A 2,000 km road trip on my 2019 Ducati Panigale V4S

The bike's 229 BHP was way too much even on empty Indian highways.

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After a road trip covering almost 2,000 km, I am now back home and decided to pen my thoughts on my travel experience and riding a 229 hp track machine on the roads of Rajasthan.

We loaded up our bikes - 2019 MV Agusta Brutale 1090RR and 2019 Ducati V4S on our Isuzu D-Max. In the past few months, I have made extensive modifications to my Isuzu to carry a weight of up to 1 ton on the cab bed. I used the help of a local SUV custom shop in Gurgaon to install a roll cage, lights, ramp, bike wheel chocks, weight supports and harness points. The work was very well executed and the owner of the shop has several BHPians among his customers.

Our journey was a road trip through the following cities in Rajasthan

Day 1: Delhi Pilani Ajmer (My older brother studied at BITS Pilani so he wanted to visit the campus) by car

Day 2: Ajmer - Kishangarh - Jodhpur by car

Day 3: Jodhpur stay - ride bikes from Jodhpur to Barmer and back

Day 4: Jodhpur Udaipur, stay at Udaipur

Day 5: Udaipur - Kumbhalgarh day trip by bikes

Day 6: Udaipur - Chittor day trip by bikes

Day 7: Udaipur - Chomu by car

Day 8: Chomu - Delhi by car

First impressions: Haryana has probably the poorest and most ill-kept national highways in Northern India. The tarmac surface is poor and the Delhi Jaipur highway is not a pleasant experience.

Rajasthan, on the other hand, is a dream. We enjoyed the well-kept roads, and I drove 15 hours at a stretch on the first day. Fastag was a huge blessing.

V4S impressions: The bike is a monster. It produces 229 hp at the crank that has been dyno-ed. I rode it on sport mode for a bit and realized even on empty Indian highways, I do not need that much power. Dialled it down a bit. The bike did not run hot and in the December winter days, was a pleasant experience. The electronic suspension kept things nice and proper. In short, the bike was a hoot to ride.

Brutale impressions: The perennial pleaser. Given that MV put a sky-high sticker on this bike when it came out, it was not appealing to most buyers. But this bike is probably the best for highway cruising. I rode 3 hours non stop on the Brutale and the amount of fun I had was immense. Comfy seats, oodles of power, a huge 24-litre tank and an agile frame really does wonders. In the naked sector, this is the bike to have. The downside is iffy electronics and a lot of commitment needed for servicing.

Enough of my talk and let the pics do the talking.

The night before leaving for our trip, doing last minute checks to ensure bikes are fully strapped and secured.

Fueling up at Delhi near Dhaula Kuan. With both bikes loaded on my truck, I asked the pump attendant to climb on the truck bed and fill the bikes. He was enjoying the attention. Several questions on 'kitna deti hain' were asked.

The open stretch of the Jaipur Ajmer highway. It was a pleasure driving along with minimal interference (cows, humans, bicycles).

First fort stop - Kishangarh, a small fort close to Ajmer. It is private and can be accessed if you have made a hotel booking.

Continuing our journey, we then hit our next stop Jodhpur. The highlight is always the fort. A group of women started dancing inside the fort complex for Instagram videos.

From Jodhpur, we rode our trusty steeds to Barmer and back. Both of us have Sena 30k mounted on our helmets, so we kept talking and watching out for any road obstacles. We were stopped only once by police who were curious about our gear and rides. We told them we are tourists and we were let go with a smile.

We pulled over on the shoulder one hour away from Barmer and took some pics. Barmer is a small provincial town, but I watched the movie Sonar Kella by Satyajit Ray and the villain tells the hero that he is going to Barmer. I was always intrigued by the name so decided to venture out. The road was single lane but very well maintained with lots of curves. A whole day spent riding with loads of fun and smiles.

Our next stop was Kumbhalgarh via Udaipur. We checked out the Kumbhalgarh fort. We used a combination of country roads and the highway. The overall road surface was excellent, except for the area around Kumbhalgarh which was absolutely horrid. There was no tarmac. It was sheer terror doing ADV riding with the Italians. But we managed it somehow. Kumbhalgarh is well known for its 36km wall, which is the longest in India and 2nd longest in the world. The fort was rather small and not very well maintained. A disappointment, after seeing the Splendors of Jodhpur fort.

Next was Chittorgarh. Again no complaints as highway 27 were sublime. We rode through the fort gates, snapped pics, rested, had breakfast and headed back to Udaipur. The pic was taken at one of the many gates of the fort.

We rested at Udaipur and checked into the Taj Lake Palace. It's a grand affair and it was on my bucket list. Everything was opulent, OTT and uber expensive. I think a visit once in a lifetime is enough.

We drove up from Udaipur to Samode, a small town close to Jaipur. My brother's friend had recommended us Samode Palace so we decided to stay there. It was worth it. A lovely palace hotel well maintained by the current owner. One of my top 3 hotels I stayed at, and definitely worth a revisit anytime.

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