[Passatman]

Ha ha ha, Your moms caustic remark is epic and you truly were asking for it ! Scrolling through your post brought out a wry smile after a hectic workday. You, sir, truly qualify for having ' nomadic blood '. What was the Avg speed and FE ( mileage) you wrung out of your poor beast?
You should have tried Kolli hills and experienced 'sticking your knee out' on the 70 hairpin bends. Or if you wish to go the whole hog, try out Highwavies(Meghamalai)��
And, yes, carry that puncture kit to save your steeds shoes.
Keep entertaining us with your rides, and stay safe !

[Pennant1970]

Originally Posted by raptor_diwan

I had a fantastic time, but the only thing that worried me was the husky dog. ~ I took a picture of the husky which appeared to be suffering a lot in that climate.
~
My Activa had a puncture and needed to be fixed, so I replied that I wanted to fix it today, as I might need it for a short ride tomorrow.

Quite a ride - and a very engaging write-up.

The husky broke my heart too. Poor thing looks lethargic - and the breed is known for their friskiness. I am a cat guy - but any animal we are supposedly "caring for" should be given the circumstances best suited for it to thrive.

As for your trip on the scooter - wow! And ouch!! Once upon a time, I was forced to commute every morning at 5:00 in the rainy season on Kerala roads of 1989, for 25 km up and down for 3 months. It was a Vijay Super. I don't know if you have ridden one. It's a Frankenstein variant of a contemporaneous Lambretta. It had the handle set 3-4 inches lower than comfortable. It was hell!

But I have also memories of 130 km rides on my GNAL Prince! Not a famous or reliable scooter - but it was heavy enough for the highway. Irresponsible days...

Cheers and thanks for the trip.

[raptor_diwan]

Originally Posted by AtheK

What a journey and kudos to you for puling this off and even better penning it down for us to experience it. I really enjoyed reading every bit of it and my admiration for you only grew with every single post. You clearly prove that if you have the will and appetite for it, then the mode of transport can be anything.

Thanks mate! Thank you for your kind words. It's true that for me, I just enjoy the moment and appreciate my own vehicle, whether it's an RE, superbike, or Activa.

Originally Posted by sukhbirST

Excellent show and it is a no mean feat. Shows that if there is will, there is a way. Wishing you more miles on 4 wheels now.

Thank You! Honoured. Keep reading Sir!

Originally Posted by shancz

I concur
Congrats, well ridden, interesting and quite economical.
While there will always be talks of "which bike" or "how many cc", Your journey scores on both counts and drives home the point of the journey being the most important.

Special kudos to your mother for being on board with your journey.

Thank you @shancz! Yes, it's quite economical. 4k is so cheap for this entire ride, and the experience and the moments I cherished are much more worth it. I realized just now after reading your comment that one doesn't need to spend more money to enjoy the journey. It can be as simple as this if we have enough courage. And yes, my mom was so supportive from the start. When I first told her that I was going to do a journey on a scooty, I expected her to oppose it and thought I might need to convince her. But she was cool with it and told me to take care.

Originally Posted by Passatman

Ha ha ha, Your moms caustic remark is epic and you truly were asking for it ! What was the Avg speed and FE ( mileage) you wrung out of your poor beast?
Keep entertaining us with your rides, and stay safe !

Thanks @Passatman!
And to answer your question, I really did not noted down the mileage, I simply did a full tank whenever it come low, but I calcluated with the amout of petrol i filled and the KM i covered i roughly got 45Kmpl in this trip and avg speed would be 50 - 55KMph.

Originally Posted by Pennant1970

Quite a ride - and a very engaging write-up.

The husky broke my heart too. Poor thing looks lethargic - and the breed is known for their friskiness. I am a cat guy - but any animal we are supposedly "caring for" should be given the circumstances best suited for it to thrive.

As for your trip on the scooter - wow! And ouch!! Once upon a time, I was forced to commute every morning at 5:00 in the rainy season on Kerala I don't know if you have ridden one. It's a Frankenstein variant of a contemporaneous Lambretta. Irresponsible days...

Cheers and thanks for the trip.

Thank you, sir!

No, I never rode one. My grandfather had one, but I only sat in it and used to pretend to give the accelerator a go before he went off to work. Embracing our irresponsible days can create memories that never fade.

[shancz]

Originally Posted by raptor_diwan

I realized just now after reading your comment that one doesn't need to spend more money to enjoy the journey.

