I was riding under 95 kmph this cross wind had no effect. However, if I sped beyond this speed on the rare straight stretches, the bike will start to shear right need constant pressure and correction of the front wheel. The decision to cap my speed at 90 – 95 kmph was made by this cross wind. But the problem was passing trucks. Eddies from the bow wind and washes of the trucks caused the front wheel to act crazy. The first time I passed a truck at 95 kmph, the crazy shaking of my wheel scared the life out of me. The next dozen or so trucks that I passed I had to experiment with slower / higher, speeds, passing them wide and even passing them to the left. I soon worked out a solution and started passing trucks wide. Avoided passing between two over taking trucks and took a few more seconds to slice through two trucks.

Along this section, I started to hear a distinct metallic rattle. When my bike suddenly started to choke, I pushed the fuel lever down to the reserve position and within a couple of minutes stopped at a gas station. After fuelling up, parked by bike with engine running and went over the bike. The bracket and crash guard weld had totally sheared. Removed the crash guard and made my first road side sacrifice to the 500s vibes.

Rider log:
Date stamp: 26Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1230 Hrs.
Pit stop: Pass toll plaza on NH 4 before near Davanegere
Distance Covered: 150 Kms
Road conditions: Road conditions good. Was aware of construction on NH 4 from here. Took a pit stop break, checked straps on my bag and braced for the rough patch. Past Hubli, strong cross wind on 10-4 bearing affects riding. Need to exercise caution while passing trucks, eddies from bow wave causes front wheel and handle bars to wobble. Start to pass wide. Unable to split through overtaking trucks or cut through two truck gaps. However does not affect average adversely.

After another quick stop, I realized the cross wind had lessened in strength allowing me to speed up on straights. Again the same metallic rattle started up again. Now I was a little worried. When I saw a road side dhaba come up, I stopped, parked my bike running and went over the bike again. The filter side box’s lock nut had come loose and was causing the rattle. Ten minutes with a plier and some helping hands borrowed from a friendly trucker, I was riding again. I did not hear any more metallic rattles for the rest of the trip (Thanks).

Rider log:
Date stamp: 26Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1800 Hrs.
Pit stop: On the side of NH 4 a couple of kms ahead of the exit to the NICE Road bypass to Hosur
Distance Covered: 250 Kms
Road conditions: Construction work on NH 4. Lots of rough patches. Average speed affected severely. Unable to take the rough patches standing. Started to practice standing on my bike on good straight stretches. Could only make it to a sitting on bag position. Need to work on this.

After making the error of missing the Cinchwad bypass around Pune, I did not want to the same in Bangalore. I stopped and asked directions to be sure of the direction and the exit to take.

Rider log:
Date stamp: 26Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1900 Hrs.
Pit stop: On Bannergatta road pass first leg of the NICE Road bypass.
Distance Covered: Not known
Road conditions: Extremely good. Could keep at a good pace even though it was dark now. Directions to second leg of the bypass toll road is a little fuzzy. Truck drivers do not use this road. Got better directions from a bunch of bikers.

Once I hit the NICE Road bypass, I could maintain a good pace. The trouble is the bypass is not complete and there are no signs directing you from the 1st to the 2nd leg. During our earlier trip through this bypass, we made in day time with a lot of traffic and we just followed the flow. Again, I stopped and asked for directions. When I asked a trucker he directed me to the highway again. I realized that I did not see a single truck on the bypass and asked directions again this time from a bunch of local bikers. They were spot on and I made it to the 2nd leg and to Hosur road without any further trouble.

Rider log:
Date stamp: 26Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1700 Hrs.
Pit stop: Hosur (for an overnight halt)
Distance Covered: 60 kms (Total distance covered for the day 655 Kms)
Road conditions: Mixed conditions.

Once I hit NH 7 to Hosur and on to Krishnagiri, I started checking hotels. After checking with 6 or 7 hotels and turning up unlucky, I made a few calls and got a room fixed. Good place although a bit on the expensive side.

Rider log:
Date stamp: 27Jan2010
Time Stamp: 0630 Hrs.
Jump off @: Hosur
Target destination: Home @ Chennai
Distance to cover: 330 Kms
Route Plan: Continue on south on NH 7 to Krishnagiri and take NH 46 to Chennai.


Rider log:
Date stamp: 27Jan2010
Time Stamp: 1430 Hrs.
Destination: Home @ Chennai
Distance Covered: 170 kms (Total covered for the day 330 kms)
Road conditions: Extremely good


The rest of the trip to Chennai was routine. No major issues. One major difference was on NH 46 from Krishnagiri to Chennai. The highway has trees and shrubs on the curb sides to act as wind breakers. Even though I could feel a strong cross wind at times, it had no impact on riding or passing due to the existing of these wind breakers.

Saw this summary in another biker’s blog and felt that I had to do the same.

Total distance covered: 2,850 kms.
Fuel consumed: Not known. Just tanked up when ever needed
Total cost of the trip: Will calculate when I have the time. Currently busy planning next ride
Mileage for the trip: I ride a Machismo 500 not a “fill it forget” plastic toy
Average speeds: 90 – 95 kmph
Overall experience: One kick-ass ride.

Ride Safe!!

Ram aka Angrymon