[kraft.wagen]

Great trip log Avi. run out of luck trying to spot Tigers in Masinagudi range looks like I should head to Tadoba soon

[navin_v8]

Whoa! those Tigers err. Triumph Tigers (800 XC and 1200 Explorer) have a menacing look. They completely overshadow all the other bikes with their presence and overall personality, although other bikes too have their own charm.

The Triumph Tiger twins are more of a dual purpose bike, they can burn the tarmac as well as decimate the offroad trails. Thanks for sharing this.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by DipantS

Awesome write-up Avi and great pics. You can anytime have a parallel carrier of a writer.You guys were lucky enough to have spotted a tiger and a leopard. I have been to Kanha national park couple of time but was never lucky enough to spot one in open. Looks like I need to visit Tadoba sometime soon.How did your bikes performed on the rough roads? Any issues notices during or post ride?

Thanks Dipant. You made the trip possible. Appreicate the help. Your brother rocks !!

Bikes performed flawlessly in all road conditions. The Bonnies and Stripple were riding a bit slower during the horrible patches compared to the Tigers which were flying. Otherwise, it was superb. Personally for me, no back pain, no butt pain and no tiredness at all.

Originally Posted by Haroon

Wonderful trip log complemented with crisp pictures Avi. Although its always about the ride and not the destination, I guess here you had the best of bothThanks for taking us along and Ride Safe.

Thanks Haroon. I had proposed Vizag, Mahabaleshwar and Tadoba for this ride to my friends and everyone unanimously chose Tadoba

Your right, we enjoyed the ride as well as the beautiful forest. Perfect combo!!

Originally Posted by Tgo

That should be a Black Winged Kite if I am correct. You're really lucky to have spotted the Leopard. That's the fun of safaris. people make it such a point to associate a safari's success to spotting the wild cats, that they miss out on so much else.

Agree that people are highly disappointed if they dont get to spot a cat. But, we enjoyed the forest environs more than euphoria of spotting a wild cat.

Trust me, inside the reserve it gets as bad as any traffic signal when a wild cat spotting is imminent. Bad!

Originally Posted by Seventhgear

Thanks for sharing Mobike008.It sure must have been great to be out on the roads with like minded guys on even better bikes.Would really like to know how the bikes performed on the highway especially the Bonnie.What were the top speeds kept up by you guys and did the bikes have any issues of any kind.Please elaborate.

Triumph bikes are butter smooth, extremely reliable and were very comfortable for entire ride with no incidence anywhere.

We were filling petrol from any bunk that was available on the highway so no higher octane worries for any of the bikes

Best part each and every bike (except street tripple) gave phenomenal average depite the high speeds

Well, without quoting the high speed I would say were continously cruising at 140kmph during our time on the 4-lane highways (video coming up in subsequent posts)

Originally Posted by vikash49

And btw, first one is a Cattle Eagret and the second one is a Black Winged Kite

Oh thanks. Is that the real name of the bird?

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

Awesome Avi!! Loved the pics and the detailed log as well. Waiting for more pics!

Sorry been travelling last few days. Will share a few more pics that left from the trip and a few videos as well.

Originally Posted by kraft.wagen

Great trip log Avi. run out of luck trying to spot Tigers in Masinagudi range looks like I should head to Tadoba soon

Prem. Go to Tadoba. Tiger spotting is guaranteed

Originally Posted by navin_v8

Whoa! those Tigers err. Triumph Tigers (800 XC and 1200 Explorer) have a menacing look. They completely overshadow all the other bikes with their presence and overall personality, although other bikes too have their own charm.The Triumph Tiger twins are more of a dual purpose bike, they can burn the tarmac as well as decimate the offroad trails. Thanks for sharing this.

Navin, we were sad, upset and even angry. When Tigers ride with us, not a single person glances at any other bike. People just gape at this big monster bikes as if they were something out of a transformer movie..LOL...

Keep glued to see a few pics of the hysteria Tigers create on the road (after a few posts in this travelogue)


This lovely video was shot(directed) by Tiger 1200 owner's younger brother who was driving the Ford Endeavour

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5ob...ature=youtu.be

[navin_v8]

Hey Avi thanks for sharing this man. I am in awe of adventure motorcycles especially the litre capacity ones like Triumph Tiger 1200 XC, BMW R1200GS, KTM 1190 Adventure, Suzuki V Strom 1000cc, Kawasaki Versys 1000, etc.

