[lohithrao]

Civic, i would any-day suggest "Madikeri" route.

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by civicsense

Blr - Mlr : Saturday, 17/10/09: Try the Kunigal-Sakleshpur-Uppinangadi-Mlr stretch (NH-48). I plan to start early, say 5 AM and go through the NICE-Madagi Rd route to touch NH-48 ( total of around 350km). I know that the Shirdi ghat section is real bad, but it is the shortest route. Also the stretch from Blr to Sakleshpur seems alright from this discussion

Mlr - Blr: Monday 19th 1 PM: Since I will be starting in the afternoon, I will try the Mlr- Madikeri - Hunsur - Srirangapatana - Blr stretch (SH-88 & SH-17)so that I hit Mysore road before it is completely dark. (around 390km)

I suggest, shiradi. I say this coz it is the widest of all of the available options, and with some patience you can circumvent the potholes at most of the places. If you can keep away an hour for shiradi ghats (approx. 20 odd kms), one can make it without scraping the bottoms.

I did this stretch in first week of oct, onward journey was in day and return was in night. Return was much faster, coz roads were desolate.

[dkamath]

Hi civicsense, we might be able to say 'Hi' to each other if you decide to take the Madikeri route to M'lore, on that day

[rajshenoy]

Madikeri: its not that bad actually.. though you have bad stretch between kushalnagar-madikeri-sampaje, there is hardly any traffic so you have the luxury to use the full road

Shiradi: According to me the main issue is not the bad roads(Roads are still ok) but the heavy traffic of those mining trucks and the bullet tankers. Makes your life frustrating

Up to you to decide
I heard BC Road-Mangalore stretch has become very bad and few weeks back when i went to Mangalore i took a deviation(take left about a KM before the Netravati bridge where you pay the toll) and this takes you via the Mangalore university, Infosys route to NH17 near ullal . Road is ok(about 7-8 KM more ) but saves you from the traffic

[MCR]

@civicsense,
The Shiradi ghat road is horrible when it rains. You cannot judge the depth of the potholes because it is filled with water. this can lead to Civic scraping it bottom. The best stretch should be via Madikeri. The Madikeri stretch is average in the zones Kushalnagar - Madikeri - Sampaje. After Sampaje the roads are good.

[civicsense]

Thank you MCR/Raj/DKamath/JMaruru/Lohith for your suggestions.

The weather forecast for Sakleshpur and thereabouts says there is a 40% chance of thunderstorms. MCR, you have a point about the potholes when it rains. Raj, as you said the truck traffic is also notorious in this route. These are two big minuses.

But as JMaruru says, this is the shortest and widest road, and if it doesnt rain, I might still pull it off without bottoming out.

Lets see. I will take a final call on Friday.

[lohithrao]

Civic, couple of years back when the road condition was much worse my "oHC" never bottomed, yes i had to take lot of care but i could manage it.

So i definitely think now it would be very possible but just that you need to be patient...

[MCR]

Request BHPians who have travelled on this route this weekend to update on the current conditions. Would be good to update the latest.

[bkishore_77]

Hi all,

Returned yesterday via the Madikeri route. I should say the state of the road from Kushalnagar to Sampaje is acceptable. I expected it to be lot worse but this was a pleasant surprise. No big potholes anywhere but just a few small pot holes scattered.

A few potholes have cropped up between Puttur and Mani which were non existent earlier. But the BC Road to Mangalore is a disaster.

I strongly suggest to take a deviation at Melkar, which is approx 7kms before BC road junction on the way to Mangalore. The route from Melkar-Mudipu-Konaje-Thokkuttu-Mangalore is way better except for a 1 Km stretch near Thokkuttu bridge. There are few potholes scattered in these stretches but are manageble. I took the BC road stretch on my onward journey and took the Melkar route while returning. This route is longer by 5 Kms.

[lohithrao]

Kishore Did you go by your Safari or Palio?

A month when i had been via BC road it was bad in some stretches but i guess i took lesser time compared to Malkar. yea i guess i took the wrong time that is around 8ish when both office/college going crowd was at full strength.

[bkishore_77]

Originally Posted by lohithrao

Kishore Did you go by your Safari or Palio?

A month when i had been via BC road it was bad in some stretches but i guess i took lesser time compared to Malkar. yea i guess i took the wrong time that is around 8ish when both office/college going crowd was at full strength.

Lohith, it was Safari . Even I was at the wrong time at BC road i.e at around 5 PM. It was hellish traffic. In my return journey, I took the Thokkottu route around 2 PM Sunday afternoon. So the traffic was less.
The main grouse against BC road stretch is the long stretch of bumpy road which actually throws the vehicles like a boat and I hate that feeling.

