[shaikhmimran]

What a cliffhanger of a story ! You certainly know how to have an adventure. Kudos to you and the boys to stick together and enjoy the curve balls that came your way.

[neil.jericho]

FURY_44, that surely was an epic adventure! These are the motorcycle experiences that you will treasure for the rest of your life. Your story telling skills are quite something. I felt like I was sitting in the bus with you guys in the middle of the night!

Hats off to you and your riding buddies for persevering through it all. It looks like the rewards were well worth it. Here is to more adventures, of the less scary kind, and more fascinating updates on this ownership thread.

[VijayAnand1]

If it's Kerala, it's always kadala and puttu curry, and those full stack of curry leaves they wholeheartedly embellish the gravy with, is a delicacy like no other, tastes even better with good company and it's a delectable combo with you add bikes. Good show lads.

Cheers!
VJ

[FURY_44]

Originally Posted by FURY_44

Monsoon Ride aka Dhik Dhik Ride - July 2022
When: 1 - 3 July
Where: Attapadi, Kerala
Stay: Midway Crest Farmstay, Attapadi - https://goo.gl/maps/cABgLVWmWbWA7WVC6

Here's an extended video highlights of the trip posted on our club's Instagram account, it's 5 mins long, but trust me it's a really good edit. The first 30 seconds or so is like a forest raid, don't miss it.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cf33dFg...d=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[FURY_44]

Freedom Ride - August 2022
When: Independence Day Weekend
Planned: Bangalore - Munnar - Athirapilly Falls - Valparai - Bangalore
Executed: Bangalore - Munnar - Athirapilly Falls - Kochi - Bangalore (I think the planned & executed feature is here to stay)
Stay: Ivory Homestay @ Munnar (https://goo.gl/maps/1KArXnfghP3RN1XF7) Hotel Lucia @ Kochi (https://goo.gl/maps/rPdMxocw2WRA1RYL7)

Yes, we too were responsible and part of the km-long traffic jams at toll plazas heading out of Bangalore on the Independence Day weekend. 18 bikes, our highest count for an overnighter trip could not have come at a better time. Being a pet parent, my early morning starts are no longer possible, for reasons known to dog owners (Hint: Dog walks). 17 bikes started at 6:00 AM from E City toll plaza, while I started at 6:45 AM from my home in N Bangalore.

Day 1 Route Map: Bangalore - Salem - Dindigul - Theni - Munnar

My plan as usual was to catch up with the gang just before they finish their breakfast at Salem. Seems like the jams at toll plazas and a lorry accident before Krishnagiri hampered their progress. I was with them even before they could get seated at the restaurant, a gap of +45 mins turned to +0 mins, as an F1 data freak, I was loving it . Lesser said about the A2B @ Rasipuram the better, they had nothing available on the menu except dosas from the spoilt batter, idli's, and some vadas, very poor experience. Thanks to my mom's parcelled poha, I was saved from the torture.

First photos of the day @ A2B, Rasipuram

Filled up fuel at IOCL COCO bunk just after Namakkal, with a planned lunch stop at Dindigul. We were at the Theni junction by 2 PM, had some refreshments at a bakery, and moved forward our lunch break to Thatti Villas @ Theni. Bangalore to Theni via Dindigul is one boring highway, but hey considering our last trip, we love to spice things up.

Spice things up we did, a puncture caught on one of our bikes

Pictures captured during the ascend to Munnar

Little to no traffic during the ascend, we were expecting a lot of traffic, it was quite surprising, empty twisties x RR310 = . We were on the gap road, on the KL side (if that's what it's called) by 6 PM, I've never seen such a beautifully laid stretch of tarmac, not to mention we were all in full send mode, before stopping for some pictures.

Gap road is a vibe

We reached Ivory Homestay @ Anachal, Munnar, by 8:30 PM, lit a campfire, had dinner, danced to some music, and called it a day.

Stats for day 1

Day 2 Route Map: Munnar - Athirapilly Falls - Chalakudy - Kochi

Today is where the planned and executed feature is added to our trip. Munnar to Valaparai via Athirapilly is just a leisurely 200kms ride, well, it did not go that way. We left our homestay only by 11:45 AM after having breakfast.

All packed and ready for today's adventure

Fuel stop, and a person from a local media channel was clicking our pictures, making headlines wherever we go, hehe.

