[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Part 3-6 of the year-end ride report had become delayed due to an unexpected visitor in the garage that took up my time for a few days.

A visitor who, interestingly, is longer, wider, and has a larger wheelbase than the Tiger Sport 660!

Originally Posted by Devrishi

Hope it helps

Absolutely! Thanks a ton

I will get a small check done before CSS this month end. Will check how much top up is required.

Originally Posted by Devrishi

Further, please check your latest bike service bill and see for how many litres of engine oil they have billed you.

Checked. 3 litres is what I have been charged for! Hopefully the same has been poured in too.

[Sebring]

Congratulations on the Himi 450. I got one as well. Welcome to the club

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Part 3-6 of the year-end ride report had become delayed due to an unexpected visitor in the garage that took up my time for a few days.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Sebring

Congratulations on the Himi 450. I got one as well. Welcome to the club

Oops! I wish it was mine...

Congratulations Sebring. Was reading your updates in the Himalayan thread earlier today. You got the best colour for sure. What lovely finish Hanle Black paint has!

Knowing you had waited some time for the CB500X, i feel the Himalayan is a brilliant VFM choice finally- offering almost everything similar except for the low end and refinement of the Honda. Not a fair comparison at all due to the seperate price brackets I know - just my view after riding both machines back to back.

I mentioned as visitor because this one was only with me for the extended weekend.

My cousin and another friend has booked - so I should be getting to ride the Himalayan again often.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Ride Photolog:

Bangalore - Kohlapur - Ganpatipule - Goa - Hubli - Bangalore

Part 3/6

As mentioned in the previous post, we reached Ganpatipule by afternoon - had a sumptuous lunch at the O'Nest O'Fish restaurant at Gaywadi beach, went to our resort (O'nest Nakshatra beach resort), relaxed for an hour in the room and then we went out to the beach to watch the sunset.

The beach was just a short walk from the resort, 10 mins down the road. But we thought it is better to take the bikes as the sun was already threatening to go down the horizon. Once out of the resort and on to the main road, the view of the beach down below was spectacular:



Mrs and Mr KarthikK with the CB500X:



You meet some of the nicest people on a Honda, or is it the goofiest? Lol!



Unfortunately, since it was a very short ride and we didn't need all the bikes - I made the stupid mistake of parking the Tiger Sport at the resort and taking ebmrajesh pillion on his KTM 390 Adventure instead. The only one time I decided to rest my bike - and I would repent it heavily in another 10 mins.



The reason I would repent it is that soon we realize it is a hard sand beach and the bikes can be ridden to the waterfront. Parked cautiously at first, before we walked down and examined the beach:



Both the ADVs getting ready for a nice photoshoot. My heart is crying at this point, contemplating whether to take the Enfield back to the resort and bring my Tiger Sport here, but the sun wouldn't wait up for me, would it?



Truly candid: Capturing a moment with Mrs and Mr KarthikK enjoying the sunset and having some discussion, with the CB500X that got them there in the foreground. Self praise alert - I kind of like this capture!



Nice hard sand - the block patterns of the CB500X barely leaving much of an impression:



CB500X looking all mighty and imposing:



KTM 390 Adventure looking all smart and purposeful:



ebmrajesh wondering what mischief can he perform with the 390 Adventure on the beach front:



With the sun about to set, we park the bikes back and go back to focus on the sunset:



While all of us guys were shooting the bikes, Mrs KarthikK spent more time watching the sunset and photographing the landscape.

Photographing the photographer:



We didn't have a proper sunset and the sun disappeared from view much above the horizon. But it was a nice evening at the beach anyways! Just that I was still feeling that I missed out not getting the Tiger Sport.



The beach was very empty and nothing like the crowded Goa beaches we were going to experience for the next two days. Quite a nice experience at Ganpatipule overall:



Back at the resort, we checked out the in-house restaurant and had some snacks. While csentil decided to order an omlette and call it a day here, the rest of us decided to head out for dinner:



The location, Mehendale's Swad Dining - a Maharastrian Veg restaurant that KarthikK highly recommended. By then, I had already decided to skip dinner and just join them to have desserts (modak), but once the food arrived, it turned out to be too tempting for all of us! Overall, one of the best dining experiences of this trip! Very very highly recommended.

