[N1Krider_R]

What is this life if, full of care
We have no time to stand and stare,
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass

- William Henry Davies wrote these lines in 1911, and I copied them from a book written by Mr.Ruskin Bond

Tapola Lake


It was the month of September and the rains had started to recede the obnoxiously drenched region of Mumbai. The rains are so mad in this part of the world, most of the biker folks go into hibernation (aka Parking Queens). The bikes wait it out till the roads are dry so that their masters don't have to keep them cleaning again and again. But then again we also have folks who pay obscene amount of money to detail their bikes before a Monsoon Toofani ride, i.e. Mr.Alok Shetty. Never mind, so the plan was ON !! Come October the MARs folks will ride out for an overnighter and the destination was selected - Tapola. Well Tapola was later selected, we were earlier scouting for bungalows in the famous Mumbaikar favorite hill stations i.e. Mahabaleshwar & Panchgani. However, after much deliberation our CEO, Mr.Ritesh decided to revisit Nandanvan Resorts in Tapola as the place was much cheaper at 2K pp all meals included. Confirmations received from 10 riders and the booking was done, a certain number of folks dropped off as the dates neared citing their own reasons, usual stuff so won't get into details.

Come 4th Oct, the usual pre-ride excitement was ON !! Packing bags, tools, tyre inflator etc was the usual the course of business. Some folks decided to get their bikes repaired and serviced, fog lights not working, fork seals leaking, etc, etc. Mr.Shetty calls me around 8.30 asking if I know a mech in Thane as the mechs where he serviced his bike had goofed up fitting the handlebar grips. Cautious enough the went to an accessory store and picked up a pair of Dominoe grips but installing them was another task, a few phone calls and we gave up. He had to ride with the left grip fitted on the right side of the handle bar and vice versa. I tell you this man is always up to something funny, last time he had killed a poor pigeon with his helmet and decided to ride 600 kms without a visor. Phew. Alarms were set, bags packed and we agreed to our usual meeting point of McDonalds at Kalamboli.

Day 1 - A long hot day*- Since this was supposed to be a overnighter a early start was ruled out, Ritesh pinged in the group that we can take it easy - so we did. 2 Groups, one from Thane another from Western Mumbai started riding around 6-6.30 and reached the meeting point at Kalamboli around 7 am which was an hour late. A total of 10 riders, here's a quick intro

Mars Gang


We had 2 Ninja 1000 sx - Myself and Vinay, there were 3 off-road bikes Ritesh and Prashobh on their Versys 650's, Ajit on his V-strom 650, Alok & Aldrich on their Z-650 and Z650RS. And the remaining 3 riders were the KTM gang - Prashant on his well mannered Adv390 and Ryan & Nikhil on the notorious omnipresent Duke & RC 390's.

After a quick brief on the routes, halts, fueling - the ride began. Most of the guys were on intercom, we are currently using the Bluarmor C30s (which are quiet efficient but not great compared to Sena) so the coo-ordination is a bit easy on the go and it also adds a certain element of safety. The typical Kalamboli to Lonavla route is a no brainer, however some guys did hit a couple of nasty potholes on the JNPT highway - Alok and Ryan especially. The ride up-to Lonavla was uneventful, beautiful cloudy weather accompanied us. Post lonavla we regrouped, the RC390 needed fuel I reckoned and I also tried to chance upon a refuel as I tried to spot the trusted IOC XP95 fuel bunks. But to our bad luck the bunk did not stock it, mind you the RC390 barely holds any fuel in its bladder and Nik should have refueled the bike there itself. I had planned a stop on the COCO IOC on Pune bypass where myself and Nik halted and refueled. We did not bother stopping others and the rest of the clan continued. The Pune traffic blessed us, surprisingly it was sparse and most of our riders were ripping through the traffic. We just got halted at one place where a milk van had met an accident and the passerby vehicles jammed up to enjoy the view. Other than that it was a smooth sail through the massive Katraj Tunnel.

