[AKSO]

Wow. Super T-log and I am glad you were able to pull a long ride and sensibly broke up your trip into smaller parts to avoid the heat. Talking about heat, were there any issues with the NK1 that came up compared to riding in cooler climes? Looking forward to your trip planned in June. Ride safe!

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by AKSO

Wow. Super T-log and I am glad you were able to pull a long ride and sensibly broke up your trip into smaller parts to avoid the heat. Talking about heat, were there any issues with the NK1 that came up compared to riding in cooler climes? Looking forward to your trip planned in June. Ride safe!

Thank you so much for your kind words AKSO sir!

I have not seen any issues with the Ninja 1000, regardless of extremes of weather, it has seen single digit numbers in the mountains in winter, and ambient temperature numbers nearing 50 deg celsius in summer rides to coastal or hot regions, the bike behaves the same way always .

[surjaonwheelz]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

I have not seen any issues with the Ninja 1000, regardless of extremes of weather, it has seen single digit numbers in the mountains in winter, and ambient temperature numbers nearing 50 deg celsius in summer rides to coastal or hot regions, the bike behaves the same way always .

What does the question marks in your signature signify '?????'

We've to guess for a new Automatic car and a Superbike?

Cheers,
surjaonwheelz

[KarthikK]

Ride to Ibbani Heritage Homestay, Mullayanagiri (near Chikmagalur and Kemmanugundi) (June 2023)

June is a nice month for us in terms of travel. It not only signifies the end of school vacation touristy crowd in most places here, it also marks the arrival of the southwest monsoons in the western ghats near Bangalore. The monsoons engulf these regions in a misty, cloudy, rain-ridden embrace for another three months and transform these regions into lush green landscapes and recharge the waterfalls, streams and rivers flowing through these places.

After the hot summer ride to coastal Tranquebar in May, for our next ride on the Ninja we wanted to welcome the monsoons and visit a place in the mountains to enjoy some mist and drizzles. My better half and I have probably visited Chikmagalur and its offshoot regions a zillion times, but there is always something new to see when we try out new homestays or BnBs / resorts in this region with some new USP to explore. This was just going to be a short weekend getaway anyway. While scouting on google maps, we came across this quaint little homestay called Ibbani Heritage and what attracted us was the traditional architecture of the place with nice landscaping. We decided to give it a try and visit there. It is located somewhere on the road to Mullayanagiri, neither all the way on the top nor in a valley. Mullayanagiri, by the way happens to be the highest elevation peak in Karnataka, lying in the Bababudanagiri mountains of Chikmagalur, the coffee capital of the state.

Since the drive was just some 280 odd kilometres one-way, we didn't have a very rushed schedule in reaching there. BHPians and friends CrAzY_dRiVeR, ebmrajesh and another non-bhpian friend were planning a breakfast ride that morning, so we clubbed our plans and they joined us till the breakfast point on Hassan expressway. We all ended up reaching the restaurant quite early, so we decided to throw in a short visit to the nearby Markonahalli dam backwaters for a quick photoshoot of the bikes before breakfast.

Left to right: CrAzY_dRiVeR's Triumph Tiger 660, a non-bhpian friend's Versys 650, ebmrajesh's Ninja 1000 and my Ninja 1000 at Markonahalli reservoir



Some more shots of the bikes and riders at Markonahalli dam backwaters









The riders and their machines.





We proceeded to have some piping hot breakfast at Paakashala restaurant, Yediyur



A small photoshoot again in the two-wheeler parking lot of Paakashala - the two Ninja 1000s



All the riders and bikes



The two of us on our Ninja, before bidding goodbye to the rest of the group and proceeding towards our destination, while the rest of the gang returned to Bangalore after breakfast.



After Hassan, we stopped for a short break between Belur and Chikmagalur



We were still very early with respect to the check-in time at the homestay, so we decided to break again, this time at an interesting cafe in Chikmagalur town. This place was called The Riders' Nest, and needless to say, was themed after bikers and bikes.