The Mehendale Swad Veg Thali:



Modak:



Delicious Aamras:



Back at the resort, we are initially asked to park outside as earlier - and they assure us they will have a security guard outside the property, and hence the bikes are safe outside.



By 11PM, when we are about to settle in for the night, we receive a call from the reception asking us to take the bike inside and park it in the space right in front of the reception itself. Reason: Apparently, they didn't actually have security outside at night and on second thought - decided not to have expensive bikes parked outside. Grudgingly and with sleepy faces - we moved the bikes, parked them inside and called it a night.



What better day to start the day than with a nice cup of tea! Wish our room had a better view of the beach though, the picture turned out to be a classic Instagram fail. Lol!



At least the breakfast area had better views!



Breakfast was a bit disappointing though - there were no items that could be called traditional Maharashtrian - not even Poha for breakfast! Was ok otherwise in taste and quality:



By 10:30 - we are ready to hit the road once again:



The destination for today would be Goa! All are excited to get moving, but not before a group shot!

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Ride Photolog:

Bangalore - Kohlapur - Ganpatipule - Goa - Hubli - Bangalore

Part 4/6

"Which country sir?"
I am quite amused and look back at him
"Which country from India?"
Bangalore, I reply
"I am teacher. I motivate my students. Please I take selfie"

Getting out of Ganpatipule and Maharashtra into Goa was interesting... in the sense it was a mix of road conditions and scenery. Traffic was not too bad out but there were road constructions happening which slowed us down.



But whenever the stretch opened up, roads were good and no stress:



Regrouping for a click, while crossing over into Ratnagiri:



Google Maps did us good in Ratnagiri, diverting us through the market and all:



Not sure if other road options were available - but the progress through this was slow and attention-grabbing. Not to mention - the weather should not be this hot in December!



Crossing the Kajali River, out of Ratnagiri and on to the state roads once again:



Stopping at the beachside for a quick photoshoot. Not sure of the exact location, but I guess it was at Bhatye.



Everyone focusing on own bikes, I also clicked a couple of shots of the Tiger Sport



Not sure now what composition was this! I blame it all on the heat.



Mrs. KarthikK enjoying the beach view when the others are busy with the bikes.



Back on the road, KarthikK has this knack of finding 95 octane petrol bunks in the unlikeliest of places! For the entire ride - I could stick to 100% 95 octane fuel thanks to his planning. The Tiger Sport could live with ordinary fuel as well - the 95 just feels better.



Respect for bikers as mentioned on the sticker. Oh thanks bhai!



Soon the roads open up and we start really enjoying the ride:



Except a couple of broken patches like these, which made the KTM 390 Adventure go weeee:



Overall, the roads were good - village roads with good corners and the occasional ghat sections:



Some corners more enjoyable than the others:



Taking a short break at a rare roadside shack we could find on this stretch. Masala jeera sodas never tasted better! Also had the most interesting conversation here:

A Splendor takes the corner, notices the bikes parked outside the shop, stops, takes U-turn and comes back to talk:

"Which country sir?"
I am quite amused and look back at him
"Which country from India?"
Bangalore, I reply
"I am teacher. I motivate my students. Please I take selfie"

After taking a selfie with all of us, he went on his way.



Acres and acres of mango tree plantations around. Raw mangoes getting ready for the next season:



KarthikK takes his signature side profile shot in front of the plantations.

Once again, the petition for an ownership report of the CB500X is still live. Those in agreement that Mr KarthikK should prioritize this report, say aye in the comments!



Back on the road, navigating the steep slopes into Rajapur - might not seem like much in the pics, but all I had to do for the next few minutes was to let it roll in first with the engine braking struggling to reign in speed:



On to the National Highway 66! Sigh! The original plan would have seen us taking a lot more of this road, all the way into Karnataka and Kerala. Some other day!!!



Another highlight food stop from this trip - this small shop at Talere.



Bikes parked in the hot sun, while the owners refuel:



On excellent Misal Pav thali. Although the place is small - they maintained good hygiene and the taste was excellent IMHO. Really enjoyed this stop! Another brilliant find by KarthikK after Mehendale's Swad the previous day



Finally crossing into Goa at around 4:15 PM. Taking a short break to rehydrate:



Our place for the next two nights would be this, Hotel Lakshmi Empire, located near to Margao railway station:



Good clean and large rooms - and they had a good restaurant downstairs (which we didn't utilize much!)