The next stop was a much needed breakfast halt at the BPCL McD outlet post the Kailas Bhel gazeebo. I was a bit picky about having junk food early in the morning, and to my surprise there was a CCD and Dutta Snacks outlet as well along the sides. Got myself Poha, Upma and a sandwich, rest of the guys ordered Burgers and Fries. All the while we waited for Vinay aka Batman riding his N1000, he was taking it slow as he was resuming riding from a break. Rest of the guys did a quick refuel, couple of phot sessions and off we went for the 2nd leg of the journey.

Resting Beauties


The Boys


It was around 10.30 am that we started, up next was the beautiful Khambatki Ghat section. All the riders geared up for some corner carving session to come. Everyone enjoyed the the session in those ghats, it has long flowing corners as well as some tight pins, a couple of straights too. Boys grazing their foot pegs and boots on the tarmac, hitting a couple of potholes, I almost ran into Alok's Z650 as his bike slipped into neutral in a uphill corner, phew. We cleared the ghat in no time and waited down at the Wai-Mahabaleshwar phata for others to catchup.

We spent quite an amount of time at the phata as Batman decided to skip the meeting point and rode through it above the flyover, thankfully he was using a BT device so we called him up. Spent aroung 20-30 mins, turned into a good hydration break as the sun was beating down upon us. Aldrich was carrying some energy drinks, we gulped those down too. Most of the guys were wearing hydration bags, which are good no doubt, but the feel of drinking water from it is not that great. I dump a sachet of Electrol in it and keep drinking wherever we halt or get stuck in traffic, not sure if others would agree but the plasticky after taste of the pipe just doesn't seem to go. Anyways, Vinay turned up after some time and we resumed our journey.

Myself, Alok, Prashobh and Prashant were ripping up the mountain enjoying the amazing Vistas offered by Dhom lake. Rest of the guys were stuck in some traffic, so we decided to take a quick halt at the Parsik view point.

Photo Time


We relished the view and waited for a regroup, in the meanwhile we did a quick photo session - received a call from Aldrich. Here we go...Chronicles of Puncture warrior numero Uno - Ritesh had a flat tyre on the rear. Thankfully he was carrying a puncture kit and a tyre inflator. They managed to fix the tyre for time being and moved ahead - passed us by at the view point in search of puncture repair shop. We too geared up and everyone regrouped again - by the time we reached, Ritesh's V650's rear tyre had...hold your breath...5 punctures. Most of them were through the tire tread, we kind of knew that this was not a good sign.

Wow


We dialed in our maps gps direct to Tapola, it was getting hot and we still had 50-60 kms to cover. To be frank we had kind of underestimated the ride time and road conditions were not helping either. After we took the left from Mahabaleshwar market, the roads ran good for some time, some of the guys who had visited earlier just took off i.e Ajit, Ritesh, Prashant. While myself, Aldrich and Alok struggled a bit on the route. We did a small photoshoot at a valley view point, Alok did some charity work - a small shop run by a granny. Hydrated, Aldrich took some photos and we decided to move on, meanwhile Vinay also joined us.



After we went a little ahead at a Y fork, we decided to take left - as I had been earlier here to a agro resort called Rockford (do checkout - beautiful place), waited for some time for Vinay to join.



