An overdue update.
With the family in their native for Deepavali, it was time for me to hit the road again rather than being alone at home.
With the rains in Bangalore, planned a three day ride across the beautiful Western Ghats again followed by a rest day at the end. Thankfully it was 3 days of nature in FULL HD, i mean in bright sunlight.
Luggage system was Invictus frame bags at the front and Wildcraft rucksack with raincover at the tail. Although i had saddle bags, wanted to use the tailbag as i thought it would be some sort of back support during the ride.
Added my camp mat and this time a new addition, a folding chair from Decathlon.
With all luggage packed up and with a tankfull of petrol started around 7 am from home. First destination was Patla betta viewpoint and then Bisle Ghat view point. From there the plan was to ride some B roads between Kukke Subramanya and Dharmasthala and then halt at Ujire.
All went well till Patla betta trail starting point. At the point local jeepers said it is doable in bike so decided to give a try. Due to recent rains there were deep ridges and grooves across the trail making it difficult. I had to get down and recce the trail at few spots, but was manageable. I removed all the air from the air seat so that i sit as low as possible in order to be able to support a fall if needed, but i should have reduced the tyre pressure as well, 40 psi was very high
Anyhow, the ascent was ok, although i slipped once, but it was into a ridge so could maintain balance easily. Other than this it was smooth, no wheelspin anywhere and i was able to make to the peak.
Stayed there for a while, took some pics and felt confident on offroading...over confident.
Started the descent with confidence and soon realized it's a completely different story. Made it to the first turn and then everything fell apart.
Here the road is a slope from left to right, not realizing this i wanted to stop to recce the next obstacle. My right foot could not feel the ground and bike started tilting to the right and down she went, quickly thought with all the luggage on the bike it will be pain to fight the tilt, so i let go of the bike taking my right foot out of the way. The AOM handlebar made the first point of contact and cracked right away. The crash guards did their jobs and even the Invictus frame bags fared fine, no scratch or tear.
Just stood there for a minute catching my breath and realizing what had happaned and what to do next. Due to slope the bike was almost upside down and with all the luggage meant that lifting the bike from a 200 degree angle would be tough. So much for my solo ride aspirations. Made me think is it safe to ride solo
Fortunately, in such populous and friendly country help is not far. There were a group of able bodied youth trekking up the trail who witnessed all this fiasco in front of them. Even before i asked, they signalled me to wait for them to come and lift the bike. Kudos to them
It took 4 fully grown men to lift the damn thing from 200 plus degree tilt to its upright position. Realized that the handlebar was cracked and bent downwards and right mirror cracked. My investment in handguards and crash guards paid off, the handguards protected the front brake lever and the bike was rideable. The blokes helped me get on the bike and navigate the obstacle and asked me if they should come with me for the full descent. I did not say anything, but knew their thoughts "what this uncle is doing here alone without knowing how ride a bike"
Bruised ego..!
Time for a self retribution, thought back hard and remembered my past research on how to descend on a heavy ADV over ridges and grooves. It was simple "just walk the bike".
From then on it was a well planned descent, release the front brakes and from first gear press the clutch to move the bike while using my legs as anchors on both sides. Although it was slow but it worked and i came down safely, even over the worst parts.
From Patla betta, rode straight to Bisle Ghat view point where i planned to regroup my thoughts and plan the next steps there.
Went to the view point, had a protein bar and water then decided to first visit the nearest RE service center to get the bike checked and then decide whether to continue the trip or abort.
The nearest was at Belthangady which was in my initial route plan. My calls to them went unanswered, reached there only to realize that they were closed as it was Sunday.
Booked a room at Ujire and decided to rest for the day and get the bike checked tomorrow morning.
Went to RE Service at 9:30 am, they said they do not have the handlebar and mirror for Himalayan in stock and guided me to Mangalore RE.
They checked everything else and confirmed no problem and lubed the chain as a goodwill. Tried a few local garages they also did not have any stocks of spares.
Now, seeing the AOM handlebar cracked and bent, i was not confident of it's strength. My past drops in previous rides never had any bent handlebar, maybe the stock steel has been made to absorb such impacts. Having being used to comfort to AOM handlebar, did not want to go back to stock so decided to enquire about the Himalayan touring handlebar. The Mangalore RE SVC confirmed they had it in stock and they could get it fitted immediately.
So rode to Mangalore and somewhere on the way one of the Maddog yellow filters decided to jump and i lost it.