Absolutely, the journeys I have enjoyed the most were on a friend's Star City and later my RTR180. None of them were looked at as "touring" bikes but I had a blast and it didn't burn a hole in my pocket. Not that I could afford it either but that's the point. Those two questions we spoke of in the previous post

You're lucky to have your Mom supporting you, you've done well, keep it up and have fun in whatever you do.
Good Luck

[abhinavsri01]

Nice ride.

Way back in 2012, I did Pune-Chiplun-Tarkarli (480 kms approx) on my 2010 Activa. It was a wonderful ride.

Since 2014, I have been riding a RE Thunderbird 500 but my wife still says the pillion comfort on Activa was best.

I remember riding the scooter at 80kph for a stretch but it never broke a breath.

Happy riding!!

[shiv4747]

Stunned by the effort. Really it takes hell lot of patience. That too after experiencing those roads in higher CC bike. This trip must have made your mind more stronger mentally. Way to go. Nice collection of pictures

[PreludeSH]

Great riding and great to read through your experience. Hope your back is fine.
Only thing I would be worried about in scooter is engine heating up if driven continuously on long stretches.

[raptor_diwan]

Originally Posted by PreludeSH

Great riding and great to read through your experience. Hope your back is fine.
Only thing I would be worried about in scooter is engine heating up if driven continuously on long stretches.

Thank you!! My back pain vanished the next day itself. As for the engine heating up, I took care of it by taking more breaks. Each break would last almost 30-45 minutes in the shade of a tree, so there wasn't much strain on the engine. However, on my return journey, I didn't take a break for almost 80KM and drove non-stop, but there were no problems or power loss in the engine. Everything is still good and I made sure to change the engine oil the very next day.

[raptor_diwan]

Originally Posted by shiv4747

Stunned by the effort. Really it takes hell lot of patience. This trip must have made your mind more stronger mentally. Way to go. Nice collection of pictures

That is true, I really have to be mentally strong. It's easy for me to give up and get frustrated after a few hours, as I am not able to keep up with others on the highway with the scorching sun. I really have to enjoy the ride in order to complete it, and in fact, I enjoyed it.

[ardwivedi16]

It was such a ride reading about your travel. Doing 100kms on a scooter is a very tough task let alone almost 1100 kms! I hope your back survived

I now feel very tempted to do Patna to New Delhi which is about 1100 Kms on my Hero Glamour with 91k kms on the odo.

[razor_crest]

Nice pics and great travelogue. It's one of those straight through the heart but achieved thru guts kind of travelogue. From the looks of it you did give your humble scooter a ride to remember! 😀
Yercaud is on my list but never gathered courage to visit the place. How are the hairpin bends during the climb, are they very acute and how is the vehicular traffic along the climb?

[raptor_diwan]

Originally Posted by razor_crest

Nice pics and great travelogue. It's one of those straight through the heart but achieved thru guts kind of travelogue. From the looks of it you did give your humble scooter a ride to remember! 😀
Yercaud is on my list but never gathered courage to visit the place. How are the hairpin bends during the climb, are they very acute and how is the vehicular traffic along the climb?

Thank you!! Hairpin bends are not a major concern when traveling to Yercaud as they are generally simple and not too sharp, except for a few (4-5) which are also manageable.

There are two ways to reach Yercaud: one is through the Kuppanur route, which is a scenic village route, while the other is through Salem, which tends to be busy with buses and trucks. Large vehicles usually take the Salem route as the Kuppanur route may not be easily passable for them.

[TorqMaster]

Congratulations on this feat Diwan.

You should get an Aerox and do Madras-Delhi! That would really be something!

[raptor_diwan]

Originally Posted by TorqMaster

Congratulations on this feat Diwan.

You should get an Aerox and do Madras-Delhi! That would really be something!

Thank you @Torqmaster! The idea of riding from Madras to Delhi is simply exhilarating! I'm definitely going to try it out in the future, and I think Aerox can handle the journey with ease. But you know what would add to the thrill? Taking on the same journey with Activa itself and feeling that adrenaline rush!

[Siddy_1998]

This is brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

I was going through this travelogue and all the time I was thinking, how can a 110cc, sub 8hp engine do this journey, is the engine made for long journeys like this? Turns out that these machines are indeed plucky.

It can be definitely seen that you love your machine, and when you've done road trips as long as this with your Mr. Activa, it isn't a vehicle anymore. It is a mate!

This can serve as a guide for so many readers who own and ride a two wheeler and intend to take it for long distances. I own a 2015 Suzuki Swish myself and always thought of taking it on a long road trip like this, but there were things that got in between and I had to drop the idea at the time. Reading this generates that motivation again!

Would like to see more of such road journeys.