Some random passerby told us not to take the route and go back to the main road. And so we decided to go back, Aldrich was already out of there in search of Vinay who was nowhere to be found. Mind you there is no cell phone reception in this area, so we were unable to call anybody and were relying on the map loaded on Prashobh's phone. Anyways, after we came back on the main road - we knew this was kind of a mistake. The roads were under construction and in some horrible condition - approximately 20 kms of off roading. We cursed all along while we continued to cross over this horrible patch. After riding some time and one corner later we saw the most beautiful and magnificent vista of the trip - first view point of the Tapola Lake. It was absolutely magical, took photos and videos to our hearts content. We had regrouped here and decided to move on as we were kind of famished it was 3 pm, well past our lunch time. The first group kind off took off and had already reached the Nandanvan hotel, our stay for the trip. Slow and steady we also reached the hotel navigating through the bad roads. We would have missed the hotel as some of the folks did as it is a bit on the inside of a downwards running road. The approach road to the hotel was a steep gradient, courtesy - cement road coming off leaving metal rods and wires in open. Thankfully everybody reached without any incidents, got the luggage off the bikes and moved in and refreshed ourselves. We had booked 3 rooms, all were AC, kind of basic but what else can you ask for at 2k pp stay, lunch, dinner, breakfast all inclusive. This was a good budget spot for an overnight trip - ps - another good option to stay at would be near the lake itself further down the road - there is a good agro tourism B&B.

Anandvan


We had a good lunch session, veg/non-veg both the meals were amazing, home cooked. I indulged in both of them and like the veg meal as it came with Shrikhand. We kind off had a shrikhand standoff with the hotel guys when they refused to serve it to the folks who opted for Non-veg Thalis - we some how managed to coerce a couple of tiny bowls of it though from the caretakers. After a hearty meal, couple of us took power naps post a grueling ride and heavy late lunch. Ritesh was however on a different energy and pushed everybody out for a Boat ride and Kayaking sessions at the lake. We took out a couple of bikes, I chanced upon riding Niks RC390 as it had been a while I rode a 390 since I sold it off back in 2022. Alok rode Ryan's Duke 390, Ritesh chanced upon Aldrich's Z650, Prashant on his trusted Adv390 and the rest were all riding pillion. We reached the late and hopped on to the boat - mind you the boat ride and kayaking was all included in the 2k pp package, thinking of it now - if feels like a banger of a deal. Anyhow, all of us aboard, (mobiles all stored in Prashant's Adv380 top box), we were all expecting the diesel power to make some irritating noise, however, to our surprise - the big boat was all electric. We could enjoy the boat ride in good silence only a little bit of elctric whine could be heard, turns out, the captain was the owner of a tiny ship building company he has started and this was the first vessel he built himself - what a delight.



Enjoying the lake view, Prashant decided to take out his Insta360 and all of us huddled for some cool photos to be clicked. We enjoyed the boat ride and in no time we reached the banks on the other side where the owner had built a Agro Tourism resort - accompanied by a big Cow Milk Farm setup. We enquired about the Kayaks, they were lying around in not so good condition. However, after a quick wash and draining out the water 3 kayaks were ready, the owner gave them life jackets and some info on Do's & Don'ts - on the solo journey we say Ajit & Ritesh taking off followed by 2 up bigger kayak in which Ryan and Nik were paddling along.



Rest of us decided to let them enjoy as we skipped the event and went ahead towards the cottages & farm for a quick chai break. The walk was rejuvenating as 2 massive slender hounds decided to accompany us - gentle giants I would say, very intimidating at the same time so friendly and sweet. They took us till the farms and went on their own trail, we had a quick look at the stay options and the Dairy Farm - it was still under construction - should be ready by December.



Enjoying the Twilight


I for one wouldn't mind going and having a night out in that wilderness off the grid - no network, no disruptions, write a cool log as I am writing now from the comfort of my home. I love such kind of places, well who doesn't - with the right company any place comes alive - we had some chat with the owner, bantered amongst ourselves had some chai. It was well past 6.30 now and the light was fading - we decided to head back, took the same boat back to the shore on the other side. Some good clicks in the fading light by our Motographer Prashobh, reached the shore and thanked the boat owner for the mini tour. While getting off the boat, we saw a ro-ro ferry which takes cars and bikes to the other side of the lake which cuts down a good amount of kms to reach Tapola directly. Alok suggested we take the ferry the next day as we did not want to ride the pathetic roads back again - we all agreed aaye ! Took off, reached the hotel killed some time playing UNO, had a great party session, music, banter, singing songs and a good dinner. I kind of called it a early night as I was feeling a bit drained, rest of the guys slept around 2 am in the morning - phew !!

