epic rideS

www.royalenfield.com

T H E C L A S S I C T R A I L T H E J A M B U G H O D A R I D E G R O U P R I D I N G

aRT OF MOTORCYCliNg

TOP ROYal ENFiEld dEalERs

M A R K E T I N G N E W S L E T T E R

april 2010

rann oF kutch + rajaSthan + ladakh + South india

apollo auto India awards 2010: Best Brand

zigwheels.com Viewers Choice: Bike of the Year 2009

zigwheels.com: Bike of the Year above 251cc

nDTV Profi t Car & Bike awards 2010: Motorcycle of

the Year above 250 cc

nDTV Profi t Car & Bike awards 2010:

Best PR Communications Team

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neWsKicK start

Royal Enfi eld at the Auto Expo 2010royal Enfi eld was part India’s most prominent automotive show, the auto Expo 2010, held from January 5th to 11th at the Pragati maidan in new Delhi. royal Enfi eld displayed the recently launched royal Enfi eld Classic 500 EFI and the royal Enfi eld Classic 350. The mainstay of the royal Enfi eld display were the soon-to-be-launched variants of the Classic in gleaming Chrome and in Classic Battle Green.

The company also launched the Bullet 350 and Bullet Electra 350 with the unit Construction Engine. The models will go on sale in February and march 2010

respectively. The Expo turned out to be

a rather rewarding experience for royal Enfi eld with the royal Enfi eld Classic and the marketing team picking up as many as fi ve awards. ■ Apollo Auto India Awards 2010: Best Brand■ Zigwheels.com Viewers Choice Bike of the Year 2009■ Zigwheels.com Bike of the Year above 251cc■ NDTV Profi t Car & Bike Awards 2010: Motorcycle of the Year above 250 cc■ NDTV Profi t Car & Bike awards 2010: Best PR Communications Team

Royal Enfi eld introduced into the Indian market, the Electra Twinspark 350 cc earlier this month. With the introduction of the Electra Twinspark, Royal Enfi eld has taken another step towards modernising its range of motorcycles with the UCE family of engines. The Electra Twinspark can now benefi t from the superb performance, reliability and fuel-effi ciency of the unit construction engine whilst retaining the unmistakable character of a Royal Enfi eld.

According to RL Ravichandran, CEO, Royal Enfi eld Motorcycles, “It has been our aim to encourage riding as a lifestyle. The Electra Twinspark, with its performance and comfort coupled to the characteristic Royal Enfi eld styling is guaranteed to kindle wanderlust in our customers.”

The Electra Twinspark is available with both, kick start and electric start options and in colours—silver, red and black.

The Electra UCE 350cc is Here! Electra Twinspark (kick start)

INR 89,846

Electra Twinspark (electric start)INR 93,846(Ex-showroom pricing in Chennai)

Last year has been very good for us in terms of sheer sales performance and the launch of the two revolutionary Classic models. Besides creating these great machines, last year also saw the inception of the Keep riding campaign spearheaded by our fi eld

staff and dealers. as an organization we have always believed in promoting leisure riding as a lifestyle. a royal Enfi eld is a practical leisure motorcycles and not just a commuter bike.

We have hit the right note through the Keep riding Campaign specifi cally aimed at encouraging our customers to take their bikes and hit the open road. Through this campaign our fi eld staff and dealers jointly organize rides across all our regions, themselves actively being a part of the bonhomie by riding out. What started as a small effort today has spread out to become our everyday way of life with nearly 100 rides organized in 2009.

2010 promises more exciting and challenging rides in all our regions with active participation from my colleagues at the hO as well. The mood has been contagious with the entire euphoria affecting the dealer fraternity also, which immediately got hooked on to this unique programme as it gave them a chance to unwind

with the customers. I am no exception either and have experienced this fi rst hand riding out to mahabalipuram with the Chennai team. Today we are strongly focussing on encouraging our customers not just to own our motorcycles but ride them as has been evident by our ‘Leave home’ and ‘Trip’ campaigns and now the “Keep riding” campaign. We now have 3 new calendar rides to engage customers, the Tour of rann of Kutch, The Southern Odyssey and The ride of rajasthan apart from the legendary himalayan Odyssey. These would all be rides of discoveries in more than one way, like we found a Shrine dedicated to a royal Enfi eld - “Bullet Baba” deep inside the rajasthan hinterland, where the devotees offer ‘Bullet’ Beer in reverence!!!

I am looking forward to joining you in some of the subsequent rides organized in other parts of the country getting a chance to do what royal Enfi eld loves most; riding the open roads. Let’s ride and let’s discover…

This issue of The Beat brings to you some interesting stories from these rides and we hope it inspires you to don your helmet and open the throttle to gobble up the highways.

ride Safe

If you would like to contribute to THE BEAT email us at schavan@royalenfi eld.com EDITORIAL TEAM Shaji Koshy, Sachin Chavan, Praveen P Sathaye

greetings from the editorial desk!

Shaji Koshy, Divisional General Manager, Marketing

4 5

on the road dealer

5

R OYaL EnFIELD recently organised a ride for its customers and

enthusiasts from ahmedabad to Jambhughoda. Leading the ride was a royal Enfi eld Classic 500 in pristine green followed by Thunderbird TwinSparks, Electras, machismos and Bullet 350s – just about all the models from the royal Enfi eld stable – 15 roaring and thumping royal Enfi eld motorcycles conquering nature’s elements.

What started at 0630 hrs in front of IIm Campus, ahmedabad as a motorcycle ride, ended at 2000 hrs the next day at the royal riders showroom as a memorable experience. By the end of it, the riders had ridden and triumphed over tarmac, water, slush, rocks, sand and believe it or not, even fi re.

after instructions on staggered riding, single fi le,

no racing, etc were shared over some chai and cookies, all riders were raring to go. Kick starts, electric starts, idling done, riding gear worn, helmets in place – time for fuel. after fi lling their bikes with fuel near Shivranjani, it was time to fi ll themselves with fuel. The riders had a chai, samosa and parantha stop after 35 km in the ride. Seeing the traffi c on the road, a regrouping of the riders was done and then the thump started again. The heat of the moment and that of the surroundings mandated frequent sutta and water breaks during the ride. Crossing Vadodara from the bypass, the riders reached the halol toll gate where they were joined by more riders from Vadodara. Pleasantries exchanged, hugs done, more water consumed, and all were ready to roll. The ride after that was a breeze with wide expressways and the

group crossed the heritage site of Champaner and the temples of Pavagarh. Fun and frolic was what the calm twisting country roads had for the riders while welcoming them to Jambughoda. The resort there was waiting to serve the riders with some mouth-watering lunch and rest for their sore bums. after the food and a small nap, the royals were ready to thump again.

next on menu was the off-road section, slush, rocks and more around the Kada Dam. Situated inside a protected wildlife sanctuary, the dam had much to offer and test the skills of the riders. The off-road experience was new for most of the riders and after taking a complete round of the Kada Dam, they had sore arms but happy souls and as all of them said – we now have more confi dence in our machine. There were some good photo

opportunities near the dam so everyone jumped to have their photo taken with the gorgeous green Classic 500.

It was nearing sunset and when asked what they want–ride or resort–came a thumping “let’s ride” response. Everyone wanted to ride more and some more. The beautiful village roads took them to Jhand hanuman. En route there was a jungle fi re and amazing photos by the fi re were taken. The broken roads, darkness, poor visibility could not stop the riders from getting the most out of their royal Enfi elds. The bikes literally fl ew as bridges, potholes, sand etc were all handled with power and speed. Post the ride, the usual dinner and rider talks ensued. While it was a dry state, the riders made it wet with their amazing ride stories.

The return ride started the next day with most people now taking turns on the Classic 500. as expected, they were impressed. With more confi dence in their bikes, they themselves rode faster and meaner.

at the end of it they all gathered at the newly opened royal riders showroom near CG road. Lots of chai, pakoras, hugs, smiles and cheers later, everyone went back home — with a promise to ride again.

The Jambughoda RideAhmedabad to Jambughoda—a ride organised by Royal Enfi eld . Words and Pictures by Pradeep Chaurasia

TOP 10DEALERSJaycee Motors Corporation

Amritsar

Dhone AutomobilesPune

Jalandhar MotorsJalandhar

Barnala AutomobilesLudhiana

Garg AutosChandigarh

Ess Aar MotorsNew Delhi

Royal MotorsAmbala

Manmohan Auto StoresChandigarh

Southern MotorsChennai

Sukhdev AutomobilesPatiala

DEALERSJaycee Motors Corporation

JAN '10 - FEB '10

ROYAL ENFIELD’S NEWEST DEALERSHIPS

6 new Dealerships were added to the ever growing Royal Enfi eld Network.