We rode through a beautiful rubber plantation to reach Athirapilly









Vettilapara Bridge

Athirapilly Falls @ 4:10 PM

Finally, I could watch Athirapilly in its full glory, this was the 3rd time we had planned, including the last trip. We were sure the checkpoint to Valparai would close at 6 PM, but I remember reading a review somewhere that the checkpoint doesn't allow 2W's post 4 PM, only cars and buses are allowed until 6 PM. We made a quick dash from the falls to the checkpoint only to see a KL forest officer standing in the middle of the road pointing a finger at us to turn back and return the way we came from. I had flashbacks of the last trip run through in front of my eyes in timelapse mode, "not again" I ushered inside my helmet. One thing we learned from our last experience was, that no amount of pleading would make him let us through the checkpoint.

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

We were late by 24 mins, 24 #$%&* minutes.

We rode back to Chalakudy and stopped at a hotel for coffee and snacks, the plan still was to ride to Valparai. However, we had a lady pillion and another lady rider, we couldn't risk riding through the night. After spending almost an hour and a half at the hotel, out of nowhere one of my friends came up with a bail-out solution. "Hey Kochi is 50 km from here", I had never been to Kochi, after a couple of minutes of eye-to-eye contact amongst each of us, we sealed the deal and decided to ride to Kochi for the night, quick calls to a couple of hotel and rooms were booked for all of us. Kochi city entry gave us Attibele - Chandapura - Electronic City vibes, with all the flyovers and the metro line. We were joking amongst ourselves on the intercom, that we have reached Silk Board. We reached our hotel next to the Ernakulam KSRTC bus stand at around 8:30 PM, I had no idea why and how I chose this hotel, but the rooms were spacious and very neatly maintained. After a boy's hostel room kind of a party (IYKYK) which ran late through the night, finally hit the bed at around 2:30 AM.

I had my ride tracker off for day 2, maybe I knew we would not make it to Valparai, haha, saved my phone battery the hassle.

Day 3 Route Map: Hotel Lucia - Puthenthode Beach - Palakkad - Salem - Krishnagiri - Bangalore

I am an early raiser, no matter how late I sleep, I wake up by 6:00 AM (perks of being a dog owner). I and a couple of others decided we head to the beach for a photoshoot. We've come all the way to a beach city, not visiting one would be a shame. While the rest of the gang was asleep, we 4 made it to Fort Kochi first and then to Puthenthode Beach. The latter had an entryway for the bikes to get onto the sand, which is what we wanted.

On the way, we could see Independence Day drills being carried out by the Indian Navy

A minor setback came in the form of the odometer display going dead on the CBR 250R due to riding in the water, it was later found to be a relay going kaput, thankfully we had a spare in the RR310, replaced it, and the display was back on. We made it back to the hotel, had breakfast, and left at around 12:40 PM, yes, you read that right 12:40 PM and we had to cover around 600kms to reach Bangalore, with GMaps estimating a 12 hr ride.

But first



We spent an hour and Rs.3000 at this shop. But hey, it's banana chips.

The rest of the journey was uneventful and boring, we passed through the Kuthiran tunnel, and had lunch at Star Biryani at Sholakarai on the right side just after crossing the KL border. Do those speed cams on the Palakkad highway, really work? to be on the safer side, we did drop our speeds on spotting a camera.

The line up @ Star Biryani, Sholakarai

Skipped dinner but made a couple of anti-sleep breaks at Omalur Toll Plaza, Hotel Mangalam, Krishnagiri, with final goodbyes at Attibele Toll Plaza, I made it home past midnight at 1:30 AM. Odo reading was showing 1363 kms with a return in mileage of 36 kmpl which put a smile on my face and I hit the sack right after. All in all, another successful and adventurous trip was completed with the gang, thanks to everyone for sticking together.

Stats for day 3



Summing up with a picture that beautifully covers Munnar - Athirapilly & Kochi

[dust-n-bones]

Thanks for a well written report. Reminds me of a trip to Munnar and adjoining parts we covered some 5 years ago. Kerala is just amazingly beautiful no matter what part you put your finger on.

Originally Posted by FURY_44

Attachment 2351976

I think you guys have parked adjacent to a blind curve. There may be low traffic on these twisties, but I reckon keeping all curves clear of unexpected obstructions is the safer thing to do.