The general decor of the place



There were witty quotes and captions all over the walls, some of them brought a smile on the face



A dismantled bike for display



Some kind of mini-stage, probably for some small events



A wash basin, fashioned in the form of a fuel dispenser



Chandeliers made of sprockets and chains





We had some simple Garlic bread and Pizza here with cold coffee, to pass time because we were at least 2 hours too early and would have reached the homestay even before noon if not for this mid-day brunch stop





After this cafe stop, we proceeded to take the road towards Mullayanagiri and started the ascent. Soon the weather began to change and it started becoming misty and started drizzling as well



Taking a break for wearing raincoats but posing anyway, lol!



The view from halfway up the hill climb





Making our way through the lush green mountains of Bababudanagiri



Enjoying the pleasant weather and stopping alongside mountain twisties with these tiny waterfalls and streams



We soon reached the homestay without any trouble, there wasn't even any last mile offroading to be done, surprisingly. We got a heritage cottage with parking for the Ninja right outside our cottage door, probably the closest parking space with respect to distance from the room.



The entrance to the cottage was a traditional, thick, rose wood door with a very low ceiling and high threshold.

[KarthikK]

Ride to Ibbani Heritage Homestay, Mullayanagiri (near Chikmagalur and Kemmanugundi) (June 2023) continued...

The antique theme carried over to the inside of the room, with very nice looking furniture and decor









2 french windows looked out into the adjoining coffee estates - view from the window



Windows had old fashioned wooden sliders to latch into slots and close them. Every little thing was done tastefully, keeping the antique ambience in mind



Even the door lock was a fish made of brass and had a different way of locking and unlocking compared to the conventional locks I have used



A jug of welcome drink was kept ready



The attention to detail in terms of keeping antique design elements consistent, was incredible. This was a hand-towel hanging ring next to a wash basin



We stepped out into the garden to make our way to the restaurant for lunch. The entire property is set on multiple levels of elevation so the restaurant is at a different height compared to the cottages.



The owner is clearly someone who loves water-themed landscape elements and there are tons of fountain sculptures, tiny fish ponds and fresh water springs redirected into small fountains and pools at various spots, all over the property.







Antique stone sculptures in the garden





The restaurant / dining area also had very tastefully done up interiors in rose wood furniture and traditionally styled sit out areas





A chess table, again done in antique style



It was interesting to see how all the characters of the chess game were made of Bronze and had such incredible attention to detail.



After a sumptuous lunch, we strolled around in the property since there was nothing much to do anyway. Here were some lilies in the garden



A fresh water spring channelized into a relic fountain in the garden of the main bungalow



Some more random sights from the garden and other cottages



A small pond of water lilies



The owner's main bungalow, again a typical traditional design, had been converted to a storehouse displaying some of his antique bronze collection. We proceeded to have a closer look.



Inside the house - almost nil use of electricity and the entire house was lit up with the central skylight opening.



Exploring some of the owner's antiques collection







After this we went for a stroll in the adjoining coffee plantation. We had forgotten to apply leech protection (odomos / volini) before going out, and got a bunch of nasty leech bites 15 mins into the walk, so we decided to get back to the property and hike the next morning instead .

[KarthikK]

Ride to Ibbani Heritage Homestay, Mullayanagiri (near Chikmagalur and Kemmanugundi) (June 2023) continued...

Continuing our exploration of the property amidst the incessant drizzles





The main bungalow and the adjoining garden



Shooting some rain-drenched flora in the garden







One of the many streams channelized into fountains and tiny water ponds



Even the wash basin area was given an antique touch, with a bronze basin and tap!



We proceeded to play some games of chess against each other, to pass time



Coffee and Bajjis were an amazing combination to enjoy in the rainy weather





We had an early dinner and retired for the night. The next morning was very rainy and we had to abort the morning hike plans. We were soon treated to a delicious breakfast of Neer Dosas, Akki Rottis and Poha. The Neer Dosas were especially delicious



Soon it was time to check-out and leave. Not before a departing picture, with all the rain gear



We wanted to exit the place early, ride towards Kemmanugundi for some time to enjoy the monsoon sights and scenes and then make our way back.



