Yeti regularly rides with a group called BikerBudz in Bengaluru. They happened to organise a ride for the same night, and they already knew about his escapade to Goa. They were really keen to meet both of us, and of course, we gladly obliged
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Day 8: Another day in Bengaluru Part 1
After returning to Bengaluru, I think I subconsciously made up my mind mid-sleep that I might as well stay another day over there. While I did get up early as scheduled to leave for Chennai, the laziness really crept in, and my mental dialogue was as follows: “Oh, what the hell, what am I even going to do in Chennai considering New Year’s just around the corner?” And, needless to say, my intrusive thoughts won without even trying. Since I was up, I just went downstairs to take a look at the bike, and I was startled to see its condition.
She was caked in layers of dust and muck across.
Barely any front mudguard + rains on the previous leg meant the cockpit wasn’t spared either
The first order of priority for the day after a morning coffee and breakfast was to get the bike cleaned properly.
Shiny shiny!
Stepped out for lunch with Yeti, and I couldn’t believe I found a place serving Bedmi Puri and Sabzi. Took me straight back to the Delhi days
Now I only knew that the destination of the ride was Arkavathi Lake, but I had no clue about the route that led there. Their group was dominated by REs and Dukes that can somewhat handle loose terrain. The RS was really struggling once the tarmac ended, and I was reduced to puttering speeds. The others were also happily saddling over speedbreakers and bumps while I was the only one coming to a dead halt before each of them. Made for a pretty funny scene in the video they shot.
Beautiful display of stars at Arkavathi Lake.
Parting shot at the end of the ride.
Day 8: Another day in Bengaluru Part 2
As I had already decided that I’d leave after New Year’s was done, I got up in the morning to grab some breakfast. However, I was greeted with a different and more alarming surprise when I went to start the bike.
The previous night’s ride to Arkavathi had completely decimated the tyre.
Again, I didn’t feel anything significantly off while riding, but at this point, it seemed visually dangerous. So, I postponed breakfast and went to get a new tyre first. Although I had plans to upgrade to something like a Rosso 4 or Sportec M7, there was no time to hunt for those. I scouted for the nearest Eurogrip dealer and went straight to them.
After changing the tyres, I headed to the Aprilia showroom in Marathali to get my service reminder reset. Apparently, if that reminder stays for more than 1500 km, the bike automatically goes into limp mode till it reaches an SVC. Although I wasn’t that deep into the limit, I still didn’t want to risk it. I also got the tyres and brakes refitted and torqued properly. Gotta hand it to Avant-Garde Motors, I reached there and within 10 minutes, everything was done. Superb service!
Tuono 660, probably the only one of its kind in India.
With the bike stuff taken care of, it was time to freely indulge in some Benne Dosa.
Never understood the fuss about Bengaluru traffic till I was assimilated into it myself.
But it was completely worth it for this Godly wood-fired dosa.
Day 10: Back to Chennai at last
I was supposed to leave for Chennai as soon as I got back to Bengaluru, but that didn’t happen. I postponed it for New Year’s, but that didn’t happen. It was already mid-week, and I thought I might as well just go on Saturday, but that didn’t happen either. Finally, on the 5th of January, a Sunday, knowing that I need to be in the office on Monday and I absolutely cannot delay things further, I finally mustered the motivation to get back home. Given a choice, I would have probably extended my stay by another week
Yeti and his roommate had their own mini-ride planned and decided to give me company till Hosur.
Lunch stop.
The ultimate parting shot. I was feeling a little gutted while clicking this picture because the past two weeks were arguably the most enjoyable two weeks of my life.
The return to Chennai was entirely dull and uneventful. I felt like I had seen it all by this point, and nothing really fazed me. I was practically riding on autopilot and didn’t even take a break for almost 200km.
Paused for tailbag straightening somewhere near Ambur.
The only break I forced myself to take was just before Sriperumbudur.
And just like that, we’ve reached back to where it all started.
The final stats.
SUMMARY: What I learned from this soujourn
- Touring is a beautiful activity. I have always been a hardcore Sunday sprints or track kinda guy, but this trip opened my eyes to a different format of riding, which I was reluctant to try for a long time. I genuinely regretted the numerous occasions I had skipped just because I didn’t even bother to give it a shot under the stereotype that purpose-built sportsbikes aren’t meant for this.
- Karnataka is a beautiful region. I’d say this is a corollary of the above point, but my God the change in scenery as soon as you step out even 50km from Bengaluru, is just mind-boggling. This is partially true for Chennai, but totally wasn’t the case when I lived in Delhi. I really want to come back to places like Honnavar, Jog Falls and explore that region again properly.
- The RS is a beautiful bike. Is it an Ideal touring machine? Faaar from it. It guzzles fuel and struggles the moment the tarmac disappears, even by a fraction. But it’s endearing in a way because it makes you feel like it’s going to get you through all these tough situations and give it its all despite the shortcomings. On the plus side, the oodles of torque and the navigation system (which worked like a peach somehow throughout) were extremely useful across this journey.
- Final word – Going to be extremely cliché and state that this experience has indeed been life changing, but I feel I have enough justification as to why it was. Will I tour again? Yes! Will I tour frequently? Maybe not with the RS, especially not this year. I have some track skills to hone, so focus will be directed towards that for this year (subject to situations). But all in all, this was a supremely delightful experience, and needless to say, I enjoyed it to its fullest. Getting to relive every bit as I finished writing this travelogue put a smile on my face multiple times. I’ll be more punctual with my next, whenever it happens, as I feel I feel it might help capture those emotions more accurately. Till then, thank you all for reading till this point. Ride safe and ciao!
FIN!
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