[wanderlustindia]

Sounds like day 6 will be titled, 'kya ada kya jalwae tere Paro' ;-). Keep 'em coming mate.

[//M]

Woah this is an epic roadtrip by all proportions !

Let Bonny flex her muscles in the serpentine roads that the Royal Kingdom has to offer, I am sure the lovely ghat roads of Bhutan will have you grinning from ear to ear.

Keep your posts coming buddy. Take care and Ride safe !

By the way IIRC, the King of Bhutan also rides a Bonneville and has a Tesla Model S too. Yes the King is a biker.

[veerameti]

Hi djpeesh,

Your trip report has been very interesting and hilarious, especially the unfortunate guys who somersaulted on you, looking at the video with all the information readout seen, I wanted to know which camera are you using, does the speed/distance/direction info get embedded in the video during capture or is it an option that can be enabled later on ?

Thanks,
Veera

[djpeesh]

Originally Posted by veerameti

Hi djpeesh,

Your trip report has been very interesting and hilarious, especially the unfortunate guys who somersaulted on you, looking at the video with all the information readout seen, I wanted to know which camera are you using, does the speed/distance/direction info get embedded in the video during capture or is it an option that can be enabled later on ?

Thanks,
Veera

Thanks Veera. The camera is the Garmin virb elite. Got a super deal on Flipkart some months ago (12k I think). It records gps data along with video. You can embed the data with the virb edit software.

[barcalad]

Originally Posted by djpeesh

How are the roads? we ask the onlookers. Good they say. Einstein's theory of relativity comes into play. Clearly they're referring to another time and place.

The roads get worse and worse. Hashimara sees a fork in the road to Jaigaon. The fork is literally a life and death choice. You turn left and it looks like the moon, if it rained there. To spice things up, the government helpfully also has signs put up saying that Elephants have right of way. And when we asked previously, we were told that when elephants cross, it's usually in herds of 50-60. So we keep our eyes peeled in three directions, in front and also on the sides, and headlights on full beam, just in case we need to give some elephants way.

I believe I had warned you about this via PM a long time back. Remember?

I'm actually surprised you guys decided to ride from Ethelbari to Phuentsholing at night. That road is one of the riskiest and eeriest roads I've been through in WB. Bandit haven, that. When I was a kid and my Dad was posted in Coochbehar (District HQ), even cop cars wouldn't be spared once the night set in, forget trucks.

That road has been in such state since the past 7-8 years. Strikes, deaths, rallies - yet that portion of the NH has never been repaired to last more than a month. Well, everything happens for a reason, doesn't it?

Kudos to you and your group, man. Eager to hear your tales!

[djpeesh]

Day 6. Drunk Drivers are Clearly on Another Sort of Gross National Happiness



We reach the permit office at 9 am, when it opens. Unfortunately a group of geriatric Gujratis has reached before us. So we go about trying to procure forms amid some old people looking for pickle to go with their theplas as they wait for their biometric data to be captured.



Finally they're done in an hour. And we can begin to get our stuff sorted. Fingerprinted, photographed and waiting for an hour brings us our permits. But those are just for human beings. Our motorcycles need another document.




So we go to the Road Transport and Safety Administration building, where we submit our self-printed forms and pay the requisite 70 rupee per bike fee. After waiting for eternity, the officer comes back to his office and signs the form. However, the chap with the stapler is out for lunch. Finally he saunters back and staples the form (along with a note in the register if the computer ever stops working) and we're set.

A fuel up and its now 130 pm. We have 4 hours of daylight to get to Paro. It's 150 kilometers and we think that should be sufficient. Bad call. Especially when it's raining. It begins raining soon after we leave Phuntsholing and climb up the mountains. There's a check post about 5 kilometers up the hill, where they ostensibly do an immigration check. They stamp our permits. I linger for a few minutes longer than M and VC as the cop is asking me about my bike and where we've come from and I give him the unabridged account.





Suddenly, I'm riding alone. Just as I'm thinking about how I should have taken out my rain liner from my bag, a taxi coming on the wrong side of the road takes me out. Its déjà vu as I slide along the road again, and the bike slides as well. The taxi driver is drunk. Very drunk. He says that I should have honked as he was distracted.



I scream my head off. He says he'll take me to the hospital in Phunsholing. I'm fine. The rear brake pedal has snapped but otherwise the bike is fine. The brake pedal is embedded in the taxi tire. Thank god for quality riding gear. Again, not a scratch.



I get back on the bike and get her started. It begins raining again now. This is getting trying. I catch up with VC and M. I think I scream at VC too for leaving me. I'm on the brink of giving up.





It gets colder and colder as we ride up to Paro. 30 kilometers from Phunsholing, we stop at a town called Gedu. I'm soaking wet and cold and we get some coffee and chowmein. VC buys a jacket and I contemplate buying a plastic table cloth and making it a poncho.



