The following texts are as received from him datewise, chronicling his trip. [19/09, 10:39 AM] Vernon Franklin India: Arrived at Lakhnadaon, (M.P.). [19/09, 7:59 PM] Vernon Franklin India: I reached Jhansi about an hour ago. [20/09/2018]. Went to Church in the morning and leaving just now. [21/09, 1:58 AM] Vernon Franklin India: Stopped in Delhi for Oil and Filter Change. Decided to continue on and stopped at a Village 30 KM before Ambala. Covered 600 KMs today too. The roads in UP and Delhi were bad, but in Haryana the roads were good. [21/09, 8:35 AM] Vernon Franklin India: Just reached Amritsar. (In J and K he faced connectivity problems as many pre-paid SIM's do not work. The contact with him was kept alive through a common friend who updated about his well-being.) [28/09 ] Arrived New Delhi this morning on the way back to Nagpur. Left Srinagar yesterday morning at 9 am. Drove right through the night. [28/09 ] All good Anjan. [29/09] Rode Non-Stop from Srinagar to Jhansi covering almost 1400 Kms in 36 Hours. Stopped for Fuel Snacks and Oil Change in New Delhi. Resting in Jhansi today and leaving for Nagpur tomorrow morning. Should cover the remaining 600 KMs by the evening. The Road from Jammu to Leh was tough as the road was blocked for repairs and traffic was bumper to bumper. Had to weave in and out of traffic with the Bike to come out of the same and with the steep gradient it was not easy. [02/10] A Short Summary of the Trip. Departed Nagpur on Wed.19th.Sept. at 7.30 from Nagpur. Reached Jhansi at 3.30 pm covering 600 KM in eight hours. Departed Jhansi on Thursday 20th.Sept. at 10 am and reached Srinagar on Friday 21st.Sept at 10 pm. Stopped at Delhi for an Oil Change and continued Riding on right through the night. I am a Night Owl and love to drive at night provided the roads are good. Covered the distance of nearly 1400 KM in 36 Hours Non-Stop Riding. Sat.22nd.Sept. decided to stay for the day which probably saved me big problems. For whatever reasons I decided to stay another day on Sun.23rd. Sep. On buying the Times of India, I read of the massive Snowfall on the way to Leh on Saturday. Furthermore there was very heavy Snowfall of about thirty inches and Flash Floods near Manali in Himachal Pradesh. The Authorities closed that Road and is yet unopened. The Army cleared the Srinagar-Leh Rd and it was opened to traffic on Mon. Departed Srinagar on Tue.25th. at 10am on the most dangerous part of the road which I recorded on my Helmet Video. Covered the 436 KMs from Srinagar to Leh in twelve hours and reached Leh at 10 pm. Wed.26th.Sept. Checked with Authorities about the Road Back via Shimla-Manali. Was informed that the road was closed till further notice. Left Leh at 10 am and Reached Srinagar at 10 pm. 430 KMs in twelve Hours and Checked Back into the Houseboat at Dal Lake. Thu.27th.Sept. Departed Srinagar at 10 am via Jammu-Pathankot-Jalandhar-Rohtak and stopped at Delhi for an Oil Filter and Air Cleaner Element Change and continued onto Jhansi. Reached Jhansi the next day Fri.28th.Sept. at 10 pm, covering once again 1400 KMs in 36 Hours Non-Stop Riding. Stayed the night at Jhansi. Departed Jhansi on Sat.29th.Sept.at 10 am. Decided to return to Nagpur via Jabalpur. Was a big mistake as the roads from Sagar to Jabalpur and Lakhnadaon were in a horrid condition with road widening works on. Reached Nagpur at 10 pm. Covered the almost 700 KM in twelve hours. Except for a leaking front left shock absorber I did not have any mechanical problems. Went for two tosses. One whilst trying to move in between the traffic bottleneck beyond Anantnag in Kashmir and the second toss in front of the Hotel Gate in Leh. Got people to lift the Bike and carried on. Most probably the next Ride is going to be to Kanyakumari from Nagpur on my Favourite Car my 1962 Ambassador MHN 1215, which I have owned from 1969...49 Years. Have always been very athletic and young in body and mind despite the age Hahahahaha. I'm supposed to Fly Back to Melbourne on the 16th.Sept. but will most probably stay-on and get my Ambassador roadworthy again to travel Inter-state. 09/10 Haha I'm going to be 68 this month. Met a bunch of young Bikees on the Delhi-Haryana Border. One young Fella asked me how old I was. I told him to guess and he mentioned 48. I told him that he guessed it twenty years short. They guys looked at me in awe and couldn't believe that at this age I was doing the Ride to Leh alone. They told me to have Dinner with them and sleep at their place in Rohtak. I told them that I would be Riding the whole night through and wouldn't be halting till I reached Srinagar. Haha you should have seen the look in their faces. One of them was Pali Singh who is supposed to be the Fastest on the Leh Circuit. Our Satnam Singh Sidhu from Nagpur too felt astonished. I was instrumental in his doing the Ride from Bombay to Nagpur on a brand new Suzuki Shogun, beating the Gitanjali Express Train years ago (late 1980’s). |
Originally Posted by AppachuKK
(Post 4476868)
Dr. AC, Mr. Vernon is one guy who has inspired all of us. His last visit he drove down south in his Jeep too. The energy levels is to high. Hats off |
Originally Posted by Roy.S
(Post 4476884)
What a legend! And look at that luggage carrier. You could probably put a backup bike on it. Is there a youtube link where he has uploaded videos? |
Originally Posted by anjan_c2007
(Post 4476796)
Vernon Franklin, was born on 23-10-1950. He will be touching SIXTY EIGHT in less than two weeks from now ! |
Originally Posted by GTO
(Post 4478057)
