I’ve been actively touring on motorcycles and doing cross-country rides for a good part of the last decade or so. However, one place that remained elusive for one reason or the other was Ladakh.

BHPian Added_flavour recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

This is a travelogue of our motorcycle ride from Bangalore to Ladakh and back, in September 2023 on a Honda Africa Twin 1100 and a BMW R1250 GS.

I follow my heart … and it usually leads me to the motorcycle!

Annual ride 2023 from Bangalore to cover the Leh-Ladakh circuit has been a phenomenon that's going to stay in our memories for our lifetime. It was massive in terms of the distance covered, number of days taken, variables in terms of weather, altitude, terrain, road conditions, some days of extreme off-roading, etc. The toughest part for us riders (Deepak and I) was the fact that we rode heavy ~250 kilo motorcycles in some of the toughest terrains our Country offers along with pillions and luggage on the motorcycles.

Of course, a big shout out to our pillions Sandhya & Varuni for being on the saddle for 3000+ km in extremely tough conditions! It's not easy at all... And clicking some amazing pictures and videos for us to cherish these memories!

No tour operator, no backup vehicle etc. implies that the plan has to be meticulous and precise. It's an amazingly satisfying feeling to plan the intricate details, routes, and hotels over 18 days and to see it all fall into place! Like they say, fortune favors the brave and we were able to stick to the plan every single day!

No amount of pics/videos can do justice to what we experienced..

Some stats below for all of you fellow nerds!

• 18 days
• 14 States/UTs - Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, (a small part of) Rajasthan, New Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh
• 7,600+ Kilometres
• 10+ High passes - Zoji La, Fotu La, Khardung La, Tsato La, Kaksang La, Photi La, Umling La (Highest motorable pass in the world currently), Lachung La, Barlacha La, Nakee La
• 2 bikers and 2 bikernis
• 2 legendary Motorcycles!

If you’ve come to this post, read on!

I’ve been actively touring on motorcycles and doing cross-country rides (Technically another neighboring Country too) for a good part of the last decade or so. However, one place that remained elusive for one reason or the other was Ladakh. And due to this, the joke within my close biker circle was that I wasn’t a “biker” yet (Hey I hadn’t got Leh’d on a motorcycle! ).

Jokes apart, it is indeed true the Ladakh circuit is considered the holy grail for motorcyclists in the Country, and it is for a good reason, considering the challenges and uncertainties it offers in terms of terrain, weather, altitude and more. Having covered Spiti valley a couple of years back, I was itching to cover the Leh circuit soon. Since my better half couldn’t join my Spiti ride back in 2021, she was smitten by the pictures and stories and was very clear that she wants to cover the mountains on the motorcycle next time around.

2023 has been extremely erratic in terms of the weather in the mountains. The shoulder season which usually stretches till May went on till June/July this year as it continued snowing intermittently leading to a lot of ambiguity. And then it poured like there’s no tomorrow across Northern India and Himachal Pradesh bore the brunt of it in the form of devastating floods and resulting destruction in and around Manali and Kullu.

With all of these variables and more, our plan was set around September with the hope that the weather will be relatively stable, and we will be able to visit all the places we intend to. It’s taken me a decade to ride there, who knows if/when it’ll happen again!

The plan and the people:

On a trip of this magnitude, I always prefer to ride with a small group of seasoned, experienced, and level-headed riders and more importantly reliable people, who I have known both on and off the saddle for a long time. A big group ride with strangers is just not my thing!

The plan started with 2 couples – Myself and my better half, and my cousin Deepak and his better half. On a casual morning ride a few months back, my good friend Mahesh (bhpian Roomy) discussed his intent to do the Ladakh circuit along with his wife, and soon, the 6 of us were discussing the dates and draft plan over dinner at my place. In the next couple of weeks, the plan was finalized.

