[Thar4x4]

This happened in 2009 however posting here after approval from BHPins, it can be helpful for those who are planning for same trip

This dream started on Aug 2009 when my bullet had it’s 1st servicing and completed 1000 kms.


The plan was to travel the stretch of 350 Kms from Pune to Goa via Amboli within 2 days. Our bikes were ready and so were our partners. The journey started on 27th Aug 2009 from Pune.

Here is the 2nd rider, Prashant, with his partner. He is the one who had this dream of riding on a bullet to Goa. The clock was showing 7.45 AM and we are on the road with our metal bulls. We were equipped with all the necessary tools like foot pump, puncture spanners … so no worries. The trip started with a speed of 80 Kms/hr, we were enjoying it a lot because the weather was nice. The first stop was at the petrol pump as Prashant thought his bike had low pressure in the rear wheel.

We started again with full speed heading towards the “Khandala Ghat”, a natural beauty. Riding the bullet in the ghat was an amazing experience! we passed the ghat on 2nd and 3rd gear. Soon we were hungry, so halted at a famous restaurant on satara road - ”Virangula”. We had Sabudana wada, masala dosa and tea. By this time we had completed a 100 Kms. Post breakfast we headed towards Kolhapur. The sun was smiling at us and the road was showing the direction to our destiny. We halted at every 80 Kms when our pavilion shouted at us.

Topped-up tanks again moved ahead on “Nipani Highway”. The road was amazing. No traffic at all so we could easily reach 100Kms/hr. We took a very small break on this highway because we were not familiar with this road and we had to reach Amboli before it was dark. We were very happy because everything was going as per the plan and all of us were enjoying the journey. After a small ghat in between, we left the highway for a small road to Amboli. The road was covered with huge trees on both the sides. Two metal bulls in the greenery.

Hurrey ! we reached Amboli!! It’s click time, get ready.


Checked into the hotel, don’t ask about the hotel condition. in spite of checking hotel's photo and all details the room condition turnout to be bad. After taking rest for half an hours we went to sunset point.

On the second day with renewed vigour, we went to the Amboli point.




Packed up for further journey towards Goa. Sawantwadi ghat is tricky and we were driving 40 Kms/hrs. After passing the ghat I thought about a shout-cut and …
we thought we were lost however we still went on driving and after some miles passing through many desert streams we got the Bombay To Goa highway..
Now Panjim was around 40 Kms so thought of halting for lunch. The weather was very hot because we were closer to the sea.

Then searched for the address where were going to stay for 2 days. The residence was nice but far from main city. Okkkk it’s rest time.
In the afternoon we went to the Kalangut beach for hangout and then dinner.

Started 3rd day of our trip with a visit to a nice beach and a fort in first half of the day. The weather was not so nice so we took a compulsory rest in afternoon. This is the fort where the famous movie “Dil Chahata Hai” was shot. After that we went to another fort which was used as a light house. Unfortunately it started raining heavily and we had no place to stop. We decided to go to lunch but we unable to find a good (cheap) hotel. we traveled for 2/3 Kms in the rain and then we got a good hotel. In the afternoon we went to old Goa again and visited a Mira mar beach and the Dona Poula point.







Rain was still fighting with us, but we being dare devils, were not going stop now. Next we took a ferry ride in the backwater and back to the hotel.

The ferry was not so good, very noisy and the water was stinking. The next incident was a black dot on our trip. On the way back to the hotel one rider tried to stop us while on a secluded road. I thought he must be a thieve and trying to take advantage of us being out of state. I signalled Prashant not to stop and accelerated my bullet. That person was fool trying to stop a Royal Enfield using a TVS. I managed to get to a crowded place and called some locals from a hotel.
Prashant went to ask that person about why he was chasing us but he ran away. That was a very bad experience. We decided to leave Goa the next day because we didn't want to spoil our trip with more such incidents.

The 3rd day when we woke up, it was raining we thought it would stop in a while, but no way. We started driving in the rain with our entire luggage. It was a very difficult ride with a speed of 20/30 Kms/hr with headlights on and water on the roads. We worried about the rain condition as it could damage our bikes however we had no option but to push ahead. We reached sawantwadi and stopped for break-fast.

Our plan was to go to Ratnagiri and then Diveagar, but because of the rain we decided to change it and we decided to go to the Tarkarli beach. It was still raining and as we rode ahead people were looking at us, perhaps thinking of our madness in driving in torrential rain. After travelling around 120 Kms we left the Bombay - Goa highway and moved to Malvan via a small road with streams and brooks full of water, rather we were riding through the streams since they had spilled over the road making it a big stream in itself.
Even though the water was up to the engine level, our faithful machines did not stop.

Sorry no pictures here as everything was packed in plastic bags.

Finally we reached Tarkarli, we got only one room because there was no advance booking. Our whole luggage was wet including mobile phones and bike documents and there was no space to dry, everything under the fan. We waited in the resort for around 7/8 hrs for the rain to stop, sipping hot tea frequently.

This is the perfect picture to show the rain there.


The 4th day when we started it was still raining heavily. We were now heading towards Kolhapur as we wanted to leave this area(Konkan) and the rain behind as soon as possible.

After travelling 60 Km/hrs various small roads we reached the Bombay-Goa highway. We decided to drive around 120 Kms and then take a ghat root towards kolhapur. We asked our wives to take a bus from one of the cities on highway but they were not ready to leave us in that horrible condition. Yes, we know they love us very much.
Now the next big obstacle was the ghat. The road was very lonely with hardly any vehicles or people passing through. Now a new journey mate is a thick fog, we weren't able to see anything. We were unprepared for fog so our bullets didn't have fog lamps.

After travelling through the fog for half an hour finally the weather Gods smiled on us with nice sunny weather. We reached the Kolapur district and were happy because we were back in own region. We booked a good hotel because by this time we were extremely exhausted. We had lunch and a nap for 3/4 hrs. In the noon we went to famous temple called “Ambabai”, then to the lovers spot of Kolhapur “the Rankala lake”, and then to the market for some shopping.



On the 5th day of our journey we got up early, had break-fast and headed towards Pratapgad a fort captured by the iconic ruler Chatrapati Shivajiraje Bhosale. The road to the fort is very nice and the weather was good. This fort is around 40 Kms from Kolhapur.


We spent couple of hours there and came back to Kolhapur to pack-up.

Now all that remained was the 250 Kms stretch from Kolhapur to Pune. The first halt was at Karad and then directly at ”Virangula” where we had the first breakfast of this journey.

We reached the hotel and it started to raining again however it lasted only for half an hour. We left after having some food and here comes the last halt “Khade Shivapur” and then to the starting point “Satart by-pass”.

We had small closing ceremony over there and headed towards home, weary and exhausted but happy and proud of our adventure!!



Here is the google map link of our route.

Detail route with kms below:




I am in learning phase, so please accept my apologies if I went wrong in writeup anywhere.

Thanks,
Vishal.

[DMehta]

Great travelogue and a nicely written review. The bullet is really a classic indian bike and the best cruiser. It can go for years without being hard on the pocket.
Congrats on completing one successful trip with your bike.
If you are planning for more trips like these make sure you upgrade the lights of your bike or get a nice fog lamp fitted. Hella's are the best in this category.
How did you manage to ride in the fog?

[Thar4x4]

Thanks DMehta,

We somehow managed with 20 kms/hrs speed and head light on, however that was amazing experience. we were continuously blowing the horn so that trucks coming from other side can at least hear us

Yes the fog lamps are priority for next trip to Leh in coming June/July.

Thanks,
Vishal

[dot]

Lovely write-up and beautiful pictures. Nothing matches the pleasure of a bike road trip. I would like to know more about the route, maybe next time we meet at the TBHP meet.

[akas_chauhan]

Congratulations on your 1st travelogue. You clocked around 1100 KM, not bad.

[Technocrat]

Great write up & pics.

Thanks for sharing, I am sure this would encourage more people to ride down to Goa

P.s. Do you stay @KI in Pimple Saudagar in Pune?

[ObsessedByFIAT]

hey Thar4x4!

Nice TL!

"We started again with full speed heading towards the “Khandala Ghat”, a natural beauty. Riding the bullet in the ghat was an amazing experience! we passed the ghat on 2nd and 3rd gear. Soon we were hungry, so halted at a famous restaurant on satara road - ”Virangula”. "

Did you first go to Lonaval-Khandala and then came back to Satara highway? Sorry if I have missed out something. I think you meant to write Katraj Ghat, right?

Cheers!