View from the stay


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Day 2 - Surprise! Surprise! The weather outside was absolutely fantastic. All covered in mist and dew, the temperature had dropped and it was beautiful to watch nothing but white fog all around. We quickly asked the caretaker to prepare the breakfast - Poha, Omelet and chai. We refreshed ourselves after some toothpaste hunt and decided to check out our bikes. Ritesh had a proper flat on the rear tyre despite yesterday's fixes. The existing puncture was leaking again, thankfully he was carrying a battery powered air pump, so he kept it up to fill it again while we enquired for a puncture repair shop around. Luckily there was one by the roadside a couple of Kms back. Looking at Ritesh's bike I decided to check my bike as well - and guess what? I was destined to be the Puncture warrior number 2!! My heart sank looking at the flat rear tyre on the bloated heavy Ninja - all that weight and no air in the rear tyre - proper flat. Anyhow, I decided to ignore it and we all had our breakfast. Ritesh & myself then decided to go to the puncture repair guy - we asked him to fix it and he denied. Reason? The puncture was beyond repair. I kind of agreed because it was already a big hole filled up by a plug. But to be frank the guy wasn't worth it - scared that he might not be able to fix he was adamant not to fix another plug in it. We coerced him to put one in anyhow - and yet after that it kept leaking a little bit. Right across there we saw another road, apparently in good condition going to what place no idea, the guy said that's the route to Kaas Plateau and its in good condition - another passerby uncle halted near us and told us that he came to Tapola from Satara side using the Ro-Ro and planned to go back via this road instead of the Ro-Ro. We asked him why not the ferry, he said that the timings are not right and they hold the ferry for hours on end for local folks and advised us to take the road instead. This is when Ritesh said lets take the road, I kind off went with my instinct to trust what the locals say - and boy was I so wrong!! Up next - nightmare.

A troubled Ritesh with a nasty puncture to fix


We headed back to the hotel, I took the pump from Ritesh and filled up the rear tyre on my bike to 30 psi instead of the usual 42 psi. Reason? The battery had drained out. So we kept it to charge while all the other folks packed and geared up. I took a head start as I wanted to fix the puncture on my bike, after reaching the spot and some inspection later - we located the puncture to be a tiny leak which was in between the tyre tread. The guy told not to put any plug as it would face the same issue as encountered on Ritesh's bike. I kind of agreed and let it be, took some photos and waited for the others to arrive. We had a quick photo session as the views were mesmerizing, I was back in the mood knowing that the leak was not such a big deal. Ritesh went ahead and had a quick refill - Ryan our in house Moto Vlogger came in his elements and asked me to shoot a couple of videos of him cornering on the beautiful corner - I obliged. Meanwhile 4 of the guys decided to move ahead as Ritesh's tyre was leaking air while the remaining 4 waited for me and Ryan to join. Here on the fun story begins.

In frame - Ryanrides - who has promised to put up a vlog god knows when.


Beloved


Lineup


First group was fast and nowhere to be seen, we were kind of ok with it as we enjoyed the route which was flowing along the banks of the lake, a narrow roads, trees and farms alongside - It was beautiful and everybody was loving it. Except for Alok - "he was like hum kyu kar rahe hai ye road?" - to which I said - "The ferry would have been an experience no doubt, but the roads are also so good - then why not? Only thing is that the road is isolated incase of any puncture here means we are doomed!! Ritesh bhai should have thought of that."

Little did I know that this line would come back to bite my own ass in an hours time. After riding roughly for 30 kms, I felt something was a bit off while turning. A couple of corners ahead and I was done, the bike felt super heavy and tracking away, nightmare come true - Ninja had a big time flat. My heart sank again and so did everybody else's, this was going to eat away everybody's precious time. I was going through all kind of feelings, mostly sorry, for wasting time - which could have been completely avoided had we taken the Ro-Ro ferry to get to the other side instead of doing these 40 odd kms.

