Jungle Ride

Hey this was fun !

That's what I thought after I had come back from the ride. All during the ride I was like "Oh Shit ! Oh Shit ! I am going to fall... "

The ride plan materialized all of a sudden. Abhimanyu's bike was finally not in the garage and rideable. He wanted an early 6am ride to some place near Sohna Road which got pushed to 7am. Knowing him I targetting 7am to leave from home. ETA given by Abhimanyu moved to 7:30am on the morning.

I reached the gurgaon toll first - and after a few mins which I used for photographing usual stuff - bike, the sun rising etc, these guys turn up. We headed out after a few mins. Felt good to meet them after ages!

We took an internal route through Gurgaon to reach Sohna road - which was pretty pathetic. No matter what the govt says that it is the Millenium city, the city roads are probably worse than a Gaon's road.

Near the BSF camp there is a road which goes off into the jungle. We plunged in. This lead us past the BSF encampment and up a hill, where the road just vanished. After a few mins we headed into the jungle. Saw quite a bit of wildlife here - peacocks, tree pies, bablers, parrots. What a contrast to the cacophony of traffic just an hour back! Lovely!

Sumeet asked to turn on a tracker - so we downloaded one on my phone as it was the one with the most charge. Seriously man - these guys dont even charge their phones or carry water before a ride. And they shrug it of as "we are bulleteers" ! :P

First we went to a babaji's temple - but then the decision was to just go and ride in the jungle first. So we headed away into the jungle.

Damn, this road was ... well... not a road. I was thinking this is more like a road where I would like to treck, but taking a plastic bike - i was sure that today either I will fall or some part of my bike will fall. We pushed on through thorn bushes and clinging grasses.

Finally we reached a place where there was a good view. Also we were a bit skeptical of whether the road goes on or not. Just a few hundred meters back we had met a couple of villagers who assured us that the road does not go on. Stopped and took a few pics. We could see the tall buildings of Gurgaon shrouded in early morning smog. Picturesque to look at. Like Abhimanyu said later "Even Gurgaon looks good from far!".

We decided to check out the road down on foot to see if there was really any road, and soon came up to a dead end. Sumeet and me were talking about what animals would be in this forest, and Sumeet was of the opinion that he would punch a leopard if it comes here. lol !

We headed back and I was told that we would now head to a Shiv mandir and the road was even worse than the one we had been through. "uh-huh" I thought.

However, either I was becoming more experienced on these roads, or maybe because the other road was a bit better, we did not have too many scares on the way. We did get a bit lost in the jungle but the tracker helped us get back on the route after going around in circles - which I suspect was deliberate on Abhimanyu's part.

We reached the mandir after reaching a small open ground ( check the panorama ) and where Sumeet was reluctant to take his bike as there were cows grazing there who seemed to be quite fond of his Bull in the last adventure he had there ! Anyways we headed down towards the temple.

There was a group of families which had come from Gurgaon whom we met there. One of the guys was quite happy to see us there on bikes ( though he was a bulleteer ) . We had a good chat with him and he had got all the kids and families there to the spot as otherwise they all ended up in the malls. Apparently there was a road which ended quite near to the temple and then it was a short hike up.

Time to head back , and the group extended their hospitality to us by giving us some much needed food and water !

We headed back to the open ground an the entrance of the jungle where there was a sutta break and I found out that there is a photoshphere feature in the camera, though I did not really use it for a sphere but for a panorama.

The route back was now a breeze after the initial climb where our bikes wanted to come down and we wanted to go up. Abhimanyu's bike developed a love relation between his front mudguard and the wheel... so he had a bit of problem turning the bike. But all in all, we reached the road safely and then headed to Manesar's McD for breakfast ( though the breakfast menu was over by the time we reached!)

Then I peeled off from the group and headed back as the bulls were doing 60kph and that was a bit too slow for the highway.

Great ride. Thanks to Abhimanyu and Sumeet for springing this on me. If I had known about the road before, I may have had two thoughts, but this worked out well for me !

