Ladakh Ride From Pune 15th September To 02nd October


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Hello All,

This is going to be a long post, please bear with me.

Prep and weeks leading to the ride

Having a biking itch and going to Leh Ladakh is like going to pilgrimage in India. My biking itch is fairly new started when I was given a Yamaha FZ-16 in the year 2009 it has been close to 10 years and finally I was able to complete the pilgrimage.

It became possible because of my wife who literally pushed me into the ride, I had bought a Harley Davidson Street 750 right before the birth of my daughter, due to which we were not able to go on long rides together which effectively reduced my riding to commuting. So when our daughter was old enough to be left at home with her grandparents we decided it was high time we started riding again properly. We restarted with the HOGs in the month of January 2019 and right after the first ride, the idea of the Ride to Leh resurfaced. That time the idea was to prepare for the ride in the year 2019 and execute it in 2020, later we pre scheduled it to complete it in the year 2019 itself as it was the 10 year anniversary of our relationship.

The first main issue was getting the permissions from our parents which was The Herculean task for us however, this time surprisingly parents agreed without much persuasion.

Once that was done the hunt began to find riding partners I contacted a lot of my friends and most of them had previous engagements or were simply not interested but some of them agreed.

Now to figure out when to ride as you know the Leh season starts from June and goes till 1st week of October, with a variety of road and weather conditions. We were initially thinking of completing the ride in the month of July but as suggested by a veteran of Leh rides and a friend of mine it was shifted to September. The reasons being even though it will be colder but the road conditions will be better, lesser traffic and crowd and most of all no to negligible rains.

Once that was finalized the preps began, making lists of meds, clothes, trying to figure out how to load them up on the bike, we were going to use the Street 750 for this ride, so the changes needed on the bike like seats, carriers, lights etc, full riding gear for both and the luggage. As all of this stuff will turn out to be pretty expensive we decided to buy them slowly over a couple of months, as we got the permissions in the month of April we had around 3-4 months to get all the stuff.

Stuff for the motorcycle
  • Rynox Optimus Tank Bag 22L expandable to 31
  • Dirtsack saddle bags
  • A Regular 500rs bag from a local store
  • A 60L backpack from Decathlon
  • Custom Seat with gel pads sourced from Aeedea banglore
  • Jerry Cans for fuel = 20L worth of fuel
  • Cigarette Lighter Socket Charger
  • Mobile Phone holder and USB charger
  • Custom Carrier
  • Fog lights (1 pair of yellow, 1 pair of white)
  • Comfortable aftermarket handle bar
  • Height and Tilt adjustable windshield again sourced from Aeedea
  • New and upgraded bearings for wheels and steering column
  • Denali Soundbomb Mini
One of the biggest issue in taking the Harley to Leh was fuel, the motorcycle gives a range of 170kms in city traffic which would have reduced to 150kms in that region, and since there were 2-3 days where we had to ride for around 450kms in between fuel pumps I had to carry almost 3 full tank worth of fuel. The issue was resolved by adding a Jerry can holder custom made for the bike after putting in the saddle bags.

We didn’t go for a regular tail bag as the legs of it were messing around with the jerry cans or the saddle bags.

Got Pumba serviced 2 weeks before to make sure that it is ready for the upcoming 6000km journey. Soms pics below of the bike getting serviced


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The list of things we carried are:

PFA the list of Meds, tools, spares and some misc items that we carried. Got it reviewed on the ownership thread of the motorcycle earlier.

Medicine List
1. Crocin
2. Combiflam
3. Roko
4. Sporlac
5. Pudin Hara
6. Diamox
7. Saridon/ DIsprin
8. Cheston Cold
9. Montek LC
10. Cetrizine
11. Betadine
12. Boroline
13. Cotton Swabs
14. Savlon
15. Small Scissor
16. Bandages17. Band Aids18. Reglan19. Avomine20. Tiger Balm
21. Vicks Vaporub
22. Crepe Bandage
23. Soframycin24. Relispray25. Omnigel26. Moov
27. Surgical Gloves
28. vizylac
IMG-20190908-WA0002.jpg

Spare List
1. Accelerator Cable
2. Clutch Cable3. Coolant 4. Spare fuses5. Engine Oil
6. Chain Lube for versys
7. Duplicate bike key
8. Jump start cable

Tools list1. Spanner set2. Allen key set
3. Screwdriver set small and big
4. Yellow Screw driver
5. Electrical tape6. Hammer7. Puncture Kit8. Pliers9. Air pump10. towing rope11. Siphon tube12. funnel

Tool pics and the packed tools in the Rynox Optimus tank bag.