Originally Posted by FURY_44

Attachment 2352036

Isn't this IAC1 - Vikrant? India's first indigenous aircraft carrier, which is to be inaugurated on Sep 2 (tomorrow)? Here are some details.

If it is, well spotted

[FURY_44]

Originally Posted by dust-n-bones

I think you guys have parked adjacent to a blind curve. There may be low traffic on these twisties, but I reckon keeping all curves clear of unexpected obstructions is the safer thing to do.

As a practice, I do not stop my bike at curves, in the picture the 1st black bike is mine, the rest of the gang just stopped behind me for pictures.

Originally Posted by dust-n-bones

Isn't this IAC1 - Vikrant? India's first indigenous aircraft carrier, which is to be inaugurated on Sep 2 (tomorrow)? Here are some details.

If it is, well spotted

Woah, this is news. It was humungous, photos do not do justice for the size of this ship, I have never seen anything like it before, thank you for sharing the article.

[FURY_44]

Dussehra Ride - October 2022
When: Dussehra Weekend
Planned & Executed: Bangalore - Gundlupet - Masinagudi - Kalhatty - Ooty - Kundha - Geddai - Mulli - Ooty - Bangalore
Stay: Pearls Resorts @ Kalhatty (https://goo.gl/maps/rPs6VgjkabaMM9UP7)

A twist even before the ride had started, the trip was planned as a 3-day ride from Fri - Sun, I had a last-minute family medical emergency on Thursday night and I had to skip the ride on Friday. After a fair bit of convincing and I had the approval to ride out on Saturday.

After helping my dog clear his bowels on Saturday morning, off I was towards Ooty, left home at 6:40 AM, took the ORR and I was on Mysore Road in 30 mins. I had planned to reach Ooty by 12 PM, to catch up with the boys who were all on a day out towards Kotagiri & Coonoor. I hadn't been on the Mysore Rd in a long time (for obvious reasons), and I was really surprised how fast I could cross Bidadi & Ramnagara due to the bypass. The traffic was on the higher side due to it being Dussehra.

Reached Shell, Gundlupete at 9:40 AM for a quick fuel up, hot coffee, and some refreshments. Took the ride slowly inside Bandipur and Masinagudi, I reached Ooty at 11:15 AM, way ahead of schedule, surprising my friends and myself.

Time for some first pictures at Emerald

Caught up with the boys for lunch at this hole-in-the-wall kinda restaurant called "Mano Mess" which dished out scrumptious veg and non-veg meals at Yedakadu, highly recommended.

Since I had skipped breakfast, no time for photo ops

Let's get to the point, shall we, one main reason why I wanted to join this ride was, we had planned to ride to Mulli via Kundha, Geddai. Remember a few points from my earlier ride to Attapadi, and as I quote.

Twist 2: Now, at this moment we realized it was 6:30 PM and we would have trouble crossing the Mulli check post, our chances of crossing it when there was light were slim and now it was getting dark. We enquired with a few locals at Avalanche, and all of them returned with only one answer with multiple iterations "No, Not Possible, Elephant Sightings". We swallowed the bravery pill and wanted to give it a shot ourselves, it was pitch dark by 7 PM, the XPulse's add-on lights were a savior in lighting up the roads, and the mighty RR310s were led by a puny little XPulse. We heard hues and cries from the occasional oncoming localities and shops we crossed, to stop and return back the way we came by. Supposedly, since it's the jack fruit season, a lot of Elephant sightings have been made, the last bus which crosses the Mulli check post was at 5:30 PM, before dusk, and no other vehicles are allowed to cross the check post for any reason after that, even emergency vehicles.

We stopped at a place called Kundha exactly at 8 PM and decided we take an alternative route to cross into Kerala.

We wanted to settle this mano a mano, ehh or mano a hills.

What Kundha - Mulli was offering us in return, 43x2 = 86 well-maintained hairpin bends

By this time, we were just showing off, haha, we wanted to capture the "starting point"

The fun was shortlived, as some 20 hairpin bends later, the hills bit us back

After taking corners left, right, and center, all the time grinning inside the helmet, the hills bit me back. While exiting a corner, I could feel the bike suddenly jerking and it felt underpowered, I tried accelerating a bit just to confirm if it was an issue, and the bike did not move as it should have, immediately pulled over to the side and flagged down the boys.

