[maverick029]

As it happened, our workplace was organizing our annual event in Goa this time around, and despite apprehensions about heat and road conditions, we puttered ahead. The youngest member in our team had recently welcomed a Hunter 350 into his life and thus acted as the catalyst for this trip.

We started out from our designated meet-up point, Pashan, at 6 AM (courtesy of delays by me) and planned to travel via Pune > Satara > Kolhapur > Kagal > Nipani > Mahagaon > Chandgad > Candolim route.



Early morning was pleasantly cold, and our progress was steady. We crossed Satara pretty quick and settled in for breakfast along the highway around 8:30 AM when we were 160 KMs out of Pune. The breakfast place, as we found out later, our order of idlis, chai, and poha was pretty unappetizing. Not letting the breakfast hamper our spirits, we restarted our journey. Early morning, good visibility, scarce traffic, and good roads inspired us to do a little spirited riding (we discussed our peak speeds later on, which were 140, 125, and 115 for the 390 ADV, Meteor 350, and Hunter respectively).

The way this trip started got me thinking we will make it to Goa faster than we thought, and soon we would be proved wrong. 50 more KMs into our journey, we were running into diversions every 2-4 KMs, courtesy of ongoing road repair work. Our progress slowed down considerably, and in a short span, we had 2 gasolina moments. Meteor was leading us and changing to fast lane to overtake a truck; a passing Baleno few meters back (either did not care or the Meteor was invisible to him) maintained his speed and squeezed the Meteor, brushing past the saddlebags. Thankfully the bike was not imbalanced, and the rider managed to stay upright without any incident.

The second close call came a few KMs down the road, when the Hunter came close to being hit by a truck when turning in for a diversion. By the graces of God, this also did not turn into an incident. Both riders acknowledged where they went wrong and a mental note was made to not repeat something similar.

Putting these 2 incidents in the backburner, we closed in on Karad where Google Maps rerouted us towards the ghats. I personally did not like this route as we were traveling on a 2-lane 2-way road which meant we had to be extra vigilant of vehicles coming in from all directions instead of just from the back like on the highways. A petrol break meant we could check out footage from my action cam; sadly, the old cam's battery had given up early in the ride and we did not have much recorded.





Early on, the ghat section was pleasant, and we were enjoying it, but soon it became exhausting. The heat, incoming vehicles on the wrong lane, and no places to rest meant we were constantly riding. Thankfully we found one small lemonade stall which also had great views, and for another 100 odd KMs, this was our only decent stop.





After finishing our lemonades, we started descending the ghat section, and soon lost internet connectivity. Maps was still working but with some lag and we soon realized we might have missed a few turns, we were a bit lost at this moment.

We got some directions from passersby and continued on the instructed route, which became worse in terms of road quality. I rode standing on the ADV to give my bum a break from the stiff suspension while the Enfields cruised pleasantly.

We soon closed in on the highway, and no second thoughts, we wringed the throttles to triple digits hoping to teleport to our destination. The rest of the journey was pleasant though a bit hot (it's March after all),after another refresher and fuel break, we soon reached Airbnb in Candolim. Remainder of the evening was spent navigating Calangute Beach and some food.




View from Our AirBnB









Early next day we travelled to Novotel, Candolim, which was going to be our abode for another 2 days. The hotel was good, and after finishing up Day 1 of our office event, our whole team was enjoying DJ and booze. Next morning after completing our Day 2 meetings, some of us opted to play table tennis while 8 of us idled about in a single room.



Come evening, we travelled to Candolim Beach, where a shack was booked along with DJ and unlimited drinks. We left the shack close to 1-2 AM and walked back to our hotel all the while chatting and making jokes. It was an evening well spent.

Subsequent day was spent at leisure where some left for Pune while others were waiting for their flights and we moved into our Airbnb to keep our luggage and later in the evening went to visit Aguada Fort (Dil Chahta Hai) and Parra-Madani road (Love You Zindagi).







We strapped in our luggage and started early about 4:30 AM with first break being a nearby fuelling station. Our Choice of return route was via Mapusa > Malgaon > Amboli > Nipani > Kagal > Kolhapur > Pune.

The route had good roads for most parts with occasional rough patches. Our gripe was blinding high beams from oncoming vehicles who simply refused to use dipper.Pitch Dark and High Beam meant we had to come to a halt quite a lot due to safety concerns as we simply could not see the road ahead. The ride until Amboli Ghats was in complete darkness with a little cold weather. We thoroughly enjoyed the ride and the climb on Amboli Ghats.. Completing the climb, we stopped for breakfast and tea.

Our route ahead took us into the rural heart as we passed through multiple villages. Once we touched the highway near Kolhapur at approximately 10 AM, the ride became very monotonous and thankfully uneventful, and we reached Pune at about 3 PM after accommodating our lunch break.

