Leh 2011- Pictorial Travelogue

4 Colonels of the Indian Army, hailing from 4 corners of India, showed me 4 corners of our Country- this travelogue is to them. 

Col Kamat, Col Patankar, Col Manral and Col Bansal. Together they helped me scratch the roof of the world.

The travelogue came a good 5 months after the end of the Leh trip. The trip itself wouldnt have been 'it' had it not been for all of you who have always humored my driving- The write-up is meant to be the first complete road pictorial from the Plains to the Plains with a Leh in between. Its a 55MB file with about 170+ images, so please have patience, its a 23-day tour in a single go. Many have seen images on FB and on my Picasa account- but this is more complete with a commentary, and a guide thrown in.

It has taken another two years to make it here, in a readable format.

I hope you like the show.

KD

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/114064-mumbai-leh-mumbai-travelogue-august-september-2011-a.html

The first Harley- the SuperLow- Feb 2012

After moving back from the US where as a student life offered me the opportunity to ride many cars and many bikes... here I am back in India, almost 16 years later...

And to cut that long story -

The SuperLow booked a few months ago, arrived, many thanks to the staff at Seven Islands Harley Davidson, Bandra, Mumbai.

In the past years, I have been riding many sports bikes and three kinds of Harleys, and have refrained from critical commenting out of deference to vehicles that I do not own, or afford to.

Then my mom, all of 70+years jumped pillion! And my son awaited his turn- to turn 18 before getting to ride...

Its the first this this morning, that on a side road that you have these 'failed in drafting' technician designed half-moon bumps that brushed the pivot of the side (jiffy) stand. And I realised I had to come back that way too. And we took it at a diagonal. but the thing was about 10" wide, so we walked and still grazed it. And then again on the road rom Worli SeaFace to Old Passport office- scrape. Ugh.

I guess the 12.5" Progressive Heavy Duty Shocks and Progressive Fork Springs are in order.

The rear pillion seat is a fine attempt at 'Mission Imposible 4' thrill at every gear change. Given you would possible have many different pillion riders, a set of side plates and a sissy bar is a must.

The 17 L tank is a very good asset. There were a few at the store who could ride around in the same PIN code all day and be happy with the tank of the '48' and not think twice about fueling twice a day. Experience from others gets you about 14KmpL in the city to abut 24KmpL with sedate riding on the highways. I will update on this as we ride more.

The thumb-starter is a single push- positive emotion button. The solid'notch first gear and light clutch is sure to give even a first time rider good confidence. However, the first left or right turn that you take, brings you all the threads and Forum discussions of grounding- and nothing wrong happens- its fine. The clearance is low, but it aint all that bad. Once you glide over the first speedbreaker, with the car behind wondering what a superbike is doing at 3KmpH... nothing happens, and then you realise that the bad ones are the poorly designed bumps. What i am actually fearing now - is the multiple bumps on the Goa highway, and at a few places on the Pune-Kolhapur stretch, especially around toll nakas.

To my mind the Iron 883 riders have no such issues, and therefore, it seems that either you plonk in the 883's rear shocks and Damper Tubes- setting you abck between 18-25K from a H-D service station, or then hunt around and import Progressive parts as mentioned by me elsewhere on the Forum.

Second gear onwards, there is a RUSH- that will simply power through traffic and on curves- it will beg to lean and run. I think 'Rush' is the word to describe the acceleration and the bull like feeling. No other word seems to work.

having seen a 4Km traffic jam on the Lalbaug Flyover that went on till JJ hospital- the lessons form two days is quick- wear jeans, and full length that too, wear good socks, and good shoes. The heat will get you otherwise- from the rear cylinder cooling and the vent of the lower exhaust... 

The speedometer with its trips and clock are useful and the lack of a tach is annoying... 

The rush of acceleration, the stability on turns, the ability to weave in traffic if required- the high speed capability- and more than all - the tons of charm, the sound and to use the internet phrase- 'eyeballs.'

If one pic could sum it up, here is one taken by a Manish when I got off at his house... now to find that pix first.


Update- March 2013-

Ran the 883 into the ground, maybe due to earlier experience of riding bigger bikes in the US as a student- the 883 was max'ed out and I finally sold it in january of 2013. I purchased a Super Glide and that post is ready, awaiting for a Moderator to post it on a bike Forum.

Now, though I am very happy with the purchase of the Super Glide, the one funny statistic that I never paid attention to while buying a Super Glide, I realised about 15 days into its ownership.

The Lean Angle- left was 30.9 Deg, while the right was 29.5 Deg. Now guess what happened- the Sportster had footpeg scrapers that would leave behind a string of sparks and let your foot know that you were about at edge and the Glide didnt... and to my surprise in the Amboli Ghat, where my tail flagged me down and told me- "what you doin' man? You are scraping the crap off your exhaust" - and thats when I realised the awesome confidence that the bike instilled in you, and the decimal difference in lean angles, even a normal human like me could find out... and you didnt have to be a Rossi or 2013 version Colin Edwards to find out its limitations on bends.

