[sukhbirST]

It was really brave and bold on your part to ride after a surgery. Liked your end comments - May we never stop being adventurous!. In fact this has been the reason for long distance travel as witnessed by history. Centuries ago people braved their lives and for some this was one way travel. Who knows same will be reason for travel outside this planet one day.
I am sorry, I could not be of any help though I was 250 km away from Vijayawada in Kakinada(midway).

[truezealous]

You have excellent write-up skill I must say, completely hooked up till the end. Glad to know you reach Bangalore safely.

[TJ02]

Excellent writeup. Kept reading till the end. Wishing you many more happy memories with your bike in Kolkata.

[bcsurti]

You tried. Failures are steps towards success. You may not have gained the result that you wanted, but there are other things like this writeup and your experience which are indeed something to add to your memories. We certainly enjoying reading your experience.
Give it a go - some other place, some other time, I am sure you will succeed! And don't forget to write about it!

[DogNDamsel12]

Rated a much-deserved 5* - to your writeup, but more so to your spirit.

Failure is fun! You have age on your side - this is called making the best use of it. Some scorching experiences toast us for life, and I am sure you will look back at this one as one of those.

But even prouder of your courage to honestly embrace the so-called 'failure' and to flaunt the bragging rights for it too. Many people usually want to brush such stories under the carpet for fear of their vulnerabilities coming out in the open and for fear of them being judged. You, on the contrary, have done exactly the opposite!

Proud of you - what you achieved through the "failure" is STELLAR, really!

[DDIS_RE650]

I do not say it is failed trip, you did what was right. Sometime in life we have to take pause or back off. This is not weakness but maturity.

[Jesse_Mach]

Attempting this plan on a 2 stroke itself is an achievement! Glad you put your experience in this travelogue and reached back safely @boniver.
Sometimes crazy things are necessary to test your mettle and this will be one of those experiences for you. And a great coffee table conversation for you for the rest of your life!

[Freespirit27]

Solo riding, that too with a end destination and time is not exactly the way to start enjoying riding. Maybe on a different bike, with no timelines or maybe even the same bike in the company of friends - the story may have been different! Thank God it was just a puncture and nothing which required greater assistance. Anyways it is the right age to make and learn from your mistakes Keep up the spirits and next time make sure to take some friends along.
Interesting to see the readings on your odo for a near vintage bike

[drjoepaulp]

Great write up, Boniver! I had a similar plan nearly 30 years ago. Wanted to ride my Hero Honda SS from Manipal to Thrissur in Kerala. It was the last day of my course. When the exams were over, I made a plan with a friend of mine to accompany me. He was incidentally from Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, and always talked about the greenery in Kerala.

Packed all my clothes and books and sent it by Road Transport. We left Manipal in the evening. The plan was to stay at Mangalore, and start at dawn to ride the next 500kms at one stretch. But my friend backed out at the last minute. So we loaded my bike on the Parasuram Express and parted ways, never to meet again, though we maintain telephonic contact once in a while.

I finally drove to Mangalore about 5 years back in an all night drive, with 2 to 3 coffee stops! Thats another experience.

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[rsjagtap]

and visited my favourite places one last time.

Making me nostalgic about my college memories. Thank you for this post.

[tharian]

In my opinion, all you needed was rest. Riding solo, lack of sleep, exhaustion all plays a role on how you begin to think.
A good nights sleep will refresh your mind and your thoughts on the journey will change and it anyway was a multi day ride. The best thing to do when you are riding an old bike for such long distances is not to keep targets for the day. Take it easy and enjoy the ride. Start early and stop early for the day.

Like some others have mentioned, the comfort of the bike takes a toll on you. When I used to ride my Bullet long distances, I could ride all day and never have any aches, just that the distance covered was less. Now with my Interceptor, the bike is fast, but I need to stop every hour or less or stand on the pegs every 15 minutes. Because of the narrow seat. And me being used to not stopping often, this tends to play on my mind and tires me out in no time.

You did 800 kms in a day. So the bike is capable. You only have to be mentally prepared for the ride for the full journey.

[mohansrides]

Never lose them. The curiosity to explore your own limits and the humility to accept them.

As @dhanushs said, this is a decision that you will never regret.

This may have been your first “rodeo”, but it sure ain’t your last one. Many more to come in the future I am sure. Take each one with the same positivity with which you embraced this trip.

For what it’s worth, I will say that even in an aborted trip, you were fortunate to have had oversight (even if it was just passive) through your WhatsApp group. Think of the many “pioneers” before you who set forth into the darkness with no one to keep track of them. Indeed, many of them are here on this forum.

An 800 km trip on a 2-stroke motorcycle in 2021-22!! Well, well.. it is usually hard to pleasantly surprise a jaded soul me. But you managed to do it.

Best Wishes
Cheers

[X-Saint]

Wow, your writing skills are amazing! I could live every moment while reading your posts. It takes a lot of courage to write about a failed journey and post pictures of an antique bike. Hats off to you, brother! Three cheers for you!

[ChandraSekarMN]

From the title of the thread, i just assumed that the culprit would have been a 2 stoke bike which would have let you down to over heating / something going kaput etc. But after the full read, felt guilty on jumping to conclusions/ judging a book by cover etc. As few members already mentioned above, I am also just curious to know why didn't you move forward another 250 kms instead of returning back 400 kms? Was it the road conditions compared or the feeling to be back at home after a tiring day?

[saisree]

That's an awesome ride you had. You made a 800 KM drive in a day and nearly accomplished a Saddle Sore attempt in a 100CC 2 Stroke monster of 90's. It's probably the weather this side of AP that drained you. The real summer shifted from May to Mid of June's lately.

I strongly believe your two stroke cheer girl will take you to the same exact location with a happy ending.