A car passed by and we asked them if there is any tyre repair shop near by. Alok and Ryan went back to the last village a couple of kms back to inquire - mind you no cell phone reception here, so there was no chance we could connect with Ritesh for using his tyre inflator. We got some info, 8 kms ahead there was a shop - it was out of bounds for sure. Behind, 4 kms there was another shop at a village called Apti, no brainer, we had to go back. Catch? It was a hill climb, all the while it was downhill for us. Prashant and myself turned the whale around, I was adamant on riding it on slow speed back - but Prashobh said it create another problem if the tyre decided to come off the rim, Prashant said it could also damage the rims.

All the while I was thinking how the hell am I supposed to push this hefty bike up for 4 kms? Prashobh removed the luggage and mounted it on his bike, thankfully the tank was only half full - off I went pushing the bike, after a couple of meters I stopped huffing and puffing. Guys advised to put it in 1st gear and clutch it, walk along with it. This seemed to work, but it was exhausting - 300 mtrs back we reached the 1st village. Took off my jacket and hydration pack, kept it aside. The shopkeeper, 2 females said that the puncture shop is another 3-4 kms away, and that they had a cycle pump incase it was of any use to use. It turned out to be a life saver, Prashobh gave it a wring first and we could see the tyre inflating visibly, I could hear the leak and it was the same spot - air leaking from between the threads.

Prashobh and Alok to the rescue - No the other guy is a local villager who got us the manual pump


10-15 Psi max it could hold, we decided on a strategy - Alok was to pump the air after getting off his Z650 and I was to quickly ride the bike as far as practically possible - we did this around 5 times and reached the village where we were supposed to find the shop. The guy was waiting for us on the road, there was no shop, it was his home, so he asked to get the bike up to his house. I heaved a sigh of relief. I prayed to God for electricity, thankfully the pump started and we got on the job. Found the puncture an plugged it good, got the air pressure back to 42psi. Tak, Tak, Tak, I could hear some sound and whistling. No prize for guessing, it was the spot which we plugged and it was leaking. Uncle kind of gave up, I asked him to plug another one in. Meanwhile Alok was back after a 5 kms joy ride, he kind of missed the shop/house as we disappeared off the road. Some words and we went back to fixing the leak, 2nd plug in, pumped up the pressure and wow - it was still leaking. Exact same problem that Ritesh was facing on his bike, we were in a soup. After some time the leak kind of stopped, the pressure was around 30 psi. We decided to keep the excess plug as it is to cover up the leak and rode with whatever pressure the tyre could hold. Alok gave paid 100 rs for the deed and off we went. The puncture was off center, so I decided to ride as upright and as straight as possible, basically ride like how Ajit rides his Vstorm 650 (No pun intended). We reached the first village where all the guys were waiting, hydrated ourselves and decided to push ahead.

Rear tyre at 8K kms, with 2 plugs for 1 nasty puncture


We were advised by 2nd puncture repair uncle and the 2 ladies to take the Medha ghat route and avoid going to Kaas Satara as the route was in bad shape. We agreed. Finally in the afternoon sun we started riding - we had no idea how many kms it was going to be so we took it by instinct and sign boards.

Rerouting


After some riding we came to a fork, 1 route went to Kaas another up to Medha. We took a break consulted the locals and moved ahead - we could again see the Tapola lake as we were climbing up - everybody was kind of fed up by now with the lake view "Bas karo yaar bohot hogaya ye Tapola lake view, pakk gaye" screamed Ajit and Alok. All this while the 1st gang had reached Kaas Plateau, Aldrich called us and informed that they were too pushing ahead to Satara in search of a Tyre shop as the V650 needed a proper replacement to get back home, it was very risky riding with 5 punctures and one of them leaking profusely. With Aldrich and Vinay there for support with Ritesh, we were a bit relaxed and informed them that we were skipping Kaas and Satara altogether and taking the Medha Ghat route to reach the highway directly.

