[atul.ktm]

Originally Posted by groom

Very lovely travelogue and a beautiful pictures. Happy Diwali.

One more question - During your entire journey, if you would have had a feature like "cruise control", would it help make your journey more enjoyable ?

Thanks and Happy Diwali to you too!

For our Indian roads and traffic, I feel 'Cruise-Control' is a big NO from my side. We live in a country where anything can come in front of you at any point of time so removing hands from the handlebar would be the last thing I would want to do

Originally Posted by Sawyer

A question though: why do you think that the same basic geography in MH is more interesting that the one in KA? I ask since I have done little travelling in KA, while KA/KL would allow you to spend less time on the extremely boring NH4, and more in the same Sahyadri range.

We have seen enough of KA/KL/TN in the past few years so MH feels kind of different and more 'green' during monsoons. Add to that the numerous waterfalls one encounters while on the road itself. In KA/KL we have very thick forest cover so most of the times one needs to trek etc to see the more hidden beauties. But then every place has it's own charm and I would suggest you to do a monsoon ride in the KA western ghats next year, you won't be disappointed

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by atul.ktm

In KA/KL we have very thick forest cover so most of the times one needs to trek etc to see the more hidden beauties.

That insight makes sense to me : from my one experience at Dandeli.

[avinashsg]

Very well written logue tagged with amazing lot of pictures.
The HULK looks one with nature with all the greenery around.
Thanks to your pictures, i could gather lot of inputs as to where i should be heading in November.

[SourabhSuresh]

Exquisite pictures and beautifully written. Maharashtra does look green compared to Karnataka. This travelogue will help me a lot in planning my trip. Thanks, Atul and Nandita.
I recently came across a tweet from Bangalore traffic police which specifies the rules with respect to defective number plates. It explicitly mentions that "except registration marks of the vehicle any other names, pictures, arts shall not be displayed on number plates." I mention this as HULK has its name printed on its rear number plate which may lead to problems with the traffic police. If you follow the twitter handle of Bangalore traffic police you can see that they have penalized vehicles with defective number plates very recently.
Pictures are attached below for reference -
1. The rules -


2. The Tweet -
https://twitter.com/blrcitytraffic/s...526385152?s=03

3. HULK


We don't want your trips or the beautiful travelogues to be affected by anything, do we?

[nandita_bayan21]

Originally Posted by ampere

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

A true Diwali bonanza! Nicely done and dusted and the dish well served!

Thank you so much!

Originally Posted by yogesh.8984

Unfortunate that you couldn't visit Kaas plateau as the road caved in due to heavy showers in the area. There was an alternate road via Madha village but that is a dirt road and hardly used. Not for cars but you could have made it with your ride.

There is always a next time though. Cheers!

We did check for alternate routes and locals informed us there is one but then they advised us to avoid it as the roads were extremely bad. As you rightly said, there is always a next time.

Originally Posted by vint

Great travelogue as always. Amazing pictures as well. Keep 'em coming !

I've a question though, doesn't riding pillion on that bike for prolonged time cause backache, especially on the lower back ? Or is there some technique to avoid that for long rides ?

Thank you so much! Well, I have been riding pillion for almost 5-6 years now. Done almost close to 1L kms on our both Dukes (first D200 and then D390). So coming from a Duke pillion seat, Hulk's seat feels like a comfortable bed . Never felt any back pain apart from times when we rode through extremely horrible roads.

Originally Posted by groom

Very lovely travelogue and a beautiful pictures. Happy Diwali.

One more question - During your entire journey, if you would have had a feature like "cruise control", would it help make your journey more enjoyable ?

Thank you! Hope you had a great Diwali.

Originally Posted by Paradiddle

Great travelogue! Thank you for sharing.

I'm going to take a lot of inputs from this for my December trip to Mahabaleshwar. Did you leave out the hotel details on purpose? Would you mind sharing it?

