Update 1: 18th Nov 2010, 09:38 PM
It’s been a very long time since I last toured properly on a bike. My trips in the recent past have not been more than 100km, BOTH WAYS. A part of this situation may be attributed to the fact that Motoroids, as a new venture, doesn’t allow me much time to ride long distances for days at a stretch.
Secondly, for the past 2 years, my back has not been in a good shape and the doctor’s have strictly asked me to avoid riding long distances. So when Royal Enfield invited me to join their Rider Mania 2010, I was in quite a fix. There was definitely an urge to ride long distance and see whether I could endure the rigours of long distance riding anymore.
On one hand, there was this advice of the doctors to not indulge into any activities, which may be strenuous to my spine, on the other hand, there was this extremely overwhelming feeling of trying to somehow wriggle out of the clutches of sissyness. I was a bit afraid that I may have lost it completely and may not be able to tour long-distance ever. Thankfully this was not to be, as I realized after travelling 270km from Mumbai to Chiplun.
As goes without saying, am riding a Bullet, sorry… a Thunderbird (TBTS). This is no secret that I have never been a big fan of RE, I’ve always preferred nimble, high-revving Japanese bikes to these heavy, lazy, Indian favorite. The longest trip I’ve made on an RE in the past is 50km. I was therefore really looking forward to the experience.
There is loads I would like to share with you about the bike, but I would leave it for a later day, as I am dog tired by a long day’s work followed by a hard ride. Neglecting apprehensions from my wife and my mother-in-law, I set out, saying to myself that I would return if it became too painful. And painful it was, but only for the initial part of the journey. Once a biker, always a biker I guess…
I have ridden 275km and my back still feels to be in top nick. I guess I’d be doing this more often now. The bike ran smoothly for the entire distance, just that I saw a small puddle of oil under it, wherever I parked it. But that’s not something to worry about with the Bullet you know. The entire journey was completed in 4 hours and 15 minutes, which is not bad knowing that I was not very happy and comfortable with the machine.
Just had a bath, a surmai rava fry, a pomfret curry with rice and some golden fried prawns. Yummy! Time to crash now. Have to wake up at 7:00AM to resume the journey.
Motoroids are participating in this year’s Rider Mania. I’ll be representing Motoroids at this year’s event and will be riding down all the way to Goa to experience the madness first hand. The Event will take place from the 19th to the 21st of this month and as always, will be enormous fun. I’m off riding at around 1:00 this afternoon, and will keep you guys posted about the not just the event, but all the experiences that come my way, and of course the performance of the TBTS that i have as my steed for the ride…
Stay tuned for all the action…