1 ADITYA MOTORS Rajkot, Gujarat2 LAMBA ENTERPRISES Dwarka, New Delhi3 MUNISHWAR MOTORS Belgaum, Karnataka4 AGARWAL TRACTORS Najibabad, UP5 ROYAL RIDERS Ahmedabad, Gujarat6 B&C SALES Rudrapur, Uttar Pradesh

1

3

4

5 6

NEW OVERSEAS DEALERS

M/S ALVAREZ MAQUINARIASCordoba, Argentina

CLASSIC MOTORS LLC, DUBAIDubai

2

STATE OF THE ART WORKSHOP OPENS IN BANGALORERoyal Enfi eld opened its new format Service Station Workshop associated with the Brand Store in Bangalore on 28th January, 2010. This state of the art workshop would serve as the reference workshop for setting up similar facilities in the future all over the country. Facilities include 6 automated bays with hydraulic ramps, an air conditioned customer lounge that has a better view of the work area, a multi-utility roller test bench and parts cleaner etc to name a few. The workshop has suffi cient parking for 30 customer bikes inside the compound and a separate parking facility for the workshop staff. There is also a separate service manager cabin for detailed discussions with customers.

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Dealer Conference

REGIO N 6 REGIO N 3

K E E P RI D I N G CH A M PI O N S

SA L E S PE R F O R M A N CE : C A PITA L M A RKE TS

S E RV I CE PE R F O R M A N CE : A L L IN D IA

S PA R E PA R T S PE R F O R M A N CE : A L L IN D IA

SA L E S PE R F O R M A N CE : C A PITA L M A RKE TS

SA L E S PE R F O R M A N CE : N O N C A PITA L M A RKE TS

S E RV I CE PE R F O R M A N CE : C A PITA L M A RKE TS

S E RV I CE PE R F O R M A N CE N O N C A PITA L M A RKE TS

N E W D E A L E R PE R F O R M A N CE

SA L E S PE R F O R M A N CE : A L L IN D IA

REGIO N 5 REGIO N 2

REGIO N 4 REGIO N 1

B E s T s a l E s P E R F O R M a N C E R E g i O N W i s E

dealers

royal Enfi eld recently held their all India Dealer Conference in november 2009 at the GrT Temple Bay in mahabalipuram near Chennai. at this conference, 3 new motorcycle models namely the 350 uCE, the Electra uCE and the Classic Chrome were unveiled to the dealers. awards were also given away at this conference to the best performers amongst the dealers in the area of sales and service in each region as well as overall across India. The winners of the awards are as follows:

Rank dealer1 Teknik, Bangalore2 Marikar Motors, Kollam3 Blue Mountain, Calicut

Rank dealer1 Shahila, Guwahati2 Ahuja Enterprises, Dehradun3 East India Agro Pvt Ltd, Kolkata

Rank dealer1 Royal Motors, Ambala2 Aman Autos, Gurgaon3 Ahuja Enterprises, Dehradun

Rank dealer1 Amar Auto, New Delhi2 Lamba Enterprises, New Delhi3 Teknik, Bangalore

Rank dealer1 Barnala Auto, Ludhiana2 Kishori Auto, Khanna3 Sukhdev Automobiles, Patiala

Rank dealer1 Kinematics, New Delhi2 Senthil Murugan Auto Parts, Erode3 Cashmir Sales, Pathankot

Rank dealer1 Essar Motors, New Delhi2 Southern Motors, Chennai3 Soniya, Mumbai

Rank dealer1 Dhone Automobiles, Pune2 Padmaja Commercial Corp, Vijaywada

Rank dealer1 Amar Auto, New Delhi2 Lamba Enterprises, New Delhi3 Teknik, Bangalore

Rank dealer1 Dhone Automobiles, Pune2 GG Motors, Madurai3 Paragon, Nagpur

Rank dealer1 HSR Services, Bangalore2 Navyug, Jalandhar3 Chandra Motors, Kanyakumari

Rank dealer1 Jalandhar Motors, Jalandhar2 Barnala Autos, Ludhiana3 Manmohan Auto Stores, Chandigarh

Rank dealer

1 Royal Engineers, Hyderabad

2 Kay Jee Engineers, Secunderabad

3 Auto Centre, Ranchi

Rank dealer

1 Sukhdev Automobiles, Patiala

2 Garg Autos, Chandigarh

3 Cashmir Sales, Pathankot

Rank dealer

1 Saini Motors, Goa

2 Paragon, Nagpur

3 Ostwal, Nasik

Rank dealer

1 Royal Motors, Ambala

2 Lamba Enterprises, New Delhi

3 Amar Autos, New Delhi

awards were also given to dealers under following categories at an all India level. uCE ChamPIOn, CaPITaL marKETS: Southern Motors, Chennai. uCE ChamPIOnS, nOn CaPITaL marKETS: Dhone Automobiles, Pune

lETTERs email your letters to schavan@royalenfield.

■ I am a student of engineering in Manipal and while on a visit to the Royal Enfi eld showroom in Chennai, I came across The Beat magazine. It made for a good read with lots of pictures and interesting information. I especially liked the article on the NDTV documentary

on Royal Enfi eld riders in Ladakh that was well-written and featured awe-some imagery. Not that I haven’t seen or read articles about adventure in the Leh-Ladakh area but then some of the images taken refl ect a lot about the serenity of the environment there; kudos to your lensman Harsh Man Rai who has done a great job of capturing nature at its best. I am looking forward to reading more about the adventures of Royal Enfi eld Bulleteers in the subsequent issues.

Could you also include some of the photos as centrespreads or post-ers that we can put up on our hostel walls to serve as inspiration to us fl edgling bikers and motivate us to venture far and wide on our Royal En-fi eld motorcycles? The Classic artwork poster in the current issue is good but I would love a natural action shot with impressive scenery and the Royal Enfi eld Bullet. I hope that the next issue of The Beat will also have more such interesting articles and much more amazing photography.

– ADHISH K, MANIPAL

■ I never knew Royal Enfi eld too had a corporate magazine till I saw one at a dealership in Pune. It is indeed a good one especially the name “The Beat” so apt for a magazine from your company whose motorcycles are best known for the distinctive engine beat. Interestingly, it also relates to emotions and feelings by means of a Heartbeat.

It was a good initiative from your side to enable Zeroone technologies

to Log Out of their workstations and experience life in the open while touring on Royal Enfi eld motorcycles. We, who have been working in the IT sector, have actually lost out on the basic excitement of life itself and it is experiences like these which can serve as great stress busters giving us the much needed break.

It would be great if you could organize something similar for us in Pune. Please let us know how we can get in touch with you or someone from your organization and get the same Log Out organized for us. Such an opportunity will be great for us to seek our adventurous side, some-thing which we keyboard punchers might have forgotten long ago.

The rest of the articles were also very interesting and informative with some real good photography. I hope to read more such interesting stuff in your subsequent issues and even get featured in The Beat by means of a Log Out some day. – KHYATI V DESAI, INFOSYS,PUNE

■ I have been regularly following your rides on your website. I have read all the write-ups you have posted there and in your last edition of The Beat. Some of the photos are breathtaking and so are the places that you ride to.

I am a proud owner of a Electra 4-speed 2004 model and have been regularly riding around Pune since then. Now I want to be a part of your big adventures. Can you suggest which ride I should be a part of? And which one will be the best with a pillion?

The Beat magazine is very well put together. Hopefully, you will have a lot more content in your next edition. I also liked the section on Riding in the Wet. Hopefully you will have more such sections on riding skills.Also I would like to congratulate Royal Enfi eld on winning a number of coveted awards this year. – HARDEEP, PUNE

■

on a visit to the Royal Enfi eld showroom in Chennai,

on Royal Enfi eld riders in Ladakh that was well-written and featured awe-

8 9

passing through

az Luhrmann is famous for directing movies: Romeo + Juliet (1996), Moulin Rouge! (2001) and Australia (2008).

Vincent Fantauzzo is a world-renowned artist and recipient of many prestigious awards. as a good break from their hectic schedule while in India, we took them for a ride to Shekhawati region of rajasthan also known as the open art gallery for its painted havelis and paintings, noted for their frescos depicting mythological and historical themes.