Initially, I thought it could be a rear puncture, but when I looked down on the rear tyre, there was white smoke billowing from the rear brake caliper. It was a surprise for me since my braking technique is 80% front and 20% rear. We had a mech ride with us in the group and he quickly sprayed water on the disc to cool it off immediately and it was free in a couple of minutes. He advised me not to use the rear brake at all for the rest of the journey.

With only the front and engine braking available, I wasn't pushing the corners as I was earlier, but I guess the load was too much and the front brake too got jammed after taking another 10 hairpin bends. We followed the same method as above and let the disc cool off. I also checked the rear disc and it was stone cold since I was not using them. I was not keen on continuing and wanted to return to Ooty, but our mech, Mr. Shivu encouraged me to continue and visit Mulli which I was so keen on. I crawled at 20 - 30 kmph to reach Geddai and Mulli. We won but at what cost!!

Following are some pictures captured at different points during our descent and ascend

Riding with a tank bag on a sports bike is not for everyone, as my bro found out here the hard way

I did not expect the ride to turn this adventurous when I started from home in the morning. Mind you, the Kundha - Mulli - Kundha circuit was done by me without taking a break in between from Bangalore, except for lunch, so this was a marathon kinda ride, no regrets, whatsoever!

All of us returned back to our stay, Pearls Resorts at Kalhatty by 8 PM, lit a campfire, and the night was long.

Stats from REVER

Day 2: Pearls Resorts, Kalhatty - Mysore - Bangalore

Like the aftermath of a storm, there was this sense of silence and peace around the property. A few of us as usual, headed to a nearby location for some photo ops.

Signing off from our stay



Final fuel break at Shell, Gundlupete. Fuel station captures hit different



Mysuru was all decked up, this is the Columbia Asia Jn

Our return journey was delayed significantly due to heavy rains in Gundlupete/Nanjangudu stretch, traffic at the Columbia Asia Jn, and chaos inside Mandya/Maddur town. We did expect this, but my suggestion to ride via Mettupalayam/Salem was shot down immediately saying it would be a "10 hr ride". Guess what, the ride via Mysore took us 11 hrs, yes 11 hrs, you read that right.

Sometimes the most important life lessons are the ones we end up learning the hard way.

End wisdom.

[100Kmphormore]

Mettupalayam - Avinashi - Salem is a bit boring of a ride since it involves only expressways and Mettupalayam is around 80 km away from Ooty, making it 400 km away from Bengaluru instead of the usual 270. But maybe it would have made a good choice considering the expressway is lit well compared to gundlupete masinagudi. Great experience captured well. Did you change the brake discs?

[supermax]

Was it only your bike that suffered the brake overheating, or did others face it too? If so, were they simply less aggressive on the turns or was it due to different riding style?

[VijayAnand1]

Originally Posted by FURY_44

Initially, I thought it could be a rear puncture, but when I looked down on the rear tyre, there was white smoke billowing from the rear brake caliper. It was a surprise for me since my braking technique is 80% front and 20% rear. We had a mech ride with us in the group and he quickly sprayed water on the disc to cool it off immediately and it was free in a couple of minutes. He advised me not to use the rear brake at all for the rest of the journey.

With only the front and engine braking available, I wasn't pushing the corners as I was earlier, but I guess the load was too much and the front brake too got jammed after taking another 10 hairpin bends. We followed the same method as above and let the disc cool off. I also checked the rear disc and it was stone cold since I was not using them. I was not keen on continuing and wanted to return to Ooty, but our mech, Mr. Shivu encouraged me to continue and visit Mulli which I was so keen on. I crawled at 20 - 30 kmph to reach Geddai and Mulli. We won but at what cost!!

Being a Ooty-ite and traversing this route many a times, this route is a thrill altogether different. Secondly, Apache RR310's seem to have this issue of smoking calipers both front and back and they lose braking pressure all of a sudden which can be quite unnerving at times. Have witnessed many RRs going through similar issue when the brakes are trusted quite a lot.

The best way to cool of the brakes is to stop and let it cool off naturally. What Mr. Shivu did wasn't the most professional thing to do. Brake rotors get really hot, and when I mean hot, piping hot. Spraying water to cool them immediately will cause rapid cooling and can cause hot spots on the rotor or worse can cause miniature cracks/heat fissures on the rotor at the point where the holes are drilled, which overtime can slowly expand.

