[funkykar]

After fully drowning on my new found love for Scooters (full restoration documented here), little did I know I will invoke love for Scooters to some of my friends too.



After reading my restoration page, my friend quickly pinged me and sought help finding a Bajaj Legend for him. I did not know much about it, though had seen one here and there, all I could remember of them was it always used to be in a battered shape. He quickly filled me in with all the details about the engine and was surprised to learn that it was 4 stroke engine. I assured him I will find a good one and the hunt began. In very few weeks, I was lucky to spot a Legend advertised in Mangalore. Requested for photos and they looked good. It was a single owner Scooter that had run about 50k kms. By far, this was the best Legend I had ever seen, my friend too agreed. By chance, had been to a fun trip to Mangalore a couple of weeks ago with D-Bhpian Parag and 2 other friends. We happened to see the scooter, it was more of a formality as the decision was already made looking at the pics. We met him briefly as it wasn't the right time for the owner as he was in the middle of something very important. I tried to call and chat with him to take things forward, nothing happened on that day. HE told he could speak only the next day, fair enough as I too was convinced he was busy.

The next day we spoke and the deal was finalised. Seller agreed to deliver Scooter only after transfer formalities. One of my friends who frequents Mangalore happened to visit Mangalore a week after and he managed to get the signatures for transfer after we made the owner an online payment. We quickly rushed it through an agent for Transfer and it was done in just 4-5 working days.

Part of the deal made to my friend was if I should be involved in getting the Legend to Bangalore, he wholeheartedly agreed. We roughly decided we do this on March 8th and 9th

On 20th evening my friend called me and says let's do this week itself and on 22nd. I was kind of shocked and also kind of excited. Here is how the rest of the conversation went:

San: Why don't we go to Mangalore in your Chetak?

ME: *Laughed out real loud* Sandeep, have you gone mad or something? Who would ride to Mangalore in a Scooter?

San: Come on man. You got your S1 from Nashik, was quite an adventure. You got my S1 also from Nashik. Who would have imagined these were possible on old classics, especially the car's condition unknown to you.

ME: That's all different experiences man. Biking is different, you don't know much about how less comfortable Scooters are.

San: Ok man. You tell me how do we go about. Keep in mind, even I want to be involved and you can't be selfish and have it all.

ME: (After a minutes thought) How about these options:
1) I go overnight by train and ride it back till Hassan. You come to Hassan by bus. You ride from Hassan to Bangalore while I take the bus.
2) You come by train to Mangalore. I ride the Mojo to Mangalore. NExt day we ride the Legend and Mojo half and half as Mojo will comfort us if the crudeness of Scooter ride bites us.

San: Ok. You choose whatever option you like. I am fine with any. Hangs up the phone.


I started thinking multiple things. One part of me was preparing for the 2 options above, while another part was thinking if I could really ride my Chetak to Mangalore and ride it back the next day? Will I jeopardize the entire plan? Will I screw up my back in doing this? Every possible thing my mind was thinking and getting confused.

I called back my friend:
ME: Man, I was thinking of riding the Chetak to Mangalore.

San: Woohoo! Awesome. Don't worry man, it will go well. I have a lot of experiences with 2 wheeler, especially with Jawa/Yezdi and RoadKing. We will pull it off.

ME: Okay man. I literally have no time for preparation. Let me hurry up and plan for it.

San: Okay. 2 of us on your Chetak will not be comfortable for either of us. I will take a bus or train while you ride to Mangalore.

Me: Sure thing. Book a ticket at least 3 hours later than my scheduled start. You will act as my backup. In case I can't ride, I will pull over at the next toll booth and wait for you. You alight the bus and ride further while I hop into your bus

San: Hope we don't have to do that.