The Ninja enjoyed cornering on the misty coffee-estate-laden twisties of Mullayanagiri





Yours truly pausing to enjoy the mist en route Kemmanugundi



The better half couldn't seem to get enough of the monsoon rains and was disappointed that it didn't rain as heavy as she wanted it to .



The Ninja on the road to Kemmanugundi with the green carpet mountains in the background





We spent some time on that route and then retraced our way back to Kaimara (Mullayanagiri road). En route the skies opened up for a brief moment, the cloud curtains cleared up and enthralled us with this spell-binding view of the Bababudanagiri mountains.







The Ninja with the Mullayanagiri mountain range in the background





Rider's cockpit view



After descending the mountains, we took a short detour to stop at one of our favourite cafes in this region - Coffee Barn Cafe, north East of Chikmagalur. Since we were already stuffed with a heavy breakfast, we just enjoyed a short break with cold coffee and cheesecake.





After this stop, it started raining and the rainy weather persisted all the way until Hassan, so we didn't stop much anywhere. We skipped lunch and proceeded to make our way to Bangalore by early evening. Just as we entered NICE road and completed the detour around the city to reach the Hosur road exit, this rainbow welcomed us.



This short and memorable weekend ride clocked 600 km for the month of the June and marked the start of our core travel season for this year.


Many more rides to come in the next few months. Thanks for reading!

[Aditya]

Exceptional, unbiased & detailed ownership reviews of bikes have started going to our homepage reviews box. It's the ultimate stamp of trust from Team-BHP (as a platform) because lakhs of visitors every month check out reviews from there & make purchase decisions.

Your review has also been included here. Thank you so much for sharing .

[Full_Minchingu]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Ride to Ibbani Heritage Homestay, Mullayanagiri (near Chikmagalur and Kemmanugundi) (June 2023) continued...

Continuing our exploration of the property amidst the incessant drizzles

Many more rides to come in the next few months. Thanks for reading!

Wonderful travelogue KarthikK. Loved reading it, both this and the previous one (Ride to Tranquebar and Karaikal). I also liked the pictures and their quality. Which camera do you use?

Looking forward for your next rides.

Regards,
-Badri

[100Kmphormore]

Nice travelogue! I have been to chikmagalur a couple of times and never have i seen that Rider Cafe or these type of resorts! For us who need atleast 400 km before we check into a hotel, these are just "breakfast" rides hence have never really been there much.Was it a recent launch, that cafe? Looks beautiful with that rider theme. It seems the roads have been asphalted near kemmanugundi, during my ride in December 2020 I still remember that it was full of jelly particularly the last couple of kms.

[VijayAnand1]

Karthi, you've been sort of a sweet-tooth for me. Each travelogue of yours is a new destination. What's more, love the way you broth-strain your list of homestays. If it's a thread of yours, I know it's a new homestay with lovely pictures of the property and experience. God speed, ride safe!

Happy monsooning.

Cheers!
VJ

[Kashief]

Have recently got membership in this forum. However, I follow your travelogues from a long time and it’s exceptional! Thanks for sharing.
Dec 2022 we ended with 5 days wonderful trip in KA and stayed 2 nights in Krishna Ibbani Heritage. We are delayed by almost 2 hours from the check-in time and missed to inform the care taker. Guess what they have allocated all individual cottages in FCFS. We arrived late but we are lucky to stay in the owners main bungalow and had luxury of time to watch Mr. Krishna antique collections. It’s a Serene place to stay and the veg menu is simple but delicious.

From one of our memories,

[AKSO]

Super T-log and loved that joint Riders Nest. My kinda place! Your pictures make me feel like taking my bike out for a spin to the nearest hills amidst this gloomy, wet weather here in Pune.

Parking one's bike right next to the room and that too in a covered parking is another level of happiness and feel-good factor that only bikers can understand.

Wish you both many more trips and ride safe

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by Full_Minchingu

Wonderful travelogue KarthikK. Loved reading it, both this and the previous one (Ride to Tranquebar and Karaikal). I also liked the pictures and their quality. Which camera do you use?