Let the rotors/brake components cool and shed heat to ambient air, shouldn't take more than a couple of mins. With the RRs do keep a tab on brake fade especially when the brakes are graciously depended upon.

Good luck.

Cheers!
VJ

[FURY_44]

Originally Posted by 100Kmphormore

Did you change the brake discs?

I haven't taken out the bike yet after the trip, there were no issues whatsoever with the brakes on the return leg, but still, I have to get it checked out.

Originally Posted by supermax

Was it only your bike that suffered the brake overheating, or did others face it too? If so, were they simply less aggressive on the turns or was it due to different riding style?

Hey supermax, it was only my bike that suffered the brake overheating issue, I've been on multiple ghat road rides in my 4.5 years of ownership with this bike, and this was the first time such a thing has happened. Quite Puzzling!

Originally Posted by VijayAnand1

Being a Ooty-ite and traversing this route many a times, this route is a thrill altogether different.

Hey Vijay, you are right, I enjoyed every bit of those roads, will definitely go back there again.

The best way to cool of the brakes is to stop and let it cool off naturally. What Mr. Shivu did wasn't the most professional thing to do. Brake rotors get really hot, and when I mean hot, piping hot. Spraying water to cool them immediately will cause rapid cooling and can cause hot spots on the rotor or worse can cause miniature cracks/heat fissures on the rotor at the point where the holes are drilled, which overtime can slowly expand.

Let the rotors/brake components cool and shed heat to ambient air, shouldn't take more than a couple of mins. With the RRs do keep a tab on brake fade especially when the brakes are graciously depended upon.

You are right again, Shivu did inform us that spraying water on a hot disc is not the right way to cool it. The best way would be to loosen the bleed screw and let out a few drops of brake fluid. In the heat of the moment, I forgot I had carried a tool kit with me, and had to resort to water.

Thank you for your suggestions, will keep them in mind.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by FURY_44

Caught up with the boys for lunch at this hole-in-the-wall kinda restaurant called "Mano Mess" which dished out scrumptious veg and non-veg meals at Yedakadu, highly recommended.

*Snip*

With only the front and engine braking available, I wasn't pushing the corners as I was earlier, but I guess the load was too much and the front brake too got jammed after taking another 10 hairpin bends.

I can imagine all the fun you guys had driving up and down that road. Nilgiris is so beautiful, one can never have enough of it. Hope you get some time to read up on that dam and power station project, its an incredible achievement during its time.

Although I do not remember the name of that small restaurant you visited, I think its the same that we too had tea and meals from sometime last year. It was simple food but very tasty.

There is a reason why they do not let people down certain sections of Nilgiri Ghat roads - what you have experienced is one of the reasons for it. I hope you realize how fortunate you are to be able to experience such a mechanical failure and live to tell the story

On the state roads it will have enough warnings to use 2nd gear \ 1st gear while coming down in certain sections however all interior roads and district roads may not have this warning, anticipate the need to slow down, make generous use of engine braking and drive very very slowly, make sure to never drive on those roads when you are tired.

[FURY_44]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

There is a reason why they do not let people down certain sections of Nilgiri Ghat roads - what you have experienced is one of the reasons for it. I hope you realize how fortunate you are to be able to experience such a mechanical failure and live to tell the story

On the state roads it will have enough warnings to use 2nd gear \ 1st gear while coming down in certain sections however all interior roads and district roads may not have this warning, anticipate the need to slow down, make generous use of engine braking and drive very very slowly, make sure to never drive on those roads when you are tired.

Makes sense now, Kosfactor, I did not think of it this way. On our return leg we came down via the Kalhatty ghat, we were allowed to ride down due to our stays location. I could see multiple warning boards mentioning to stay in 2nd gear only and to be frank I did not want to risk it and crawled down the ghat.

[FURY_44]

November was awfully quiet, with me and FURY sitting out the month without any rides due to the brake failure episode in Ooty. I wanted to get that sorted ASAP.

In the meantime, I also wanted to change a number of things on the bike. I clubbed all of those together and FURY spent a good couple of weeks at the workshop for a midlife rejuvenation, she's turning 5 in Feb '23, time flies! The bike was delivered to me in mid-November and I had been testing all those new parts we put in , I am really happy with the outcome, the grin is back on my face. I will be posting a detailed service update in a week's time probably.

For now, to close the year, I have a Tirupati run to make, just in time, with a rejuvenated bike and rider, which feels like Deja Vu.