On the 29th of January this year, while I was waiting at the airport for messrs Luhrman and Fantauzzo I had no idea what I was getting into. When Baz landed, he told me that he had never ridden a bike before and got his driv-ing license just three days back! I had one hour to get him on a gorgeous green royal Enfield Classic 500 and hit the road. Well I got to hand it over to Baz and Vincent for their determination and enthusiasm. Baz got on the bike, learnt to shift through gears and to brake well enough in an empty

parking lot at the airport. Though a bit shaky and slow at first (Indian city traffic had it’s share to contribute) he got his com-posure as we caught the highway and were soon cruising down the smooth Bikaner highway. By the time we reached Sikar his confidence was soaring. Vincent rides su-perbikes and motocross back in australia so he adapted very well to the Classic.

at Sikar we left behind the traffic and hit the smooth country roads of rajas-than. Vincent was raring to go and test the bikes capabilities. he started trying to pull wheelies on the first day itself—he soon learnt that a royal Enfield was more than just a highway cruiser and found out that speed breakers can be fun to ride over. We reached Dundlod by sundown and Thakur randeep Shekhawat had a warm welcome for us at his fort. Vincent started trying to drift here in the hard sand. We spent that night at the pristine castle of mandawa.

On 30th Jan we first went for a ride through mandawa. We took plenty of pho-

tographs of the old painted haveli’s and temples but best of all was their interac-tion with the local kids—one of the reasons they have come to India is charity work for hearing impaired kids. We took excellent pictures of village children and our bikes. Vincent even did some drifting in the dirt and some jumps much to the amusement of the kids while Baz took photographs. Soon we rode out for a small ride over broken, sandy, royal Enfield-style tracks through the backyards of mandawa. We rode back to Dundlod by sunset as Baz and Vincent wanted to paint one of the walls of the fort and I’m sure Thakur randeep will cherish that painting forever.

n 31st morning Baz and Vincent wanted to paint a village wall as well. Initially the villagers couldn’t figure out what they

were up to and passed smirks, but by the time the painting started to appear they were awe-struck into silence. The plan was to ride to Jaipur and catch the evening flight but I guess they were having so much fun on their bikes that they wanted to ride straight to Delhi. now this was a real ride with a dis-tance of 260 km and half a day to cover it on a unplanned route. The ride turned out to be an excellent one a—we rode through some sand, tight village gullies, broken roads, along bright yellow sunflower fields, and great highways—a real a royal Enfield ride. There was more riding, less stops, less photography and total fun. Baz was getting better and proving to be a decent rider, while Vincent was going all out with drift-ing at corners, high speed off-roading, jumps, wheelies, burnouts and donuts. as we got on the highway, 90 km from Delhi, it got really cold, extremely dusty and traffic seem to be getting worse with difficult over-

taking and even traffic jams on the high-ways! Yet we rode on with a smile on our dirty faces and dust in our eyes. Baz was moved enough to exclaim that every time he gets used to the ride a new level starts: “You have now reached level 10!”. Yes, this does beat videogames.

t the Delhi press conference Siddharth Lal gifted Baz and Vincent a royal Enfield Clas-sic 500 each with their names

on their tanks. In Baz’s words ‘this is the most gorgeous looking bike I have seen’ and Vincent exclaimed this is the most fun bike he has ever ridden. They are sure to continue riding their royal Enfields back in australia. It was a most humbling expe-rience to see the much-acclaimed director and artist in action, both of whom also made for great riding partners. It certainly was a ride to remember.

The ClassiC TrailRoyal Enfield takes director Baz Luhrmann and artist Vincent Fantauzzo for a ride to remember to Shekhawati in Rajasthan

29th Jan 31st Jan

passing through

When Baz landed, he told me that he had never

ridden a bike before and got his driving license just three days back! I

had one hour to get him on a gorgeous green

Royal Enfield Classic 500 and hit the road.

By kanwardeep Singh dhaliwal

10 11

himalayan odyssey himalayan odyssey

ThErE IS COLD, anD ThErE IS COLD On a motorcycle. Cold on a motorcycle is like being beaten with icy hammers while being kicked with cold jackboots, a bone bruising cold. The wind’s big hands squeeze the heat

out of my body and whisk it away; caught in a cold June rain, the drops don’t even feel like water. They feel like ice picks relentlessly tattooing my face. as I ascend Baralachla on my í92 royal Enfield 500, the most notorious pass on the manali-Leh road at 16,000-plus feet, the rain changes to swirling snow, which ices into the folds and crannies of my

clothes. Visibility is down to a few feet and I can hear the harsh rasp of my breath in my helmet as marooned trucks loom out of the brume listing like derelict ships.

Despite all this, I am having the time of my life on the royal Enfield himalayan Odyssey, my annual fix. Lapses of sanity like this are common among motorcyclists, for when you let a motorcycle into your life, you’re changed forever. The letters “mCWG” are stamped on your driver’s license right next to your photograph as if “motorcycle” was just another of your physical characteristics, or maybe a mental condition.

When a rider completes a himalayan Odyssey, only the handful that shared the adventure would truly understand what it meant to endure an escapade like that - feeling the elements fighting against you and manipulating the motorcycle to overcome the obstacles set before you. This is what riding is about, actually being there and doing what you thought can’t be done, then reminiscing about the journey, sharing it with your friends and family, while all the time knowing in the back of your mind that because they weren’t there, they truly won’t comprehend the scope of your tale.

For those who like to ride off the beaten track, a common occurrence is the battle between enjoying the ride and the scenery at the same time.Every successive year that I go back to ride the badlands of Ladakh, I find myself teetering on the brink. usually the desire to ride this one-of-a-kind road to the best of my ability wins, when I correct my sliding rear tyre with a blip of the throttle on the Gata Loops or when I feed my royal Enfield a little more revs to skim the silky pockets of sand on the moré Plains, plane-high at 14,000 feet.

here, transportation is only a secondary function. a motorcycle is a joy machine; it’s a warm and fuzzy conduit of grace. On a motorcycle I know I’m alive. I can feel the cool wells of air pooling in the folds of the mountains and the fleeting warmth of the warm spokes of sunlight that fall through trees. The windís roar raises acoustic ghosts and I can hear whole songs: rock íní roll, swelling orchestras, women’s voices, all hidden in the air and released by speed.

I still think of myself as a motorcycle amateur, but by now I’ve had a handful of bikes and epic rides over a half dozen years. I wouldn’t trade one second of either the good times or the misery. Learning to ride was one of the best things I’ve done.

The HigH way

By harsh Man raiphotograph by Sanjay ahlawat

When a rider completes a Himalayan Odyssey, only the handful that shared the adventure would truly understand

what it meant to endure an escapade like that – feeling the elements fighting against you and manipulating the

motorcycle to overcome the obstacles set before you. This is what riding is about, actually being there and doing what

you thought can’t be done

12 13

himalayan odysseyof falling!). I bought a bike in Jan 2008—a black royal Enfield Thunderbird against a lot of opposition and, of course, doubt. Learnt how to ride the bike decently well and learnt to enjoy riding. however the non-rider/wannabe rider tag kept gnawing at me. Did the mumbai-Pune and some other highway rides but really did not leave with any sense of achievement or belonging. But I enjoyed the bike and loved everything it symbolized to me—power, freedom, expression, fear. The question really was to prove to myself that I am a good rider, have nothing to fear and can do what most define as one of the toughest rides. Basically it boils down to an ego thing—a term defines a lot of me and drives a lot of me, but also there was a fierce desire to ride and to break free—a first real vacation in years, the feeling of getting away, being close to nature, etc. There are probably easier and better ways of achieving the secondary reasons but they were reasons nonetheless.

S o what did I do? I signed up for the himalayan Odyssey—a trip to the top of the world to Khardung La and then some

more. Loved the royal Enfield tag: “The road to salvation was never a straight line”—that’s literally and figuratively bang on. as I told the Big Bosses (the rE boys) you can’t have guys like me just get off our asses and go for this ride, the rE guys definitely need to strain out people like us (otherwise they end up spending most of their time picking us up and changing our handlebars!). But well on the flip side I did complete it, didn’t I? I guess if you believe it and want it, then it will probably happen.

The Trip took us from Delhi-Chandigarh-manali-Keylong/Tandi-Sarchu-rumtse-Leh-Khardung La-Tsokar-Keylong-Kaza-Kalpa-narkhanda- Parwanoo-Delhi. That’s just the headlines—how can one forget the passes: rohtang (pass for tourists, traffic jams and dirt), Baralacha La (the one mothers will use to put bad riders to bed “so jaa nahi to Baralach La bhej dungi”), Lachulung La (easy for some but not for me) and Tanglang La (bad roads). and the tiny stops in the middle of nowhere with just dhabas (meaning hot food, hot water/tea and shelter from the winds for 30 minutes) at Khoksar, Bharatpur, Pang, upshi, Losar amongst others. The ride took us from the plains of Delhi, Chandigarh, to the first twisties (borrowed term) en route to manali,

through cold and miserable roads and passes on the way to Keylong and Sarchu, magnificent moré Plains and never-ending nervous Gata Loops, beautiful tarmac roads though colourful mountains on the way to Leh, the off-road fun stretch where no road was supposed to be there but we ran through it, the most beautiful straight roads through valleys and green patches with snow-capped mountains keeping guard on the way to Kaza, the winding roads along the raging Sutlej, the hilly regions and greenery (a sight for sore eyes used to bare rocky mountains) of Kalpa and rekong Peo and finally back to the sweltering heat of Delhi.

It's really difficult for words or even pictures (especially for me given that I have none on account of a lost camera) to really express what we rode through and what

we went through mentally and physically. There were times of exhilaration—when you managed to complete a ride in one piece without falling and achieved what you had set out to. Feelings of extreme loserness—when you realised you are not the rider you thought you were and people are zipping around at twice the speeds weaving circles around you. The feeling of insignificance—when faced with the beauty and the size of the landscape you were riding through. The fear—on patches of roads and through rides where you felt you would never make it and felt that you just didn’t belong (wanted to drop the bike and just run). Panic—when you fell and got up first checking yourself, then your bike and finally, the gear to ensure you are all in one piece. The feeling of camaraderie—when we managed to push each other to do things which alone I doubt we could have achieved.

13

odyssey

B ack... back to the crowded city, back home, back to work, back to routine, back to this desk and computer... physically at

least. mentally, to be honest, I am lost—drifting, searching and trying to find a spot to anchor. head feeling light and too many different thoughts pulling me in different directions—focus on work, get back in the groove anD the yearning to break free, to go back out in the open and to find the elusive meaning.

Woke up this morning feeling lost and disoriented wondering what time breakfast was (had to make it myself by the way!), I had to be reminded about my office timings. I could barely recognize the bloke in the mirror.

When I left for this trip, everyone thought that I would/should change and hopefully would get a larger picture than I currently have. I have always been a pretty simple straightforward bloke (pretty boring in fact) with really no perspective beyond my immediate environment. Just being going through the years like a horse with blinders on—running on the same path and doing

the same things. Through the trip nothing really changed and my overall focus was on really just going through each day and completing the ride safely, doing the basics and leaving everything else in the

background. On reaching back to Delhi the feeling really was of relief on completing the ride in one piece, of not quitting.

however with each passing day it’s all starting to sink in. I guess the pressure, the stress and the joy of being on the bike for two weeks really did not give one the time to reflect on what exactly was going on and to understand or experience consciously the changes and the environment around me. I find myself a changed person—not drastically but definitely in small ways. also I have taken some small steps towards understanding myself, what drives me and what’s important to me (really tiny steps given my primitive mental status and the long journey required to get to being defined nOrmaL). I am going to try and put on paper exactly what I am feeling and thinking right now and try to structure (job hazard) my thoughts into something meaningful and useful.

First of all why did I do this? not sure—I was the guy who could never ride a bike when I was in school/college. always protected, I had a car and had very basic experience with bikes (most of which was

MY TriPBy arun kumar Saigal s photographs by harsh Man rai

Sanjay ahlawat

Sanjay ahlawat

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I also learnt along the way to travel light and pack smartly. Ensured that warm gloves, monkey cap, and socks were placed handily to ensure

that you made yourself warm as soon as reaching your destination and proceeded to have a cup of tea and darned everything else. Finally understood why people love rum—saviour in cold weather and cure for bad throats (and it does not matter if it’s a Bacardi/Old monk or Black Bull—in the cold it all tastes the same). Figured that when push came to shove, you can take a dump anywhere and the smells and the crap dissipates in the face of the overwhelming feeling of relief; how the basic bed and hotel room or the dirty plate or the crap-looking water does not matter when you

are exhausted/hungry and want to sleep, how anything hot tastes great in cold weather (especially combined with pyaaz and mirchi), how you are not supposed to have a bath when temp is below a certain threshold, how clothes don’t get dirty in cold weather (or maybe you need to believe that), how its important to brush even though no one is smelling your breath (otherwise the helmet can get really claustrophobic) and more importantly how you should let yourself and your mind go—get crowded with too many thoughts and you will fail or alternatively be too focused and you will fail to enjoy the experience.

We all started out as a bunch of strangers sitting around a circle for our first briefing telling us what to expect and what not to

expect. Of course I personally don’t like taking instructions—always used to being leading and not really listening (that’s something that changed in a fortnight). People from all over the country speaking in all languages and sticking to their city groups and pals. But that changed over the course of the trip. We all got to know each other better and realised at least in some ways we are the same. made some pretty good buddies along the way—these are the guys who really pushed me to complete this journey especially when I just wanted to let go, who shared their experiences and made you realise you are not going through all this alone and there is plenty of company (misery loves it!). People from whom you learn and realised what riding is all about—

sticking through thick and thin with your buddies, not taking things for granted and always covering your ass, smoothly rolling on the throttle on corners (Twist of the Wrist, Chapter 1), look where you want to go (target fixation is the technical term), never f*%# around in the shit (i.e., avoid brakes when you most want to use them), opposite lock and throttle (to be honest only to be used by the people at the pinnacle of motorcycling), and lastly just enjoy the ride man, enjoy the freedom and enjoy the open road for the minute you stop enjoying, the fun is replaced with fear which screws you up in the head and paralyses positive reactions. and of course we partied hard (I was good at that at least) and got loose with the booze (no women sadly).

L astly, what I have learnt? The biggest thing was that I and I alone define what I can or can’t do. I fell on the very first day and

wanted to just get up walk away and sell my bike but I picked myself up, refused to let anyone else ride it for me and chugged along in slow motion (at least for the next 15 km after which I guess it got boring). I wanted to leave the trip mid-way as I believed I was not having fun nor enjoying the ride. I then realised that whether I live in fear or enjoy the moment is a choice that I must make. I continued for ego, friends and the feeling that if I don’t do this now, I never will and I would probably not be able to ever face the people, including me, who I would let down. also learnt how you should never get cocky

or it will come and bite you back on your ass (read second fall). I also realised with how little one can get along and the basics of food, shelter and clothing are really what one needs to survive and what one really craves for—the rest are just frills that you won’t even remember or care for later. how strangers in the middle of nowhere take care of you not out of any monetary or other selfish motives but for the simple reason that we just look out for each other—period. how the feeling of being on the open road in natural beauty in the middle of nowhere is a truly liberating experience—making you realise that we were not meant to be locked up (that’s exactly what we have done to ourselves). We are meant to be riding on the Open roads !!

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r oads must be ridden and the journey must be traversed. Pictures and words can at best bring back those savoured

memories. Over the Tour of rajasthan, everyone learnt something new about their bikes and improved their overall riding skills whether off road, or on tarmac. It is diffi cult to describe the challenging ter-rain, tarmac, tracks, and back roads we traversed, but we all had lots of fun and have memories to cherish for a long time.

18th Oct, 2009 - all participants and their steeds gathered at Jaipur from all over India. after scrutiny and briefi ng, it was time to celebrate as Jaipur was bright-ly lit up and colourful for Diwali.

19th Oct - The Tour of rajasthan be-gan with a fl ag off from the royal Enfi eld Brand Store, Jaipur. Our fi rst stop after our lunch at Sikar was Shardung Singhji ki Chatri in Parasharam Pura—the only painted chatris in rajasthan. The road to mahansar, snaking through farms, is a sin-gle lane road, little traffi c, no potholes, few surprises and mostly just fun. at mahansar we are put up in nirayan nivas Castle— an entire castle only for us! Some of us eagerly head out to get our fi rst taste of the sand dunes. In the evening party we are served a bottle of the local liquor that’s famed to be enough for 20 people.

20 Oct - rise and shine early to a beau-tiful sunrise. mahansar also has a unique

haveli that’s painted in gold and best seen during sunrise. Today we encounter some minor sand crossings, and a forest where we can spot deer. These roads are so good that everybody forgets the wildlife and roars through. We do get lucky and spot a few white eagles though. I actually ended up cruising the entire route at good speed, through fantastic places and wherever I stopped, the food too was excellent. The Bikaner highway is as smooth as any road can get and not in the least boring. The landscape starts to change slowly to more dry and sandy. There are still plenty of large shrubs and some trees. I can’t wait to have the famous rasgullas and sit down for a drink with Bikaneri bhujia. Bikaner

is also famous for Laxmi niwas palace and Junagarh Fort which is the best in rajas-than.

