[AlphaKilo]

This is amazing! All the way from chennai to K-La in a M80!!

Gokulram Vasanthi who rode from Chennai to Marsimek-La on a low-powered Bajaj M-80

Gokulram Vasanthi has a strange sense of humour. For a road adventure all the way from Chennai to the forbidding Himalayan passes of Khardung-La and Marsimek-La and back, he bypassed a 350 cc Thunderbird and a 250 cc Jawa Model ‘B' and settled on a low-powered 76 cc Bajaj M-80. “I have gone on long rides on those big bikes. This time, I wanted to do something different,” explains Gokulram.

The Hindu : Life & Style / Motoring : Rider on the storm

[drrajasaravanan]

Hi
I have seen Gokulram in action and he is one of the ideal riders in the club. He is not nicknamed terror for nothing. The last ride the group of riders from RTMC, who were riding ninja's, where shocked when Gokul over took them in his 350cc thunderbird. I might not ride a M80 but i would be happy if i could do a K2K (kanyakumari to Khardung La) on my CL500 with this great group.

[am1m]

Brilliant! Thanks for posting this link.

I've always felt that Ladakh would be more comfortable on a smaller bike (didn't ever think of an M80 though!) Of course the smaller bike would be a pain on the highways till you reach Ladakh. Maybe the new Impulse would be a good compromise.

But to do Chennai to Leh on an M80, this guy is amazing! Good to see the journey become the focus, that's it's possible irrespective of the bike brand, usually it's about which bike, which riding gear brand, along with which riding club, etc.

[karthik naren]

Originally Posted by drrajasaravanan

Hi
I have seen Gokulram in action and he is one of the ideal riders in the club. He is not nicknamed terror for nothing. The last ride the group of riders from RTMC, who were riding ninja's, where shocked when Gokul over took them in his 350cc thunderbird. I might not ride a M80 but i would be happy if i could do a K2K (kanyakumari to Khardung La) on my CL500 with this great group.

As Dr.Raj said there are many riders who got a Shock in RTMC 10A after seeing him in Action, and I am one of them. He is also a soft spoken and a down to earth person. I too would love to do a K2K, but before that I want to see if I can ride to RM 2012 happing in Delhi from Chennai.

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[AlphaKilo]

one more interesting news is that, he lost his fingers(couple of them) during his engineering studies, but inspite of having only two fingers he learned to ride a bike, accelerate and stuff with just two fingers. Its something really to be appreciated and praised. Great confidence! But I guess a M80 wouldnt be too comfortable to be ridden on the highways and limited top speed and ride comfort would have a great challenge. He seems to be a guy of atleast 5'11'' and I am 6, have experience extreme discomfort riding a M80 for a short duration, unbelieveable how he rode all the way.

[rajeev k]

In Kerala some years back there were a lot of fish vendors riding at very high speed with the full load of fish and the capability of the bike was without even a semblance of doubt.
I had ridden a M50 at the time of its launch before the advent of the M80. The modified version of the 4stroke M80's engine did duty in the initial Bajaj saffire scooter.

[anjan_c2007]

Its incredible to read about this gentleman.His choice was perhaps guided by the fact that a moped that could phase out the Rajdoot bikes in rural India could have some inherent qualities, topped by its toughness!
In the 1990's, the Rajdoots were giving way to m80's in rural India. The rural folks were not much impressed with the Indo-Jap 100 cc bikes then.The m80 hence was the most suited.
And now the m 80 has reached new heights many years after its hey-days!

[ZedMae]

Originally Posted by am1m

Brilliant! Thanks for posting this link.
...
But to do Chennai to Leh on an M80, this guy is amazing! Good to see the journey become the focus, that's it's possible irrespective of the bike brand, usually it's about which bike, which riding gear brand, along with which riding club, etc.

Exactly!! Sometimes the focus on riding gear/ which bike etc is so much that one tends to feel that, more than the safety and the riding experience, it has become a way of being noticed and talked about.

cheers

[iron]

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[AlphaKilo]

I would be very happy if one gentleman here, who said he knows mr. gokulram personally, persuade him to join TBHP We can hear/read his experiences first hand and probably have him our future trips or trip with him.

[highway_star]

During my ride to Ladakh in 2009, I had met a biker from Pune who was there on a Bajaj Boxer 100 cc bike. And doing this trip on an M-80 is incredible!

Hats off to these guys. It is not the machine you own, but your passion for riding that makes you a biker.

[vinu_h]

" Hats off Gokulram "

If I was Bajaj, I would want to make a fuss of this man's adventure and squeeze some publicity out of it. " Bajaj M80 - To the peaks " or something like that.