Royal Enfield One Ride

This weekend, did something a bit different than my usual rides. Royal Enfield had a concept of One Ride - getting as many Royal Enfields on the road. I dont own a RE bike, but with the promise of a bike from PPS, I went along. Reached the RE office at 7:!5am and found a TB 500 waiting for me :)

As far as rides go, it was not much. It was more like a breakfast ride. We went to the Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary - though no one really went inside it.

Just going to the ATM

Thats what I told my parents.

Thats what I did.

But took a slightly longer route.

And man, it felt so good !

at around 10pm, I had to go out to the ATM to get some money. You know us geeks, always empty pocket. I was to initially go with my sis and bro-in-law, but they got delayed. I did not want to take out the car. So, in the ultra warm air of the evening, I decided to use the natural evaporation of sweat to keep me cool, and started Tweety.

Rode to the ATM, in the nearby sector. Took out cash. Went to the paan stall and had a meetha paan. Enjoyed the sweet taste, and then took off in the direction opposite to home. Unfortunately, with parents at home, I could not afford to go on a long ride, so after some time of aimless riding, took a U turn, a pic and headed for home.

Aaah ! this feels nice, even though the weather was doing the utmost to slow roast it even without the Sun out.

The 220 has landed

The much awaited Pulsar 220 has landed. Arpan was able to pic up a silver demon, and his interview on the bike is up on rearset.
Pics are at flickr and Picassa

P200 review

The 200

As per my last post, we were at Chakan plant for riding their pulsars. We got to ride the 200 for a couple of laps each and here's the upshot on that. Please keep in mind that it was only for 2 laps (or around 7kms ) that I was on the bike, so the reivew is based on that.

First Impressions

The first impression was based on riding Sid's bike. It was a black bike, standing inocculously with the other bikes outside the dhaba where we met. Sleek, shiny and looking like a pulsar but not quite like a pulsar. Broader rear wheels, a 200 sticker, split seat and a different silencer are what are immidiately discernable to the eye. I had just reached there on nalin's pulsar which is one of the first lot with a few changes for stability.

Took the keys from Sid (thanks man for letting me ride the bike!), took a few pics of me on the bike , and off I went. I guess it was not more than 2kms up and down on the pune bypass highway.

The first few things I noticed were:

• Higher seating than the older pulsars
• Rock solid feel of being planted while ripping, but feels kind of awkward while braking as your stance is more forward (like a racing bike, but your butt feels kind of a bit high).
• Turning radius is smaller than the normal Pulsar because I can lean the bike more easily without feeling queasy.
• Throaty engine sound (after riding a Zma , anything feels throaty!). more than the classic i felt.
  
• Braking was ok, but since I was on public roads I could not really brake all that hard as: (a) I did not know the bike, (b) I did not want someone to bang me from behind, (c) It was not my bike or even a test bike.
  

So, this was a gentle ride on the traffic roads. I did get a feeling that the bike was not like the normal pulsars. Was looking forward to take it on the Chakan test track where I would not be bothered with uncles cutting across me, or dogs or cows parked on the road.

Riding on the track

Chakan Track from Google Earth

We got only 2 rounds :( , due to time constraints. The BAL test track is a fun one with a couple of straights, lots of bends and a shocker of a hairpin bend (see pic above). The first round was a test round. I did not exceed speeds. Tested the brakes. Tested the leans in the corners gingerly as there was quite a lot of gravel and sand on the roads. The next round was a bit faster one, crouching on the straights, braking hard at the end. What I felt was :

• Bike brakes well. I was quite impressed. As per the BAL guys there, the front disc is smaller than the one in the ZMA. I tried some hard braking and did not get any fishtailing.
• Leaning is ok, but still does not feel as comfortable as the ZMA. It could be because I was not used to this bike.
  
• The bike accelerates fast till around 65-68kmph on the speedometer (which is digital btw, unlike the zma, where the odometer and trip meters are digital).
  