• The gents were to ride all the way from Bangalore and (if everything goes as per plan) back to Bangalore as well. However, if we got delayed in the mountains, plan B was to ship the bikes on the return from Delhi and fly back to Bangalore in time for Ganesh Chaturthi.
• The ladies were to fly to Delhi and back to Bangalore. So they would be on motorcycles from Delhi to Delhi through the entire Ladakh circuit.

Soon, leaves were planned and applied, all the motorcycles were prepped with the preventive maintenance and checks done and air tickets were booked for the 3 ladies who were to fly to Delhi and join us on the motorcycle for the ride onwards. We had also booked flight tickets for the gents in case we were to ship the bikes. However, sadly, after all the preparation, Mr. and Mrs. Mahesh had to pull out a week before the ride due to some work-related commitments. This was a disappointing blow. The only positive in the sad scenario was, foreseeing and planning for the worst, we had ensured to book air tickets under different PNRs to ensure anybody can cancel their tickets without affecting the others.

The final plan looked like this:

That brings us to the steeds and the bikers+bikernis on the ride!

1. Deepak (Tbhp handle ‘Deepak Saligram’) and Varuni on the BMW R1250GS a.k.a Maximus

2. Suhas (Yours truly) and Sandhya on the Honda Africa Twin 1100 a.k.a Bagheera

Day 1 to Day 3: Marathon Riding from Bangalore to Delhi

Day 1 Stats:

Distance covered: ~900 kms

Start time: 4.30 AM from Hebbal, Bangalore

End time: 5.30 PM at Kakaku guest house, Adilabad.

The first three days of a ride of this magnitude will always be marathon mile munching. The idea is to cover distance efficiently as the bodies and minds are fresh. We also wanted to ensure that we reach Delhi on day 3 well before the ladies land in Delhi. As usual, I had a lot of butterflies the day before the ride. All the packing was done and finalized by 8 PM. But as expected, I couldn’t sleep well and kept waiting for the alarm to go off at 3.30 AM. And then the annual ride 2023 began!

Heading off from home!

A quick breakfast stop before Kurnool.. and the regular questions around the motorcycles answered!

Soon after Kurnool, we encountered a huge traffic jam on the highway. Later we realized that this was due to some construction happening and a big trailer carrying a windmill blade had broken down on a narrow stretch of the under-construction section of the highway. Cursing our bad luck and fighting through traffic at high mid-day temperatures, we proceeded towards Hyderabad.

Every South Indian motorcyclist who travels across the Country will agree that Hyderabad is the toughest and most frustrating city to pass through, because of the senseless blanket rule of not allowing motorcycles on the outer ring road. Due to this, we are left with 2 options. Either ride through the city in the maddening heat and unruly traffic or take the service road of the outer ring road. During my previous travels across the country, I have tried both and they are equally bad in their own ways. The ORR service road was in tatters the last time I tried it in 2021 and it even discontinues at multiple places making you take remote kaccha roads in these sections consuming a lot of time and tiring you out. Between the two, the city traffic ironically seemed the lesser evil.

However, Deepak came up with a seemingly brilliant 3rd option the day before the ride. He happened to notice that in the ‘bike mode’ of Google map was deviating left just before Hyderabad and directing us through Shabad and Sangareddy. We discussed this and decided to ask around on the WhatsApp groups if anybody had taken this route. Luckily, some of our fellow riders responded saying it’s the best possible option to bypass Hyderabad and the road surface is also decent. One gentleman even gave the exact route and the specifics of where we need to join the NH towards Nagpur after Hyderabad.

This is the route we took: Kurnool – Jadcharla - (Deviate left at) Shadnagar - Shabad - Sangareddy - Narsapur – (And join back the NH at) Toopran.

This experiment was a grand success for us! The roads were decent enough for most parts of this stretch, traffic was sparse, and we ended up saving a lot of time and energy. As soon as we joined back the highway at Toopran, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant and thanked our friends who had guided us on this route.

