Day 1 no reservations…
Yes well only literally – hotel wise I meant. Have to reach Kalasa and find a place to stay.
Started at 6am, loaded up the bike nervously.. being the first actual long ride on this one. Quarter million kms on older bikes, mostly highways, rides don’t scare me as such. Its the ride, not the road. Will I bond with this one ? Every new bike you ride, is pretty much like establishing a bond with an ikran on pandora (look it up!).
Loaded up the magnetic tank bag, big ass backpack, viaterra saddlebags, all loaded.
For starters, the viaterra oxus magnetic bag isn’t too huggy and magnetic when it’s full, for obvious reasons, used it for papers, spare phone, bandanas, spare gloves, microfibre cloth, sunglasses, regular glasses, riding glasses, chain cleaner and lube and my wallet .. most stuff I’d need handy. Had to put in all the harnesses properly during a pit stop so it wouldn’t slide off its symmetry.
The backpack was filled up mostly with clothes, chargers, kindle, stuff I’d need at my overnight rest stops… The bungees did a good job holding it in place, but the bike doesn’t really have too many anchor points.. ridiculous (note bias). The Classic 500 has a lot more metal exposed which acts as anchor points to tie on the bungee hooks.
The saddle bags, well again I was scared they would bend in closer to the wheels but they didn’t. They are almost 10 years old, and still top notch. Have stuffed with primarily liquids, 4 litres of water, 4 litres of other hydration – red bulls, oxonut water buttermilk, and energy snacks – yoga bars, dry fruits et al and first aid.
Handy for stops after long durations.
Rules – 0.5 – 1 litre water every 100 kms. Hydration is super important, plus it encourages more break stops anyway.
A word on upkeep –
Kawasaki “mandatorily recommends” chain cleaning and lube every 500 kms. I get those done on my Classic 500 every 5000 kms during service intervals. Why on earth would I want to do this everyday on a long ride ? Shouldn’t expensive stuff be due for maintainence longer ? It’s a nuisance but hey.. who can argue with “company recommends so else lose your warranty”.
The fuel tank is 14 litres, I can best do 25 kms a litre. 350 kms to empty. My classic 500 does 35-38 kpl on a 13 litre tank.. good enough for a days ride.
Verdict already on Day 1 – Just for the tank capacity, ground clearance, vibrations and chain lube requirements, this bike isn’t for the long haul for sure. Will talk about the vibrations and ground clearance tomorrow.
Tank up at Bangalore with high quality petrol, and then expect vpower type high quality fuel in a radius of 300 kms again ? Not convinced. Our highway fuel stations are known for their quality of fuel – or the lack thereof.
Ok done with today’s comparisons. Let’s talk about the journey itself. Left at 6am, landed at the nelmangala stretch – have had a love hate thing with this highway. Love it because the tarmac is too notch, the lanes and wide and plenty. Hate it because it is all barren land, no trees whatsoever. It’s like Utah !
Got many thumb ups in the morning by other bikers, who were probably as enthusiastic about their ride early morning. Made some friends at the breakfast food court. Bikers are a happy and social lot. Never seen car drivers wave at each other on highways, too busy massaging their egos in the air conditioning I guess.
Took plenty of breaks today, the first one being breakfast, tanked up myself to avoid stopping for lunch – which will cause an extra break and sleepiness. The heat was horrible on the road. Crossed hassan. Had intended to go to Kalasa, but missed the turn, couldn’t see the gps (more on that tomorrow night – and why bike mounted chargers are a flawed concept). Reached 20 kms beyond and asked highway patrol who told me I missed the turn far behind. Decided to go to Mangalore instead. 150 more kms or so. The sakleshpur route is beautiful, we too seem to have a fall season. All shades of red, orange, yellow, green. After sakleshpur the ghat section road going alongside a small narrow river started to brighten the day. But all good things are to end, as did this one. After the winding roads started a 100km construction site they call a highway. Dust, slush, broken roads, sweltering heat – made me want to stop every few kms. Turned out to be 370 kms today – not bad for day 1, but I’m never doing this road again. Stopped once to do the chain cleaning and lube thing 🙄
Reached Mangalore, dusted off about a kg of dirt from my jeans, jacket, luggage, found a good hotel with a lounge on the terrace. Mangalore seems to be a vibrant place, not even close to Bangalore traffic wise. Plenty of food joints, small mall complexes, good roads, good weather by the sea coast.
Checked in, dumped my bags, freshened up, did my stretches – to avoid metal brittle bones tomorrow. Tanked up on shell vpower nearby, and settled down.
And tomorrow off to Kerala along the coast line. Fingers crossed, and hoping I don’t rant as much tomorrow. Open mind.. open mind…
Time for a beer reward…
