Thursday, June 30, 2011

Bumblebee and Buttercup head home

After a trouble free and stress free ride to Spiti, two of the three Helmet Stories motorcycles are headed home. Gati, our usual transporter, is behaving very strange with arbitrary pricing. We end up paying the same for both bikes - one to Goa and the other to Mumbai! More on this later

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Pit stop

A pit stop at the Royal Enfield showroom in Mandi for an oil topup and chain tightening.
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Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Saturday, June 25, 2011

An easy riding day

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Udaipur, HP

The best mutton curry joint in town
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Mother of all water crossings

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good morning

Great sleep in tandi after a super ride
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Tandi

Chilling in tandi. Got here a few hours ago
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Traffic jam

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Reflections

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Enroute to kaza

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Java time

Our first coffee of the trip damn it was needed.
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Tabo

Taking a break at the yak and yeti at tabo. Had pasta after lots of days of eating rajmah.
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Then there were 6

Its been a few days since we had signal so will do a few bulk blogs. Here we are on an ass break before poh.
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Friday, June 24, 2011

Bullet Memories #4

My bike was always a part of the group. If we ever traveled anywhere I would ride up on the bike while the rest would come in the car. Every trip I would learn something new about riding on this eventful trip  I had just got these new lamps added to my bike and was itching to try them. Well when I did they burnt out all my wiring and I was stuck on the side of the road. The bike wouldn't start and I had to roll down the mountain about 5 kms to a mechanic where I left the bike and picked it up the next day. The lesson that i learned on this trip was test out all the modifications before you hit the road. 

Friday, June 17, 2011

Halt for the day 1

Kharapathar is our halt for the day.
Riding since 6am its been an awesome ride today. My carb is giving some trouble and have burnt two plugs but shall fix that after some tea and pakodas.
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Hydration stop

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En route to rohru

Burnt out a plug on Jamsheds bike on this great dirt road on the way to Rohru.
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Chharabra

Breakfast in the clouds.
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First pit stop

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Ready to ride

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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Packing

The most important bag has been packed now on to the rest...
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It's Better in the Wind



Nothing better than watching a film by the talented Scott Toepfer and the crew of It's Better in the Wind just before a multi-day ride.

Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost


It is possible to fall in love with a place the same way we fall in love with another human being. The texture of its landscape can make your heart race, the sound of its name send shivers. This is Ladakh to me—a love affair. And motorcycle touring in Ladakh is a powerful elixir, and one made especially potent while communing with the vast, open spaces with a Royal Enfield motorcycle strapped between my legs. This is a physical happiness that flows from nose to toes, that lifts like dancing to great music. I have travelled to Ladakh many times by road, and every time I leave I am busy laying plans for a return. The weight of its emptiness is invaluable in these harried times, and once you see the raw, engaging beauty of its people and places, you are forever bound to return. I delight in taking friends here, and invariably they recognize the intrigue, hear the drumbeat that only a few of us hear that draws us back year after year.
Though the Royal Enfield is quite capable of doing the trip in its standard avatar, I have tweaked and tuned my motorcycle over the years to tread on the varied terrain with a little more poise and purpose. Hope to post progress as Vir, Jamshed, Amber and I ride through the lesser known regions of Kinnaur and Spiti, to places that scratch that itch—Chanshal, Chitkul, Ribbar, Nako, Dhankar, Kibber, Ki, Komic, Langza—as we wend our way to Ladakh. We have nowhere to be and plenty of time to get there. Bring it on!


Thursday, June 9, 2011

Packing for Spiti

So we are a week away from taking off to Spiti and our bikes are as ready as they ever will so it was time to go down to Gati and pack the bikes and ship them off to Chandigarh. After 4 hours the bikes were ready to go.
Packed and ready to be shipped. Next stop Chandigarh

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Testing out our new Go Pro Helmet Camera

We got our new Go Pro Helmet camera and we took it out and for a test run to Bandra before we take off to Spiti next week. This is what we got (its the first time we have edited video as well).

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Here comes the rain

The first rain in Mumbai and just our luck we were on the road and yea we got drenched down to the bone(nothing new there). The downpour was welcome to counter the mad heat but that means it horrid to ride in. Time to ship our bikes north as the mountains are calling(lots more on this later this month).
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Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Motorcycle Chang pa

To most of us Gaurav Jani needs no introduction but for the rest, Gaurav directs films for Dirt Track Productions. Riding Solo To The Top Of The World was his debut film in which is about his solo motorcycle journey from Mumbai to one of the remotest places in the world, the Changthang Plateau in Ladakh, bordering China. As a one-man film unit, he astonishes you, filming the landscape he passes by and the people he interacts with, capturing moments of beauty, pain, love, hardship, self doubt and spiritual triumphs.
Gaurav a travel freak and a biker is also the founder member of 60kph, Motorcycle Travel Club India. Gaurav functions as a one-man film unit to capture the true essence of travel. He neither believes in planning nor research, preferring instead to trust his instincts and firm resolve. His latest movie Motorcycle Chang pa (blog) is about a one year journey across the high altitude Changthang desert in the Himalayas.
Check out the new teaser.
A few days ago it came to Gauravs notice that one of his main sponsors has pulled out without any reason so any help you guys can provide will go in helping him complete the film.