At a much needed hydration and chai break post lunch

From here on, the roads were fantastic through Nizamabad, Nirmal and Adilabad. We were able to keep up good average speeds and reached the accommodation for the day in Adilabad by 5.30 PM. We had covered 900 kms in about 13 hours today. There was a small thought of continuing further towards Nagpur, but we shelved it as our hotel was already booked at Adilabad and more importantly, we knew the roads at the Telangana-Maharashtra border were not in great shape and there was no point tackling them in the dark after a long day on the saddle. Starting and finishing a long riding day early always pays off. One gets to rest well and rejuvenate before the next day, and you also get the evening off to explore some of these small towns which would otherwise be only a pit-stop for the night.

Continue reading BHPian Added_flavour's travelogue for more insights and information.

The initial plan was to use the Harley DYNA Super Glide for the trip, but the recent rides on the GSA tilted the choice in favour of the BMW.

BHPian genesmotorides recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Ever since my riding buddies did a Bhutan – Kerala round trip on their Harleys in 2016 the itch to ride to Bhutan from Kerala along with my better half on our Harley DYNA Super Glide Custom was on my mind. The opportunity presented itself in 2019. We both are employed in the Middle East and had to coordinate our leaves accordingly. By the end of 2018 we started preparations for the big ride

My riding buddies earlier had coordinated their trip through Mr Sangay of Dainty Tours and Travels in Phuentsholing, Bhutan and we too followed the same path. All arrangements were made and then COVID stuck.

Back in Dubai, my riding was confined to the roads of Dubai on my V-Storm 1000. In 2021 I sold my V-Storm and brought a 2018 model BMW GS 1200 with 5K on the clock. This motorcycle was anything other than what I had ridden so far. In the course of a few months, I ended up buying a pair of Moskomoto saddle bags and a set of GIVI Trekker Aluminum panniers and a GIVI Aluminum top box.

Meanwhile, by Mid-August 2022 we did a USA west coast -Pacific Highway ride from San Francisco to Sandiego roundtrip, on a rented BMW GSA 1200. The rental was from Riders-share.com a platform for bike owners to advertise their motorcycle on rent. An Amazing experience it was.

After riding my BMW GS for about one year I started looking for a used BMW GSA in Kerala and in the process sold my motorcycle in Dubai to have funds in hand.

Since it's difficult for used BMW GSAs to come by in Kerala my search led me to Bike Shop Racing a used motorcycle dealer in Mumbai. It was a fantastic experience and on my hands was a BMW GSA 1200, 2018 with less than 10K on the Odometer. I flew down to Mumbai in November 2022 did the paperwork and rode the bike down to my native place in Kochi.

Beginning in February, I went to Kerala to register the motorcycle in my state. On return, the motorcycle was left at EVM Motorrad Cochin for service and tire change.

The initial plan was to use the Harley DYNA Super Glide for the trip but the recent rides on the GSA tilted the choice in favor of the BMW. Below are the photos of both of these bikes.

We were constantly in touch with our tour agents and came to know about the latest developments in Bhutan Tourism. Bhutan was one of the last countries to open its borders to tourism post covid. Riders intending to visit Bhutan on their own Motorcycle may note these new requirements for entry into Bhutan as of March 2023.

1. A Bhutanese government-approved guide is mandatory to accompany you. Tourists cannot travel without a guide. We had to arrange a Taxi and driver for the guide since we were on a motorcycle.
2. We used our passports to enter Bhutan. At the immigration Indians, Sri Lankans and Maldives citizens must pay a sustainability fee of Rupees 1200/ head/ day of stay in Bhutan. For all other nationalities, USD 250/ Day must be paid as sustainability fees.
3. Proof of hotel reservations is required, which your tour operator will arrange. All hotels are three-star and above.
4. Travel insurance- You may get your own travel insurance; else the tour operator can arrange it for you.
5. Preferable to have the motorcycle in your name. In case you are using a Motorcycle that is not in your name you will need an authorization letter from the owner permitting you to ride in Bhutan.
6. Original Registration of Vehicle, Valid insurance, Pollution control Certificate (Pollution Certificate can be done in Bhutan)
7. Valid Indian Driving license.
8. Rupees 4500/ Night of Stay in Bhutan for Motorcycle. To be paid in cash at the Regional Transport office in Phuentsholing.
9. These documents have to be submitted to the RTO in Bhutan who will issue the Permit after payment of fees.
10. Indian Currency is accepted, and the exchange rate is 1:1

