Thread Starter
#1
SR is in the process of making the travelogue in an elaborate way.
So here are some few inputs from my side...
Travelogue (Episode 1)
The great Himalayan Expedition on motorbikes
The Riders and their rides
Raghuram (AR Ram)– Bajaj Pulsar 150 Dtsi, 2006 model and done 66000 kms
Dr Rajeev Ram (smooth rider) (Dept. of Respiratory Medicines, Pariyaram Medical College)
RE Himalayan. Model: 2016. Kms: 1000
Adv Suresh Kumar
RE Bullet Classic, Model: 2016. Kms: 1000
Mr Satheesh Kumar (Agriculture Officer, Govt. of Kerala)
RE Bullet Classic. Model: 2016. Kms: 10000
All the odo readings are noted before the journey started
How the idea of expedition to Himalayas by motorbike popped up in mind?
Three years back, we three of us, me, Dr Rajeev and Adv Suresh have made a trip to Himalayan Ranges in our Car and SUV. I was driving my Skoda Octavia and Dr Rajeev with his Mahindra Bolero with Suresh. Though we had done the trip in different months, I had to terminate my trip at Manali due to heavy snow fall, where in, they did the entire circuit as the weather conditions were not in adverse situation.
During our drive in those terrains, we were witnessing lot of bikers from all of the country and abroad were making adventure rides and we felt these ways we could make ourselves more exhilarated, or probably the lain dormant bikers in us were awakening. We felt the hustles and bustles of such rides will be more exciting than driving a car with the heaters or air cons on; restricting the opportunity to feel the roads and the weather directly.
These are the key factors influenced us to plan for this expedition.
Follow these links for more details of our previous trip...
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...kms-road-trip-covering-13-states-17-days.html
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/voyage-junction/13223-leh-kerala-mahindra-bolero.html
The planning of the trip
As the days gone by, we were going through various websites and travel forums etc to research more on destinations, weather conditions, road conditions and predominantly the best time to travel; merging together with our own ideas gained from our previous experience, we concluded September is the most suitable time to make a trip to Himalayas.
I personally went to Payyangadi, near to Kannur where Dr Rajeev and Adv Suresh live, sometime in January 2014 to make a final touch on trip planning. We had an open discussion at Dr Rajeev’s residence in the presence of Adv Suresh; and the earlier plan was to have the ride from Kanyakumari to Sikkim, Bhutan and Nepal. Unfortunately, I was mentally disturbed little as my car broke down at Kannur and got stranded on the way for almost ten days. But things were rectified then with a loss of almost Rs 1.5 lakhs on damages and repairs. However our enthusiasm to travel has never been affected. In the circumstances then prevailing, we were almost sure that the plan is expected to come on stream as the way we wanted it to be. In addition to all the parameters exist in a trip like this; we have been managing the barricades likely to be there from family side, apart from the political issues from different states those are en route the journey. It took nearly two years for us to have a firm plan on this expedition, and finally took off to a different direction - “The Great Himalayan Expedition on motorbikes”, covering Leh-Ledakh region instead of North-eastern states, Bhutan and Nepal.
Birth of “The Great Himalayan Expedition on motorbikes”
On 1st August 2016 at 3 pm Dr Rajeev had sent an SMS to my mobile that the tickets have been booked on a train to Delhi for 5th September 2016 for four of us and we got to send our bikes by train to Delhi two days prior to our journey. It was really an unexpected message to me, and I had to rush up with things as the time left is only a month. The trip duration was curtailed as well, against the plan we had earlier to start from Kanyakumari; thus making them more practical in their leave planning by reducing at least by ten days.
I responded in a positive manner and the biker in me was born again after a short break.
Restoring and making my 10 years old Pulsar fit for the terrains and expedition.
Though I keep my bike in pristine condition as much as possible, I had to take additional care to make sure for a hassle free ride during the expedition. I had to replace the tyres with MRF all terrain tubeless tyres, more suitable for off road riding, auxiliary projector lights, ports for GPS navigation system and mobile charging, brackets for GPS device and other worn-out parts like chain & sprockets etc. Procuring the essential riding gears from online stores was another task at a short time.
As two of my co-riders had their bikes new from showroom they had to complete only the first service; and Satheesh’s bike was seasoned already as it had completed 10000 kms in its odo and not old as well.
“The key factors hidden in accomplishing the mission; for obtaining the mandatory consents from the respective home affairs had made a big hole in my co-rider’s pockets...ha..haa.... Thanks for their arduous efforts”
Everything was right in its place in trip planning and everyone of us had received their essential riding gears like amour-jackets, winter jackets, rain jackets, riding gloves, knee protectors, saddle bags and bungee cords etc etc from online stores.
For taking the inner line permit from Manali for passing through Rothang Pass and further, we had given the task to an agent at Manali and got it done four days prior to our journey.
Booking the bikes to Delhi by train
After completing all the necessary repairs and modifications on my bike, on September 3rd I had taken it to Palakkad railway station to book to Delhi, but to my disappointment I couldn’t book it as I was told that it may take more days for them to dispatch the bike as already a massive pile-up of bikes are there waiting for dispatch due to Onam holidays. After me explaining my situation and urgency to the booking staff they honestly suggested to book it from Shoranur railway station so that it can go faster and on time as the trains from there go through the Konkan rail route and number of trains is more as well.
Thanks to my friend Harinarayanan who was with me all thru the process and helped me in packing the bike at Shoranur for the dispatch.
My friends too had booked their bikes from Kannur to Delhi on the same day.
5th September 2016, the D-Day
The trip was totally adventure packed and was a real test of endurance, stamina and navigational skills.
