[gypsyFreak]

Thank you all for your wishes, the road to recovery is a long one, i feel i am not even at the first quarter mile yet...

Originally Posted by jeeva

... I used to sing all my favourite songs with the helmet on - the closed environment, echo and those little streaks of wind escaping through the visors; suddenly you feel like you are the world's best rockstar!

I do the same, both while driving and riding alone, singing out loud helps as stress buster and keeps me active and lively while driving/riding. But, in recent times there have been tears inside the helmet while passing places visited with them.

Originally Posted by Durango Dude

Can identify with you, I also lost my parents back to back in 2006 and 2007 Dad first and Mom next, it was a very long road for the healing process and depression came up in spasms, but had my hands full with my son finishing school and going to college and my job kept me busy: fully agree had Covid put a spanner in the works the healing process may have been that much longer. Best would be to immerse oneself in work and spend more time with family. Even songs can bring back memories and tears. What you have done is the right thing, travel with your new companion! Best thing is you aren't allowed to grieve at all in the immediate aftermath of the death the meandering customs and last rites make you real numb and once that is over you're awash with grief...Ride safe and travel safe and leave your loss far behind and you'll get over it, we all do eventually...

Sorry to hear about your loss, hope you have been able to get back to normalcy.
The healing process is definetely a long and arduous one, memories are triggered by day to day activities. Ya, i can relate to what you said, in the immediate aftermath we are in a state of shock, still not having felt the loss. After few months is when the loss hits hard and we start grieving on each and every rememberance/thought of them.
Doing something new and getting addicted to positive things helps to overcome this grief a bit. That's why the rides and this thread, hopefully over time things get better.

Originally Posted by MaheshY1

One tip: consider moving the aux lights to the crash bar.

I wanted them on forks so that they turn with handlebar, would be usefull in hills and from a standstill when you want to illuminate and evaluate your next turn before making the turn.
I did check with the manufacturer as he is based in Bangalore itself, as per him the lights should be equally good on the forks too. I will keep your suggestion in mind as i am still evaluating the best position for the lights.

Originally Posted by GutsyGibbon

Its awesome to see you use riding to get your spirits up. Congrats on the awesome Himalayan.

For night time riding I would certainly look into installing a replacement LED light bulb with high lumens and auxiliary lights.

These are LED lights 40W each side. They have yellow filters so as to aide in rains and keep the cops away. Usually in highways, i take out the yellow filters and get enough lumination for night rides.

[Jaison]

May your parents soul Rest in Peace. We all have to move on in life and that is how it is. It was a journey for me too traveling with you. Getting a motorcycle was a great thing, travelling and customizing it was another but wanting to put a tent and cooking equipment is another level. Wish you many more miles ahead.

[gypsyFreak]

Few rides and few updates to the bike.

As the fly screen was since noisy in my last ride, i decided to remove the GPS mount and move the mobile holder to handle bar. In the process, got all the four bolts refitted with rubber washers at CVS Motors hebbal. Another issue cropped up while i was at ASS, the speedo fogged up and the SA took a video, RC copy and put in a request for warranty replacement. Still awaiting updates from them.

much cleaner dashboard

Went on early morning ride to test the mobile holder on handlebar with tank bag in place. Ergonomically it looked fine allowing to be inline with a straight view and the dashboard looks less cluttered.
The route was Muddenahalli, Sir MV's birthplace, wanted to pay my obeisance to the father of my profession. After the visit decided to circumnavigate Nandi hills on my way back. Got caught in huge traffic jam at Nandi hills entrance, where vehicles of all sizes were queued up to climb up. I somehow managed to snake my way past all them and reached home by 9 am for breakfast.

Circumnavigating Nandi Hills

Did another to and fro ride to Mysore, took the pleasant and awesome Bellur cross route instead of under construction SH 17.