Since my wife had limited leave it was decided that she will join me in Kolkata and return from Paro Airport in Bhutan. I Left for Kochi on February 24th picked up my Motorcycle from the service Centre and rode home. Had a few days to prepare my motorcycle for the ride. These were the add-ons that I had on the stock motorcycle.

1. Quad Lock mobile handlebar holder with antivibration
2. 12 Volt direct connection from the battery
3. GIVI Trekker out back Aluminum Panniers with GIVI Aluminum top Box
4. Headlight guard
5. Pannier liner bags for all three Aluminum boxes( brought from Ali Express)

Helmets; Airoh Carbon Commander and AGV, Helmet comms – Packtalk bold. For Photography three Sony Action cameras, Insta 360, DJI Spark (Drones are permitted in Bhutan with special approvals. Obtaining approvals takes time, and we were not aware of this requirement hence the drone remained in our bags) and one dedicated Samsung S22 ultra for photography.

Other than all the protective gear, Raincoats and boot covers we also carried essential tools, a Puncture repair kit, a compact rechargeable air compressor, a jump starter (both are life savers), Cable ties, straps, bungee chords
On 26th February the day before the big day, GSA’s belly was filled up with regular petrol. Tried to go a bit early to bed but excitement is over the roof and sleep came it after Midnight.

Day 1 - 27th February 2023 - Cochin to Nellore ( Andhra Pradesh) - 820 Kms

Got up around 3:00 Hrs. The motorcycle was all prepped up and fully loaded. Left home at 4:00 Hrs. Traffic was sparse, and I reached close to Salem by 9:00 Hrs. Had breakfast (Tamil Nādu is a food paradise for travellers, you get fresh vegetarian food on highways), a short stop over for a quick snap in front of my wife’s college where she studied twenty-five years ago.

After Salem, Google map was taking me out of the National highway onto state highways. little that I realized my maps were set to avoid tolls. Andhra Pradesh was super-hot, and my cooling vest came in handy. Reached Nellore at around 19:00 Hrs.

Checked in at Hotel Minerva Grand and crashed for the night. For safe keeping of motorcycles, the hotel has basement parking.

As a rule, I wash my Riding gear every night and hang it out to dry in the room. At times it doesn’t fully dry out, but the dry wind the next morning takes care of it.

My target was to cover around 700 Kms a day but the GSA is a mile muncher. It eats mile after mile in a very relaxed manner and I was covering large distances in no time. Also setting the vehicle on cruise control at times helps you to relax your arms.

Day 2 - 28th February 2023 – Nellore to Bhubaneswar (Orissa) – 1075 Kms

Left Hotel Minerva at around 7:00 Hrs. Got onto NH16 and the GSA was munching mile after mile without any drama. Guava sellers are dime a dozen on the highway during this season (certainly recommended).

One of my rules is to find a bed before sunset and I try not to ride in the night. However, hotels on the highway were fully booked and I ended up reaching Bhubaneshwar City at around 20:00 hrs. Adding to my woes were the road works and lack of highway lights. Found a hotel on the highway and crashed for the night. If it was not for the GSA covering one thousand-odd kilometres a day would have been a daunting task.

Day 3 - 01st March 2023 –Bhubaneswar to Kolkata (West Bengal) – 452 Kms.

In front of the hotel ready for the day's ride.