• When crouching, I cannot go behind the front visor , unlike the Zma. I am peeping above it.
  
• when crouching , I cannot easily read the speedo, I have to tilt my head down a bit to read it. I use a full face helmet and the lower jaw protection was blocking the view. No such issue in the ZMA.
  
• Taking the curves was ok. I could not really test it out as much as I would like to due to gravel . So, no hanging off. Swinging the bike from side to side seemed easier than on a classic pulsar, which does not really want to change direction from straight.
  
• The seats are split seat. I did not have any problems, but Nav , who is considerably heavier than even me, did have issues of fitting into it.
  
• The bike seat is high. For me (5'8") , I could not plant both feet properly on the ground.
  
• Hanging on to the tank with the knees is a problem. The point of contact with the tank is the knee only, and not the thighs, so holding on can become a bit of an irritant.
  
• The bike gives a viberation above 68kmph. Its not a resonance for that speed and which will then pass, but more of a viberation which keeps on increasing.
  

Comparison with the ZMA

So, the moot question, which got asked a lot to me from they guys and also from the BAL guys on track and later on in the evening - am I a convert ?

Unfortunately no. For a person owning a ZMA it makes not sense of moving to the 200, unless you are so desperate for a new bike or you want something with a better mileage (as claimed by BAL). Here are my reasons why I wont be going for it (unless I get it for free ;-) ) :

• Differentiation value not high enough. The ZMA though not the best looking bike around (CBZ used to look better), stands out of the crowd. When I plonk down the money, I want people to know that I have a different bike. As a pulsar I get no such feel. Also, I am sure people will say to the 200 owners - 'modification accha hai'.
  
• Its not that fast. Acceleration kind of loses out in the middle. Going above 100 is slow.
  
• Electricals had a problem. We faced another of the gremlins with one of the bikes speedo console going haywire and the LCD panel displaying gibberish.
  
• Handling through corners not as comfortable as on the ZMA. But i may be biased here as I did not ride this bike long enough. But I remember taking low speed banks on the ZMA when it was new without second thought. Here, I had to feel out how things were.
  
• The grunt though good for short stretches will probably not be so nice on long rides. For this reason I really like the stress less feel of the ZMA engine.
  

Should you get it ?

50-50 kind of answer.

Here's the thing:

• If you already have a ZMA - no point.
• If you have a p180 - no point. Why would you want to upgrade by a teeny-weeny 20cc ?
  
• If you have a 150cc bike, then you can think about it. But then why not wait till June for the 220cc pulsar to come out ?
• If you have no bike at present, and want to get one right now - best value for your money.

Other links & Blogs

• Rearset's review

- brick bats, comments welcome -

What a Weekend !

At chakan with the BAL team

So, what did you do on the weekend ? Movie ? Slept ? Shopping ?

Nah.

We were riding the new Pulsar 200 at Bajaj's Chakan Plant. 29 of us rode/drove/bussed/flew from across the places to meet up the teams developing Bajaj's latest power horses and then got to ride the 200 in their test track.

And as a perfect finalee to the weekend, Rossi won in the Spanish GP.

The buildup

The planning for the weekend was started a few months in advance. Pestering Venkat in Bangalore to float to the BAL guys the plan for a Chakan visit from end of last year. With the upcoming news of the launch of new bikes, it was a good chance of getting a visit to the manufacturing plant.

After much cajoling and talks, finally Venkat called me up to say that we have a go ! Unfortunately we got a very short notice - of about 2 weeks to set up everything. Another problem was that we could take only 30 people to the track as that was the max number that Bajaj authorities were comfortable with accomodating for the visit. Understandably this caused a lot of heartburn on the groups, as lots of people hopeful of joining got left out.

So, what is Chakan ?

Bajaj Auto Limited has a R&D division, where they design and manufacture the Pulsar bikes. This plant is located at Chakan in Maharashtra , near Pune. That was the place where we were to go to.