Luckily, I do have a jacket and rain liner in my bag and I find them easily. I zip them up and we get moving. I'm not cold anymore but the visibility is near zero. We progress slowly up the mountains.







It gets darker and darker. The road's collapsed in a couple of places and we need to ride through the landslide debris, with BRO guidance. Somewhere along the way, my front tire gives up as well. It's now dusk. I keep riding, looking out for a puncture repair shop.



We come across another police checkpoint. I ask the cops about the nearest puncture repair shop. Paro they say. Its 80 kilometers away I say. We try to flag down a truck to transport the bike to Paro. I'm done with riding.



A man comes by and says he'll take the bike to Paro for 2,500 rupees. Thank god I say, and then ask him where his truck is. Oh. I don't have a truck he says. What? I'll take it on the carrier of my Alto. ????? I say no and politely decline his offer of carrying a 235 kg bike on the roof of his Alto.



Suddenly someone comes up with the idea of lightening the load on the bike and then riding it. It seems like a good enough plan. So I load the saddle bags on VC's bike and he offers to ride my bike.



And so we go on towards Paro. Slow and steady but not too slow.



Finally, we see Paro getting closer and closer on the milestones. We cross the Le Meridien hotel and then Paro Airport and we realize it's the home stretch.



We've made it. We've made it, I yell in my helmet. I'm filled with joy. I can't believe I've come this far.


We get to the hotel, unload our bags and then walk to the restaurant for dinner. And then I slip and fall down a flight of stairs and land up with a bleeding arm and a very very sore bottom and knee.

[loki]

Whoa. Hope no more falls on or away from the bike. Your logs are super interesting. Thanks for the regular updates.

[grplr02]

Hey djpeesh, that was you I met in Thimphu the other day! I really need to check back on Tema-BHP forum more often, totally forgot you were coming to Bhutan. On top of that I was a bit distracted that day when we met in the restaurant opposite the football stadium. I was the guy riding the red Conti GT. Apologise our conversation was so brief and I could not spend more quality time with you guys.

And like others have stated, great ride report so far, looking forward to more! Very sorry about your experience with the immigration & transport offices in Phuntsholing - they do have a tendency to move at glacial speeds every so often. My brother riding in from Sikkim a few days before you, was stuck in P/Ling for an extra half-day for very similar reasons.

[wolfy]

Djpeesh,
Hats off for pushing on after SO many bad experiences in one ride.
Shit happens, but looks like all the shit happened to you on one ride. Only makes you stronger eh!

[grplr02]

... and too bad you had to catch the last bit of rains in the hills. A few days later and you'd have caught proper Autumn weather. It's been all sunshine and clear blue skies with just a pleasant, fresh nip in the air these last two weeks, awesome riding weather!

[djpeesh]

Originally Posted by loki

Whoa. Hope no more falls on or away from the bike. Your logs are super interesting. Thanks for the regular updates.

Nope. End of the falls.
Hopefully for good. I will say though that the Sw motech crash guard I got just before the trip was so worth it. I rode for a year with a crash guard and was lucky that nothing happened, and I didn't fall or drop the bike. It's almost as if the crash guard was dying to test itself out

Originally Posted by grplr02

Hey djpeesh, that was you I met in Thimphu the other day! I really need to check back on Tema-BHP forum more often, totally forgot you were coming to Bhutan. On top of that I was a bit distracted that day when we met in the restaurant opposite the football stadium. I was the guy riding the red Conti GT. Apologise our conversation was so brief and I could not spend more quality time with you guys.

And like others have stated, great ride report so far, looking forward to more! Very sorry about your experience with the immigration & transport offices in Phuntsholing - they do have a tendency to move at glacial speeds every so often. My brother riding in from Sikkim a few days before you, was stuck in P/Ling for an extra half-day for very similar reasons.

No worries buddy. It was awesome meeting with you. Give me a shout if you come towards Bombay. We went to Sikkim too after Bhutan. Will add deets of that bit as well. I've been back 5 days and I'm already thinking of my next big one.

Originally Posted by wolfy

Djpeesh,
Hats off for pushing on after SO many bad experiences in one ride.
Shit happens, but looks like all the shit happened to you on one ride. Only makes you stronger eh!

You only live once (yolo) and gotta give it all man. Yeah, my ride was massively jinxed but you live and learn.

I now know that when you hit a dog (or small animal), you power on without letting go of the throttle and jamming the brakes. I learnt something and lived to hopefully not have to practice it. Similarly, when riding in the hills and enjoying the corner carving, you need to be careful of oncoming traffic and honk your way to high glory.

Originally Posted by grplr02

... and too bad you had to catch the last bit of rains in the hills. A few days later and you'd have caught proper Autumn weather. It's been all sunshine and clear blue skies with just a pleasant, fresh nip in the air these last two weeks, awesome riding weather!