Kolkata was 400-odd kms away and decided to have more stops on the way. West Bengal has numerous Paddy fields on either side of the highway, which reminded me of my native place in Kerala. Took a detour from the highway onto an unpaved road that had a paddy field on either side. My drone has a follow-me function and took a video with it.

Everywhere I stopped people wanted to know the price, Mileage and my youtube channel details ( I don't have one so far). Few wanted to sit on the motorcycle and rev it which I obliged.

After numerous stops reached Kolkata at around 16:00 Hrs. Since my wife was flying to Kolkata, I checked in to Holiday-inn which is very close to the airport.

Day 4 & 5 - 02nd March and 3rd March –Kolkata – 4 Kms.

My wife was reaching on 3rd March, and I had enough time to relax at the hotel. All her riding gear and clothes were already with me, and she was travelling with a small backpack. Kolkata is a very busy place with a cacophony of horns on the road at all times. The street food close to my hotel was super delicious. Tried Sondesh, Gulabjamun, Rasgulla, Rasmali, Roti and Aloo from street vendors.

In Kolkata, there are numerous Ambassador Taxis. These are seldom seen in Kerala. Felt very nostalgic which reminded me of my Dad in his Mark 2,3 and 4 Amby. A whole lot of battery-operated rickshaws were also plying on the roads.

Picked up my wife from Kolkata Airport on the 3rd morning and since we were riding only on the 4th morning, we decided to explore Kolkata for the day. It was prudent not to roam around the city on a motorcycle due to the oppressing heat and traffic. The hotel arranged for us a cab for a city tour. She changed to a Kolkata saree true to the spirit of the city and in Kolkata we visited the Victoria Palace, India Museum, Princep Ghat, Hooghly River, St Paul's Cathedral, Howrah Bridge and the Birla Planetarium.

By evening we reached the hotel had dinner, packed our stuff, ready to leave the next day.

Day 6 - 4th March Kolkata to Siliguri ( West Bengal) – 569 Kms

Our itinerary in Bhutan was from 6th March and we had two days to reach Phuentsholing which was 700 odd kilometres from Calcutta and a day of hard riding could reach us to Jaigon the border town to Bhutan. After a filling breakfast at the Holiday-inn, we left at around 7:30 for Siliguri. En route, we had a slight detour to Murshidabad. A prominent place in Indian history. The Hazarduari palace and museum were a feast for the eyes, and one could spend the entire day wandering inside the museum learning regional history.

Our motorcycle was kept for safekeeping at a small mandir and a small chit-chat for directions with the watchman revealed that we could take our motorcycle on a bamboo ferry and cross the Hooghly River which could save us some time. We crossed the river through the Lalbagh ferry ghat. While riding the motorcycle onto the bamboo ferry I lost my balance and would have fallen into the river if not for the timely presence of a local gentleman who supported the motorcycle.

On the way to Malda, we passed a big water body- Farakka barrage- a barrage across the river Ganga which is 18 km from the Bangladesh border. This freshwater barrage is the largest in India. The roads leading to Siliguri were proving to be treacherous due to a large number of trucks and highway expansion works, we decided to stop over in Siliguri on 4th March. Checked into Marriot Siliguri at around 20:00 hrs and after a sumptuous dinner rested for the night.

Day 7- 5th March Siliguri to Jaigon, (West Bengal) Via Darjeeling- 250 Kms

Had a filling breakfast and left for Darjeeling at around 8:00 Hrs. Darjeeling is only 60-odd kilometres from Siliguri. Darjeeling was never on the cards, and we decided to have a very quick visit. The ride took us through hairpins after hairpins, which was a welcome change. At last, we started to see mountains and soon the mercury dropped to a very pleasant twenties. This was our first trip to Darjeeling, streets were all crowded with tourists and in a few hours, we managed to visit the Zoology Park and Mountaineering Institute.