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Misc
Phone charger
Power bank
Memory cards for phone
Camera (Optional)
Camera battery charger
Bluetooth charger
Extra cables for phones
Blacalava
Selfie stick
Action Cam
Action Cam charger cable
waterproof cover for action cam
sunglasses
extra helmet visor
Torch
Wet wipes
Tissue Paper

Documents
Aadhar Card
Pan Card
Passport
Passport size photos
10 photo copies each
Bike RC
Bike insurance document
PUC
Drivers License
Digilocker of the above documents

As the bags were moving horizontally a lot on the carrier plate, so we got some self adhesive velcro strips and put one side on the carrier plate and another on the bag, so as to prevent the horizontal movement of the bag.

We were initially thinking of getting the bike transported to Chandigarh/Amritsar/Jammu via a truck/VRL or Indian railways but after inquiring these options they turned out to be pretty risky or expensive or both so we decided to ride the bike the entire way. The private SBK transporters were asking in the tune of 80k for 2 motorcyles for the 15 day trip where they will wait in Chandigarh for us to return.

We took the Chalo Ladakh package from HV Kumar. He helped us with the routes, accommodation options and a guide all throughout the journey. The Route map was uploaded by him on the Routo Map app along with the details of the facilities along the way. Routo Map app also work on offline basis.

We also got 2 different post paid connections for us, 1 from BSNL (the entire process took 20 minutes to get the sim from the bsnl exchange office and 2 hours for getting it activated), and another from Airtel

Our planned itinerary was as follows.
15th Pune to Chandigarh
16th Pune to Chandigarh
17th Pune to Chandigarh
18th Chandigarh to Manali
19th Manali (Permit for Rohtang) to Keylong
20th Keylong to Leh
21st Leh (stay for acclimitization)
22nd Leh - Lamayuru - Leh
23rd Leh - Turtuk
24th Turtuk Hunder Diskit
25th Diskit -Pangong Tso - Tangtse
26th Tangtse - Sarchu
27th Sarchu - Manali
28th Manali - Chandigarh
29th Chandigarh to Pune
30th Chandigarh to Pune
01st Chandigarh to Pune

We had to skip Tso Kar and Tso Moriri as we neither had the space to carry any more fuel nor the budget to take backup vehicle or taxi.

The total distance was coming to 5800km. (approx.)

We have had quite a number of issues before we even started the trip. The revoking of Article 370 lead us to change our routes because of fear of unrest in the Kashmir valley, After that the implementation of the new MV act amendment with higher fines and stricter norms, due to which we had to update and link each and every document and get the digilocker, then a richter 5 earthquake in Himachal Pradesh, release of Masood Azhar which lead to the increase in tension in Kashmir.

Parents were highly anxious because of the above 2 issues.

Finally we started off from Pune on 15th of September at around 5:30AM.
 

