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Prelude:
After the European Alps ride in May 2010, I suddenly
seem to be a man in a hurry! Having ridden on the
European continent, I decided to embark on a different
kind of a ride- one that would be very different
but nevertheless thoroughly rewarding and most suitable
for the SUV of Adventure Touring bikes- The BMW
R1200GS. In fact few years back when I first rode
a BMW GS as well as a Suzuki V-Strom, my biking
instincts instantly told me, here are 2 fine machines
for long distance touring in India and it was love
at first sight with the GS, although I also immensely
liked the V-Strom which can do most of what the
GS can do at almost half the price! So it was natural
when I bought the GS, touring in India was a must
do on my list of things. Long story short I ship
my GS from Saudi Arabia to India on a temporary
Carnet, that allows me to run the bike in India
for a max period of 6 months. Shipping delays mean
the trip in October 2010 now takes place in December
2010 with some more bureaucratic red tape to add
to the adventure experience.
Bike
secured & ready at my doorstep in Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia
Loading
onto the container for its long journey by ship
across the Arabian Sea
Coming
to my pillion, after having tasted ‘bike
touring’ for the first time in the Alps,
my trusted companion- my wonderful wife Farzana,
was very enthusiastic, but somehow was not sure
till the last moment considering the humid climatic
conditions & crazy challenges on Indian roads.
Anyway, 3 days before the ride, she gives me a
nod and we are back in business as a team…Oh,
that also meant I will have more pics on the trip,
all the logistics/packing will be done better(polite
way of saying she does it all) and she makes great
tea for me during the trip!! Jokes apart, thanks
Farzana for being a great riding companion. And
did we have a blast? Yes, an absolute riding treat
over 8-9 days. In all I rode more than 3500kms
in India. 2400kms of the actual peninsula trip
with wife and another 1200 plus kms of solo riding
from/to cochin seaport & other small rides.
The GS did not miss a single beat inspite of the
fact that for the whole trip I rode it like the
way she is meant to be ridden, or crudely put-
“I rode it like I stole it”! This
trip was more about the ride and not the destination.
Purely to enjoy the ride on a big bike thru the
varied roads & states of the South Indian
Peninsula. So, naturally, most of our pics and
few videos are shot while on the move by our onboard
amateur cameraperson(!) juggling between a point-n-shoot
camera & a handycam.
In
brief, the ride starts from the city of Bangalore
located in the state of Karnataka and heads west
towards Mangalore that faces the Arabian Sea located
on the west cost of India. From there we head
south thru the lush green state of Kerala called
‘Gods own country’ and then cross over
into the next state of Tamil Nadu touching Cape
Comorin (Kanyakumari), where the Arabia Sea, Indian
Ocean and Bay of Bengal meet. From here we switch
to the east coast briefly that faces the Bay of
Bengal, but head inland northwards thru the ancient
temple city of Madurai. Then proceed towards the
old French colony of Pondicherry that is located
on the East coast of India facing the Bay of Bengal
and then head to Chennai, the capital of the state
of Tamil Nadu. Finally the last leg from Chennai
back to Bangalore where the trip concludes.
Acknowledgements:
My heartfelt appreciations to the helpful inmates
on one of India’s best & largest biking
forum- www.xbhp.com who guided me with all the
required information on routes, POI etc. I also
had a chance to meet with many of the XBHP members
during the ride and could instantly relate to
the comaradere & strong passion for biking
that runs deep within all of us irrespective of
what we ride or how we ride.
Special
thanks to our kids Adil & Amal who permitted
us a few days off to pursue our biking interest
and to my wonderful in-laws who took care of them
during our absence. Lastly, thanks to Hella India
for providing me a set of complimentary Hella
FF50 fog/running lights.
Tit-bits:
During the 8-9 days of our ride, my bike could
be the top contender for the most photographed
bike and probably my all-time-on-headlight attracted
more Indians’ attention than the recently
concluded commonwealth games! And ofcourse, the
second most prominent thing was that motorists,
pedestrians and the occasional policeman all putting
out their hand with the palm wide open trying
to gesture that I am riding in bright daylight
with my headlight on! One particular biker on
a curve with a kid riding pillion and some grocery
bags on the handlebar stretches across his left
hand (coz right hand is on his throttle!) to gesture
my headlight is on. I was amused & touched
to see for myself to what extent people go to
do courteous things. Oh, yes there was a cop in
the state of Kerala who was very unhappy about
me riding with my headlight on! I had to stop
& explain that it comes on with the engine.
He wasn’t too convinced but seeing this funny
looking bike, I guess he did not want to push
it further and let us go….
Countdown
to D-Day:
After some delay with customs, I received my bike
key late evening on 6 Dec and the following day
was spent with all related preparations such as
packing the essentials into 3 hardcase boxes &
one tankbag.
The
messy room before the final take off
I
also removed the front wheel and did the straightening
of my bent alloy wheel (which happened during
my earlier trip from the seaport to Bangalore
and the wheel was leaking air). A local alloy
wheel straightening specialist did a very professional
job with my wheel as they do a lot of hi-end car
alloy wheel repairs as well. Just that when he
asked which bike, not wanting to be charged thru
the nose for a BMW, I said it’s the wheel
of an old Yamaha 400cc bike and the repair bill
was a ‘modest’ Rs 500 (US$ 12)!
I
know the inverted buckets don’t add glamour,
but that’s the best I could find at home
to support the hanging brake calipers & ABS
sensor!
BEFORE
 AFTER
Here is the complete trip route
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