[Thar4x4]

Originally Posted by dot

Lovely write-up and beautiful pictures. Nothing matches the pleasure of a bike road trip. I would like to know more about the route, maybe next time we meet at the TBHP meet.

Hey dot,

Thanks for comment, surely we will talk more about route in next meet.

Thanks,
Vishal

@akas_chauhan, Thanks for you comment.
@Technocrat, yes certainly Goa is in nice place on bike or open jeep unless you face bad weather like our experiance.
I stay at singhad road.

@ObsessedByFIAT, thanks for your comment.
Not lonavala khndala, khandala ghat is after Shirval on NH 4 (Pune - Satara highway), the new one way tunnel. When you go towards satara you need to go through ghat and tunnel while coming back to Pune.
Let me know if this answers your question.

Thanks,
Vishal

[Ride_4_Fortune]

@Thar4x4, Excellant pictures and write-up of the travelogue. The bullets look too good in the pictures. A motorcycle ride is one of the ways to unwind oneself, come closer to the nature and enjoy its beauty. I hope you are doing the same.

Have an enjoyable and safe thumping.

[Thar4x4]

Originally Posted by Ride_4_Fortune

@Thar4x4, Excellant pictures and write-up of the travelogue. The bullets look too good in the pictures. A motorcycle ride is one of the ways to unwind oneself, come closer to the nature and enjoy its beauty. I hope you are doing the same.

Have an enjoyable and safe thumping.

Thanks for comment!

Yes, what you said about a motorcycle ride is very true.
Unfortunately after this trip I am not able to plan for long trip as other rider is travelling abroad frequently and some family responsibilities.

However shortly we are planning for Leh.

Thanks,
Vishal

[CliffHanger]

Thar4x4,

Thanks for penning your experiences down. It made for a good read. I have a question - I'm big built, but still I find it difficult to manouver the RE and generally I get quickly tired whenever I drive one. Though I love biking I would have chosen a Karizma or a P220 for a 1100km trip. What made you to take the RE for the trip?

From my experience, I would suggest to reduce the number of trips you do in your RE(though biking is fascinating). Because the risks that are involved in biking is a bit too many to ignore. I'm sure you are aware of this.

[Thar4x4]

Originally Posted by CliffHanger

Thar4x4,

Thanks for penning your experiences down. It made for a good read. I have a question - I'm big built, but still I find it difficult to manouver the RE and generally I get quickly tired whenever I drive one. Though I love biking I would have chosen a Karizma or a P220 for a 1100km trip. What made you to take the RE for the trip?

From my experience, I would suggest to reduce the number of trips you do in your RE(though biking is fascinating). Because the risks that are involved in biking is a bit too many to ignore. I'm sure you are aware of this.

CliffHanger, thanks for your reply,

I use to travel on Hero Honda Ambition earlier however things I liked in RE 350 are Power, seating arrangement which is very comfortable for rider as well as pillion (as per my wife's experience) and off course antique look.

Earlier I found RE handling bit difficult but once you get use to it, no comparison trust me.
I am using RE for daily use in Pune traffic.

Yes, I am aware of risk involved now days and this is the exact reason for not having trip after this one however if you go in group, it helps a lot.

Team BHP Pune meet is getting more and more popular now days, let's see if we make a enthusiastic rider group there.

Thanks,
Vishal

[abhinav.s]

Nicely compiled T-Log and good pics. It was an enjoyable read.

One thing i must comment about is the maintenance of the bikes. They look pristine in each and every pic though you encountered rain etc on the way. Were you cleaning the bikes at every stop that you make?

Great write up for a first t-log

[Thar4x4]

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

Nicely compiled T-Log and good pics. It was an enjoyable read.

One thing i must comment about is the maintenance of the bikes. They look pristine in each and every pic though you encountered rain etc on the way. Were you cleaning the bikes at every stop that you make?

Great write up for a first t-log

Thanks Abhinav for your comment,

Yes I like to keep bike clean in any way. In the rain area, force of rain itself cleaned the bikes , however after that trip engine polish is damaged and it is looking dull now :(

[thedreamcatcher]

Interesting thread and must have been fun to do the trip on a bike.

I was quite keen on hiring a bullet when I went to Goa the last time, but ended up hiring cars for the full length of my visit. And more because it was raining

Loved the pics of the fog / mist. It takes you to a different state of bliss