Group 1 who was searching for tyre in Satara


The plugs on my tyre were holding up good, flattened with no leakage. I was gaining confidence and sticked to riding in "Ajit Mode" through out till we reached the highway. We had already started climbing a ghat and after a quick hydration and susu break, we reached the top - and voilà, we were greeted by a giant Wind Mill, everybody was mesmerized at this engineering marvel. Alok sighed, "I always wanted to see a windmill up-close and click pictures" to which we all agreed on the intercom. Took another break, things were however much merrier and lighter by now as the Ninja was cruising without any issue. I was a bit happier that everyone was enjoying the route and this windmill turned out to be a huge boost to everybody's morale. We parked our bikes in line, out came Prashant with his insta 360 and Ajit pitched and idea to shoot a reel using the song "Tambdi Chamdi" - what a fantastic idea, it was fun shooting the video with everybody in their elements now. Looking at our watches, we decided to push off ahead. We bid our bye bye's to the wind mill and marched along.

Windmill


After climbing another ghat at Kusumbi were greeted by a big Lake, it was beautiful. Ajit cried again, "Bas karo yaar nai dekhna ab ye Tapola lake", anyhow, we stopped for clicking some pictures, it was an amazing sight.

Another Lake - Kanher Dam


Everybody in line we climbed down to the village called Medha. The ride ahead was blissful with proper tarmac roads, everybody was flying and Ajit was ripping through as well. I kept a slow pace intentionally and rode along with Prashant. We quickly halted for a tyre pressure check as Ajit was feeling his bike was a bit low on air pressure. I checked the pressure on my bike and it was reading 42psi hot, so I let it be. Quick check on everybody's bike we decided to push ahead searching for a petrol pump, the RC390 was begging for fuel again on its reserve, fortunately we found a petrol pump at Kudal and fueled up. I also topped up another 5 liters, generally I would fill up only XP95 but it is not that easily available in this side of Maharashtra. Anyhow, we rode along and finally reached the highway, every body was estatic looking at the 4 lane. We decided to halt for a quick lunch and get details and whereabouts on the 1st group.

At the restaurant we ordered ourselves a massive lunch after going through all the shenanigans since morning. Aldrich informed us that they had reached Satara and found a shop for replacing the tyres on Ritesh's bike. Apollo H1 was the widest and closed possible choice they could find in Satara and to be frank it was worth it. By the time we had finished our lunch these guys arrived, we met them and share each others stories, what a ride it was turning out to be. Happy to be united again, good food, hydration break and stops planned ahead, we paid the bill and decided to push. I told Alok that I would be taking a head start as I need to find an Indian Oil bunk to fill up with XP95 and so I did, 3 bunks enroute and XP95 seemed to be elusive. Finally on the 4th attempt I found one bunk which stocked the much coveted XP95. Just as I came out of the bunk after refueling, I saw Nik passing by on the RC390, nobody else seemed to follow him. I waited for some time and then even I rushed.

The ride ahead was good, I called Alok and informed that I am behind Nik, Alok told me that he tried to find me at a couple of bunks but I was nowhere to be found so they pushed ahead, we decided to halt at the next Toll Naka. Everybody was waiting as I approached the Toll, had a quick hydration break as we waited for Batman to arrive i.e Vinay. He was riding cautiously, tried to call him but didn't pick up the call so we decided to move ahead and wait at the next toll naka that was at...drum roll...after crossing Pune bypass completely near Lonavla and back on the old NH4 highway. We battled our way through the dense and obnoxious Pune evening traffic, tired but in our senses, enjoying music and conversations on the intercom. The ride was turning out to be risky given the traffic and poor visibility due to night riding conditions. The last halt we took at the toll before lonavla was a big break as we needed to regroup and have a much needed cup of chai. Some good friendly banter to keep the spirts up, Alok asked Prashobh and Ritesh - "Kisi ke paas nakhun hai kya?", I kept mum - Prashobh got his answer though. Everybody had rejoined except for Batman, we let him be - he was riding sedately dropped a message that we were moving ahead.

Ajit and Prashobh were leading the night ride with their amazing flood lamps lighting up the streets as if its Diwali. Rest of the gang was following both of them. Ritiesh was somehow gaining more confidence after being on the the downsized Apollo H1 tyres and he was ripping too behind them. Aldrich on the other hand seemed a bit tired by the grueling day 2 that was playing along. Prashant, Ryan and Nik were calmly cursing on their KTMs. By the time we reached Lonavla, it had already started raining a bit. We could see a thunderstorm brewing up from afar, we were determined not to stop come what may. And any which ways we were not carrying any rain gears.

We entered Lonavla fairly easily and had a quick fuel stop, I too halted and checked the air pressure as I was feeling it was a bit low, didn't push my luck just pumped it upto 35 psi - it was home run now and we needed no more adventure. Ritesh was already in the clear and enjoying the grip offered by new tyre. Off we go for the final leg, but wait, we were straight heading into the thunderstorm. Thankfully it had just passed ahead of us while we were on our big chai break. So what was left was completely enjoyable - Fog !! Visibility was down to a couple of meters and everybody started riding slowly, guys with the flood lights managed to cut through the fog. The temperatures fell and it was cool ride till we got down where the old highway connects the express way.

We dared not take the expressway as the traffic there was stand still, all lanes packed to the brim and many cars coming on to the old highway infact. Ride downhill was foggy enough to keep us hooked, as the fog cleared and we finished the ghat section and landed up in Khopoli we picked up good speed. After that it was a speed run all the way up to JNPT - took the right to Vashi and regrouped again for one last time and bid adieu to all our amigos.

What an amazing ride this one turned out to be, everyone happy we left in different groups to our homes - myself and Prashobh had the most distance cover from there though. While entering Mumbai there was heavy traffic, taught the KTM folks a new trick to bypass traffic at Mankhurd flyover. Even after that it wasn't an easy ride home as we got stuck at Vakola Junction where the SCLR connects to Western Express. Anyhow we managed to reach home around 10 pm, unloaded all the luggage took pictures of the bike and called it a day. All in all an absolutely fantastic ride minus all the puncture drama.



Quick Trivia: Remember 5 punctures on Ritesh's bike and 1 on mine - all of which were in the tread ? Well it was all courtesy Vredestein's we were both running on the Vreds Centauro ST. Never again. Good bye. Cheers - see you again until the next log.

In the meanwhile I am writing a post on the ownership log of the Ninja about the service, accessories and new tyres. Wondering if I should write about the Vredestein tyre experience as well, lets see, first we need to mail the manufacturer as we already have passed on the photos to the distributers, but there is no response.
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[Sheel]

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

[Axe77]

Great travelogue mate. I absolutely love that entire region from Panchgani / Mahabaleshwar — Tapola — Bamnoli — Medha — Kaas etc. The entire Koyna river surrounding is beautiful and have both ridden and driven there on multiple occasions, including taking the ferry to cross over with the bikes once. Its lovely in the winter in particular although just after monsoons is wonderful too.

The roads are indeed very bad in patches though and I can’t imagine the kind of stress the two bikes with nearly irreparable tyres must have gone through. I’ve not heard great things about Vredenstein in general, so even on my Multistrada, I had swapped out the Vreds pretty quickly with a spare set of Road 5s that I had gotten with the bike. When those were done, my replacement was again with Road 5s only. The performance of the Vredenstein just wasn’t in the same league.

Taking the liberty of dropping a few pics from biking trips to that broader region. Thanks for sharing your travelogue. Brought back some lovely memories of our own trips seeing your photos.

On a back road leading up to Panchgani (Mahu dam road maybe).


On the road leading to Kaas. Two of our bikes had gotten punctures just before this click.


Somewhere around Medha - there are windmills on the hill at the other side of this bridge.