So you need to take the call. BC road long stretch of bumpy road followed by a short stretch of good road and again back to bumpy road .

Or the Melkar road which is good, to ok road and a few scattered pot holes here and there.

[lohithrao]

hmmmm my friend traveling on a Safari you have this feedback wonder if you had a sedan what you would have done heheh

Originally Posted by bkishore_77

Lohith, it was Safari . Even I was at the wrong time at BC road i.e at around 5 PM. It was hellish traffic. In my return journey, I took the Thokkottu route around 2 PM Sunday afternoon. So the traffic was less.
The main grouse against BC road stretch is the long stretch of bumpy road which actually throws the vehicles like a boat and I hate that feeling.

So you need to take the call. BC road long stretch of bumpy road followed by a short stretch of good road and again back to bumpy road .

Or the Melkar road which is good, to ok road and a few scattered pot holes here and there.

[recshenoy]

Originally Posted by bkishore_77

Lohith, it was Safari . Even I was at the wrong time at BC road i.e at around 5 PM. It was hellish traffic. In my return journey, I took the Thokkottu route around 2 PM Sunday afternoon. So the traffic was less.
The main grouse against BC road stretch is the long stretch of bumpy road which actually throws the vehicles like a boat and I hate that feeling.

So you need to take the call. BC road long stretch of bumpy road followed by a short stretch of good road and again back to bumpy road .

Or the Melkar road which is good, to ok road and a few scattered pot holes here and there.

Melkar is better option. its good. But again roads after Netravathi river, after Kotekar biri , highway after pumpwell towards Udupi are bad

Dint get volvo last week so went by Sugama bus to Mangalore in last but one seat. Bus went by Shirad ghat. it was horrandous.

even if some on sitting on back of prancing horse, he wont experience something this horrible!

Roads are completely gone.

Coming back got a volvo. This volvo was old crap. It came via Madikeri but felt that roads were quite bad. or may be due poor condition of Volvo i felt so.

I came by new Volvo (9400 series) last week via madikeri and the ride quality was too goood.

In my last 3 months of travelling to Mangalore, the volvo has broken down 5 times. Trice due to suspension problem. Thanks to these pathetic roads.

Roads after Suratkal are again Pathetic. Roads are non existing near Mulki, Padubidri.

God know when we will get "decent" roads

[lohithrao]

Seems like "Volvo" might be making good money, ofcourse spare and maintenance

I have lost hopes, dont see we getting a permanent solution for this problem!

Originally Posted by recshenoy

Melkar is better option. its good. But again roads after Netravathi river, after Kotekar biri , highway after pumpwell towards Udupi are bad

Dint get volvo last week so went by Sugama bus to Mangalore in last but one seat. Bus went by Shirad ghat. it was horrandous.

even if some on sitting on back of prancing horse, he wont experience something this horrible!

Roads are completely gone.

Coming back got a volvo. This volvo was old crap. It came via Madikeri but felt that roads were quite bad. or may be due poor condition of Volvo i felt so.

I came by new Volvo (9400 series) last week via madikeri and the ride quality was too goood.

In my last 3 months of travelling to Mangalore, the volvo has broken down 5 times. Trice due to suspension problem. Thanks to these pathetic roads.

Roads after Suratkal are again Pathetic. Roads are non existing near Mulki, Padubidri.

God know when we will get "decent" roads

[@400Kph]

Hi guys , update from my trip to udupi last weekend:
Going to udupi --> I wanted to bypass Mangalore - udupi route as i knew how pathetic the road was.So i took bangalore- tumkur-Arsikeri-Bhadravathi-Koppa-Agumbe-Hebri route.The route till Bhadravathi is good and you can easily make it.Bhadravthi to Agumbe is mix of 70% good and 30 % horrible road.My 800 rattled a lot !!. Agumbe ghat is reasonably good compared to Shiradi and can cover the 12 km decent in decent 25 minutes.Your nightmare starts once you come down and reach till manipal.You will be driving into huge potholes that raise your BP to the max.and add to that the udupi weather .

Returning to bangalore --> This time i decided to take the agumber-Thirthahalli-Shimoga-Bhadravathi-Bangalore route.Agumber to shimoga roads are a breeze except 5 kms stretch which is getting relaid i guess.Shinmoga to bhadravthi is again getting relaid and not so good but manageable.Rest is fine as mentioned above.

I suggest you take the shimoga-thirthahalli route as you will save lot of time when compared to koppa route.
my 800 took the beating of the bangalore - udupi route and survived
Sorry no photos as i was busy trying to find the roads in between the potholes.