It remains my favourite memory of the Sportster- and maybe I need to do something in its memory urgent for the pegs on the Glide.

New Super Glide Custom- Jan 2013.

After 9 months of flawless running with the Sportster, I upgraded to a more long-distance runner kind of bike, the Super Glide Custom. I have a much detailed departure report on the 883 story that I had written on my buying the bike- more like a closure story. 

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/superb...ml#post3050300

fter a few pictures of the bike arriving into the house at dusk- I think these will be used as templates to see if the bike was cleaned properly or not, in subsequent months.

The first 4000Km on the 883 went by learning to explore its power, lean and its stability. Fuel average settled in at 22-24 on highways, and about 16 in the city. Pillions added to rear weight stability and almost invariably increased the ability to consistently hammer over 140 far more easy than when one-up.

Then after 4500, the Screamin' Eagles Exhausts and Stage 1 Air Cleaners came- and they were like th bad boys coming in for a party that had just settled down... and then the hell rising started all over again. We started to hit the rev-limiter all the way till 3rd and then we found the top speed we could do with my riding gear @165 and the fun in riding all became the hum and roar and effects- so from serious riding, it just went downhill for me

In an effort to stem the rot, I asked around the Harley Owners and found that I had hit a wall on the bike, something to do with having ridden bigger bikes earlier in college days in the US- something I could not deny. So a friend Manish came along immediately- and on a Monday morning at 0600, we went for a city ride, from Powai to Dadar and south.

The 1584cc Super Glide Custom, from the Dyna family- a 6-speed, 92 ft-lbs@3000rpm... came along. 

The first thing that suprised me, was not the weight, but having pulled off from a level patch on the road, was the balance and stability in 1st gear... and then how it hauled from 0-110- when Manish tapped me and pointed upward- to indicate a 6th... and that took me till abut 125... and being on it for the first time I let it stay there on the Eastern Express Highway... When we rolled up and down, what suprised me from the very highly strung Sportster was that I could come down to 75 in 6th and even 60 in 5th. Something the 883 never did.

So from a riding a psychotic red-lined Sportster, here I was having a wonderful, relaxed time, and enjoying the speed range from 0-130 without the stress, drama and anger that went about the earlier bike.

So the decision was made- a buyer was found for the Sportster in a day, sold, and a Super Glide booked. To make a point, I did have a preference at the time for the Street Bob, but its stock handle and mini-apes made it rather difficult for my height and riding style to be accomodated together. So the dealership and HDI worked over night to get my bike to me within a record time of 6 days- and got a few days of local riding before hitting the National Harley Owners Group Rally in Goa, putting in about 1800Km on the trip... 

The average settled in about 22 on the highway- average speeds for the Pune-Nipani stretch climbed from 85 (on the 883) to about 97 on the way to Goa and the return averages were about 115, with the added support of my friends Yeti, and my Scorpio creating an envelope from a low of 70 to 155... for our team of 11 riders- here a bunch of 48s and 883s also made it with averages of about 95-105. 

Here is what was different- the ease with which one cruised and stayed in a power band- that reduced the stress on the rider by a huge amount. Between the tolls on that part of the highway, i would stay in 5th or 6th- and mostly 6th that too... Chasing down the Yeti to 165 and then re-grouping every so 15-20km, I would let the speed bleed to about 95... and it made overtaking anything a breeze. The increased stability of the bike showed its benefits and even two-up, the bike felt rock steady- in fact at one point the sun got to a pillion and she wanted to get down to stretch her legs while at 160... Some credit can be given to NHAI for making it probably the better highway in Maharashtra... Extras on the bike- crash guard, sissy bar (back rest in Harley terminology) as of now. SE Air Cleaner, and Exhausts with a Super Tuner is probably next. 

From my experience, I can only suggest that you try and visualise your personality bracket for the Harley that you want to get- the 48 has been suprisingly the most loyal owners bike, from my experience and I cannot wax eloquent enough about how the 1200cc stormer runs- its absolutely brilliant, having kept with me till 165 and it fantastic aggressive stance and demeanour, and also its reputation for being a trouble free performer. Budget owners should rather look at used bikes and then service histories are available if you are serious enough from Service Centers to ensure you have a good piece.

Accessories and Gear cost a pretty penny, but then you need to factor that in before buying a bike and not after. Research saves you money, and a lot of grief. Feel free to ask around, am sure there are many HOGs out there who will help you.

Many hate the Harley, I dont know for what? Nothing is perfect- whats a Yezdi for one is an ashtray for another, and you need to be happy with a ride, the kind of people that the bike brings together, the rides that are organised, the support given. Some Italian crotch-rockets have clutch levers at 18000 a pair- minimum, but with waitlisting of 4+ months- damn! - then the Harley levers are atleast accessible at 1/5th, and available...on ebay as well. So, I really have nothing to say about people who hate the Harley. i am neutral to all bikes, but I hate plastics,

-KD.