For no point coming to Goa and not exploring the food options by the beach! After calling up some of the popular places, we finally got a table at Mickeys:



As seen from the beach, where I spent some of the time between servings of food. The next day was going to be a stay at Goa, so no use rushing into the night

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Ride Photolog:

Bangalore - Kohlapur - Ganpatipule - Goa - Hubli - Bangalore

Part 5/6

Today was a rest day at Goa. No ride pictures for this part of the report - this day was just about food! Lol - but don't ask me if the other days weren't!

We started the day looking for the breakfast option at the hotel - but was not very much impressed by their breakfast menu. IIRC - KarthikK ordered himself some breakfast, csentil went with a cheese omelette, whereas the rest of just had tea. Early lunch then...



While KarthikK and better-half went to try out a good pizza place they found online (pictures looked yum! And Karthik claims it was the best of the trip! I highly doubt that but still...), the rest of us three decided on a tried and tested seafood option - Ritz Classic in Margao.

Good ambience:



No confusions about what is the main food type served here. Lol!



I ordered their fish thali which was really nice:



We also ordered some prawns ghee roast and



Bombay duck (which I was quite surprised to know was no duck... what the fish, literally! )



And king fish fry goan style to go with it:



Back at the room to rest. One cup of chai in the evening before heading out to the beach:



The three squeezed into an auto, which seemed to have better low-end throttle response than the Royal Enfield! The first time he released the clutch, I wished neck restraints were made available in autos as well.



The destination for the evening - Colva beach. Slightly crowded, but not even 10% of the crowd seen in the north side during this season:



Especially if you start walking further away from the main entrance to the beach - the crowd reduces significantly and you can have a good time watching the sunset.

A jet passing by made a good shot, I thought:



A couple more sunset shots:





Finally into twilight hours:



With the sun gone and the twilight in, we settled down at one of the local beach-facing shacks:



Food was average, and service was slow. Overall, there would be better options available, even though we had selected one of the top rated shacks around.

But time spent at the beach is good time nevertheless! The shacks as seen from the beach:



Walked back to the main road in search of an ice cream shop. Surprisingly, most of the shops were closing by 9pm - something we didn't expect for Christmas eve! Anyways - Baskin Robbins to the rescue, the owner was preparing to keep the shop open for 24 hours on this day.



Gobbling on ice creams:







Christmas is here! Unfortunately, we would not be able to spend the day in Goa, most places booked out from Christmas to New years, and ours was a last minute (change of) plan! Always another time then - for now, we had to get back to the hotel and that meant negotiating with the cab guys!

Ended up paying 700rs for a 20 minute ride back to the hotel in an Ertiga. Called it a night early, the next day we would be riding to Hubli.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Ride Photolog:

Bangalore - Kohlapur - Ganpatipule - Goa - Hubli - Bangalore

Part 6/6 - The final!

Today we leave for Hubli. Although breakfast was skipped on the previous day citing lack of options - since we would be riding today, everyone went ahead with breakfast anyways. I enjoyed the Mangalore bun, poha and omelette with fruits and a cup of tea.



KarthikKs luggage always arrives in style. Lol!



All set to start from Goa. A friend had suggested us to take the Karwar route till Ankola and ride via yellapur to Hubli, but we didn't and would probably repent it. We took the route via Ponda - Mollem and Dharwad instead.



After not riding the previous day, it felt good to be out on the roads. Excellent two lane roads leading out of Goa from Ponda. Also really liked this capture from the action cam:



Soon the roads become fun. Most of this day I rode with the KTM 390 Adventure - the others maintained a slower pace due to traffic and road conditions.



Why I don't have fun cornering cars anymore, exemplified by the Xylo. You lean actively into the corner, not roll against it.

PS: I clearly remember this Xylo was an excellent driver. Nice and steady pace.



Corners become.even more fun after. Loved this section!



But soon we hit the forest territory and the roads narrow down.



This section was particularly challenging, with drivers who had not much clue how to drive on highways - may be their first major drives to Goa for the vacations, or may be already in party mood. This Scorpio was on the right side taking the corner on an empty road, forcing me to come to a stop almost.