Looking forward for your next rides.

Regards,
-Badri

Thank you so much for your kind words Full_Minchingu! Most of my pictures are from an iPhone 13 Pro. Some landscape images are from a Fujifilm X100V but otherwise most are from my phone itself .

Originally Posted by 100Kmphormore

Nice travelogue! I have been to chikmagalur a couple of times and never have i seen that Rider Cafe or these type of resorts! For us who need atleast 400 km before we check into a hotel, these are just "breakfast" rides hence have never really been there much.Was it a recent launch, that cafe? Looks beautiful with that rider theme. It seems the roads have been asphalted near kemmanugundi, during my ride in December 2020 I still remember that it was full of jelly particularly the last couple of kms.

Thank you so much 100Kmphormore!
400km is a very long radius and you should definitely explore many places in this radius too, there are many hidden gems in almost every direction out of Bangalore!

The cafe seems to have been operating since 2021 it seems, even I had not spotted it earlier. Kemmanugundi road is tarred and narrow all the way but it is easy for a bike now. You should plan a ride there this monsoon..

Originally Posted by VijayAnand1

Karthi, you've been sort of a sweet-tooth for me. Each travelogue of yours is a new destination. What's more, love the way you broth-strain your list of homestays. If it's a thread of yours, I know it's a new homestay with lovely pictures of the property and experience. God speed, ride safe!

Happy monsooning.

Cheers!
VJ

Thanks a lot for your kind words VijayAnand1! Glad you enjoyed the travelogues and looking forward to writing many more.

Originally Posted by Kashief

Have recently got membership in this forum. However, I follow your travelogues from a long time and it’s exceptional! Thanks for sharing.
Dec 2022 we ended with 5 days wonderful trip in KA and stayed 2 nights in Krishna Ibbani Heritage. We are delayed by almost 2 hours from the check-in time and missed to inform the care taker. Guess what they have allocated all individual cottages in FCFS. We arrived late but we are lucky to stay in the owners main bungalow and had luxury of time to watch Mr. Krishna antique collections. It’s a Serene place to stay and the veg menu is simple but delicious.

From one of our memories,

Thanks a lot Kashief! Really happy to hear you had tried this Homestay earlier and were lucky enough to even be able to stay in that main bungalow. You are right on the food - the menu is simple and vegetarian but very wholesome and tasty indeed. Anyway we are vegetarians so didn’t miss anything as such, lol!

Originally Posted by AKSO

Super T-log and loved that joint Riders Nest. My kinda place! Your pictures make me feel like taking my bike out for a spin to the nearest hills amidst this gloomy, wet weather here in Pune.

Parking one's bike right next to the room and that too in a covered parking is another level of happiness and feel-good factor that only bikers can understand.

Wish you both many more trips and ride safe

Thanks a lot for your kind words AKSO sir! You are right - it is definitely very nice to have safe parking for the bike in every place. You should take your bike out soon - Looking forward to another of your fantastic travelogues with the deadly combo of the green Ninja 1000 and the red Multistrada !

[KarthikK]

Deja Vu - Return to the sportbike roots - What can be better than a Ninja? Two Ninjas!

I have always been a sportbike guy from the very beginning of my biking days. I briefly owned the first generation KTM RC390 in 2015 and it wasn't a good experience for me. I toyed with the idea of buying a Triumph Daytona 675R and that dream never materialized. Many years have passed now, I have grown older, perhaps more mature (or stupid?) and know my needs better. The prospect of owning a compact, middleweight sportbike for sheer occasional fun (and perhaps track?) once again was playing with my mind for a long time now. Of course, the big daddy Ninja 1000 is fantastic in every way, but one cannot fully let loose a litre class sportbike on our public roads without ending up in some ditch due to the fearsome and brutal thrust that a 140hp machine can put out in the higher rpm range, so it is best to enjoy it on sport-touring. So when one wants to have fun revving a small displacement, compact sportbike with a free-revving motor putting out more usable power on public roads, naturally the sub-400cc comes to mind. I did not look at any single cylinder sportbike options at all (that ruled out the RR310, G310RR, RC390). That narrowed down the options to just the two Kawasaki pocket rockets. Yamaha does not have any R3 in sight yet and I am not a fan of the Benelli brand anyway.

