[darklord]

It was one of my great desires to do a real solo long trip in a bike since I owned my first bike (RX-100) as a student. I had some wonderful trips in that bike, but all short trips, never more than 100 kms. The RX-100, in my opinion, was never built for longer trips. My wallet, five years and a job later, gave me permission to get a new bike; and off I went and bought a spanking new Pulsar 180 in Dec '07, but then a new problem surfaced. I was not able to convince my folks about undertaking a long trip. Finally convinced them to do a Trivandrum-Bangalore trip after promising them that I will take my friend along. Three months ago, we did the trip; in 19 hours, almost 680 KM, via Nilambur. I decided to do the return trip to Ernakulam alone.

I started off from Bangalore at 6:30 in the morning. I did not bother to fill the tank from Bangalore as I knew that petrol prices in Tamilnadu is 2-3 rupees cheaper than in Bangalore. Reached Hosur and then filled just enough petrol to take me till Kerala border because prices are still cheaper in Kerala (Rs 57.xx in Bangalore to 52.xx in Kerala). Roads from Silk Board to Tamilnadu border is in various states of construction. Suddenly you will find the road level rising a few cms in a stretch of otherwise good road. Good test for the travel of front suspension though.

A signboard in Hosur indicating various distances.



Hosur-Krishnagiri stretch, in my opinion, is the best road in the entire section from Bang to EKM. Pushed the bike to its limits in this stretch, managed a top speed of 115 kmph there with comfortable cruising speeds of 90. It is a good four lane road, part of the new Bangalore-Chennai highway, I believe.



After Krishnagiri, the road to Dharmapuri is being widened. So watch out for vehicles coming in your direction in an otherwise four lane road. Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri is about 40 Km. Reached Dharmapuri at around 8:30 in the morning, found a good roadside stall, and had my breakfast there. Two idlis and one ghee roast, total bill- 13 rupees. Some 20 km or so after Dharmapuri, came across a township called Thoppur and took a right turn from there which takes you to Bhavani, bypassing Salem. There are two advantages of this: you can save about 20 km and the route is scenic. The road is a two lane, state highway AFAIK, but with a good surface most of the places. Once in mettur town, took a left turn which takes you to Bhavani. The road from Bhavani to Coimbatore is also being widened with construction going on at several places. The road, NH-47, is in varying condition, but generally okay.

Somewhere enroute to Coimbatore



Reached Coimbatore at 1:30 pm, took the bypass road to Palghat. The road is another stretch of excellent work from NHAI. Bikers will have to be careful of the winds though. In a couple of places, I was drifted a few feet off course due to the strong winds. When running along long haul trucks, this is recepie for disaster. Coimbatore to Kerala border (Walayar) is about 30 km or so.






Right after entering Walayar, rain started. Had to take refuge in a restaurant. I had to wait for about an hour, the time, which I utilized by filling my tank with fuel. Walayar to Palakkad is about 20 km and there is a pothole with some roads in between. Another good test for the strength of your forks and spine. Filled fuel from Palakkad. Palakkad to Thrissur is about 80 km or so. Roads are again mixed with good and bad stretches. Enroute, rain played spoilsport again and had to wait it out for an hour from a fuel station. Reached Thrissur at about 5:30 pm. Thrissur to Ernakulam is about 70 km. Roads are in various stages of conversion to four lane. Reached Ernakulam at about 7 pm.

Total traveling time: About 11-1/2 hours.
Total distance: About 520 km.
Total expense: About Rs 700.
Total FE for P-180: About 50 kmpl.

The entire route was planned with the help of Team-BHP, with the thread, http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...chi-route.html, helping a lot.

Of note:

I wore a helmet at all times, helps keep out the dust too. I took breaks at about every 2-1/2 hours or 150 km. There are two tolled roads; the Bang-krishnagiri stretch and coimbatore bypass, both are free for two wheelers though.

What I really liked: The instant acceleration and instant braking of pulsar 180. The good FE (considering the total driving conditions). The good roads of Tamilnadu.

What I really hated: The living gearbox (it seems to have a mind of it's own, doesnt always do what we want). The hard seats of Pulsar 180, (I concede it is not the best bike for long distance travel, but they could have made it a bit more comfortable). The roads in Kerala.

Wish I had: Oil cooler for the pulsar. A good pair of gloves. A good digicam.

The distances and time noted are from my recollection and from various other threads. Please verify correct distances.

Mods: I am not sure if this could be posted in Travelogues. If needed, kindly move.

[bmw_m5_titus]

Congrats bro! Its been my wish too to do a long solo, but still not confident about it.
Living gearbox huh? Nice description, i know what you mean.
A digicam would have given you some good pics to cherish the memory of your first solo trip. As for the seat of the pulsar, it gets worse with passage of time!

[Sankar]

Not the best time to travel on a bike due to the heavy rains, but im glad that you made it without any incidents. Ride safe bro. Btw where in tvm are you from?

[darklord]

@bmw: , the first kilometer is always tough, just ride that out, and you are on your way. Wish you luck.

@Sankar: I agree with you also. But I had a half-hearted approval from my parents. Was forced to make hay while the sun was shining . I am from Attingal.

[PatienceWins]

Congrats!! Glad you had a nice journey. Thanks for sharing the experience.

[deepclutch]

I had covered muvattupuzha-coimbatore(190kms) on last thursday(23).it was total rain after palakkad :( .still rode in rain.a KSRTC(kerala) superfast splashed a bucket of water when overtaking my Bullet Electra(4S) and the water directly fell on bullet's cylinder and tappet cover area.BOOM!white fumes.since I dont take brake in bullet for this route(not even for chai) ,engine may be a lil hot.

while I started my journey on morning 4 O'clock - there is slight drizzles which stopped after perumbavoor.I had to ride my bullet between 40 and 60kms due to "running-in" of new custom bronze valve-guides which is used. so ,the journey averaged speeds of 50kms approximately.also ,took 5hours to reach destination.otherwise will be around 3.5 hours of journey.

riding on Thrissur-Angamaly NH47 is so irritating and boring...

@OP: Palakkad byepass(chandra nagar) to Mannoothy byepass(thrissur) is around 64kms only.from Mannoothy byepass to Muvattupuzha it is around 74kms.so for Mannoothy to Ernakulam will be near to 78kms.

[praful]

Originally Posted by darklord

Hosur-Krishnagiri stretch, in my opinion, is the best road in the entire section from Bang to EKM. Pushed the bike to its limits in this stretch, managed a top speed of 115 kmph there with comfortable cruising speeds of 90. It is a good four lane road, part of the new Bangalore-Chennai highway, I believe.

Nice ride there! :-) Its always fun to do solo rides at times!

Hosur to Krishnagiri is OK, a bit crowded at times. Try taking a left at Krishnagiri for Chennai sometime, the road is a wee bit better and slightly less crowded, on a bike you can go full throttle

[speedzak]

Nice to see another good travelogue!
Well written. Made for a nice read. Could've been more the better with a (soon to buy?) digicam.

The best thing is eventhough you were alone, you stopped every 2.5 hours and relaxed yourselves. Pushing your body to it's limits is a very dangerous thing to do in these kinda solo rides. Well done! Will serve as a tip for many who wants to attempt something similar.

So, how're you planning to go back? Another well written travelogue in the making?

[darklord]

Originally Posted by PatienceWins

Congrats!! Glad you had a nice journey. Thanks for sharing the experience.

Thanks. My pleasure.

Originally Posted by deepclutch

Palakkad byepass(chandra nagar) to Mannoothy byepass(thrissur) is around 64kms only.from Mannoothy byepass to Muvattupuzha it is around 74kms.so for Mannoothy to Ernakulam will be near to 78kms.

Thanks for the correction. As I said earlier, the distances were just my recollection.

Originally Posted by praful

Nice ride there! :-) Its always fun to do solo rides at times!

Hosur to Krishnagiri is OK, a bit crowded at times. Try taking a left at Krishnagiri for Chennai sometime, the road is a wee bit better and slightly less crowded, on a bike you can go full throttle

Thanks for the tip buddy. Never had a chance to ride on that stretch.

Originally Posted by speedzak

Nice to see another good travelogue!
Well written. Made for a nice read. Could've been more the better with a (soon to buy?) digicam.

The best thing is eventhough you were alone, you stopped every 2.5 hours and relaxed yourselves. Pushing your body to it's limits is a very dangerous thing to do in these kinda solo rides. Well done! Will serve as a tip for many who wants to attempt something similar.

So, how're you planning to go back? Another well written travelogue in the making?

Thanks zak. I agree with you completely on the digicam part. Should scout for one on the next trip. Am gunning for Udupi next. Probably in a couple of months.