Then there was this Hector who was probably the worst driver we encountered during the trip. Bullying everyone and not allowing overtakes, swerving and going upto the bumper of the car in front. I had to spend a good few minutes behind him, wary of what he is upto and accelerate quickly out of his way when the opportunity presented.



Thankful that the roads opened up once again.



Really nice quality of tarmac: Isn't this a dream stretch or what!



Stopping for water and waiting for the Meteor 350 to rejoin the group.



KarthikK had an interesting experience just minutes ahead of this stop, with his iPhone falling out of his jacket pocket (zip was not closed) on to the road. Thankfully nothing happened to the phone and ebmrajesh spotted it immediately.



Turns out the Meteor 350 had taken another deviation, but is soon back with us.



However the break also meant we are behind the Hector again. I ask the others to watch out and as expected - he goes on to bully others once again.



Thankfully we were able to overtake him soon while he was caught behind heavy traffic and left with no room for a car to overtake.



However, the roads were consistently bad till almost when we rejoined the highway at Dharwad. Conditions leading from gravel:



To tons of speedbreakers:



To no roads:



And muddy sections:



Another small break before hitting the highways at Dharwad. Was an uneventful ride from there to Hubli.



Our stay for the day would be Hotel President, Hubli.


(Image source- Google)

Time to focus on food again. We had excellent Andhra meals for lunch, the non vegetarians among us also feasting on a chicken platter, Andhra style.



Not content with just meals (although our stomachs were full), we head upstairs to the continental restaurant for desserts.



The Continental restaurant is cave themed and was pretty well done.



Ice creams were yummy! We gobbled up some more, just like we did the previous day at Goa!







Good view of the Hubli Lake from the top floors:



After such a heavy lunch, we skipped dinner and called it an early night. Morning breakfast was in a forest themed restaurant on the top floor.



Being the last day of the ride, we just wanted to get back at this point. Uneventful day, nothing much to document except that I had good riding time behind the KTM 390 Adventure for a change, with ebmrajesh riding the Tiger Sport. Proved helpful as well later, because within three days, I would be getting the Himalayan for a review.



Admiring the Tiger Sport from a third person perspective also helped in reflecting how versatile it was for the trip - brilliant machine this one! Can do almost anything thrown at it! I'm still in love. Can't wait for more... Next major action would only be at CSS, and that will only be towards the end of Jan. Till then... a short break!

[ex-innova-guy]

Lovely travelogue and coverage as usual CrAzY dRiVeR sir.

On a lighter note, I see this pattern of you some having so many absolutely drool worthy ice creams in all these rides. - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 6/6 Ice cream blogs completed.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by ex-innova-guy

Lovely travelogue and coverage as usual CrAzY dRiVeR sir.

On a lighter note, I see this pattern of you some having so many absolutely drool worthy ice creams in all these rides. - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 6/6 Ice cream blogs completed.

Guilty as charged!

I have a sweet tooth - and KarthikK is a big time foodie. So whenever we plan something - it always ends up revolving around food.

For ice creams during rides, my best memory is actually from 2018, Versys 650 days. Karthik had joined in Thar back then and I was on the bike - it was pouring the whole day and flooded most places, my shoes were fully drenched with water collected inside, it was very cold - and we still had ice creams in between all this

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by abhi_tjet

I would recommend NS if going for Vredestein since my overall experience was just ok with ST, nothing fabulous about that. They were quite prone to puncture as well. I opted for ST since NS wasn’t in stock. I have heard good reviews for NS.

Originally Posted by TRR

Would recommend trying out the Vredestein Centauro NSs, if you're not planning to do any off-roading. I moved to them on my GSX-S750 and have run around 4500 kms on them so far.

I haven't been able to find dealers having stock of Vredestein NS - tried calling up the popular dealers in Bangalore like Torque Block and Madhus. They say 120 section NS is not coming since the past two months.

So that unfortunately leaves me with the costlier options like the Pirelli Diablo Rosso 3 which costs 10k more for a set as compared to the Vredestein.

Meanwhile, this is the current status of the stock Michelins at 15k kms. Will last ~5k kms more I feel! Will come back post CSS and revert to this once again till they give up.

[TRR]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

I haven't been able to find dealers having stock of Vredestein NS - tried calling up the popular dealers in Bangalore like Torque Block and Madhus. They say 120 section NS is not coming since the past two months.