Beautiful road and perfect riding conditons

Got a new charger installed as the current one went kaput.
A long over due saddle stay was installed, bought one from Amazon for Rs 2600/-. Seems sturdy and worth the price, did not want the folding type as i thought it would be one less moving part on a vibrration prone bike.

compliments the bike giving a much complete look


the bottom supports needs to go when not in use for cleaner looks

Next in the list is saddle bags and rides to put them in use

[Dressellian]

Saddened to hear about your loss and suffering. I am glad you found a way to cope with the distress. Great travelogue that, looking forward to reading more from you.

[TheHelix0202]

About the last pic in your post above, something feels asymmetrical…maybe it’s the tail lamps, or it’s the saddle stay. Do get it checked. Unless it’s the phone camera’s lens making it seem crooked on the incline.

[ram1kv]

It's inspiring to see how you're riding your way out of extreme sadness mate. The road might be long but your grit and determination is definitely going to get you through this phase. And you've got the best ride to get you to the other end.
Lovely photos and wonderful rendition of your impromptu journeys. Looking forward to corner updates. Wishing you decades of joyful riding!

[gypsyFreak]

Originally Posted by TheHelix0202

About the last pic in your post above, something feels asymmetrical…maybe it’s the tail lamps, or it’s the saddle stay. Do get it checked. Unless it’s the phone camera’s lens making it seem crooked on the incline.

Yes, the saddle stay was slightly incorrectly mounted, which i corrected myself. In the process also adjusted the rear lights.

Originally Posted by ram1kv

It's inspiring to see how you're riding your way out of extreme sadness mate. The road might be long but your grit and determination is definitely going to get you through this phase. And you've got the best ride to get you to the other end.
Lovely photos and wonderful rendition of your impromptu journeys. Looking forward to corner updates. Wishing you decades of joyful riding!

Thanks ram1kv. Riding keeps me busy and it was my long standing desire travel and explore. The recent turn of events in the family pushed me towards the same. Regarding the bike, it was a wish to have a offroad capable tourer just to be confident to take the extra mile where the highway ends. The Himalayan hit the sweet spot, except the weight for which there are some work arounds.

Did a Sunday ride for about 350 KMs to attend a family event. I had not carried my rain gear and ended up getting drenched to the bone, but kept riding completely wet for 1.5 hrs. All this ended up in getting a rainbow shot for the bike.

Was planning to make performance improvements on the bike, K&N filter, Iridium plug and so on. Decided against it for the time being as my current need does not neccesitates them and also bike is still under warranty.
Planning a full day ride, a round trip around MM Hills, Hoggenkal, Anchetty this weekend. Hope to have a nice time..

[gypsyFreak]

Completed the full day ride on June 25th.
Started from home around 6 am and reached back by 9:15 PM, covering a distance of about 520 KMs.
Route taken was Bangalore - Kanakapura (breakfast at Vasu Hotel) - T Narsipura - MM Hills - Palar - Mecheri - Pennagaram - Palacode - Hosur - Attibele - Bangalore

The original plan was to meet my cousin who is with the Police department at T Narsipura and then ride to MM Hills, cross the border into TN and ride to Hoggenkal and return back via Hosur.

However after T Narsipur, faced stomach issues and had to look out for decent restroom twice. Fortunately, found a IOC petrol bunk with clean enough toilet. Realized how difficult it is to remove the riding gear when nature calls urgently..

After releiving myself carried on towards MM Hills, lots of under construction roads, but no problem on the Himalayan as i could eaasily saddle through the bad sections. On approaching MM Hills had a near miss caused by Bolero trying to overtake a truck on blind uphill. More details here (Your near-miss experiences on the road)

Roads were good from here, up and down the hills and in TN as well. Could not visit the temple as i did not find a good place to keep my full riding gear.
Seeked my blessings from a distance and moved on towards Palar. Crossed over into TN, my bike's first out of state visit and set the destination as Hoggenkal. But my mobile data was playing games and i could not get a steady connection, so Google maps offline navigation pushed me onto a village road. Realized that something was wrong and upon enquiring came to know i was off the route by 5-6 KMs. By this time i felt tired and de-hydrated due to episodes earlier in the day. Decided to skip Hoggenkal and as soon as i got good data connection, set the destination as home and crossed the mad truck traffic in Hosur and reached home by 9 pm.

