[amvj]

We still have an old TVS 50xl in our home and it is a non runner for more than a decade. I find it’s cruel to ride on a TVS 50 from South to North. It is a torture for both man and machine. You have to be bonkers to do this. Hats off to the man for doing this.

[venkat_partha]

Hats Off to Girish Ji. He is doing something that I wish I could do. Aage Bhadte Raho. Keep Safe.

[AtheK]

What a beautiful Journey and what courage and dedication, hats off to Mr. Girish, he is a true inspiration. Shout out to all other bikers and also people who have been supporting him on his quest, commendable indeed.

Girish Sir is portraying that nothing is impossible, wishing him the very best for the rest of the leg, as now mountains will start, but I am sure nothing will stop him.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

Girish has undertaken this adventurous trip from Kanyakumari to Khardungla on previous ocassions, recently with his Royal Enfield (500 cc), Yezdi RK (250 cc), Lamby scooter (150 cc) and lastly on his Bajaj m80 (74 cc). The last trip on the m80 was in mid-2019. These were not solo trips but were usually made with another rider who was his friend, on his own two wheeler of a similar make.

As one can see, the cubic capacity of the two wheelers have got reduced with every successive trip from 500 cc to start with, to almost 50 cc as of now.

Wow! this is some adventure. From 500cc to 50cc! I will be hooked on to this thread for the next days. I'll be interested to see how the vehicle performs up in the mountains

All my wishes with him for this K2K and the next one probably on a TVS Express 35 (35cc) and then a RE Mofa (22cc)!

[pugram]

An amazing journey in an equally amazing vehicle.

I think he is consistently doing upwards of 300km per day on the moped. What a punishment to the butt. How is he managing it ? Has he shared any other info on the mileage, fuel quantity used on a daily basis ?

Glad to see the support he is receiving from the auto community.

Few years back if you ventured to Tirupur you would be amazed at the load carrying capacity of the XL. They would move looms of cloth around. Speaks volumes of the abuse friendly nature and robustness of the vehicle.

[amarendernag]

TVS Moped, I can only say this: "do pahiyyon ki lorry" ( from tv ads in my childhood).
What an incredible journey!

[Porcupine]

This is incredible! So inspiring! And equally impressive is the TVS - what a simple yet impressive machine! You are doing a great job, sir and truly enjoying the miles the way they should be. Wish you all the best in your journey and keep us updated! Stay safe and happy miles!

[anjan_c2007]

The journey commenced after a good night's halt at Ambala on the 4-5 th October night. Punjab as he describes was full of life and lively people. Girish already had friends there en route and met more enthusiasts who were always curious to know more, offer their praises for the dare-devil adventure and to also offer hospitality. Snacks and cold drinks were on offer at many spots as courtesy to a guest who is creating some sort of a new record. Yes, and Girish is a low profile personality, saying he does'nt clamour for any book of records or for prizes or for spreading any social message other than his most favourite catchphrase "Get vaccinated, it's your responsibility."

The moped has been in fine fettle lately and he is quite contented with its performance - TOUCHWOOD !

Diary jotting by Girish on 05.10.2021

*K2K o. TVS 50 XL*

Day 13 - 5th October 2021

Ambala (Haryana ) to Kathua (JK)

After having a good rest, started early as 4.30am.

I wanted to take the advantage of the cool weather.

Cruising along with the trucks, 2 tea breaks.....reached Khanna at 7.:45am, Mr.Sharanjeet Boparai, Founder of Punjab Jawa Yezdi club was waiting with wide smile on his face.

We went to a dhaba where Mr. Sukhraj Benipal, friend of Sharanjeet, a transport businessman was waiting.

We had breakfast, nice long talk about the ride,future plans and so on.
This is the 3rd time Sharanjeet is welcoming me....Thank you Paaji
Mr.Sukhraj promised any transport / accommodation help in North and NE states.
Thank you paaji.... tussi great ho

I continued my journey towards Ludhiyana and Jalandhar.
Mr. Arunesh , member of PJYC as well as a business man was waiting for me there.

Met him at outskirts of Jalandhar at 11:55 am and he took me to the great place called Haveli.
Had a good talk along with a chilled lemonade .
Thank you Sir .

Continued my journey towards Mukheria and Pathankot.

Had a quick Shakkarkanj and lemon juice and started riding on.

Up on reaching Mukheria, Mr. Pammu Singh was waiting to catch me
We met him during our last 2 rides.
Had a quick chat with him and his friends .
Thanks Pammu

Continued my journey.....

Very good road between Jalandhar and Pathankot, with high sides on both sides. Rise trees, so riding was very comfortable.

Reached Pathankot at 5:00 pm.

Mr. Inderjeet Singh was there to stop me.
Went to a nice restaurant and had tea.
Inderjeet also welcoming me for the 3rd time.
Thanks paaji

Left Pathankot at 5:20pm....
Thought of going towards Samba, which was about 55kms,and I need to ride 1.5hrs more. Thought would give a try.

Also I wanted to cross Lakhanpur, Jammu border. As I was not carrying any RTPCR report, if the police stop me , I have time to get the report. If not in the morning it would be hectic.

So came to the border, lots of trucks, buses, cars were waiting ....
I slowly moved to the front by the side....Thank God, no one stopped .
Police asked where am i going...I told Ladakh, he said GO....

My phone went dead and it was dark as well and lot of traffic, so decided to stay back in Kathua.

Start time - 4.30am
End time - 6.45pm
Total km today - 315km
Total km from start - 3630 km.

Plan for tomorrow - Kathua to Srinagar.

Thanks for all the support and blessings

*Get vaccinated...It's your responsibility*

The pictures shared yesterday by Girish



















Four above pictures from earlier K2K journeys showing Girish with the same friend to rekindle memories

















With enthused youngsters





Dessert

















Some comfort during the adventurous trip

[nitrogary]

What an incredible journey and travelogue! The experience must be extremely enriching, satisfying and humbling. I'm very proud of a fellow biker who can dream to achieve something like this. Glad to have caught it live in progress.
Would be an honor to host you sir, if ever you are in Pune or nearby.
I've always had incredible respect for the TVS XL 50 ever since I had the privilege to visit the assembly line in Hosur back in 2006.

[Ritz2010]

My goodness - Hats off to this gentleman. I can feel it even while just typing how it was when I did a Chennai - Bangalore on RE TBTS 350 5 years ago. Moving to 150cc after riding 350cc was different experience. Here we have someone coming from 500cc to 50cc that too for a K2K road trip. It needs lots of mental and physical endurance.

Nice to have live updates on Team-bhp. In the era of videos, photos don't to due justice. Can we crowd-fund a go-pro and get a live feed

Post processing a already shot video is all not that easy - so a simple live feed would be easy solution IMHO.

[anand.shankar]

Wow, Thats some effort to ride that tiny moped so far!! Hats off to this man, I've been fence-sitting about shipping my bike to Delhi and riding it to Leh since 2006..

OTOH, there is one guy cycling to Leh from TN, he has a vlog on YT, anyone following that ? I think he reach Leh last week or so after few weeks of cycling, that was a very different experience even while watch the videos.

[anjan_c2007]

After a lively time in Punjab, where Girish is supposed to have left his heart, he nevertheless moves on toward the toughest part of his journey : the Jammu- Srinagar- Khardungla lap. The night halt for Day 13 was in Kathua, Jammu region and after his journey through the Jammu region, traversing Udhampur, the Chenani - Patnitop/ Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee tunnel (elevation 1200 metres above mean sea level, 9.2 kms long and 13 metres wide, opened in April 2017) and the hilly sectors, the night halt for Day 14 was Anantnag town. He has started for Srinagar early this morning and has posted an image (the last one below) today morning. His moped has been faithful mechanically but again TOUCHWOOD !

He has also said that yesterday's drive was the toughest so far !

Tougher laps are indeed forthcoming till the summit.

Diary jotting by Girish for Day 14 (the J&K lap after a night halt at Kathua in the Jammu Region)

*K2K on TVS 50 XL*

Day 14 - 6th October 2021

Kathua (JK) to Ananthnag (JK)

Started 6:00am today morning as I didn't want to ride in the dark.

Cruising along and reached Jammu at 8:30am.
Waited for.my police friend, but he was stuck somewhere, so left Jammu at 9:15am.

Had poori chole for breakfast.
Rode via Udhampur, Patnitop , Chenani tunnel and so on....
So many road constructions going on and many bad patches.
Had famous Jammu Kaladi for lunch ,

Reached Ramban without any problem.
I was Riding slowly, carefully with frequent stops as I knew today is the toughest day so far....
So on from now

Then starts the uphill ride.... ufff ... It was steep inclination with bad roads, heavy traffic etc....

I had to stop now and then to let the TVS cool down and move on.