So that unfortunately leaves me with the costlier options like the Pirelli Diablo Rosso 3 which costs 10k more for a set as compared to the Vredestein.

Meanwhile, this is the current status of the stock Michelins at 15k kms. Will last ~5k kms more I feel! Will come back post CSS and revert to this once again till they give up.

Maybe it's for the best that you aren't finding the NSs

While the tires are great with grip and cornering, of late, I feel they're probably a tad bit too soft for my use case. The rear carcass, in particular, has picked up numerous cuts recently that leave me worried. The cuts don't leak any air whatsover (tire PSI was steady for well more than a month even after I identified these cuts), but it feels like a ticking time bomb and I will probably move sooner than later to replace these tires. Just suffered my second puncture this weekend that left me stranded near Hoskote. Unsure if my commute usage is exposing these tires to more wear or if these are too soft for the Bengaluru ORR (my primary commute route when I do go to work on the bike).

The Rosso 3s that I had on earlier had cuts in the tread too, but don't recollect if they were as many as on this.

Have eaten up around half the tread in 6500 kms. If it weren't for the cuts, a set would probably last around 11000 - 12000 kms.

The assortment of cuts that the tire now exhibits (first picture has the plug that I had to put in for the puncture mentioned above) -

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by TRR

Maybe it's for the best that you aren't finding the NSs

Oops!

I actually heard similar feedback from a couple of journalists last week - that the Vredestein just seems to change charecter post about 5k kms. Reminded me of my experience with Yokohama car tyres.

I had a nice experience with TVS Eurogrip Protorq Extreme last week and wondering if the newly announced Eurogrip Roadhounds would be better than the Vredestein. Too early to get any longterm feedback though.

But TVS needs to rethink the pricing- Roadhounds are priced midway between the Vredestein NS and the Pirelli Rosso 3s. Might just get the Pirelli at 5k extra then!

Originally Posted by TRR

While the tires are great with grip and cornering, of late, I feel they're probably a tad bit too soft for my use case. The rear carcass, in particular, has picked up numerous cuts recently that leave me worried.

Is it just the pics or has the profile got squared off in the center?

[TRR]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Oops!

I actually heard similar feedback from a couple of journalists last week - that the Vredestein just seems to change charecter post about 5k kms. Reminded me of my experience with Yokohama car tyres.

~snip~

But TVS needs to rethink the pricing- Roadhounds are priced midway between the Vredestein NS and the Pirelli Rosso 3s. Might just get the Pirelli at 5k extra then!

They still do a decent job cornering wise. No fuss accelerating in and out of corners. But definitely not as good as the Rosso 3s were at this stage. Since I don't do very spirited cornering these days, it's fine for me. My main worry is these cuts will become holes as the tread wears out further.

But yeah, considering the Road 5/6s are lasting you about 20,000 kms, they do make for a more tried-and-tested option and might just be worth the extra moolah. However, last I checked with my mechanic, they were either not being imported anymore or were being quoted at ₹48,000+ for a set Haven't made any separate inquiries myself but.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Is it just the pics or has the profile got squared off in the center?

Don't think they've rounded off. Could be the angle of the shots combined with the tread lines. Can see the rounded profile in the first pic.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by TRR

My main worry is these cuts will become holes as the tread wears out further.

I could spot a couple of these on my tyres as well though not deep - so fingers crossed. I think it wouldn't bother you as it's quite unlikely such holes will cut through the different layers and the belts. Should just be on the surface alone.

Originally Posted by TRR

But yeah, considering the Road 5/6s are lasting you about 20,000 kms, they do make for a more tried-and-tested option and might just be worth the extra moolah. However, last I checked with my mechanic, they were either not being imported anymore or were being quoted at ₹48,000+ for a set

That's the price I see online as well.

Funny part is - 20k kms at 48000 INR on the Michelin Road 5s is the same costs/km as the Pirelli Rosso 3s lasting 14.1k kms, and the Vredestein NS lasting 10k kms.

So anything you get above 10k kms on the NS is a win

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

The Tiger Sport 660 crossed 15k kms on the odo today.

Since I took delivery when at 2,288 kms on the odo - 12,712 kms have been under my ownership of 8 months and 12 days, at an average of 49.5 kms per day.

Came up when returning from office today and since on the flyover, I came home and clicked a picture by when another 10kms had passed.