Made a quick checklist on what I needed for the ride:
Self:

• Power bank
• Charger
• Pair of clothes, goggles, shoes
• Basic medication

Scooter:

• Fit back the spare wheel.
• Buy Kinetic 2T oil
• Have the means to measure 2T oil
• Bungee Rope to tie luggage
• Clutch inner cable
• Clutch inner + outer
• Gear cable
• Accelerator cable
• Brake cable
• Spark plug
• Engine oil
• Mobile Holder
• Plug Spanner
• Wheel Spanner
• Cutting Plier

Safety:

• Jacket
• Riding gloves
• Euro standard helmet [SMK Twister]
• Helmet Bluetooth kit (Not to use while riding, but to avoid taking off the helmet to speak)
• First aid kit

[funkykar]

I really had to rush through all preparation for my Scooter and things to carry. As my friend had strongly advised to use Kinetic 2T and avoid oil available at the pump, a new challenge emerged. Nowadays, no pump has the small measuring units to measure oil as literally no pump sells loose 2T. I thought very hard last minute on what to use as a measuring unit. I couldn't think of any idea apart from asking my 2-year-old daughter to part with her spare milk bottle. Don't know what she understood, but she gave me (otherwise is super possessive).

Every petrol pump, all the attendants and customers burst into laughter this point onward:


My Chetak all set for the expedition! I literally sneaked out and pushed the scooter few meters as no one knew I was going on the Scooter!


The SMK Twister, SAFETY is a MUST:


The odo just before start:


Filled her tummy full!


Odo at the pump, to calculate kmpl later:

[funkykar]

Once the Chetak was filled up and I started the ride. The sun was shining, clear and bright day as summer is just setting in. It was really a mixed emotion for me. I was nervously very excited. In the back of my mind, I still felt this was an absurd idea and in reality did not tell ANYONE that I was going on such a ride. I did that because it would be too embarrassing for me if I pulled out of it midway. Except me and Sandeep no one else knew. I only shared my live location with BHPian Arun1100 so that someone back home knows where I am. However, I did not reveal to him where I was going nor how I was going.

As I initially had sneaked out in stealth mode from home, I had to pull over, arrange all the spares in dickey, secure my luggage and so on. It took a good 20 minutes. The bungee rope was super duper helpful!

This is how my Grand Tourer looked like:



Cruising speed [Captured by timer mode helped by mobile holder preset earlier]


Devihalli Toll Booth:



Just after the toll booth. Installed this thing that helps cruise without giving pain in the wrist. Much later I realized I had installed it incorrectly , but never mind, it still did the job. Was super helpful and couldn't imagine how the ride would have been without it. It literally was like cruise control.




Just posing after the toll booth:

Just poising after the toll booth:

Just poising after the toll booth:

[funkykar]

By the time I finished 50+ kilometers, I felt very good and confidence of making it started growing. The scooter was comfortably cruising in speeds of 70-90kmph. Being a weekday, the traffic was pretty low and most time the roads were all mine. The sun really was blazing, but the wind was sufficient in keeping me cool. Thanks to the air vents of the SMK Twister, my head too was cool. This helmet has a dual visor that meant I did not have to take my goggles out. I could flip on/off the cooler visor that was extremely convenient.


Though I did not require a break, for the love of a good coffee, I stopped at Hotel Dhruvataare. It was worthy of a stop to sip excellent filter coffee.

At Dhruva Taare hotel parking lot:


View from my table:


Me sipping coffee-selfie:


Pic at their parking lot:


Pic at their parking lot:


Pic at their parking lot:


Pic at their parking lot:


A selfie with my Scooter, just before resuming the ride:

[funkykar]

While I continued to ride after coffee, my confidence to make it to Mangalore with ease grew larger and larger. Soon after, my mind already started thinking if I should take the standard Shiradi ghat or take the Charmadi ghat. Taking Shiradi means I have a friend coming a couple of hours behind me. If I am too tired riding, he could hop off and continue to ride. However, my comfort level on the scooter was so high I decided to take the longer and more time-consuming Charmadi ghat. I quickly called up my friend and told him I will no longer be on his route and we directly meet at Mangalore. He was happy to know my comfort level and was perfectly Ok with it.