In nov 2003, we had our first meet there. This was our 2nd one and we named it Chakan07.

The weekend begins

I took a flight to Pune from hyd. There was no time for me to get away from office and ride up. There is only one flight which is between Hyd and Pune - Deccan Airways. The first problem i faced was that the DA people said i could not take my helmet in the plane ! I had to go and talk to the security chaps to get the helmet through - and fyi - helmets are allowed as hand baggage. I checked in my shoulder bag.

My cousin Nalin was waiting for me at Pune airport for the ride back to CRPF camp. We decided to just ride all the way to Toni da Dhabba where the others were having dinner first.

Arriving at Toni Dhaaba

The guys from Bangalore, Pune and a few from Mumbai were already there. I run the BN group, but it was a first meeting for many of us. Over dinner we swapped lots of bike stories.

Dinner with BNers and BPers

The next day we all met at Joshi dhaba on the Pune bypass for breakfast and pre-ride briefing. Sid came on his new pulsar 200 ! Was the first time we saw the 200 and I wanted to check it out. Took it out for a short spin.

Riding Sid's 200

The bike feels higher because of the changed riding posture - more like the CBZ . I did not really test out the top end as it was a new bike, but it manages to reach 60 easy - but more noise than the zma.

Lining up.

Breakfast over we had a 1/2 an hour pre-ride briefing on the dos and donts and how we were going to ride to chakan. I was the point, and then numbered all the people behind me. Explained the staggered riding formation we were to follow and off we went.

Group riding - Staggered formation

Riding in formation.

Bajaj chakan plant

We reached the Bajaj plant and met Sudhir Kamat who was in charge of the rowdy group of riders who had just come in ;-) . Started off with lunch and then a factory tour. This was followed by a Q&A session with the BAL Marketting and R&D teams. A lot of heated discussions followed.

Then we went on the test track.

There were 4 beauties lined up - one of each colour. Gleaming, waiting to glide on the tracks. The bikes are already on the road, so you would know what they look like by now. We got a big disappointment that there was no 220. Nav was ready with a cheque in his pocket that if he liked the 220, he would ride out of the plant on it - but he never got his wish :(

Initially it was decided to have 2 riders on the track for 3 rounds each. But with a big group of riders, and the steadily approaching evening, we had to shorten it to 2 rounds each from the 3rd batch ( which was me and kedar :( ). The first round also had a bad incident with Hrishi going off the track. On my rounds I saw that the track had not been swept clean and there was a lot of sand and rubble on the tracks which probably caused the issue. The offroading experience of Hrishi also meant that everyone after that were going slower than what they would have been planning to go at.

Group pics.

The last rider was Venkat on his ride on the 200, and then a picture session with the BAL guys and the bikes. We gave a rousing 'Hip Hip Hurrah' to the BAL team to give us this opportunity . Then we left for Panchsheel club for dinner hosted by BAL. All done. Time to leave.

Riders in the night.

Chilling out at Panchsheel club

The evening plans finished by 10:30pm or so. It was too early to sleep, so a few of us decided to go to Lonavala for tea :)

Rocking weekend I must say ! Thanks to all the guys who made this possible , and the guys who came and made the meet a success !

A lot of 3s

Today, the bike turned everything to 3 ! have a look !

Bidar

It had been a long time since my last ride. Hyderabad does not seem like a place which is conducive to biking - its hot and arid, and there are hardly any good places to see around. Moreover, most people dont seem to be in a mood to ride from here.

With project pressures in the office taking a drain on my mental capacity, it was time to recharge my batteries. Thought about going to sriselam again. Posted on BN about it, and got a couple of offline responses.

The day before talked to GR and he suggested Bidar as an alternative place. I jumped at the idea. Unfortunately GR was not able to join up. Also talked to Kamal, but told him no-go when he said he would also bring his 2yr old kid on the bike. Finally it was just me and my colleage from office , Swamy, who were to go. Told Swamy to meet me near my place at 7am as it was on the way out to Bidar.

