My Classic 350 Motorcycle Diaries

[J.Ravi]

How was the road condition from Delhi to Dalhousie.. Im planning a trip on bike.. any bad roads along the route?

There was a big evening peak hour traffic jam near the Ludhiana bypass, so I rode through the city. The road upto Pathankot was good. Later, the ghat road turned rough. The last 50 km before Dalhousie was the horrible section with full of potholes and craters. I rode that worst stretch in the night, reaching my hotel at 1 am!

 

[Atul Ahuja]

There was a big evening peak hour traffic jam near the Ludhiana bypass, so I rode through the city. The road upto Pathankot was good. Later, the ghat road turned rough. The last 50 km before Dalhousie was the horrible section with full of potholes and craters. I rode that worst stretch in the night, reaching my hotel at 1 am!

Is there an alternate route? Me and 7 of my friends are on superbikes, and have low ground clearance, and the shockers wont be of much help on the bikes if the road is potholed.

Also, could you please share the exact location from where the bad road starts. Cheers.

 

[J.Ravi]

Is there an alternate route?

There are 2 routes: one via Dhar and the other via Nurpur. Both the routes merge at Dunera from where it is common route upto Dalhousie. Actually, my phone-navigator recommended the longer Nurpur route. So, I crossed the second bridge and enquired at the toll-gate for confirmation as it was late in the night. But, I was advised to take a U turn and go via the shorter and better Dhar route. So, I took U turn, crossed the second bridge and turned to my right - left when coming from Pathankot - and rode via Dhar.

could you please share the exact location from where the bad road starts. Cheers.

The bad stretch started after Dhar I think, so you cannot avoid it unless it is repaired by now. You can enquire with the locals just before crossing the river about the better route and decide. Since I rode in the night, I faced problems in the up trip. If you do it in the day time, you can manage the potholes and craters better, even if the road is not yet repaired. I managed them better during my down journey, when I started my ride from Dalhousie at 10:45 am to Ferozepur, PB.

 

[J.Ravi]

Blue Bird has resumed her duty as intra city commuter bike and carried me and wife between Royapettah home and Broadway/Marina Beach/Mylapore/Adayar/T Nagar/Vadapalani in Chennai. Today, my bird took me to G Gopaul Dairy, Philips street, Broadway, Chennai, where I tasted yummy, yummy bun/butter/jam washed down by buttermilk. Each bun/butter/jam set costs ₹ 25 and the buttermilk, ₹ 10 a glass.

 

[Atul Ahuja]

The bad stretch started after Dhar I think, so you cannot avoid it unless it is repaired by now. You can enquire with the locals just before crossing the river about the better route and decide. Since I rode in the night, I faced problems in the up trip. If you do it in the day time, you can manage the potholes and craters better, even if the road is not yet repaired. I managed them better during my down journey, when I started my ride from Dalhousie at 10:45 am to Ferozepur, PB.

Thanks for your reply. Appreciate it

 

[J.Ravi]

It's time for some update.

The day-before-yesterday, Blue Bird electric-started in the very first cranking after hibernating for about 3 weeks.

Recently, I bought the following tools:

1. CTEK MXS 5.0 Battery Charger

2. TireTek Tyre Pressure Gauge

3. Draper Tyre Pressure Gauge

4. Heyner Maxxair 230V 500W compressor

5. Heyner Wheel Wrench

6. Heyner LED torchlight [freebie]

My daughter brought these tools from Paris to Bangalore. Bangalore customs staff asked her what were the 'machinery' she brought. She replied that they were car tools being presented to her dad. Then, they let her go.

Yesterday, B Bird got her tyre pressure topped up using the new 230V 500W electric compressor.

From now onwards, the 12V ResQTech tyre inflator will be used on the highways only.

By 4 pm, I connected the battery charger to charge B Bird's battery. When I checked at 9:30 pm, it was still charging. So, I left it in the charging mode overnight. This morning, I found the battery fully charged.

I used the 2" x 4' 3M reflective tapes in white, red and yellow colours bought from amazon.in on B Bird and my helmet, not only to enhance their safety, but also to hide the man-made scratches.

 

[J.Ravi]

Chennai->Bangalore

Blue Bird brought me to Bangalore Basaveswara Nagar home (355 km) safely and comfortably at 9:45 pm today. We had left Chennai Royapettah home at 2:30 pm; there was a km-long traffic jam at Hyundai plant; managed to zigzag with some off-road ride and came out of it; had evening tiffin at Saisangeet, Vaniambadi from 6 to 6:45 pm; had thankful of petrol at Reliance between Krishnagiri and Hosur, costing ₹ 71.61/litre.

 

[J.Ravi]

Ride Across India: GJ

In another few hours, Blue Bird will carry me to Ginger, Wakad, Pune as the first part of our ride to GJ. This is the first time, I have booked my accommodation in all the places before starting my ride. Also, I am riding with less luggage and without my laptop for the first time.

 

[IJS]

Good luck for the ride sir.

 

[Gaurav Chopra]

Best of luck for the trip Ravi sir-awaiting tons of pics and updates.