Since our destination was Jaigon for the day we did not have the liberty to explore more in Darjeeling. By midday, we left for Saigon. The route took us through a dense forest area. For a South Indian anything below 20 degrees is cold and the heated grips of the Motorcycle came in very handy. We crossed the coronation bridge and stopped for a few photographs.

Cool-weather and good roads and the scenic landscape made riding a breeze. Our plan was to reach Jaigon by late evening however it was getting very dark, and we decided to call it a day and checked in to Hotel Dooars Heritage which was right beside the highway a few kilometres before Jaigon. After the daily ritual of washing all the riding gear a hot bath and sumptuous Momos from the kitchen, it was bedtime.

A painting was taken at a restaurant in Kolkata to end the first leg of our ride on the Indian side.

Continue reading BHPian genesmotorides's travelogue for more insights and information.

Overall these guys gave me one of the best service experience with bikes so far.

BHPian Jaggu recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

There is a new dealer for BMW Motorad (2 wheelers) in Bangalore and I had chance to visit them and experience the service support recently. For a change it was a very good experience and thought I should share it here on the forum.

As you are aware I had picked up a GSA 1200 about 2 years back (story here). As soon as I got the bike I got it checked at a private garage owned by a rider in Jayanagar, got the shaft assembly cleaned up and lubed. Then came the time to do the annual service (end of last year), and had got it done at Tusker BMW who were the sole dealer in Bangalore. It was a minor service with just oil change, so I went ahead with them inspite of horror stories about the dealership. Obviously just like any rude and bad dealer they won't allow owners to hang around while service is being done  had already decided that next service which is a major one, will be done at one of the other city dealers who had better repute and service standards.

The 390 Adventure and the GSA were doing my daily duties till August of this year, so Chaggu the GSA had done hardly 1000 kms since service. August made some plans with few close friends to ride the hills and decided to ship the 390 adventure to Noida. Dear friend and fellow mod khan_sultan is baby sitting the bike these days, since I plan to do few more rides up there before shipping her back to Bangalore. So now Chaggu has been a daily ride for me since Sep, and I was enjoying the bike.... till that fateful day in October beginning when I started the bike and it flashed "Engine control failure" on the TFT and went into limp mode!

I have the scan tool and OBD connector, so rigged it up and did a check. Errors pointed out to a faulty throttle control unit at the handle bar. Tried clearing codes, resetting it and an adaptation, but the bike just wouldn't come out of limp mode. While doing adaptation I could see that the throttle controller at max is going only till about 12%, which kinda confirmed it is conked. Now this is a known fault in the newer GS/A 1250 and there were no questions asked replacements. But never knew issue is there for the older models also. I had seen the news of another recall for a modification to be done for the drive shaft (news here), but that also did not have any mention about throttle control unit. Anyhow it was double bad news for me, since I did not have a spare vehicle that I can use, it was holiday season (puja) and call to Tusker enquiring about the availability of the part was a damp squib at best. They said they 'will get back' and no estimated timeline was committed since it was just after holiday season! Oh ya this part would cost about 25,000 INR that much info I could gather, and I was informed I would get a call back as soon as part arrives. It's been more than 1.5 month since then and I still am waiting for a call from Tusker BMW!

I knew relying on Tusker is a bad idea and went looking for help in couple of biker groups. Adventure Bike Rider group is one which has many GS/A riders and prompt came replies with contacts of other dealerships, used part, new part etc. I knew it is a simple fix and I have the software to do the changes at ECU, so was about to go ahead with procuring the part from someone in Bangalore. But before this I thought I will just check with the garage I mentioned in the beginning (owned by a rider), if I am on the right track. And this person confirmed this is a known issue and part replacement is the way to go, but he prompted me to check with the dealer if this can be covered under warranty since it is a known issue. Now here is the catch: 1- warranty ended in Dec since the previous owner did not get the extended warranty at purchase and BMW does not sell extended warranty later. ps: Now they do, there is a special scheme running where bikes still under original warranty can upgrade. 2 - The very thought of dealing with Tusker who could not confirm on part and related eternal waiting period ahead.

