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You are all set for the mission, Dhiraj Sir. Have a nice ride and share more pics experiences and suggestions. Your posts are immensely inspirational.

What's your call on replacing normal air with nitrogen on the tyres? I've done it on my Xylo and it works wonders. I asked the HD folks for my bike they say no need. However I'm still keen...

Thanks for the kind words. I have been using normal air all my life and I feel Nitrogen is not practical especially for people like us who do not have easy access to it. We have only 1 pump in Meerut which dispenses Nitrogen and its like 7~8kms from my residence. But most importantly, I would loose out on the practicality of my in-house inflator with which I can top-up air at any time. Still would like to give this nitrogen thing a try one of these days...

Sure, the biggest advantage is Nitrogen keeps the tyres cool and does not let a deflate easy. By the way it can be mixed with normal air to reach the nearest PP and do a replacement again. I feel all club HP PPs have nitrogen.

May be - But I personally have never been a fan of Nitrogen! Plain air is fine with me (it contains 70% Nitrogen anyway) :uncontrol

Can you please tell me where exactly did you pick these up in Thailand?

If I remember correctly it was from Indra Mall, though I am not sure.

So it was Northern HOG Ride (NHR) time!



It is one of the 4 national rides undertaken by Harley in which riders from all over India converge. This is one of the added advantages of a premium brand. Besides a premium product under your belt such rides strengthen the riders spirit, whether a novice or a experienced one, to get together and share experiences and enjoy premium hospitality. Although be aware that nothing is free in life...lolz. Dates were 7th to 9th of November'14. As the riders were supposed to leave at 6.30am from the Gurgaon Dealership of Capital Harley Chapter and we being in Meerut which is another 100kms away, we decided to touch base at Delhi one night early. This is going to be 1000km+ ride, one of my longest.

The bike was readied and polished as always.


The Viaterra Claw bag fitted nicely and snugly


Tested the rain cover too, just in case


Both the ride and the rider were ready to rumble


We were a gang of 6 that departed from Meerut. One of the riders also took along his Thar though I was not in favour of the same and most mates kept their luggage in it. Not me. I wanted to test my solo riding capabilities.

Next morning ready to depart from Capital, Harley Gurgaon. About 80~100 riders from Delhi region joined in


Stopped about 70kms shy of Jaipur for the first pit stop after about 150 kms from Gurgaon. That's our Thar in the background whose owner incidentally is also a Teambhp'ian


We separated from the main group after this stop as we wanted to maintain our own speeds. We also stopped enroute to Ajmer. The roads were fantastic in most parts, lonely and desolate in others. But the experience was surreal. For the first time in my ownership experience I felt the need of a heavy breather air intake as at 160 the bike gasped for breath. A heavy breather or K&N filter will open it up for another 10~20kmph


This was our hotel that we had booked independently, Gulaab Niwaas Palace. Quite reasonable too @3.2k per night for 2 people with b/f.




That evening we saw the most fantastic sunset with the Pushkar Lake as a backdrop. There's a nice place aptly called the Sunset Cafe to enjoy this view with a great array of continental and Italian cuisine catering mostly to foreigners


The misty Sunrise the next morning was equally enthralling from our hotel room


This is Pushkar in toto. A small sleepy town with a population of around 20k and settled mostly around the prehistoric lake.


Another aerial view from the Helicopter ride most were taking


This is the aerial view of the venue with it's tented accommodation where most riders stayed. Unfortunately it was fully booked by the time we tried.


More than 500 bikers converged from all over India. Some rode down even from far flung places like Kolkata and Bangalore, riding more than 2000 kms one way


The Final Night's Party started with a nice array of snacks and dinner


At the venue. Dusty


After saying the final goodbye to other fellow HOGs, we covered 532 kms by the time we were ready to start back our return journey. Got a great FE of 22~23kmpl on this stretch.


The ride ready to say goodbye to Pushkar


The Ajmer-Jaipur stretch is fantastic


But so were the smaller roads


The final distance covered was 1043 kms with average FE of 22kmpl. We did 511kms in a straight ride today, longest for me in a day.


The Sportster. What a fantastic machine this is. Zero issues. The Claw bag did not budge a inch. The Cramster Jacket kept me at just the right temperature even with the mesh portion uncovered. The MT helmet was very well ventilated and the snugness was perfect with full face protection. The bond grows...


Cheers...

!! Super !! Write up as always Dhiraj Sir. Thank you for sharing. Nice to see the bike tested to the limits...

Wow... great write up for great ride !!!

Dhiraj, Thanks for the photos and the nice write-up. The sunset shot looks awesome.

How did the viaterra fare during the ride and its usage? It would be nice if you can tell us whether it can carry all the luggage - and thereby avoiding another backpack.

By the way what knee guards were you guys using - I identified one as the Fox Titan(?) - the others looked similar. I have bought a Cramster inner Knee guard. Now thinking of getting an outer one also and hence researching.

Hi Dkaile, Awesome write-up. I was looking forward to catching up with you at Pushkar. I saw you riding on the way but suspect I missed running into you at the event. Cheers till another time.

The Viaterra Mini fared very well during the Ride. They have 2 models in the claw range. And this mini one is sufficient for 3~4 days luggage. But for longer rides you can go in for the standard Claw which is slightly bigger which is supposed to fit in a week's luggage.

For the knee guard, it would be better to go for the Cramster outer one which incidentally one of my mates is also wearing. It is of much better quality than the Fox one and reasonable too for the quality.
Thanks AC_genius. Would have been nice to catch up. Some other day soon.

Finally my superlow came home last week (ownership thread coming soon). In the meanwhile I'm having some difficulties with the battery cover I thought I'll ask the veteran owners about. The battery cover remains loose from one of the clamps(left one) and comes off very easily if you pull it by hands. My only worry is that it might completely fall off during bumby roads. The reason being it did almost fall due to a deadly pothole. Any similar experiences, suggestions?

Look carefully and you will find that your battery cover is not clamped properly inside the bottom clamp. Just remove it fully, put it properly in the bottom loop clamp and this problem should disappear.

Dheeraj Sir, I tried that by taking it out completely and clamping it back again. But after even a short ride one of the clamps gets detached. I noticed this two hours before my flight last night and couldnt go to the dealer then. Now I'll be back in Delhi in a month's time and not sure what to do now.
Before and after ride pics are below: