Thank you everyone for all your inspiring comments, this is what motivates us to ride/drive and share our stories with all of you! Quote:
Originally Posted by Jignesh If this happens do let me know if you are passing near Frankfurt, I would be wonderful to host you both and listen to your experiences. |
Thanks Jignesh, we do have a plan to ride across Europe sometime in the future, will keep you posted.
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Originally Posted by androdev Just curious, where does the distinct change of landscape and culture begin on this route? |
As soon as we crossed Siliguri, the feel of entering North East India kicks in with vast plains of tea estates surrounded by mountain ranges, colorful prayer flags and scenic landscapes!
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Originally Posted by sandx I do a yearly journey to my hometown where i have to take a ferry to reach Majuli and that specific section in your narrative made me nostalgic. I want to go home sooner now. I have been reading this since I boarded the cab for my office in the morning. The pictures took me on a virtual tour of the North East, some of which are familiar to me. As i would say in Assamese "Birat bhal lagil pohi" |
Despite being from Guwahati, this was my first visit to Majuli and it really felt surreal, peaceful and comforting. "Dhonyobad travelogue porhar karone". Happy to meet a fellow Assamese here
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Originally Posted by naveenroy Just some of my random thoughts/observations:
1. The cleaning/washing of the saddlebags at the end of every ride
2. Did you have some sort of seat cover or gel seat for the pillion? Asking cause those straps can really start hurting otherwise
3. You mention so much of tea drinking! I've always carried Gatorade or something that will give back those lost salts.
4. What was the temperature at the coldest place?
5. Did the bags touch the tyre anytime? A pannier rack maybe?
Oh and a last concern - didn't you guys cut it very close by having to ride that far on the last day. And to go to office the next day!? |
* We had a soft towel placed over the straps, will be getting an air cushion seat soon.
* Since tea is available everywhere in India and the cheapest way to refresh on a ride, we prefer it over any other drink. For hydrating we just drink normal water.
* -7 degree C, in Sela Pass, Arunachal Pradesh.
* We have a custom made saddle stay to prevent the bags from touching the tyre.
* I know doing 1200+ kms in a day is not child's play but we have done 1000+ kms in a day previously as well so this was kind of okay.
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Originally Posted by Turbanator One thing I am not able to visualise though is you sitting on the pillion with all the stuff Do you have any pictures of yours sitting in the rear?
Another request, if you can share more details about the kind of equipment you used for travel, like bags, biking wear & photography with the links to purchase it will be great for lazy guys like me. |
I do not have a picture as such but the Versys seat is pretty spacious for a pillion to sit along with all the luggage.
Here are the details as requested:
Bags:
Rynox Optimus M Tank bag, Dirtsack Frogman Saddle bags, Viaterra Raptor Tail bag (Have got a Hepco Becker Top case replacing the Raptor) and an extra backpack from Decathlon.
Riding Gear: Nandita - Dianese Air-Frame Tex Lady Jacket, TBG Street Gloves, Dianese Knee V E1 N Guards , Decathlon Waterproof Shoes and AGV K3 SV 5 Continents Helmet.
Atul - Alpinestars T-GP R Air Jacket, Joe Rocket Flexium Tx Gloves, Spartan/Aspida Odysseus Riding Pants, Alpinestars Corozal Adventure Boots and Bell RS-1 Hi-Viz Helmet.
Camera Equipment:
Nikon D750 with Nikon 50 mm, Nikon 70-300 mm, Nikon D5200 with Tokina 11-16 mm and GoPro Hero 5 Black.
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Originally Posted by PraNeel How do you manage two on board with so much luggage? |
The Versys seat is pretty spacious for a pillion to sit along with all the luggage.
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Originally Posted by Sheel Ahem, that would be me .
You guys should have connected and I would not have taken much time. Any which way, I am thankful for you guys to come up with this gem of a travelogue, it is amazing. Pictures, road/hotel/food/geographical description, you people have covered it all. |
We will be again taking that route and are planning for a stopover in Purnea, will keep you posted
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Originally Posted by rst89 How did you manage to clean the saddle bags when all the trucks splashed them with mud? Were you allowed to take them in hotel rooms given a mess it will create in the room. |
We just used a normal cleaning cloth with water, which cleaned most of the dust and mud. Fortunately all the hotels that we went were quite accommodating and understood our situation.
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Originally Posted by Sutripta Would you have GPS tracklogs of your travels? |
Not exactly a GPS tracklog as such but have the exact route map of all the roads we took.
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Originally Posted by adityadeva One thing I miss is a few Drone shots of you two riding through winding hill tracts. Yes I know I am asking for too much, but I feel that it would be the ultimate memory you could cherish and a sight worth our eyes too. |
We don't have a drone yet but are planning to get one soon.
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Originally Posted by alphadog The longest I have done on a bike is 600 odd kms, hence when thinking of a longer journey, I have a few questions pop up in my head regarding your travels.
1. Other than the punctures happening, did you have a contingency plan in case there was a mechanical /electronic issue with the bike and you couldn't fix it yourself. More so if stranded in these far flung areas.
2. How easy/ difficult was it to unload and load the bags on to the bikes at every step along the way.
3. Did you ever worry about the safety of yourselves and your bikes, first of all when traveling at night and secondly when parked at different places.
4. The motorcycle jacket you are wearing is very good, may I know which brand, I am thinking of getting one for my wife.
A few questions from an arm chair dreamer.
If you guys don't have a travel blog / instagram/ Youtube channel, already you need to get one and publicize the travels. It is the stuff dreams are made of and it will inspire and provide information Im sure, for others who are planning on making similar epic journeys.
Cheerio! |
1) Since the only Kawasaki service center in the east was in Kolkata so in case of any mechanical issue, we had to get it sorted wherever we were. In Versys, apart from FI and ABS, there are not much electronics so any issue which could've come would have been from the fuses or the battery. We had extra fuses and had already informed service center folks to guide us in case of any issues. Overall, Versys 650 is a quite reliable bike.
2) It was cumbersome but have to do it every day on a long ride.
3) We always try to maintain a low profile during our rides which keeps us way from unwanted attention and trouble. Luckily during our entire stay in the North East, we didn't face any issues. Coming to bike, we always used to keep the bike parked in front of our eyes when loaded with the luggage.
4) I wear a Dianese Air-Frame Tex Lady Riding Jacket.
We already have a YouTube channel featuring all our trips, below is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/c/nb21vlogs
Also, my Instagram handle is @nanditainsta