Man. What a bummer. But the strategic long weekend spell helped get so much time off. Had I done it now, the toll on the leave situation would have made a much bigger dent.

[grplr02]

Originally Posted by djpeesh

No worries buddy. It was awesome meeting with you. Give me a shout if you come towards Bombay. We went to Sikkim too after Bhutan. Will add deets of that bit as well. I've been back 5 days and I'm already thinking of my next big one.

I now know that when you hit a dog (or small animal), you power on without letting go of the throttle and jamming the brakes. I learnt something and lived to hopefully not have to practice it. Similarly, when riding in the hills and enjoying the corner carving, you need to be careful of oncoming traffic and honk your way to high glory.

Will look forward to your Sikkim details - my home state!

I hear ya about hitting dogs - a guy from our club had a bad incident earlier this year. He was riding a locally modified Enfield T'Bird, ape hanger bars & footpegs pushed way forward, & wasn't having the best time riding rougher roads, we were passing through a small crowded town in a far corner of Assam when a dog ran across him, instead of powering through he hit the brakes and the bike high-sided, he hit the tarmac like a sack of potatoes, was out cold and bleeding (hot day so he was riding in t-shirt and tiny half-helmet, very unwise!) - bad concussion, broken shoulder, ribs, etc. He's still under medical observation and can't ride for a few more months at least!

And yeah, riding the twisties in the hills, you hit 1, 2, 3 empty blind corners (esp. here in less congested roads of Bhutan) and just as you let your guard down, there'll be a big truck coming at you from the wrong side of the road on the fourth corner!

[djpeesh]

Day 7: No Motorcycle For (Young) Old Men

I wake up in agony. My knee is sore. My butt is bruised. My arm is aching. Today's not going to be a good day.

The girlfriend, D, has flown into Paro and she rightfully wants to go have a look around. VC and M decide not to do anything today.

I don't feel like looking at my bike, let alone getting the tyre and brake pedal fixed. So we hire a taxi. For the princely sum of ₹4,000, our driver will drive us to the highest pass in Bhutan, called Chalela Pass, at an altitude of 3,988 meters, and then Thimphu.

I hobble into the Indica Vista which is in surprisingly decent nick for a car that's done 159,000 kilometers. And I fall asleep. Periodically I'm awoken to look at the view out of the window. It really is gorgeous but I can't keep my eyes open.

We reach the pass and I'm amazed by the view although by the time I pull out my phone, it's now cloudy and visibility is zero.



After a bit of walking around and looking down at Haa Valley, my knee is aching and I want to sit down. So I go back to the car, with D not pleased.

We head back down towards Paro and then onward to Thimphu.

In Thimphu, we try to get some lunch but the recommended restaurant, Bhutan Kitchen is closed at 3 pm. We saunter around and I find a momo vendor at a street market (There's a festival ongoing) and dig into a plate of beef momos. And then another one, just to spite the beef ban back home.

I can hear vague noises coming from a stage that's set up in the Clock Tower square but I can't be bothered to find out what it is.

After stuffing as many momos down my throat and looking a bit like Po in Kung Fu Panda, I hobble down the road to find D who's shopping for stuff.

After making appreciative noises about her definitely un-Bhutanese purchases, and an ice cream just to make sure the weight sticks, I call the driver who brings the car around and takes us back to the hotel in Paro.

At the hotel, everyone else has reached and they're planning Tigers Nest tomorrow. I really want to go, but walking up to my own Tigers Nest (ie my room) is a difficult enough task.

After a dinner of beef chowmein, it's time to hit the sack. Maybe there'll be a miracle and I'll be able to go to Tigers Nest tomorrow.

[nitrogary]

Originally Posted by dustom_99

Mobile charger should only be an amp or below, it shouldn't be a trouble.
60w head light (5amps) indicators+ tail light (3-4amps) , ECU+ ign coil + other electrical ( another 3-4 amps) .
So you have another 2-3 amps for whatever you want .
All this is based on assumption that charging system is 250w.

Originally Posted by Sting

This one is for the gurus but I will still give it a shot !
I don't see an issue with the setup but hopefully someone with a better knowhow in the electrical department can pitch in!

Cheers,
Sting

Nice inputs guys. I found some more info on triumphRAT as I am doing homework on aux lights upgrade. Looking at the Denali D4 extremes which have 3 amps draw. Would like to know if someone is already using them.

http://www.triumphrat.net/twins-tech...-capacity.html

[djpeesh]

If any of you can't wait to figure out what the new Bonnevilles are about, here's the dope before it happens. I can't sleep, although when I do, I'll be dreaming of the T120 Black.


Torque is 54% up. Twin discs, ABS, traction control, riding modes.




Here's the full lowdown


http://www.morebikes.co.uk/scoop-201...-suspension-2/