This was my first solo long distance drive. I live in Chennai and my destination was Bengaluru which is about 340KM from here. I planned this travel primarily to get wide seat, led lights & extended foot peg for pillion fixed for my 750. The excitement for the ride started as soon as the plans were made, the previous night before travel I arranged the riding gears and other necessities with a checklist.
- Tire Air pressure
- Riding gear with rain coat inside (it has been raining for the last few days)
- Fuel up to capacity
- Gift for friends / relatives
- Wind screen wipes
- Charging of headsets and standby power bank
- Support and encouragement from family members.
[FONT="]On the day of the ride got up at 4:00am to prepare for 5:00am start. Rain played spoil sport and my wife was concerned about the heavy rain and darkness. So I waited for about 90mts and started when the visibility was better though the rain continued[/FONT]
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[FONT="]The drive plan included breakfast stop at Vellore (130km). The road until Kanchipuram was in bad shape with pot holes due to rains and I had to drive with abundance caution not to get throw out of balance. It was a wet, cold & slow drive.[/FONT]
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I reached Vellore at about ~ 8:15 am and had piping hot vegetarian breakfast (Pongal, Appam and stew) at Hotel Saravana Bhavan. After completing breakfast with hot tea stared for Bangalore stopping by
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to top up fuel at a petrol station nearby. The road from Vellore onwards was a pleasure to drive. Cruising at 120km/hr speed I could cover up for the time lost in the earlier leg of the travel. Few snaps from this leg of the journey
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I reached Bangalore ~11:30am. My friend Ramkumar who drives a Royal Enfield Thunderbird had agreed to meet me at Silk board junction on hosur road. I was staying in his house. After a nice shower and a sumptuous lunch of Veg Biryani, Potato Fry, Rice crackers, Garlic/Tomato Soup(Rasam), nicely finished of with Carrot Halwa(sweet), we set of to the workshop at RT Nagar to get the accessories fixed. We reached there around 2:00pm …it was Deepvali festival time and Sandeep who’s doing this as his part time passion was out for a family Lunch. We had a nice masala tea in a nearby shop waiting for Sandeep to arrive at his garage. Finally we started work at around 3:00pm. The LED light took some time to fix as the aluminum casting had to be grinded to fit well on the crash guards. One of my buddies Prakash Bell who drive a Iron 883 also came by to the workshop, gifted me a Harley key chain and we all dirtied our hands helping Sandeep get the work done.
Finally when we finished work by 07:30pm we were happy with the outcome.
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It was time now to meet my co-brother and his family. Their eldest Son (7yrs) was thrilled with a ride in the bike. The extended foot peg at the rear also was helpful to my host Ramkumar who was giving me directions around the town. Later in the evening we took for a spin his 20+ year old Yamaha which is well tuned and maintained by him. It was nostalgic moment as we remembered our early days of working life when getting a 100cc Yamaha / Suzuki etc was an aspiration for all of us.
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After a good night rest woke up to pleasant morning weather in Bangalore. Next to my guest room on the top floor was the roof garden where my friend was growing vegetables.
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Ramkumar’s wife packed a bag full of garden vegetables for me. After a cup of hot coffee & bread toast started my drive back to Chennai at 08:00am. The traffic was less and had a enjoyable ride until Kanchipuram after which I had to slow down due to traffic and road conditions. Overall enjoyed the driving experience.
- Tire Air pressure
- Riding gear with rain coat inside (it has been raining for the last few days)
- Fuel up to capacity
- Gift for friends / relatives
- Wind screen wipes
- Charging of headsets and standby power bank
- Support and encouragement from family members.
[FONT="]On the day of the ride got up at 4:00am to prepare for 5:00am start. Rain played spoil sport and my wife was concerned about the heavy rain and darkness. So I waited for about 90mts and started when the visibility was better though the rain continued[/FONT]
[FONT="]The drive plan included breakfast stop at Vellore (130km). The road until Kanchipuram was in bad shape with pot holes due to rains and I had to drive with abundance caution not to get throw out of balance. It was a wet, cold & slow drive.[/FONT]
I reached Vellore at about ~ 8:15 am and had piping hot vegetarian breakfast (Pongal, Appam and stew) at Hotel Saravana Bhavan. After completing breakfast with hot tea stared for Bangalore stopping by
to top up fuel at a petrol station nearby. The road from Vellore onwards was a pleasure to drive. Cruising at 120km/hr speed I could cover up for the time lost in the earlier leg of the travel. Few snaps from this leg of the journey
I reached Bangalore ~11:30am. My friend Ramkumar who drives a Royal Enfield Thunderbird had agreed to meet me at Silk board junction on hosur road. I was staying in his house. After a nice shower and a sumptuous lunch of Veg Biryani, Potato Fry, Rice crackers, Garlic/Tomato Soup(Rasam), nicely finished of with Carrot Halwa(sweet), we set of to the workshop at RT Nagar to get the accessories fixed. We reached there around 2:00pm …it was Deepvali festival time and Sandeep who’s doing this as his part time passion was out for a family Lunch. We had a nice masala tea in a nearby shop waiting for Sandeep to arrive at his garage. Finally we started work at around 3:00pm. The LED light took some time to fix as the aluminum casting had to be grinded to fit well on the crash guards. One of my buddies Prakash Bell who drive a Iron 883 also came by to the workshop, gifted me a Harley key chain and we all dirtied our hands helping Sandeep get the work done.
Finally when we finished work by 07:30pm we were happy with the outcome.
It was time now to meet my co-brother and his family. Their eldest Son (7yrs) was thrilled with a ride in the bike. The extended foot peg at the rear also was helpful to my host Ramkumar who was giving me directions around the town. Later in the evening we took for a spin his 20+ year old Yamaha which is well tuned and maintained by him. It was nostalgic moment as we remembered our early days of working life when getting a 100cc Yamaha / Suzuki etc was an aspiration for all of us.
After a good night rest woke up to pleasant morning weather in Bangalore. Next to my guest room on the top floor was the roof garden where my friend was growing vegetables.
Ramkumar’s wife packed a bag full of garden vegetables for me. After a cup of hot coffee & bread toast started my drive back to Chennai at 08:00am. The traffic was less and had a enjoyable ride until Kanchipuram after which I had to slow down due to traffic and road conditions. Overall enjoyed the driving experience.