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Thread Starter #4
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Hello All,
After a very hectic night of packing and repacking stuff so that it all fits and remains under the weight carrying limit of the motorcycle we slept off tired and woke up promptly with the alarm of 3:30 AM.
Got ready loaded up the motorcycle with a tank bag, a pair of saddle bags, jerry cans (empty for now), a 60 L backpack from decathlon and a 40L (approx) duffle bag from a local store all wrapped up in neon green rain covers.
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Loaded ourselves with the riding gear and the rain gear on top of it. Turned on the bluetooth intercoms and off we started from home at around 4:30AM. Mind you we were supposed to be at the rendezvous point by 4:30. so we were already running late.
We reached the rendezvous point in approx 20 minutes where our friends were already waiting for us, after a small photoshoot and a quick check of the luggage we were off by around 5:30AM.
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The weather was clear and dry and cool when we left but within 20kms of the ride the rains started to pour, and out came the rest of the rain gear over the riding gear. We had oversized rain jackets and pants and along with it rain covers for the boots too.
Fortunately the raining didnt bother us much after a couple of kms, out came the sun after sometime, sun rise in the mountains on the Pune-Nashik route, straight 4 lane highways covered with fog we were covering good distance at that time. Reached Nashik at around 9:30-10:00AM. By that time we were all hungry and stopped at a small road side eatery after Narayangaon, couple of cups of tea, missal pao and pohe we started. Pretty uneventful ride after that, couple of more breaks then a lunch break in Dhule, after the lunch break started off again.
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The other riders wanted to get a PUC certificate so we stopped on the side of the road, after that there was some issue with the bike and we had to call the Harley RSA service which after a lot of phone calls and screaming showed up after 4 hours, by that time it was 9:30 in the night and we had to take a call whether and how to continue the trip. The decision was that my wife and I will travel back to Pune and then decide whether to come back or not and the other riders were supposed to go ahead with the plan.
Our friends went ahead toward Dhamnod for the night halt where they reached late night. We sat in the service truck itself and reached Shirpur for the night.
Next day the other riders went off towards Chittorgarh and we came back to Pune in a cab, the bike was sent to the Nashik Harley service center. In the cab itself we had decided to start off back as soon as we reach but since it got late that night, reached around 7:30PM that day, however, the reaction of our daughter was priceless as we had told her that we will return our 15 days, that is something I cannot put in words.
We restarted off the next day at 4:00AM from our house, this time in the XUV and more luggage which we had to leave because of space constraint.
Some pics attached for the day.
#traveldiaries, #aryastravel

To be contd….
 
Thread Starter #9
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DRIVE TO THE LAND OF MONASTERIES — PART 3: A RESTART

Pune — 17th September 2019

Hello Readers,

After the mishap on Day 1 of our journey and the journey back to home in a cab, oh i forgot about the cab drive, so we asked our hotel receptionist in Shirpur to arrange for a cab to Pune and he did, but the twist was, it was a brand new car without any number plates not even a temporary registration number and we were only the new cab’s 2nd fare and that too till Pune approx 350kms with umpteen number of toll booths and police checkposts. as there were no number plates we didnt even know if the cab had insurance or not or if it has been applied for commercial or private plates, but as we didnt have much of a choice we decided to keep our doubts on the side and just enjoy the drive. It was a long time since I last sat in the back seat of a 4 wheeler. Thankfully no other adventure took place that day and we reached Pune at around 7:30PM.
Now coming back to the restart, we repacked the stuff in regular luggage like suitcases and bigger bags and filling them with more backup stuff as now we had the entire boot and the rear seat space of our XUV. Again got late in packing and repacking and slept.

Woke up the next day and thankfully this time we were able to start sharp at 4:30AM from our home, filled up the car with diesel and off we were towards Chittorgarh, now, chittorgarh is approx 900kms from our house, via the Pune – Nashik – Ratlam – Neemuch – Chittorgarh route, so we had to keep the time factor also in mind, and not stop for too many or too long breaks.
As the start was pretty early we were able to cover good distance in good time, reached Nashik at around 7:50AM, and without stopping for breakfast we continued towards Dhule, we had a heavy brunch over at the Hotel Jhankar Palace in Dhule and also got some sandwiches packed for lunch.

From Dhule to Manpur it was smooth sailing but after taking the left turn towards Ratlam before Indore, the smooth sailing started to become a roller coaster with bumper cars mixed in with it and wildlife on the national highway along with the idiots of the first order. The road remained the same till Nimbahera.

In between we had some authentic Poha with Ratlami sev outside Jaora bus stand, by that time the sun had started to set and the roads became a lot more dangerous coupled with pot holes, idiots with high beams and black as night cows and dogs. Not to forget the idiots without rear lights or even reflectors on their vehicles.

By the time we reached Chittorgarh it was close to 9:00PM, and we were greeted by a group of living beings engaged in intense discussion at a round table set in the middle of the approach road from the national highway to chittorgarh city, some of them were black, some white and some brown.

Finally we reached the hotel guided by detailed instructions given HV Kumar sir. Hotel Royal Inn tariff of 1600 for an AC double room
Oh yeah and XUV completed 80000kms on this day.

Thank you for reading.

To be contd…

#traveldiaries, #aryastravel

Regards,
Kinshuk
 

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