Pic of Tollbooth just before my first re-fuel:


Here is the milk bottle holding the 2T oil


Fuel receipt. Filled to the brim. I actually took pic of this for mileage calculation purpose:


A poise at the fuel station:


Just posing on the highway:


Just posing on the highway:


Just posing on the highway:


Just posing on the highway:


Just posing on the highway:


Just posing on the highway:

[funkykar]

I continued to cruise along the butter smooth highway and took the Belur road as I intended to do Charmadi Ghat. Surprisingly, the Hassan-Belur road also was nice and smooth. Keeping in mind lot of kilometers to ride and my friend chasing me in time on a KSRTC Volvo and also not to loose tempo of the run, I decided to give a quick stop at one of the hotels in Belur just to have a quick lunch. If not, I may have chosen to call DBhpian Parag and visit a hotel I had visited few years ago that served lip smacking Masala Dosa.

The Dosa I had at an unknown hotel was mediocre. It served the purpose of a light lunch.



I continued on and passed Mudigere and stopped by Kottigehaara at Bean Stack Cafe. With the sun blazing, still felt like having a cup of good coffee. I have been at this cafe few times before and I know coffee is good here. Since I anyway stopped, I refueled here though it wasn't necessary.

The yummy coffee at Bean Stalk Cafe:


Fuel station right next to cafe:

[funkykar]

In no time I raced along and already was in the mesmerizing ghats of Karnataka, Charmadi. Even on a sunny afternoon when the summer is just setting in, it was beautiful as ever and a treat to the eye.

The road was butter smooth! The scooter ride also was so smooth and felt like a Volvo double axle scooter

I stopped by for a few pictures:
Scoot poising at Charmadi:


Scoot poising at Charmadi:


A selfie at Charmadi:


Scoot poising at Charmadi:


Scoot poising at Charmadi:


Scoot poising at Charmadi:


Scoot poising at Charmadi:


Scoot poising at Charmadi:


Scoot poising at Charmadi:


Scoot poising at Charmadi:


Another selfie at Charmadi:

[funkykar]

I soon arrived in Mangalore. The seller of the Legend scooter had agreed upon to meet near famous AJ Hospital. Just minutes after arriving he came. He was super happy to see a well restored scooter and checked it out fully. He then exclaimed 'Where in Mangalore your friend (owner of this scooter) stays?'. When I told it was mine and I rode all the way from Bangalore, he froze for a while and was stunned . He just couldn't believe it! Honestly, even I couldn't believe it

Few minutes after I arrived:


Selfie with seller of the Legend Scooter:


We completed the paper work quickly. Soon after he handed over the Scooter and left. I waited for my friend for a while and finally he arrived at Pumpwell, Mangalore. He couldn't find any rickshaw to AJ Hospital. He called me and narrated his struggle, I quickly raced to Pumpwell on my Chetak and picked him and arrived back at AJ Hospital. He checked out the Scooter and was happy with it. We rode both the Scooters to Hotel Poonja where we had booked a room.

Front picture of both Scooters together:


Side picture of both Scooters together:


Back picture of both Scooters together:


After checking into Hotel Poonja, we quickly refreshed and headed to Shetty Lunch home restaurant. I ordered my usual delicacies and my friend ordered some veg Mangalore delicacies. He did not like one bit and I ended up eating all of it. I was so full that I had to skip ice cream at my favorite Ice Cream joint Pabbas.

Nangu fish:


Ganji with Yetti Chutney:


Baby corn ghee roast:


Yetti Chetney (Prawns):

[funkykar]

I expected myself to have a lot of body pain with close to 400kms I rode. I absolutely felt nothing and was just fine. Then I thought, I will probably wake up with a sour body, wasnt the case. We started the next day leisurely, had breakfast at Poonja itself to save us time of riding to a hotel and so on.

The breakfast provided was pretty good and satisfying. The coffee and tea were not up to the mark though.




The Parking lot of Poonja:


Selfie at Parking lot of Poonja:


One for the road:


We continued our ride just fine and stopped in between to check the vitals of the Legend proactively, replaced plugs, topped the oil and also clicked some pics.

Stopped on the road to check the vitals (change plugs, top up oil):


After all the checks, ready to go:


A selfie before we continued:

[funkykar]

As we continued our way to Bangalore through Shiradi, we made few stops and here is one where we stopped for a sip of water. We took some pics too.