Hat's off to his spirit, enthusiasm & good health! At 41, I wouldn't even think of doing Leh-Ladakh in my Jeep and here's an old man who rides there on his bike. A true dude :thumbs up. Sure doesn't look 68 either. |
Originally Posted by anjan_c2007
(Post 4606526)
Vernon was doing his normal 100 kmph |
"How I reached Cudappah ? The mistake I made was I did not check the maps and turned towards Anantpur instead of continuing towards Bangalore from Cuddapah. It was one big long cut. Somewhere I missed the Bangalore Road by mistake. To make matters worse, they have constructed high and not very wide speed breakers at every village and at night you go Bumpy-Daisy over these. " |
I Started my Ride to Kanyakumari from Nagpur on 5.6.19 at 7 am and reached Kanyakumari on 8.6.19 at 6.30 pm. On learning from Friends at Kanyakumari the Monsoons had already hit Kerala, I High-Tailed it the same night back to Nagpur via Salem - Bangalore - Kurnool and Hyderabad and reached Nagpur at 10 pm on 10.6.19. Completed the distance of nearly 4000 KMs in Six days on my Royal Enfield Classic 350 Bike. Was warmly welcomed by Automobile Groups at Paradise in Hyderabad, Vrindavan at Kurnool, Koshy's at Bangalore and by Harish at Kanyakumari. The Temp was 47 Deg when I departed and still 46 Deg when I returned. Guys from the Auto Groups were very appreciative of the fact that I attempted the Ride at the age of 68. Last year in Sept 2019, I completed the Nagpur to Leh in Ladakh Ride of 6000 KMs on the same Bike. On my almost 10,000 KM Ride, my Bike had just a leaking Front Shock Absorber Oil Seal Leakage. Believe it or not, I had no Aches and Pains except for an Aching Right Hand and Wrist caused mainly due to Holding the Accelerator down at Full Throttle to do a Maximum Speed of 120 Kmph. My 43 Hour Continuous Ride from Bangalore to Kanyakumari and back to Hyderabad has got Eyes-Popping. Moreover because the Temp was 47 Deg when I departed and still 46 Deg when I returned. My sincere Thanks go out to Anjan Chatterjee who is the Secretary of the Cent India Vintage Auto Association and Friends and Colleagues who were following me continuously to Inquire about my welfare. I have received a lot of messages from Youngsters that I was a great Inspiration to them and from Seniors that Age is just a Number. DARE TO. BE. WISE MY FRIENDS |
Oops I missed the fun. Thanks everybody for your appreciation of my Nagpur-Leh Kashmir-Nagpur-Kanyakumari-Nagpur Ride of over 10,000 KM Ride. The 2100 KM Ride from Bangalore-Kanyakumari and returning the same night to Hyderabad via Bangalore in 43 Hours continuous Riding was the Icing on the Cake. I honestly did not think about setting any Records as I Drive Long-Distance in my Car's in Melbourne too. To keep the 46 Deg. heat at Bay I was on Liquid Diet. Now-Now don't get it wrong as I am a Tea-Totaler. I consumed 2.2 Lts of Fruit Juices and Three Litres of Water. It had its thrills too with kids trying to keep pace with me at 120 KMph who panicked and backed-off. Had to bring all my Riding Skills to the fore to stop the Bike within twenty feet when Cruising at 100 KMph to avoid accidents. Once to brake and stop dead when a AP ST Bus did a U Turn without any Indication or slowing down and the other when I almost ran into a Pile of earth at a Road Diversion in the middle of nowhere at night after Adilabad when returning to Nagpur. Cheers and Thanks once again. |
Whatsapp message to his school classmates in a group:- The trip to Kanyakumari was something I had to do. This trip has become Folklore for most of the Auto and Bikee Groups in India for two things. One I am 68 Years Old and secondly after leaving Bangalore I Rode to Kanyakumari and after hearing from my friends about the Monsoon Rains in Kerala, I immediately started back on the return trip. I Rode the Bike the whole night and whole of next day through Salem- Bangalore - Kurnool and only stopped on the outskirts of Hyderabad at 12.30 am and checked into a hotel. Like my North trip when I started at Jhansi and Stopped in Srinagar I was Riding the Bike continuously for 36 Hours ,so also I left Bangalore at 6.30 am and stopped only at Hyderabad at 1.30 am. That's again 36 Hours. Fortunately the Group's were following me right through and know that I was on the Bike for 37 Hours. Leave alone the long hours it was the tremendous heat on the road that got everybody taking their Hats-Off to me. Your 1966 Batchmate is an All India Star and I don't think anyone could match my record ever again. Fortunately, I stopped in Hyderabad on the Request from the Hyderabad Group else I was planning on Riding right through the night and reach Nagpur to avoid the intense heat in the day. There was fun on the way too. I overtook a Group of Four Bikers on the 500 Bullet. They all took turns to try to beat me at 120 KMph. Watching that I was stuck like glue to the road without any fancy riding they all have up. One young Smarty tried Racing me. He overtook me at 120 KMph but the moment I saw his Brake Light come on, when trying to overtake two trucks, I knew he was an Inexperienced Rider. I overtook him and that was the last I saw of him. Another chap also tried his luck but must have got the shits on seeing I was Cruising at 120 KMph. I have received umpteen Messages from Friends of Different Groups. The younger set informed me that I was an Inspiration to them and the Older Set informed me that Age is just a Number. I also received a Message from ex- SFSian Anand Jaiswal, President of the Vidarbha Cricket Association Congratulating me on my Ride. |
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