Thank you. The hotel we stayed was 'Gurukrupa Niwas' at Bondarwadi Village, some 10kms away from the actual Mahabaleshwar town. It is not a very fancy hotel, very average budget one with decent parking space, approved by MTDC. They have some 4 family rooms and 6 couple rooms. We paid Rs 2430 for 3 nights (including GST). They apparently serve food as well, but we ate outside most of the time. Rooms are cozy, staff were friendly (Santosh, Satish and Prakash).

Originally Posted by Sawyer

It appears that the Bhor Varandha road surfaces are as poor as the views around are unmatched - I haven't been that side for while.

Perhaps the poor surfaces keep the views pristine by not encouraging too many littering tourists and if so, long may that state of affairs continue.

Though the roads were in super bad condition, but the view was mind blowing. Lesser traffic yes, lesser tourists yes, hence may be that's why more clean, serene and beautiful.

Originally Posted by VishJ

Hey there blessed buddies. You guys literally pour down travelogues which are just awesome and the hulk becoming a cherry on top of every trip. Maharashtra is truly a bliss for eyes during monsoon. Make a hat trick by going back again to enjoy even more greenery. Cheers

Thank you. We have already decided to do our MH Chapter 3 during Monsoon 2018.

Originally Posted by ARAY

As usual wonderful narration and a great choice to do this route on a bike like V650. Mahabaleshwar is a very special place, during and post monsoon is the best time to do that trail. Its sad you guys were stopped on the way to Kaas plateau. Please do loop in Malsej ghat as well on the next MH trip. Other than the NH48 route there is another way to get to Kas via but I guess even that would have been in a pretty bad shape or blocked. There is a MTDC resort at Kaas and it has a wonderful location. Sunset is remarkable from the resort premises.
Posting an old picture from our last MH trip.
Attachment 1688494

Malshej ghat was already covered during our last year MH trip. Posting some of the pics from the amazing Malshej ghats:

Originally Posted by avinashsg

Very well written logue tagged with amazing lot of pictures.
The HULK looks one with nature with all the greenery around.
Thanks to your pictures, i could gather lot of inputs as to where i should be heading in November.

Thank you!

[Ikonification]

Though I stay in Pune, which is just about 120-140 kms from Mahabaleshwar, I am yet to explore these scenic places which you have been to. I will definitely use your thread as a guide and plan a ride soon (once my Z650 arrives). Thanks for such a beautiful description of a lovely journey

[nandita_bayan21]

Originally Posted by Ikonification

Though I stay in Pune, which is just about 120-140 kms from Mahabaleshwar, I am yet to explore these scenic places which you have been to. I will definitely use your thread as a guide and plan a ride soon (once my Z650 arrives). Thanks for such a beautiful description of a lovely journey

Thank you so much! You can also go through our last year's MH t log for more places and more information

[atul.ktm]

Originally Posted by SourabhSuresh

Exquisite pictures and beautifully written. Maharashtra does look green compared to Karnataka. This travelogue will help me a lot in planning my trip. Thanks, Atul and Nandita.
I recently came across a tweet from Bangalore traffic police which specifies the rules with respect to defective number plates. It explicitly mentions that "except registration marks of the vehicle any other names, pictures, arts shall not be displayed on number plates."

Thanks Sourabh. KA govt. has some wacky rules for sure, wasn't aware of this one. I was under the impression that if the numbers are clearly visible then there shouldn't be any issue.

Anyway, thanks for the information, i'll move the HULK sticker to some other part other than the number plate.

[groom]

Originally Posted by atul.ktm

Thanks and Happy Diwali to you too!

For our Indian roads and traffic, I feel 'Cruise-Control' is a big NO from my side. We live in a country where anything can come in front of you at any point of time so removing hands from the handlebar would be the last thing I would want to do

Sorry, Cruise Control does not mean you take hands off the handle bar, it just means the bike keeps the speed and lets your right hand a little free, especially holding the throttle at a set level for long time can actually be tiring.

Off-course adaptive cruise control can do wonders to long riding, especially when some one comes off in the middle of the road. Even if the rider is distracted, the bike can slow down much in advance and give more time for rider to react.