The way to Bidar from Hyderabad is to get onto the Pune highway, go on till Zaherabad and then turn right to Bidar. Once you reach the place ask for directions to the Kila (fort). The distance is 120kms from Kondapur in hyderabad, and the distance is easily doable in 3 hrs with stops.

On with the journey then :)

7:15am. Waited for Swamy to show up. He had called at 6:50 that he was leaving his house, so i guestimated how much time he would need - had to wait for around 10 mins for him to show up. The early morning is quite beautiful, if it was not for the man-made clutter of wires all around. I dont know when we as a civilization will get aesthetic sense. From all my travels to sites of yesteryears, it seems that our forefathers did have the sense, but we seem to have lost it.

Good Morning !

Handshakes over, i explained the route to Swamy and we set off. Since there were only 2 of us, it was fast riding, and with each swapping spaces to take the lead. Around 8:00am, we came to the Reliance A1 outlet on the highway and stopped for breakfast. I've found these reliance outlets to be quite handy. All of them are next to a Reliance petrol bunk and once you stop for filling petrol you would also want some refreshment. Further to that, they are also having the same design - which means that once you have been to an A1 outlet you know exactly where everythint is - the loo for instance - which is also quite clean here. Other places it stinks.

A1 Plaza. Lovely sky colour.

40 mins later, we moved off from there. Took a few pics - it was turning out to be a glorious day.

Butt Break

From the A1 outlet the roads are mostly quite good making it easy to maintain 80-90kmph on the highways - which was actually a bit slow as a couple of school buses from DPS (yeah, there is a Delhi public school in Hyderabad) were having a race, and were not willing to let use overtake. Of course they are no match for a couple of road hardened bike veterans, though I was a bit concerned about the kids who were in the buses (hmm... wonder if the next NFS installment will have auto ricks and kamakazi buses in it ?).

Finding the turning to Bidar is easy. You just cannot miss it. Just after Zahirabad, big boards proclaim the turn to Bidar. You could miss it if you were riding blind - but then i dont know if you would have survived so long. Bidar is in Karnataka and you know you have crossed the state boundary as there is a small hut (checkpost?) with 2 bored police chaps and a rope lying across the road meant to be the boundar between the 2 states (?) !

Reached the Bidar main town in 10 mins and then asked for directions to the fort, which we reached in another 10 mins. One interesting thing about this fort is that you can take your vehicles inside the fort - and riding through the arched gates is a great feeling ! Found a guide there who took us through the fort. Following pics can explain the place better than I can. The only thing I will add is that it has a 6km periphery wall, a couple of present day villages inside, and lots of local people playing cricket on a sunday. The ASI is doing some restoration work because of which some of the places are closed - but rather than restoring it seems to me they are distroying the structures by putting concrete in place of stones provided by the local contractors.

The palace. It was undergoing some restoration work. The garden was quite well done.

The fort.

The entrance through the sentry walls.

The crubmbling walls of the Diwan-e-Khas

The hallway which used to be the Diwan-E-Aam.

BN there DN that.

Tweety strikes a majestic pose at the entrance of the Fort.

After spending about 2+ hrs going here and there in the fort, we headed to the Gurudwara. It is said that this is the southernmost site visited by Guru Nanak . The langar was going on there, and we decided to have lunch there. Simple fare, but we were happy.

Bidar Gurudwara.

Left bidar at 1:30 , and headed back to hyderabad. Again stopped at the A1 plaza for a couple of quick coffees and headed home. Reached back at 4:30. As you enter hyderabad, the traffic just looses any sense. Everyone wants to go everywhere, which means that there is often a deadlock on the roads. A bit of nifty offroading helped us !

Sweet, short ride. One more place to go around hyderabad if you just have a day to chill out.

Links :

• Govt. homepage of Bidar
• Wikipedia entry for Bidar