For this trip i filled fuel at MRPL HiQ which made the engine smooth and also increased mileage by 3-4 KMs. I got a mileage of 37 KMPL in this trip, my best so far. Considering the price is same as IOC, seems this is better than Shell petrol.

Here are some snaps:

Somewhere after MM Hills


Somewhere in TN on the return leg


the weather was good, decided a longish break with the mat on

No further trips planned, let's to see what comes up.

[Janjua]

Wah! Most enjoyable read and awesome pics to boot.
Stay strong fellow rider and may the Almighty bless you for all times to come.

[gypsyFreak]

Did some unplanned trips just to get out of boredom...!!

One fine day, with no destination in mind, just started riding on NH and decided to take some interior roads and ended up behind the airport with a excellent view. Had a nice time with a lake and some planes for company

For my previous ride, i wanted to change my gloves. Went to nearby RE showroom, they did not have much options, wasn't keen on going upto Jayanagar Company store, so ordered RE Windstorm from Amazon, it seems fine so far.
Also, got new tank pads from Ridetek, which looks great and works fine.
Wanted to try out new gloves and was looking for a opportunity to ride.

Last Sunday, went for a early morning breakfast alone. Destination was Budikere/Markandeya dam near Malur. The dam itself is not worth spending much time, but offbeat dirt tracks around the dam were really great. I had my full of offroading & solitude.
Not minding the litter, the place is good. Very happy with the find, had the entire place to myself. Let me leave you with pictures, although they don't do justice to the place...

Next on list is a camping chair for me, frame bags and saddle bags for the bike.

[WhiskeyTangoFox]

Originally Posted by gypsyFreak

Few rides and few updates to the bike.

A long over due saddle stay was installed, bought one from Amazon for Rs 2600/-. Seems sturdy and worth the price, did not want the folding type as i thought it would be one less moving part on a vibrration prone bike.

Could you please send the link for the saddle stays sir? Thanks!

[gypsyFreak]

Originally Posted by WhiskeyTangoFox

Could you please send the link for the saddle stays sir? Thanks!

Here you go. Amazon

I still haven't got the saddle bags, so no real feedback. Only thing is that you need to install them correctly, i did a lot of trial and error to get the aligned properly, still they are a bit offset, which i am planning to get once i finalize on the saddle bags.

[thumpmeister]

Have thoroughly enjoyed reading your heartfelt post and your riding experience with your steed. More miles to you. I am not sure if you have mentioned this earlier but want to know why did you not opt for the RE Aluminium panniers? Or you prefer soft saddle bags?

[gypsyFreak]

Originally Posted by thumpmeister

Have thoroughly enjoyed reading your heartfelt post and your riding experience with your steed. More miles to you. I am not sure if you have mentioned this earlier but want to know why did you not opt for the RE Aluminium panniers? Or you prefer soft saddle bags?

Thanks. it's more miles indeed now.
Cost and weight were the two reasons for not opting for RE panniers. Since i just started my touring, wanted to experience first hand and then move towards hard panniers.

[gypsyFreak]

An overdue update.

With the family in their native for Deepavali, it was time for me to hit the road again rather than being alone at home.

With the rains in Bangalore, planned a three day ride across the beautiful Western Ghats again followed by a rest day at the end. Thankfully it was 3 days of nature in FULL HD, i mean in bright sunlight.
Luggage system was Invictus frame bags at the front and Wildcraft rucksack with raincover at the tail. Although i had saddle bags, wanted to use the tailbag as i thought it would be some sort of back support during the ride.
Added my camp mat and this time a new addition, a folding chair from Decathlon.
With all luggage packed up and with a tankfull of petrol started around 7 am from home. First destination was Patla betta viewpoint and then Bisle Ghat view point. From there the plan was to ride some B roads between Kukke Subramanya and Dharmasthala and then halt at Ujire.
All went well till Patla betta trail starting point. At the point local jeepers said it is doable in bike so decided to give a try. Due to recent rains there were deep ridges and grooves across the trail making it difficult. I had to get down and recce the trail at few spots, but was manageable. I removed all the air from the air seat so that i sit as low as possible in order to be able to support a fall if needed, but i should have reduced the tyre pressure as well, 40 psi was very high
Anyhow, the ascent was ok, although i slipped once, but it was into a ridge so could maintain balance easily. Other than this it was smooth, no wheelspin anywhere and i was able to make to the peak.