21st Oct - I love surprises and there were plenty of them in this route. In the entire Tour we rarely take the straight roads, instead choosing to ride routes rarely travelled. First stop is Karnimata temple, Deshnok. This temple is unique for it’s thousands of rats that roam freely. From here we take a route that’s not marked on our maps. The only traffi c we encounter is a bus, couple of jeeps and camel carts. The road is smooth, gentle curves, rise and dips and plenty of sand crossings. This was our fi rst real taste of sand and these unmarked roads lasted a good 150 km. First few times

(days actually) we’d hit the brakes at the very sight of sand and cross with a lot of caution and struggle till we got the trick. Then we couldn’t get enough of it! We fi -nally regroup at Kichan where we spot lots of cranes. rains have been very little this year and almost all the lakes of rajasthan are dry, so not many migratory birds have made the trip. after Pokharan we ride a de-serted strip of a road that arrows 90 km to Jaisalmer with fewer vehicles on it than in-side an airport. Some say that this highway was actually built to also serve as a landing strip for IaF fi ghters in case of war. Some of us decide to ride in 2 by 2 formation and scare oncoming buses, trucks everybody to make way for us.

We explore Jaisalmer on 22nd Oct and visit the exquisitely carved Pattuan ki haveli and nathmalji ki haveli, the royal burial chatris, Jaisalmer Fort and fi nally see a puppet show at a famous one-man collection museum. not to forget Jaisalmer brand cigarettes…

23rd Oct – From Jaisalmer, tourists nor-mally would travel to the famous sand dunes of Sam in 40 km but we took the roundabout 300 km route! no fuel is available till tomor-row as these are rarely travelled roads. First up is asia’s highest TV tower that is visible from 25 km away and to get there we fi rst go off-road over gravel, through dry farms, over mounds and through green vegetation fl anking a canal. We test our off-roading

rajasthan

THE ROYal RUMBlEBy KANWARDEEP SINGH DHALIWAL

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skills and try jumping our bikes. This route throws up so many unexpected surprises and treats I couldn’t help but smile like a child. We then reached Tanot which is a bor-der outpost. Local legend has it that none of the shells that fell on Tanot mandir during ‘71 war exploded. From here we ride along the border to outposts at Longewala, Gho-taru and asu Tar. Imagine huge sand dunes that have been stabilized, now imagine a road that moves up and down and around these. It’s the fun that can only be felt if you were there! It’s compulsory to sign in at all the check posts—just the sight of the so many BSF bunkers and watchtowers along this road and knowing that we are riding very close to the border gives goose bumps. There are no villages here but nomads who live in small huts. Since there is no water here they have built many small clay containers so that their flock can drink while grazing. The movie Border was shot around Longewala, where during ‘71 war just 100 solders held back an entire Pakistani armoured brigade for the whole night, till the air force could come at daybreak and turn the desert into a Waterloo for Pakistani tanks. There’s plenty of sand on this route and that’s no surprise considering we are nearing Sam. at Sam we settle down to cultural dance and music, good dinner and camp close to the dunes. The desert gets really cold at night!

24th Oct –all are up early for a camel ride on the dunes to watch the sunrise, and then it’s time to put our desert riding skills to the test. We select a dune in the loose sand dunes of Sam for a group picture. That was the easy part and everyone makes it up on their Bullets. after the next regroup at De-

vikot, where ancient trees have petrified into stone, the riders head towards Jodh-pur. These roads again have very less traf-fic dipping and rising in a straight line into the horizon. From some parts we can see a 180-degree vista of the unbroken horizon extending on all three sides. Jodhpur was a different surprise all together. The city is a maze with narrow streets jammed with cows, doodhwalas, rickshaws, push carts, crazy ladies zipping on mopeds, pedestrians, cycles, dogs ...! Everybody makes way for the Bullets and we literally roar through togeth-er. We are put up at a pristine 250-year old place which is just like what people stayed in hundreds of years ago. Even the varnish is still made and applied in the old way. all houses here are painted blue and there’s a great view of the city, the watchtower, the majestic umaid Bhavan palace (the royal family still stays there), the towering Fort and the beautifully carved marble chatris).

25th Oct – after a quick visit to the fort and refuelling stop we head out to the Sard-ar Samand Palace. In route we see a herd of nilgais. The palace is very tastefully and lavishly done up and I’ve never seen a pal-ace from inside like this one before—there are trophy heads from hunts and stuffed ti-

gers displayed all over. here I have the most delicious mutton kheema with bhakre ki roti. This is called dining like kings!

Then came the biggest surprise of all: the Bullet Baba shrine. There are a lot of shops selling pooja stuff, few buses, trucks, jeeps and cars are parked around a temple, where the main attraction is ... a royal Enfield Bullet 350. There are a few versions of sto-ries surrounding the shrine, the common one being that a Sadhu (fondly referred as Bullet baba) was riding his Bullet one night and crashed into a tree. Bullet baba died, but folklore says the Bullet starts by itself even now. The Bullet is kept exactly at the same spot where the accident happened and in the exact same condition. Our fellow rider whose bike (called Salma) was giving lots of problems did a sincere pooja here. For the rest of the tour Salma was flying come sand, mountains, offroad... For pooja, buy “Bullet Super Strong Beer” and empty the bottle to Bullet baba as offering, then pay obeisance at the feet (front wheel) of the Bullet. Bullet baba ki jai! may he keep our riders safe and our bikes roaring!

Later on the ghats begin! Everybody for-got their fatigue as we climbed the ghats to mt abu the home to all the 330 million hindu gods and goddesses, Dilwara Tem-ples (highly carved marble Jain temples) and Guru Shikar where we went the next morning.

26th Oct - Today we ride through the ar-avallis (India’s oldest mountain ranges) all day. We stop for lunch and are served big thick rotis and dal with lots of ghee which delicious. This route passes through forests and it is treat riding on the superb single lane

roads winding its way through these ranges, with no potholes, little traffic, and great views. We stop at haldighati where maha-rana Pratap and his legendary steed Chetak turned this land red with blood in a fierce battle with the mughals. These roads are so darn Fun; I haven’t ridden such a route ever! We camp at Kumbalgarh. It has the second most important fort of rajasthan, more than that it has Bedwal mahal with an excellent view of the entire aravalis.

27th Oct –Today at 0430 am most of us get into jeeps for a safari into the jungle, with the hope of spotting a panther but again no such luck! The safari was nice with very steep rocky tracks along a clear beautiful stream, more forests, more twists and more surprises. The villagers here still draw water out of wells using bullocks. We regroup at the magnificent ranakpur temple with its carved pillars. Then start

the beautiful boulder hills! Films should be made here – but it is nice that it is un-spoiled and untouched. Sadly, the araval-lis get over by evening as we take the ajmer highway. all we did was roar on and enjoy the twists and turns for the last 2 days making for a rare riding experience where you can have so much fun for such long and enjoyable stretches.

We spend 28th Oct in ajmer and Push-kar. We visit the dargah of Khwaja Said moinuddin Chisti and spend the evening at the Pushkar mela where there were thou-sands of camels, donkeys and horses for trade.

29th Oct was the day of our big surprise challenge. We put everything we learnt in the last few days to the test. The plan was simple: ride across the bed of the dry Samb-har salt lake and then party at Jaipur. First up was the 8km stretch of sand that had to

be crossed to reach Sambhar lake! This was deep sand and the support vehicles can’t cross it so they headed to the other end of the lake circumventing it by road. many of us were surprised by how much we’ve learnt and how easily we can ride on sand now. Some of us still had some more to learn and will before the end of the day. This stretch was about teamwork, with no support vehi-cles, mechanics and spares. By now we had come to form a strong bond with each other and having to wait back or help other riders even in this heat felt better than just push-ing on ahead. Couple of bikes had punc-tures that we repaired at the closest village before hitting the road again. It’s a dry flat land that extends out into the horizon and I felt like Burt monroe in the World’s Fastest Indian. Coming out of the lake saw some good off-roading through thorny shrubs and riding on a railway track before we fi-nally hit tarmac. Jaipur is now only 90kms and we had 20 punctures! most of them fixed at local shops till we met up with the backup crew again. The ride finally ended with a well-deserved party at Jaipur.

rajasthan proved to be not just a desert, it has everything: sand dunes, dense green forests, wildlife, India’s oldest mountain ranges, a dry flat salt lake, flat lands of gravel, green farms, chilli fields, plenty of thorns, excellent highways, a landing strip we can ride on, roads that disappear into the horizon, roads that wind and twist, great food, zillion places to visit and a col-ourful and vibrant culture. It has the routes and terrain that riders only dream about.