I have my eyes set on the Triumph Tiger 1200 XC and BMW R1200 GS, the reason being both are shaft driven and have decent specs. Believe me I wanted to buy the Bonneville after reading your thread and even before the bike was launched in India, but ended up buying the Thunderbird 500 EFi. I thought I would save some money and buy the Big One of these mentioned above. The Triumph Tiger sure is on my bucket list.

Nevertheless the Bonnie looks a retro classic and nothing to beat that

[deepv]

Avinash ... once again great piece of write-up .. accompanied by crisp details and cool pics!!
Special mention for the bikes!!!

Looking forward for more to come.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by navin_v8

Hey Avi thanks for sharing this man. I am in awe of adventure motorcycles especially the litre capacity ones like Triumph Tiger 1200 XC, BMW R1200GS, KTM 1190 Adventure, Suzuki V Strom 1000cc, Kawasaki Versys 1000, etc.

I have my eyes set on the Triumph Tiger 1200 XC and BMW R1200 GS, the reason being both are shaft driven and have decent specs. Believe me I wanted to buy the Bonneville after reading your thread and even before the bike was launched in India,

Navin, I think we think alike to a large extent. My next bike is decided and it will be a adventure bike and will be mostly a Tiger 800

Bonneville is a bike for life...Never to sell ( but......)

Ideal bike garage for me is a Bonnie + Tiger 800

Originally Posted by deepv

Avinash ... once again great piece of write-up .. accompanied by crisp details and cool pics!! Special mention for the bikes!!!Looking forward for more to come.

Thanks for the compliment. There is still a few pics left. Stay glued!!

During our 1st safari, it was a tense situation as it happens with everyone. All peering deep into the bushes and straining eyes and necks left and right to see if a tiger can be spotted

You would not beileve the luck, we were passing through a small bylane road in the jungle which cannot even have two jeeps passing each other and saw on jeep ahead of us stop and everyone in there peering into the dense jungle to the left

We park right behind them and got to know there are two Tiger cubs ( supposedly an extremely rare sight)

Slowly, atleast 4-5 more jeeps got lined up behind us

We stayed at that position for more than 15-20 mins and just couldnt get a decent shot as they were little inside the jungle and even a small sound was making them jiterry and they were moving back inside

This is the best we could get through the jungle ( one professonal camera guy was praising our luck as he said he never saw cubs ever) and some more pics of the beautiful jungle

[mobike008]

Alright time to share some pictures of the resort that we stayed at. I had no clue how the place would be and we just booked blindly beileving the guy who had arranged our gypies

Place was decent and food was below average and only redeeming factor was that it was 100 meters away from the main entry gate of the forest

If your a foodie, i would not recommend you to stay at this place. Besides, the cost of each room (Rs.3200) was also not VFM

Sharing some more pics of the group riding towards Tadoba at dusk and night and weaving through battered maharastra roads. It was a fantastic sight to follow the super tall Triumph Tiger 1200 ridden by the tall and beefy friend wearing a lovely GMAX helmet that had some lights blinking at back of helmet ( one pic of it posted) and that served us like a guiding light to end of a dark tunnel

A few pictures of the group riding through horrible roads at dusk



























Room with a view ( of our beloved possesions)









Resort had quite a few of cute puppies roaming around....

[mobike008]

Here are the pictures of the cats that we spotted. Unfortunately like some people getting picture perfect shots, we always spotted one when they were scrambling into the bushes

Another thing that I didnt like about the forest reserve is that everyone seems to know where to spot a cat ( the guides keep referring to "calling") and sometimes makes me wonder if this is a sham as everyone who goes to Tadoba seem to spot the same tiger. Curious to know from Tadoba veterans if my understanding is wrong?

Due to the known location of the cat, there are atleast 10-12 gypsies that gather up and everyone is getting everyone's way to take a picture

For us, we enjoyed the ride, excellent weather inside the forest more than the photo opportunity (if we had got a better one, it would have been icing on the cake though)

Having said above, we were lucky to spot two elusive items

1. Tiger Cubs
2. Leopards