Goa to Pune Return Part 1

Goa to Pune Return Part 2

GPS Mount blocks a section of action cam footage but I am a bit scared of Helmet mounts.







The two Enfields went to their respective homes while the KTM had to be submitted to Baner KTM ASC for its due service. Before starting from Goa, I had topped up the engine oil. However, LiquiMoly Race just could not keep up with the aggressive nature of KTM, and I had to opt for service a month early for an oil change and some minor repairs which were pending since my Rajasthan trip (Travelogue: Pune to Rajasthan on my KTM 390 ADV) in Dec 2023.

I will cover the service experience and subsequent visit to Pitlane, Hadapsar in another post and with this, I conclude our Goa ride. Hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed the ride.

[Aditya]

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

[kosjam]

Hi
Great travelogue, and appreciate the forthright acceptance about risky riding and consequent correction of the same.
Pics are very nice too. I am actually surprised that the REs could maintain such high speeds. Will definitely have a relook now that I am in the market for a 200-300 cc motorcycle.

Regarding the following point which caught my attention and curiosity, how did you come to this conclusion that the oil was not able to keep up with the KTM?

Originally Posted by maverick029

However, LiquiMoly Race just could not keep up with the aggressive nature of KTM, and I had to opt for service a month early for an oil change [/indent]

[maverick029]

Originally Posted by kosjam

Hi
Great travelogue, and appreciate the forthright acceptance about risky riding and consequent correction of the same.
Pics are very nice too. I am actually surprised that the REs could maintain such high speeds. Will definitely have a relook now that I am in the market for a 200-300 cc motorcycle.

Regarding the following point which caught my attention and curiosity, how did you come to this conclusion that the oil was not able to keep up with the KTM?

Good point, I actually forgot to mention the speeds are speedo indicated so there is a good amount of error involved. My bad. Though newer REs are a little more rev-happy than the older ones so you can definitely check them out.

I found engine oil levels below minimum after my Rajasthan and Goa ride. I had the engine checked for any possible issues, but both ASC and independent garages confirmed the engine is fine. So I guess the oil could not survive the engine's heat. I have been recommended to give Putoline a try. I will try it out soon and post my experiences.

[V0rtex]

If one were to upgrade from an Adventure 390 to a higher segment bike, what would be a sensible upgrade? I feel that the 390 series bikes deliver so much for the price that once you need to upgrade from them you are definitely going to spend multiple times the price of the 390s.

[kosjam]

Originally Posted by maverick029

I found engine oil levels below minimum after my Rajasthan and Goa ride. I had the engine checked for any possible issues, but both ASC and independent garages confirmed the engine is fine. So I guess the oil could not survive the engine's heat. I have been recommended to give Putoline a try. I will try it out soon and post my experiences.

I have an adventure 390, and also, as an engineer, the logic that oil could not survive the engine heat does not make sense. The only way an engine oil is reducing is by leakages or by leakage into the combustion chamber and consequent burning of the same. The manufacturer recommended engine oil is good enough for this bike.

Do change your oil, but if the issue is something to do with leaks, you will still see the levels dropping.

[ashkamath]

Originally Posted by V0rtex

If one were to upgrade from an Adventure 390 to a higher segment bike, what would be a sensible upgrade? I feel that the 390 series bikes deliver so much for the price that once you need to upgrade from them you are definitely going to spend multiple times the price of the 390s.

Well, I have a 2013 model KTM Duke 390, one of the first lot 390. If I were to upgrade from a 390, I need to have a strong reason to do so. The Adv 390 has adequate power, electronics, ride comfort / ergonomics and does it's job pretty well. So what lacks? More power? On Indian roads, even on the best of the roads, a 120 Kmph is a limit that the 390 could easily do and I wouldnt dare to venture beyond considering how unsafe the Indian roads are (any thing can materialise from anywhere on our roads).

However I know some friends who have upgraded to Versys 650, V-Strom 650, Street Triple RS, Z900 to name a few. the price factor multiplies by 3 from 3.5L to 10L or more, and they are proper upgrades too, however from the ownership and ride POV, there's only a marked improvement in ownership satisfaction other than the usual brownie points of maintaining 140-150 Kmph for longer duration of the ride, lesser fatigue at the end of the ride and the optics of the large bike on Indian road. The complaints were about service, spares (sometimes waiting for an inordinately long period) and resalability. Last time I heard (a couple of months ago), The V-Strom guy was trying to sell his bike but unable to get a good price nor many inquiries for the same and so holding on to it.

For the single cyl Adv 390 upgrade, a twin cyl 650 cc bike should be a decent upgrade, something like the Versys 650 or the V-Strom 650. Personally I wouldnt be looking at the litre class bike at this juncture. 650 cc is where I would perhaps end my quest for an upgrade.