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a strong desire to see the south-ern part of India was linger-ing since the last three and half years ever since I was

posted to Bengaluru, and finally the op-portunity to tour the southern peninsula of India materialised by way of the Southern Odyssey being organised by royal Enfield. however we were not at all prepared for such a long road journey by a two-wheeler. as the tour was to cover over 3000 km, we, after some hesitation due to our age, I am 59 and my wife 54-years old, apprehen-sively decided that it is either now or never. never having taken to such long trip on a motorcycle, we mentally prepared our-selves for an arduous journey with much younger participants. I had ridden small distances earlier in my Enfield, the long-est being from Bengaluru to Chennai, a

distance of about 340 km. We packed our saddlebags and reported at the designated hotel on 13th December 2009.

The participants started pouring in and by the afternoon all had gathered at hotel Emerald, Chennai. here we met John and Trudy, a British couple who were the old-

est to participate at 62 years and we were quite inspired by their adventurous spirit. Since only royal Enfield motorcycles were permitted to take part, I chose a 350cc Thunderbird as my steed to take us both on the ride.

next morning Sachin Chavan grilled all participants at Chennai racetrack, en-suring that we honed our riding skills for better riding reactions, specially the brak-ing part, using both the front and the rear brakes. after extensive practice in braking and tackling blind corners for few hours, we returned bubbling with confidence. In the afternoon we had an opportunity to see the manufacturing process of the legen-dary royal Enfield motorcycle during our factory visit. The tour guides conducted us to the various parts of assembly line, in-cluding the specialised engine testing and

a fully assembled bike testing bays. It was an exhilarating experience to see how the bikes that we were going to ride are manu-factured and rigorously tested.

On 15th morning all 20 riders assem-bled, donned in their compulsory protec-tive riding gear at the royal Enfield Brand Store at adyar. all were wearing the spe-cially designed T-shirt for the ride, with the tour slogan reading “rEaDY, STEaDY, PO”, PO meaning go in Tamil. Soon, the Southern Odyssey 2009 was flagged off by Sidharth Lal (mD,royal Enfield). The riders hit the famous East Coast road to Pondicherry, our regroup point for lunch. The rain accompanied us continuously and we reached our destination for the night at Karaikal, well drenched in spite of our rain gear. however riding in such a downpour was an experience in itself and gave us a lot more confidence to handle wet road sur-faces and low visibility.

next day also saw intermittent rains till we reached rameshwaram. Till now the roads were quite smooth and despite the rains we had a trouble-free ride and reached our destination well on time. most of us who reached early utilised the availa-ble daylight clicking pictures at the famous Pamban bridge. The island of rameshwar-am is connected by a road and a rail bridge running parallel to each other and a section

of the rail bridge opens upwards to allow bigger vessels to pass through it. The view of the island and the sea from the bridge held all the shutterbugs clicking their cam-eras endlessly.

n ext morning saw us to an early start for Kanyakumari with some apprehension as it was overcast. having experi-

enced extensive riding in the rains since last two days, everyone was looking skywards and praying for dry tarmac to ride. The rains mer-cifully spared us and by afternoon the sun God also decided to bless us, peeping intermittently through the clouds. The road condition was smooth and dry and having built our riding confidence, most of us whipped up the pace. The route passed through hundreds of huge wind-mills spread over miles and miles, dotting the landscape and gave the impression of being in holland. having reached the des-tination for the night early in the evening, all of us quickly changed into casuals and headed for the seashores of Kanyakumari for some sight seeing and sunset viewing from the southernmost tip of India’s main-land. The clouds threatened to obscure the sunset but finally relented at the very last moment and what a breathtaking sun-

set greeted us and camera shutters never ceased capturing the scene.

The destination for the next day was Kottayam. Jeff, a journalist from France along with his wife Jane as pillion camer-awoman joined our group at Kanyakumari. KD spent extra time during the morning briefing, warning us about the hazards of driving on hilly roads and facing malayali drivers and traffic. These drivers, includ-

ing pedestrians will move at their free will with scant regard to the traffic rules. Kerala is like an end-less village where you keep encoun-tering hamlet after hamlet without any noticeable break. The hilly

roads started after 60 km and the beauti-ful countryside was covered with rubber plantations, lavish bungalows and a clear sky soothed our tired eyeballs. riding awk-wardly initially on the meandering hilly roads soon turned comfortable, after recol-lecting the lessons taught by Sachin at the race track. We were now traversing God’s Own Country. having reached Kottayam well before dusk, few of us headed to view the backwaters about 20 km away and on return, painted other lazy riders an envi-ous description. The night at hotel arca-dia, in the heart of the town with a majestic view of the whole city from its rooftop, was quite rewarding.

ready, steady, po!

a sOUTHERN sOjOURNBy Lt Col Hardeep Singh(Retd) and Bhupinder Kaur¡

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The next destination being only 140 km away saw us taking a proper breakfast and a lazy start at 8.30 am. Since the last four days 7am was our briefing time after hav-ing an even earlier breakfast, as we were covering close to 300 km everyday. By 10 we regrouped on a beautiful hilltop at Vagamon 65 km away, but Jeff and Jane were nowhere in sight. We learned later that they found their way after consider-able delay and effort. From here KD took us off the route to Vagamon top, the high-est point in Idukki ranges through a very steep track and some of us experienced our first falls. Driving our motorcycles on such steep, bumpy and rough surface was our first major challenge till now. The capacity of our machines and the riders themselves was put to the toughest possible test in this 2-km off-road stretch. a few minor falls by a few of us, we all managed to reach the top and were rewarded by the magnificent sight of Idukki lake. The entire group remained busy savouring the sight and clicking their cameras. Few adventurous ones tried their skills to ride higher on a non-motorable steep track and ended in uneventful falls en route. Sachin alone managed to do it fully entrenched on his saddle. harsimran and Santosh too managed with some struggle and stubborn effort. having had our fill of adventure and the beautiful sights, we re-turned back to the road to recommence our journey to Kumili Camp, Thekkady. after such an arduous off-road experience, riding again on smooth roads appeared a child’s play. having reached our destination well before dusk and after a quick change most

of us ventured out to the nearby lake in the Periyar wildlife sanctuary. Few adventure seekers went for a night trek into Periyar nature reserve hoping to see some wildlife, but had to return tired, satisfied with the sight of few leeches feeding on them.

t he next day again was a com-fortable distance of 130 km to Kodaikanal through a hilly route littered with dense rub-

ber plantations and well-laid endless tea estates spread over thousands of acres that the drive pleasant throughout. having reached the destination well before time rohit, well familiar with the place, took us on a guided tour to his favourite hidden scenic spots. at night around the bonfire at our hotel Kodai resort, singing and danc-ing continued late into the night, the cama-

raderie, despite the big age gap, that had developed in the last six days was clearly visible. Our youngest rider was 19 year-old Prahalad and the oldest to complete the ride was myself, age 59.

next morning after driving around for two hours, again sightseeing some more scenic spots around Kodaikanal, we head-ed towards munnar via udumalaipettai, passing through Indira Gandhi national Park and a few lucky ones glimpsed bisons en route. The route hereafter had more curves to negotiate thus keeping us alert all the time. John, the seniormost rider, with Trudy had to unfortunately abandon the ride after Kotagiri due to a shoulder injury that refused to subside. munnar is full of tea estates and in the local market we found every third shop was selling tea and spices. We now started feeling a drop

in the temperature and the nights became chilly since it was the peak of winter.

after a restful night at munnar, the next morning we headed toward Valparai, tak-ing a long and circuitous route passing through Kaladi, angamal and Chalakudi. En route we stopped at two magnificent waterfalls, athirappilly and Charpa. The refreshing break at the athirappilly water-fall lured a few riders into removing their boots and dipping their feet into the wa-ter. Though KD had given a break of only 30 minutes, the riders were in no mood to leave the spot so soon and it took some ef-fort to coax them out, before the ride could recommence. a little further ahead Sachin had found another small scenic waterfall close to the road, which served as an ex-cellent backdrop for our group photoshoot along with our iron horses. Since we were already running behind schedule, we did not stop any more and reached Valparai just before dusk.

n ext day, the ride from Val-parai to Kotagiri took us through Pollachi, Paladam, andur and mettupalayam

thus avoiding the main highway and Coim-batore altogether. having reached the an-jangiri Tea estate some 20 km away from Kotagiri much before dusk, Srinivasan offered to conduct us around his estate in-cluding a trek through the reserve forest, to the top of an adjoining hill. after an ar-duous 30-minute climb the view of a small temple at the peak greeted us. The peak offered a grand view of our surroundings covered with forests, a small village and tea estates all around for miles. Before dark we descended back to our tents and refreshed

ourselves before gathering around a bonfire where much singing, leg-pulling and mer-riment ensued. The night was quite chilly but the bonfire and a good supply of mood enhancers kept us warm till we retired to our tented accommodation for the night.