More to come and stay tuned for the next episode...
So here are some few inputs from my side...
Travelogue (Episode 1)
The great Himalayan Expedition on motorbikes
The Riders and their rides
Raghuram (AR Ram)– Bajaj Pulsar 150 Dtsi, 2006 model and done 66000 kms
Dr Rajeev Ram (smooth rider) (Dept. of Respiratory Medicines, Pariyaram Medical College)
RE Himalayan. Model: 2016. Kms: 1000
Adv Suresh Kumar
RE Bullet Classic, Model: 2016. Kms: 1000
Mr Satheesh Kumar (Agriculture Officer, Govt. of Kerala)
RE Bullet Classic. Model: 2016. Kms: 10000
All the odo readings are noted before the journey started
How the idea of expedition to Himalayas by motorbike popped up in mind?
Three years back, we three of us, me, Dr Rajeev and Adv Suresh have made a trip to Himalayan Ranges in our Car and SUV. I was driving my Skoda Octavia and Dr Rajeev with his Mahindra Bolero with Suresh. Though we had done the trip in different months, I had to terminate my trip at Manali due to heavy snow fall, where in, they did the entire circuit as the weather conditions were not in adverse situation.
During our drive in those terrains, we were witnessing lot of bikers from all of the country and abroad were making adventure rides and we felt these ways we could make ourselves more exhilarated, or probably the lain dormant bikers in us were awakening. We felt the hustles and bustles of such rides will be more exciting than driving a car with the heaters or air cons on; restricting the opportunity to feel the roads and the weather directly.
These are the key factors influenced us to plan for this expedition.
Follow these links for more details of our previous trip...
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...kms-road-trip-covering-13-states-17-days.html
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/voyage-junction/13223-leh-kerala-mahindra-bolero.html
The planning of the trip
As the days gone by, we were going through various websites and travel forums etc to research more on destinations, weather conditions, road conditions and predominantly the best time to travel; merging together with our own ideas gained from our previous experience, we concluded September is the most suitable time to make a trip to Himalayas.
I personally went to Payyangadi, near to Kannur where Dr Rajeev and Adv Suresh live, sometime in January 2014 to make a final touch on trip planning. We had an open discussion at Dr Rajeev’s residence in the presence of Adv Suresh; and the earlier plan was to have the ride from Kanyakumari to Sikkim, Bhutan and Nepal. Unfortunately, I was mentally disturbed little as my car broke down at Kannur and got stranded on the way for almost ten days. But things were rectified then with a loss of almost Rs 1.5 lakhs on damages and repairs. However our enthusiasm to travel has never been affected. In the circumstances then prevailing, we were almost sure that the plan is expected to come on stream as the way we wanted it to be. In addition to all the parameters exist in a trip like this; we have been managing the barricades likely to be there from family side, apart from the political issues from different states those are en route the journey. It took nearly two years for us to have a firm plan on this expedition, and finally took off to a different direction - “The Great Himalayan Expedition on motorbikes”, covering Leh-Ledakh region instead of North-eastern states, Bhutan and Nepal.
Birth of “The Great Himalayan Expedition on motorbikes”
On 1st August 2016 at 3 pm Dr Rajeev had sent an SMS to my mobile that the tickets have been booked on a train to Delhi for 5th September 2016 for four of us and we got to send our bikes by train to Delhi two days prior to our journey. It was really an unexpected message to me, and I had to rush up with things as the time left is only a month. The trip duration was curtailed as well, against the plan we had earlier to start from Kanyakumari; thus making them more practical in their leave planning by reducing at least by ten days.
I responded in a positive manner and the biker in me was born again after a short break.
Restoring and making my 10 years old Pulsar fit for the terrains and expedition.
Though I keep my bike in pristine condition as much as possible, I had to take additional care to make sure for a hassle free ride during the expedition. I had to replace the tyres with MRF all terrain tubeless tyres, more suitable for off road riding, auxiliary projector lights, ports for GPS navigation system and mobile charging, brackets for GPS device and other worn-out parts like chain & sprockets etc. Procuring the essential riding gears from online stores was another task at a short time.
As two of my co-riders had their bikes new from showroom they had to complete only the first service; and Satheesh’s bike was seasoned already as it had completed 10000 kms in its odo and not old as well.
“The key factors hidden in accomplishing the mission; for obtaining the mandatory consents from the respective home affairs had made a big hole in my co-rider’s pockets...ha..haa.... Thanks for their arduous efforts”
Everything was right in its place in trip planning and everyone of us had received their essential riding gears like amour-jackets, winter jackets, rain jackets, riding gloves, knee protectors, saddle bags and bungee cords etc etc from online stores.
For taking the inner line permit from Manali for passing through Rothang Pass and further, we had given the task to an agent at Manali and got it done four days prior to our journey.
Booking the bikes to Delhi by train
After completing all the necessary repairs and modifications on my bike, on September 3rd I had taken it to Palakkad railway station to book to Delhi, but to my disappointment I couldn’t book it as I was told that it may take more days for them to dispatch the bike as already a massive pile-up of bikes are there waiting for dispatch due to Onam holidays. After me explaining my situation and urgency to the booking staff they honestly suggested to book it from Shoranur railway station so that it can go faster and on time as the trains from there go through the Konkan rail route and number of trains is more as well.
Thanks to my friend Harinarayanan who was with me all thru the process and helped me in packing the bike at Shoranur for the dispatch.
My friends too had booked their bikes from Kannur to Delhi on the same day.
5th September 2016, the D-Day
The trip was totally adventure packed and was a real test of endurance, stamina and navigational skills.
More to come and stay tuned for the next episode...
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