I went through the options but my heart was set on a lime green Ninja. Somehow that fixation began with the erstwhile Ninja 250 more than a decade ago, then the 2013 Ninja 300 and obviously all the desirable lime green Ninjas higher in the lineup, none of which were affordable for me back then. The Ninja 300 in 2023 by itself is a brilliant product and barring the fact that it is outdated in some ways and localized in some other ways to cut costs, it is still a stellar option with a proven twin cylinder mill. My only grouse with it was it is a bit small for me and the suspension and ergonomics were comfort and touring oriented than sport-oriented.

I then had a look at its rather unreasonably expensive elder sibling which was parked nearby - the Ninja 400, a CBU offering from Kawasaki (which answers why it is so expensive for 100cc more). One look at the tank-like CBU build quality, overall fit and finish, and the gorgeous lime green KRT color scheme had me convinced to take a closer look, and do it again, until I finally bit the bullet. The looks though - drop dead gorgeous and oozes big-bike-feel from the word go - can be easily mistaken for a ZX-6R from far. The bike rides like a dream (relative to this segment), has an amazing twin cylinder engine with near-perfect power delivery, gearing and refinement, and the suspension is reasonably stiff and balanced for extracting a lot of fun and smiles on roads or even tracks. The kit is still outdated for the price charged and compared to its competition - no TFT display, no traction control or IMU-based lean sensitive riding aids or power modes, no USD forks. However these were not deal breakers for me since the stock bike by itself is simply fantastic and smile inducing. Also I would be using this bike solo all the time, so the pillion comfort or the lack of it did not matter in any way.

This post isn't actually related to this Ninja 1000 itself as such, but when this bike impressed me so much with its bulletproof reliability, stellar performance, piled on countless lovely memories and had a general feel-good factor over five years of wonderful ownership, the impact this (Ninja 1000) bike's ownership had on me while choosing the Ninja 400 from the same Kawasaki stable cannot be dismissed.

We brought home this fun little pocket rocket this past month



Lime green KRT edition Kawasaki Ninja 400



Full credits to the ever-supportive better half who fully supported my heart decision to add bike number 4 to the garage .



And so the title of this post in jest - What can be better than a Ninja? Two Ninjas! - one powerful sport tourer and one carefree, free-revving lightweight sportbike



The 'baby Ninja' isn't all that baby-ish in size. While it weighs almost 70kg lesser than the Ninja 1000, it is actually pretty similar in heft and dimensions





The KRT paint scheme in that glossy lime green looks fantastic but it is an attention magnet and a pain in public - draws attention from all passersby and is almost impossible to park in public spaces without someone wanting to sit on it and click pictures - this is going to be a pain point while parking anywhere.





Close-up of the super glossy lime green paintjob with the KRT badging



I have got Paint protection film (PPF) for all the painted panels and I'm waiting for some more crash-protection-related accessories before I begin to fully make use of the baby Ninja on rides. Also decided to replace the stock Dunlop Sportmax GPR300 tyres with stickier Pirelli Diablo Rosso III tyres to extend some more confidence for spirited riding



I'll hopefully find some time to pen down an ownership review of the Ninja 400 in the weeks to come. I'll end this off-topic post here and get back to the Ninja 1000's travelogues and ownership updates from the next post! Thanks for reading!

Originally Posted by surjaonwheelz

What does the question marks in your signature signify '?????'

We've to guess for a new Automatic car and a Superbike?

Your answer lies in this post, lol! No superbike though - just a middleweight sportbike.

[fusionbang]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

We brought home this fun little pocket rocket this past month

Congratulations Karthik KRT edition looks amazing on the Ninja's and I am in love with this color. I was in love with this color when I first saw the Ninja 650 KRT Edition, with some white accents. This looks eye catchy on the Ninja 400 and I am sure you will have fun on that twin cylinder beauty. Wish you a lot of happy miles.