Destination for the tenth day was madikeri 310 km away and demanded an early start. at seven in the morning after a very early breakfast and detailed brief-ing, we took off towards Ooty, and passing through masinagudi Ghats and maduma-lai national Park reaching Sultan Bathery, 150 km away for our regroup. negotiating the 36 sharp and very steep hairpin bends on masinagudi Ghats was a challenging

and thrilling experience as these were the steepest tarmac descent so far in our route. riding inside madumalai national park, a little before Gudalur, we came across a small herd of wild elephants very close to the road. Keeping a safe distance we watched them for few minutes and took photos before silently resuming the ride. after lunch at Sultan Bathery, we hit the road again trying to reach madikeri before dusk. now we were riding amidst coffee plantations of Kodagu (Coorg) hills in Kar-nataka and passing through manthawadi, Tholpetta, Gonokoppa and Virajpet. The condition of the roads in this part of Kar-nataka isn’t good and tested our

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skills of negotiating potholes for miles. The sight of coffee plantations on both sides of the road in Kodugu country, which is also called Scotland of the east, was a new expe-rience for most of us. The group rode into madikeri just before sunset

next days destination was Chikmagalur, 190 km away on state roads. The roads were quite good and driving again on good smooth roads after yesterday’s bumpy ex-perience was a piece of cake. Somewhere between Sakleshpur and mudigere, Sachin spotted a beautiful spot in the pastures,

ideal for a group photoshoot and regroup-ing. here we again had a long group photo session along with our steeds. Taking a re-start, we reached Chikmaglur in no time, thanks to the good roads.

On the 13th day we headed for Bengalu-ru our final destination. The route passed through the villages of Jawagal, haren-halli, Turuvekere, mayasandra and hit the magadi ring road. Little further up we hit the nICE road and reached Eagle ridge resort in Begur, which was our pad for the night. here to our surprise our two

pathfinders rohit and ranjit got lost in the maze of Bangalore roads and gave few anx-ious moments before surfacing at the right place and were greeted with clapping by all of us. after unsaddling and refreshing ourselves in the rooms, we gathered in the restaurant hall to celebrate the success of the Southern Odyssey 2009, over a round of well deserved drinks and a slide show.

o n 27th Dec, we all departed carrying fond memories of the last 15 days spent together, tra-versing the entire South Indian

peninsula, passing through varied terrain and landscapes. We rode along the Tamil nadu coastal belt, and thereafter covered almost all the hill stations in Kerala, Tamil nadu and Karnataka. It was my cherished desire to see the whole of south India, which finally materialised, although I never im-agined that my wife and I would do it on a motorcycle at our age. The experience of these thirteen days, riding with the group, which almost became a family towards the end, experiencing the events and places en route, lingers heavily in our memory. We could manage to complete the entire route, thanks to the untiring visible and invisible efforts put in by the royal Enfield team of Sachin, KD and Santosh and their two me-chanics and the tour co-ordinator Kingsley. nostalgia overwhelms my memory while I write this article and motivates me to look forward to participate in another such tour. The fun of seeing the countryside on a mo-torcycle is an exhilarating experience which I discovered for the first time in my life.

ready, steady, po! rider mania

if you don’t own a royal En-field, you could rent one, borrow one or steal one.

after all, the only qualification you need to head to a rider ma-nia event is to ride an Enfield.

Four days of motorcycles, sun and beaches — it just doesn’t get better for the royal Enfield owner/borrower.

If you love the royal En-field, it’s a place to live, eat and breathe Enfields. There’s motor-cycle talk, motorcycle shop, mo-torcycle rides, motorcycle gear and when that’s done, there’s motorcycle tips, motorcycle movies, motorcycle books and motorcycle races. This chapter of the rider mania was the first one organised by royal Enfield, rather than by one of the En-field owners’ clubs. about 200 bikes turned up in Goa for this edition, including us. The lure of the ride proved too much, which is why the six of us woke up at 4am to ride. We have with us one LB500, two standard 350s, three Thunderbirds and 600-odd kilometres of nh17’s curves to ride on. The neigh-

bours didn’t appreciate six Enfields starting up, but to us, it was the sound of freedom — one week on the road, just man (and woman) and motorcycle.

Six hundred kilometres, 17 hours on the road (courtesy two breakdowns) and a lot of engine oil later, we rode into Goa, ready for the festival that

was to be. Why the excitement? You meet old friends, people you met on some himalayan pass years back to share more ride stories. It’s a place to meet like-minded Bulleteers — take 19-year-old athreya from man-galore, for instance. Two days before the event, he had no plans of riding up on his 350. a last-minute change of plans saw him in Goa where he won the stiffly-fought 350cc dirt-track race, the obstacle course and the bike-carrying competi-tion, putting the so-called hot-shot riders firmly in their place. Take the nitrous-charger Bullet from Kerala and the raid-de-himalaya winning monster LB500 — you only realise the extent of Bullet madness when you meet the owners here.

Then there’s the Bullet clubs that turn up — the Fat Bastards, the roadshakers, the royal In-dians — it’s madness.

For four entire days, it was like a music festival. If you’d had your fill of the loud pipes on the bikes, you could step in and listen to the loud rock bands or DJs playing all through.

What’s brilliant about having a rider mania in Goa is that when you finally have motor-cycle talk pouring out of your ears, you can head to the beach and reload, and then head back for more when you are done re-laxing. and, when it’s all over, you still have the ride back to look forward to. We didn’t leave Goa with the same enthusiasm we left mumbai though — you can’t leave Goa without one last late night. and you can’t wake up early in Goa.

The rider mania is a one-of-a-kind, almost mecca-like event for the Bulleteer. It’s a must-go, must-see, must-ex-perience if you love those bikes from Thiruvottiyur, Chennai. If you missed this one, and are kicking yourself, don’t worry. There’s always rider mania X (X for 2010) in mumbai in Jan-uary 2010.

Bikes, madnessThe Enfield festival of all Enfield festivals. Ouseph Chacko heads to Rider Mania, Goa

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The rOK riders got together in ahmedabad on 21st Feb, 2010 not knowing what to expect as this was an area where few mo-

torcyclists had ventured into. after the motorcycle and riding gear scrutiny, the briefing was simple enough and we made friends quickly.

The next morning we were flagged off from royal Enfield dealership at ahmeda-bad. The roads till Dasada, where we had lunch were on good tarmac, but after that we plunged into off-road mode and a whole new level of fun. We rode 40 km in 4 hours through farms, sand, remote villages, swamp, over embankments and some wa-ter crossings to enter the Little rann from itís south-west corner at Kharagoda, to ride 100 kms across the desert wasteland. and the fun was just beginning which would last till we got back. as we entered the Little rann, the sun was setting and the vast desolate openness turned into a seem-ingly impenetrable and inky void. as it got darker, fear struck some of us as we had no clue where we were going or if were going to get somewhere. There were no roads, no signboards to follow and whatever tracks

we saw just criss-crossed each other. It was a good moonlit night many thought the ground was flat till the horizon. how-ever, at the briefing we were warned about salt farms at the start of rann so many of us just rode behind each other eating dust desperately not wanting to lose sight of the rider in front. The more adventur-ous ones rode more in the open, but every body stayed in sight of each other for the fear of getting lost. after our first taste of night riding in the middle of nowhere, we had a discussion on how to use the stars to navigate, which would come in handy later. Our night halt was a temple in the middle of nowhere, like an oasis. Legend has it that a man fought for seven days even after los-ing his head and this temple is dedicated to

him. We settled down to a good dinner and most of the riders slept in the temple court-yard. a few hardy souls preferred to sleep out in the great wide open under a canopy of millions of stars.

next morning was an early start because we wanted to make the most of rann be-fore it got too hot and also, itís impossible to navigate at noon with the sun at its ze-nith. In the morning briefing we learnt to use the rising sun to navigate and we were off. now in the daylight since we could ac-tually see the terrain we were riding on, our confidence soared. We also spread out further; in fact some went so far that they disappeared over the horizon! no worries here, soon every body caught up again as we all knew the direction we were supposed to travel. There are no tracks to follow here, no landmarks, no features, nothing just a vast and sandy openness. Some of us went all out, some tried their hands at drifting, some just did various stunts and some just fell. as we looped around a hill, medak nu Bet, near the outskirts of rann we spotted a pack wild asses up close. It felt like a nat Geo moment with the Bullets intersecting the wild asses path and then the pack gal-

loping past us a few metres away. We were running short of fuel by now so hesitantly we rode out of the rann and stopped for lunch at adesar.