Stayed there for a while, took some pics and felt confident on offroading...over confident.

Started the descent with confidence and soon realized it's a completely different story. Made it to the first turn and then everything fell apart.
Here the road is a slope from left to right, not realizing this i wanted to stop to recce the next obstacle. My right foot could not feel the ground and bike started tilting to the right and down she went, quickly thought with all the luggage on the bike it will be pain to fight the tilt, so i let go of the bike taking my right foot out of the way. The AOM handlebar made the first point of contact and cracked right away. The crash guards did their jobs and even the Invictus frame bags fared fine, no scratch or tear.

Just stood there for a minute catching my breath and realizing what had happaned and what to do next. Due to slope the bike was almost upside down and with all the luggage meant that lifting the bike from a 200 degree angle would be tough. So much for my solo ride aspirations. Made me think is it safe to ride solo

Fortunately, in such populous and friendly country help is not far. There were a group of able bodied youth trekking up the trail who witnessed all this fiasco in front of them. Even before i asked, they signalled me to wait for them to come and lift the bike. Kudos to them

It took 4 fully grown men to lift the damn thing from 200 plus degree tilt to its upright position. Realized that the handlebar was cracked and bent downwards and right mirror cracked. My investment in handguards and crash guards paid off, the handguards protected the front brake lever and the bike was rideable. The blokes helped me get on the bike and navigate the obstacle and asked me if they should come with me for the full descent. I did not say anything, but knew their thoughts "what this uncle is doing here alone without knowing how ride a bike" Bruised ego..!

Time for a self retribution, thought back hard and remembered my past research on how to descend on a heavy ADV over ridges and grooves. It was simple "just walk the bike".
From then on it was a well planned descent, release the front brakes and from first gear press the clutch to move the bike while using my legs as anchors on both sides. Although it was slow but it worked and i came down safely, even over the worst parts.

From Patla betta, rode straight to Bisle Ghat view point where i planned to regroup my thoughts and plan the next steps there.
Went to the view point, had a protein bar and water then decided to first visit the nearest RE service center to get the bike checked and then decide whether to continue the trip or abort.

The nearest was at Belthangady which was in my initial route plan. My calls to them went unanswered, reached there only to realize that they were closed as it was Sunday.
Booked a room at Ujire and decided to rest for the day and get the bike checked tomorrow morning.
Went to RE Service at 9:30 am, they said they do not have the handlebar and mirror for Himalayan in stock and guided me to Mangalore RE.
They checked everything else and confirmed no problem and lubed the chain as a goodwill. Tried a few local garages they also did not have any stocks of spares.
Now, seeing the AOM handlebar cracked and bent, i was not confident of it's strength. My past drops in previous rides never had any bent handlebar, maybe the stock steel has been made to absorb such impacts. Having being used to comfort to AOM handlebar, did not want to go back to stock so decided to enquire about the Himalayan touring handlebar. The Mangalore RE SVC confirmed they had it in stock and they could get it fitted immediately.
So rode to Mangalore and somewhere on the way one of the Maddog yellow filters decided to jump and i lost it.
The folks at Mangalore did a good job and completed the handlebar installation by 2 pm. They kept my touring accessories safe and guided me to a good restaurant for lunch. After getting the bike fully checked again and all spares fitted (handlebar, right mirror, brake lever) i was ready to continue my trip. My faith in RE SVCs for accessibility and parts availability was satisfied and felt i had made good decision. Any other exotic bike meant trip would have ended there and i had to cart the bike to Bangalore and costly repairs.

Tannir bhavi beach was in my to do list, it was nearby so headed there. It was very sunny and humid, so did not spend much time there, although the tree park felt cool but was overcrowded, not my kind of place.

Decided to ride up the Agumbe ghats and hit Ripponpet for night halt. Rode up the hair pins of Agumbe and reached the sunset point exactly for the sun to start setting. Took few snaps and moved on to Agumbe town.

I was a fan of Malgudi days and always wanted to explore the streets of Agumbe, this was my chance. Although it was getting dark, just rode around the empty streets and felt nothing nostalgic, maybe that innocence of Swamy had left Agumbe long back.
Decided to halt at Agumbe itself just for the chilled experience. There was a non veg restaurant, a bar at a distance and a decent lodge, just enough to convince myself to call it a day here.

After so much happenings on the first 2 days, Day 3 started normally, i was just packing my luggage on the bike when another fellow biker came to me and asked for surrounding places. He was a first time rider on TVS RR 310, he was not confident of riding alone and expressed his willingness to join me for first half of the day. I obliged and we started with me in the lead.
First destination was Kundadri view point, unfortunately it was still closed at 8 am with no signs of opening until 9 or 10 am. We gave it a pass started our ride towards Thirthahalli. Roads were awesome, the RR 310 rider, i could see him enjoying the ride. We had breakfast at Thirthalli and then parted ways. I guided him to take Hulikal Ghat route back to Kundapura and i proceeded towards Jog.

The usual tourist spot at Jog was very crowded, the security guard waved me in and asked me to pay Rs 50/- as parking fee. Looking at the crowd, i signalled him that i would not park and will take a U turn to exit Jog. The new idea was to see Jog from different perspective - from the Tourist Bungalow side.
The crowd here was very less and after checking with few shops, i took my bike inside the Bungalow compound near the viewpoint. Spent some clicks there and decided to move out. The idea was continue straight along NH to Honnavara and check out a remote beach - Ramanagindi.

NH 69 is awesome all the way upto Honnavara. With the sky full clear, the sun was shining in full glory, the humidity in this area was making me feel tired. Took a lot of breaks to rehydrate myself. Met few intresting people, like a Corporate cab driver, who quit durig COVID and came to his native to start a small hotel never to go back again to corporate life. Another fellow quit MNC and pursued his interest in automobiles by starting a two wheeler showroom.
By the time i exited the cool Western Ghats area, i felt very tired and was barely moving. Gladly, another Himalayan overtook me, a glance at the number plates revealed that they were from Bangalore. Rode with the couple for sometime and soon reached the coast and parted ways. Makes me realize how motivating it would be to have a another rider.

My destination was Ramanagindi beach, which i had shortlisted by just checking on satellite view in Google Maps. I had no info on the beach and could not see any reviews anywhere.
But, WHAT a Find..!!
Cleanest, calmest and most beautiful beach i ever visited in my life. Not even a single sign of tourism/commercialisation, an absolute nature's Gem.
There was not even a single soul in sight, i had the entire beach to myself. So, time to setup my open camp and just relax for an hour. Took a long break, downed two protein bars as there was nothing else. After this first day's episode never expected such a surprise. Really amazing find.

This was the highest point of the trip, from here the plan was to return to Bangalore. It was about 500 KMS from here, so thought of riding to Sirsi for the night halt and then next day to Bangalore.
Kumta to Sirsi road was under construction and in very bad shape. Somehow i managed to reach Sirsi before 6 pm and called it a day.

Final day, started leisurely at 8 am from Sirsi and reached home by 4 pm. Met a fellow rider who was also returning to Bangalore after being on the road for a week.
Overall, it was a planned 3 day trip which got extended by a day and my bike got a new handlebar. I am satisified with the bike's performance, with a mileage of 32 KMPL, my wallet is happy. For the next trip, i will drop the rucksack and use Viaterra saddle bags as balancing the rucksack took a lot of effort and stops.