The folks at Mangalore did a good job and completed the handlebar installation by 2 pm. They kept my touring accessories safe and guided me to a good restaurant for lunch. After getting the bike fully checked again and all spares fitted (handlebar, right mirror, brake lever) i was ready to continue my trip. My faith in RE SVCs for accessibility and parts availability was satisfied and felt i had made good decision. Any other exotic bike meant trip would have ended there and i had to cart the bike to Bangalore and costly repairs.
Tannir bhavi beach was in my to do list, it was nearby so headed there. It was very sunny and humid, so did not spend much time there, although the tree park felt cool but was overcrowded, not my kind of place.
Decided to ride up the Agumbe ghats and hit Ripponpet for night halt. Rode up the hair pins of Agumbe and reached the sunset point exactly for the sun to start setting. Took few snaps and moved on to Agumbe town.
I was a fan of Malgudi days and always wanted to explore the streets of Agumbe, this was my chance. Although it was getting dark, just rode around the empty streets and felt nothing nostalgic, maybe that innocence of Swamy had left Agumbe long back.
Decided to halt at Agumbe itself just for the chilled experience. There was a non veg restaurant, a bar at a distance and a decent lodge, just enough to convince myself to call it a day here.
After so much happenings on the first 2 days, Day 3 started normally, i was just packing my luggage on the bike when another fellow biker came to me and asked for surrounding places. He was a first time rider on TVS RR 310, he was not confident of riding alone and expressed his willingness to join me for first half of the day. I obliged and we started with me in the lead.
First destination was Kundadri view point, unfortunately it was still closed at 8 am with no signs of opening until 9 or 10 am. We gave it a pass started our ride towards Thirthahalli. Roads were awesome, the RR 310 rider, i could see him enjoying the ride. We had breakfast at Thirthalli and then parted ways. I guided him to take Hulikal Ghat route back to Kundapura and i proceeded towards Jog.
The usual tourist spot at Jog was very crowded, the security guard waved me in and asked me to pay Rs 50/- as parking fee. Looking at the crowd, i signalled him that i would not park and will take a U turn to exit Jog. The new idea was to see Jog from different perspective - from the Tourist Bungalow side.
The crowd here was very less and after checking with few shops, i took my bike inside the Bungalow compound near the viewpoint. Spent some clicks there and decided to move out. The idea was continue straight along NH to Honnavara and check out a remote beach - Ramanagindi.
NH 69 is awesome all the way upto Honnavara. With the sky full clear, the sun was shining in full glory, the humidity in this area was making me feel tired. Took a lot of breaks to rehydrate myself. Met few intresting people, like a Corporate cab driver, who quit durig COVID and came to his native to start a small hotel never to go back again to corporate life. Another fellow quit MNC and pursued his interest in automobiles by starting a two wheeler showroom.
By the time i exited the cool Western Ghats area, i felt very tired and was barely moving. Gladly, another Himalayan overtook me, a glance at the number plates revealed that they were from Bangalore. Rode with the couple for sometime and soon reached the coast and parted ways. Makes me realize how motivating it would be to have a another rider.
My destination was Ramanagindi beach, which i had shortlisted by just checking on satellite view in Google Maps. I had no info on the beach and could not see any reviews anywhere.
But, WHAT a Find..!!
Cleanest, calmest and most beautiful beach i ever visited in my life. Not even a single sign of tourism/commercialisation, an absolute nature's Gem.
There was not even a single soul in sight, i had the entire beach to myself. So, time to setup my open camp and just relax for an hour. Took a long break, downed two protein bars as there was nothing else. After this first day's episode never expected such a surprise. Really amazing find.
This was the highest point of the trip, from here the plan was to return to Bangalore. It was about 500 KMS from here, so thought of riding to Sirsi for the night halt and then next day to Bangalore.
Kumta to Sirsi road was under construction and in very bad shape. Somehow i managed to reach Sirsi before 6 pm and called it a day.
Final day, started leisurely at 8 am from Sirsi and reached home by 4 pm. Met a fellow rider who was also returning to Bangalore after being on the road for a week.
Overall, it was a planned 3 day trip which got extended by a day and my bike got a new handlebar. I am satisified with the bike's performance, with a mileage of 32 KMPL, my wallet is happy. For the next trip, i will drop the rucksack and use Viaterra saddle bags as balancing the rucksack took a lot of effort and stops.