Our destination was Dholavira, the ancient harappan Civi-lization site. The roads were excellent, with very little traf-

fic, smooth surface, curving, rising and dipping with plenty of surprises. at the bridge that connects Dholavira across the white Great rann we got our first taste of the salt desert and what was yet to come. The Great rann is even more vast then the Little rann and unlike the harder surface like yesterday it’s actually a sheet of solidi-fied salt floating on wet ground. We were cautious walking on it lest the salt crust breaks—it felt strong enough though and we had high hopes of riding over it tomor-row. after this the roads were more broken with some sand crossings en route and we enjoyed the ride thoroughly. as we reached Dholavira we were offered cool water at a BSF check post.

next day we again started early as we had no idea how our bikes would fare in the

white rann. In the briefing we were told to spread out one behind the other and stop if the bike in front gets stuck. We did manage to ride some distance onto the salt flats but after that the surface got too wet and soft to risk riding. So we had some good time there itself. and there was the promise that

the conditions might differ on the south and the west side. We would need to get around the white rann by roads circumnavigating it and these roads turned out to be as fun as the road to Dholavira. On the west we rode till Ekal mata: a mandir on the outskirts and from here we again rode some distance on the salt flats. But this side was damp too and it was getting hot. as the day gets hot the sheet of salt becomes thinner as the salt absorbs water. Villagers do walk across the shortest section of greater rann but only during early morning hours when the salt sheet is hardest. We had some good time here too and then rode to Bhuj to get bor-der permits for tomorrowís ride. We spent the night at a luxurious fixed camp.

In the morning some dived into the heat-ed pool for a relaxing swim and then we headed out toward the border. First stop was Kala Dungar. It was a visible black

RaidERs of The RaNNLike all great places on earth itís difficult to describe the magnificent desolate beauty of the Rann of Kutch, the time we spent in there and the fun we had. By the end of it, every participant on the ROK Ride had their own stories to tell and an experience to remember.

By KANWARDEEP SINGH DHALIWAL

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THE gREaT WHiTE RaNNat the bridge that connects dholavira across the white great rann we got our fi rst taste of the salt desert and what was yet to come. the great rann is even more vast then the little rann and unlike the harder surface like yesterday it’s actually a sheet of solidifi ed salt fl oating on wet ground.

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hill from Dholavira towards the south but impossible to cross over to from there. The greater rann was once part of the sea dur-ing the harappan days but had receded since then leading to the abandonment of Dholavira by the harappans. recent geo-logical activity has sprouted springs in this part of rann now. From atop Kala Dungar, it was a humbling view of the vastness of the Greater rann. We rode till India Bridge on the road going towards the Pakistan bor-der over the rann and then headed for a local lunch at a small hamlet. after a good, exciting and adventurous ride over the last

few days we cooled off at mandvi beach. Some of us rode on the beach while other chose a good sport of beach volleyball.

Today we were going to ride across Lit-tle rann again and along a different direc-tion. Everybody was looking forward to it. First stop though was adesar for lunch. In route the wilder ones and fun stealing sugar canes, rolling in tractor tyres, taking a shower at a car wash and doing a heap of crazy stuff for a photograph! Then we rode towards medak nu Bet at the outskirts of Little rann, everybody finding their own way and putting what they learnt to the test.

not everybody could do it and some had to be rescued. We came up with some ingen-ious plans to guide them that worked like one rider doing circles with his bike with his headlights on! It got dark soon after we regrouped and we rode out navigating by stars, with everybody sticking together this time. Some of us got stuck axle-deep in a salt pan. We got them out quickly enough and had a few laughs over it. as we were coming out of the rann many of us wanted to spend another night in there. We all had a scrumptious dinner at Dasada and spent the night there.

odysseyroK around the clocK

photographS By harSh Man rai

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group ridinggroup riding

It’s a common observation that when two strangers, bikers on royal Enfi elds, cross each other on a road they smile and wave out at each other

acknowledging an undefi ned camaraderie and association—a natural biker instinct. Bulleteers are always eager to ride together in a group. This group of bikers riding together is resonant with the energy and the sound of the legendary thumper. Group riding on Bullets has a unique charm in itself; fi rst of all there is a strong tendency of riding together with no competition. Each rider yearns for the resonating sound of the bikes thumping together in close proximity and the grand spectacle that is conjured up with a sizeable number of these big machines riding together. The fun part actually happens when the group rides together and reaches the destination together. This way each of them traverses through the same stretch at the same time yet has a slightly different perspective. The end of the ride often leads to discussions and sharing of experiences of the ride. Post ride sessions often are consumed in discussing the interesting things seen or experienced by the riders during the ride and laughing at the common jokes. It defi nitely is much more fun than discussing something which each of them has individually seen and the other

can’t relate to.riding together makes overtaking

redundant as the focus is in being together all through the stretch of the road and not racing against time to reach a particular destination. Group riding silently supports the whole idea of enjoying the togetherness of fellow bikers on a ride. Typically, while riding a motorcycle, the emphasis is always on the manoeuvrability of the bike. Despite riding in close proximity in a group this however is still not compromised though you have Bullets running one behind the other there is ample space on both sides to manoeuvre and avoid obstacles and other disturbances. The group in such a situation behaves like a massive co-ordinated freight train snaking its way around traffi c and obstacles and moving ahead like a juggernaut. Each individual engine

thumping in synchronisation with the other creates an orchestra that can make one’s hair stand on its end purely because of exhilaration. In such a co-ordinated group riding, although the emphasis may be on ensuring that each of the riders sees more and more of the road ahead, the basic element is of a different kind of fun.

riding together inadvertently makes people more harmonious towards each other. When you ride with each other you make minor adjustments to your

riding techniques to ensure you are well synchronised with the fellow rider and so do they. Somewhere it comes across as an unwritten rule to accommodate the riding traits and idiosyncrasies of your fellow rider. This adjustment somehow also refl ects off the bike, which makes people adjust to each otherís behaviour, nature and tendencies even when they arenít riding together. In fact itís often said that people who can ride together gracefully often are the best of friends and buddies. This can be highly contributed to the biker instinct that makes one biker always make room for the other. also, the most respected and admired rider often ends up leading the group again in an unannounced or undeclared manner as everyone makes way within the cohesive group. This ensures that the leader of the pack moves ahead and leads from the front. The sharing of the riding thoughts and feelings at the end of each day makes the whole experience much more memorable as each little details of the scenic route gets discussed and refreshed at the end of the ride thus making an inerasable impression for years to come. Someone has rightly said if you want to go fast, ride alone but if you want to go far, seek company and ride together. Group riding opens up a very different dimension of motorcycling experience with you discovering places, people and in the process even your own self. So put on your helmet, gather your buddies and ride out together, thumping together in vociferous resonance.

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On the weekend of March 13th, W+K Exp hosted a two-day exhibition that celebrated The Art of Motorcycling. Motorcycle exhibits ranged from the brand new Classic 500 to an exotic variety of customized Enfi elds from all over India. The Art exhibits included photographs by renowned fi ne arts photographer Bharat Sikka, and digital art by the Indian art world’s rising star, Prasad Raghavan. Prints of their work were available for purchase, as were beautifully styled range of limited edition T-shirts, created especially for the occasion. There were many special mementos displayed to mark this event and the concept of motorcycle art. To add some industrial art to the mix, master painters from the Royal Enfi eld factory in Chennai were there to demonstrate their phenomenal tank-painting skills on the Bullet fuel tanks, an art they have painstakingly cherished for over a decade. This was also the fi rst art exhibition where visitors could actually ride the exhibits, as there were the brand new RE Bullet Classic 500 motorcycles available for test rides. Additional attractions included live music and cold beer, coupled with loads of fun.

ART OF MOTORCYCLING

The Road TrainRiding with a group of motorcyclists is one of the great thrills of the two-wheeled lifestyle says PRAVEEN SATHAYE

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