It needs initial momentum to get the speed.... It was a kind of tough task.
Totally tired

Any way made it slowly without any problems to Ananthnag.
TVS is fine

Start time - 6:00am
En time - 730pm
Total km today - 220km
Total km from start -3850km

Plan for tomorrow - Ananthnag to Srinagar , rest and TVS service

Thanks for all the support and blessings

*Get vaccinated..It's your responsibility*

The images from Day 14, of 06.10.2021 sent by Girish











The morning breakfast from yesterday



















The image below is from today morning. Girish wishes "Good Morning" and starts from Banihal to Srinagar as in the image below :

[skyocean]

Wow this is such a wonderful thing. This is exactly what should be the real definition of adventure Biker/Biking, not the fancy ones who venture out with a pickup truck trailing and create loads of noise on social media. No offense to anyone, I understand touring on bike with a nanny is safe.

The real adventure starts as an itch in one’s mind, sounds impossible, faces a door shut criticism from family and finally receives all the applause once its done. The biggest benefactor is the one who undertook the adventure because deep within he/she has a sense of accomplishment which sets one’s mind to ease.

News like this will definitely trouble the rich advertising campaign by big brands for their so called niche adventure machines, why make life so complicated when life is as simple as a TVS XL50. Take a bow TVS, take a big bow.

"Wear ones helmet, jacket and vanish into the tarmac with the Sky as roof and Earth as a bed to ride soulfully” sums up the true adventure spirit.

[banana]

Originally Posted by skyocean

The real adventure starts as an itch in one’s mind, sounds impossible, faces a door shut criticism from family and finally receives all the applause once its done. The biggest benefactor is the one who undertook the adventure because deep within he/she has a sense of accomplishment which sets one’s mind to ease.

"Wear ones helmet, jacket and vanish into the tarmac with the Sky as roof and Earth as a bed to ride soulfully” sums up the true adventure spirit.

I agree.

There is no point of going on a scripted adventure with a plan B, C, D.....

An element of uncertainty is sometimes the spice of life.

Else, we can all have a camera crew with 20 odd cameras for the coverage. No to forget more people for the post production.

[anjan_c2007]

Girish has reached Srinagar earlier in the day today, as the distance to be covered was just a 100 plus kms. The total distance covered since 23/09 is now 4015 kms. As planned and expected Mr Rakesh, his earlier companion from the K2K 2019 ride with the two Bajaj m80's and Mr Prashanth a mechanic had flown from Mangalore and reached Srinagar today to join Girish for the Srinagar- Khardungla lap. Mr Prashanth did some required maintenance work on the TVS 50 XL by servicing and changing many spares. They will both be hiring two bikes for the further drive to give company to Girish.

The diary jotting from today 07.10.21

*K2K on TVS 50 XL*

Day 15 - 7th october 2021

Benihal (JK) to Srinagar (JK)

After having a good rest, left Benihal at 6.30am. it was not Ananthnag as I mentioned yesterday.

Started late as I have to reach Srinagar only.

Crossing the new Benihal Qazikund tunnel, its a beautiful tunnel of 8.45km length and reduces distance about 16km between Jammu and Srinagar and is situated between the height of 1858m (south end) and 1790m (north end)above the MSL.
Lots of trucks cruising along with their harsh horns

Stopped by a military guy as he was from Belgaum, he was happy to see KA number.

Had Matti and chana for breakfast and continued towards Srinagar.
Army convoy was on the way, so had to stop over 30mins to clear that.
Took some interior roads to reach Srinagar.
Reached the hotel at 10:30am.

Mr.Kushal from Hyderabad Road Thrill gave a rider contact in Srinagar. As soon I reached Srinagar Mr Aquib Peer Shezada also known as Pad man of Kashmir called me and welcomed me to Kashmir.

Mr Rakesh and Prashanth flew all over from Mangalore to join the ride and to support me. They reached the hotel at 11:30am.

Well planned and they are here.
I had support all the way from Kanyakumari to Kashmir....But I wasn't sure of any mechanical help in Sonmarg, Kargil and Leh. That part will be the toughest , so made them to join me and I have full support now.

Today is the service day and in the afternoon after lunch Mr Aqib guided us to a place where we could do service and repairs.
Pacchu/Prashant started his work and just completed the work at 9.00pm.

Work done -
1.Clutch and pressure plate replaced.
2. Engine foundation bolt replaced.
3. Carburetor cleaning and re-tuning.
4. Engine head gasket replaced.
5. Drive Chain replaced.
6. Break shoe replaced.
7. Silencer cleaned.

Start time - 6:30am
End time - 10:30am
Total km today - 105km
Total km since start - 4015km

Plan for tomorrow - Rest day in Srinagar.

Thanks for all the support and blessings

*Get vaccinated...It's your responsibility*

The pictures posted by Girish today :-



Yesterday's night halt at this above hotel















With Mr Aqueeb Peer Shehzada



The three some



Mr Prashanth doing his bit