This is when someone from Bangalore Tiger group reminded me that there is a new dealer in town and close by for me in Koramangala and shared the contact persons number. Then another member from Adventure Rider Group sent me his reliable contact at JSP and asked me to check with him if my bike can be covered under recall. Messaged the JSP person Shashank and he said he will check on the part availability and if my bike is covered under the recall. He also mentioned there is already a wait list for people but will try his best. Oh yeah I came to know there is a silent recall that is happening for throttle control unit, that happens when you take the bike for service. Came to know through the contact for used part. The part I was offered was one such unit that was replaced but not yet failed. I had made the call in the evening and next day by afternoon Shashank replied back and confirmed that my bike is on the recall list and it will be free of cost! Also that the part is expected in next few days and he will revert to me as soon as it arrives. Since my bike was in limp mode and I explained my no vehicle situation, he fast tracked my vehicle for the recall. Within few days I got message that part has arrived and I can drop the bike next day. I assumed this job would take couple of days (from my experience dealing with Tusker attitude), but was surprised when the service advisor Varun told that I can come and pick the bike up by evening. Inspite of me adding a small list of other minor jobs.

By evening I got a call and was informed the rear pads are worn and need replacement at 12,000 kms!. I had a set of OE pads with me, so I informed I will carry it when I take delivery and get it replaced. Went to the workshop by evening and that is when I saw the service set up these guys have. A very nice waiting area with view to the service, so OCD's like me can hang around and watch while bike is being serviced!  By mistake I took one set of front brake pads instead of the rear and they had already billed the labor. Varun assured that I can just get the pads next day and can get it replaced in couple of minutes, to which I agreed and have got it done by now.

BMW Motorad Experience Center

Finally met up with Shashank and he took me around the showroom. So this is a BMW Motorad experience centre and not a typical dealer set up. As per him there are about 13 world wide and the first one in India (impressive). No wonder the massive sq foot area, spread over two floors and a great service Bay Area also. Now I will let the pictures do the talking.

People who are familiar with the area, this is the same building as that was occupied by Harley Davidson when they were operating in Koramangala. It has been redesigned and now is JSP Motorad.

Plenty of waiting and catch up area, it is warm and welcoming also. Finally a place where you can go and chill and experience the brand. Oh they do have events also happening here, had a DJ turn table that was kept there for those of you who want to throw a party lol

Second floor and more seating / catch up and a view to the service bay. It feels very comforting when a dealership opens its shop floor to the customers. Especially for bikers like me where we do work on our own machines and expect a certain minimum reassurance thanks to our OCD. Why can't all dealerships be like this, what is there to hide. I won't even mind paying a premium for a service experience that is transparent.

So this is part of the shaft recall, BMW has added a vent at the bottom and a breather on top (pic not available). This will prevent moisture / water accumulation inside the shaft assembly that was causing premature ceasing and failures. Simple fix takes couple of hours at dealership workshop and BMW has provided training and tools required to carry the job as factory spec.

Once the vent is drilled, a special calibration tool is fitted to the rear hub. This comes with an additional ecu unit that then connects to the diagnostics machine. The shaft is held at a certain angle and then bike run at certain RPM to calibrate the whole thing. If there is deviations from the specs there maybe a shaft recall also that would be done for the vehicle (is what I understood). My vehicle had done hardly 12,000 kms so the specs were well within range.

Calibration run in progress on another bike.

Video

The ever cheerful Shashank who saved me lot of grief and money too lol

Overall these guys gave me one of the best service experience with bikes so far. Yes the mechs/staff are mostly ex Tusker and Ducati blr guys (as informed by folks from biking groups) but the overall vibe they give is definitely positive for now.

Hope they keep this standard up and give customers the premium feel that a brand like BMW is always associated with. Cheers and wishing the very best to JSP Motorad team in Bangalore.

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.