The Legend in focus!


A selfie just before we resume our journey!


Some more pics on Shiradi ghat. Most were taken using a camera mount and timed photos my friend had. Unfortunately dont have any pics of it as phone was mostly in the mount and we wore gloves most time.



Ghat road was all ours


Nice curve ahead:


Loved this pic!

[funkykar]

We stopped at Sakleshpur for lunch. We ate just Akki Rottis (Rice based roti) here. One of the best places where the Akki Rottis are pretty consistent. Skipped coffee this time as our thirst was very high for lemon sodas.

Akki Roties at Hotel Ashritha


At the hotel parking:


At the hotel parking:


We then refueled at same pump (after Hassan) that I had refueled previous day. It was a laugh riot again when they saw my daughter's milk bottle used to measure 2T oil. We filled up both the scooters and resumed our journey.

At the pump:


At the pump:


Toll booth right after refuel:



We made a quick stop to sip some water.
Just poising:


Just poising:


Just Cruising:


Toll Booth:


We stopped by Swathi Delicacy for some snacks and of course good filter coffee. Then on it was the last leg of a fantastic journey. I felt the light on my Chetak to be very insufficient for speeds over 50kmph and actually slowed down quite bit after it became dark.

Yummy Idli, Vada with piping hot sambhar:


Tasty Shavige bath:


Tasty Shavige bath:


Swathi Delicacy Parking:


Finally, the Chetak was back home and took good rest and was serviced (prescribed 2k service by mechanic) the very next day.

BAck at its place at home:


The final reading:

[funkykar]

THE ROUTE


Stats of this trip:

Bangalore to Mangalore: 8.5hrs
Mangalore to Bangalore: 10.5hrs

Total kilometers: 740kms (Includes local rides in Mangalore)
Fuel Efficiency of Chetak: 37-38kmpl
Fuel Efficiency of Legend 4S: 50+ kmpl
Total fuel consumed by Chetak: 19.5-20.0 Liters

General cruise speed: 60-70kmph
General high speed: 80kmph

Top speed hit as per GPS (Ulyssy app, lost data before taking screenshot): 97kmph

*****NEXT TARGET DESTINATION FOR 2019 IS GOA*****

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing, Karthik!

Loved the thread! Quite a unique experience indeed - I couldn't help giggle myself at the thought of you having to take out that milk bottle at every bunk.

Legend was indeed a 4 stroke! Weirdly I remember the TRICS sticker on the sides, and childhood memories of this scooter as being something of a modern Chetak back then. Disappeared very soon after launch, but someone in our family friend circle owned one - not able to recollect who! Interestingly - there is also another Bajaj Legend, as seen in the Hamara Bajaj ad, though I don't remember having seen this one on the roads ever!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo4V3f6B5Dw

[prithm]

Really happy to see Bajaj aficionados alive and kicking in this age of plastics.

My dad recently resurrected our old faithful workhorse. Bajaj Classic SL, Military Green. Everything that we have in our metal steed is stock and the way it came out fresh from dealer about 20 years ago.

After ages, I got my hands on a 2 stroke engine and boy was I surprised with the pull. Runs like a dream, albeit the brake bite is gone. But, still gives you that reasonless smile while riding.

[arun1100]

Hello Karthik, yet another fantastic Mangalore trip; this time in our beloved and humble Chetak! Little did I imagine that the scooter at home lying abandoned, would one day do rides across cities of Karnataka!

I see you missed the Pabbas icecream in Mangalore. Guess the see food satisfied you a lot!

While I hope to ride with you to Goa, awaiting for our next "Hot Summer Drive" to Mangalore hopefully in a different classic car this year. Here are my favorite drives with you till date in Classic Cars:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ni-ertiga.html (A HOT summer drive with a Padmini & Ertiga!)

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...mbassador.html (A HOT summer drive: Bangalore to Mangalore in an Ambassador!)

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...bangalore.html (Pre-Loved '97 Premier Padmini S1 - From Nasik to Bangalore)