BHPian R15M_Rider recently shared this with other enthusiasts: Ride To Kollimalai (Kolli Hills) Dates: 19th-20th September 2025 Distance: 783 km (recorded from odometer at the start and end of the round trip) The Men: Myself and my Dad The Machines: YZF R3 and CB350 Highness Finally, a bucket list trip for every motorcycle enthusiast down south (even beyond too I guess), exploring and experiencing the 70 hairpins of Kolli Hills on two wheels. Heavenly Corners, image source: https://www.holidify.com/places/kolli-hills/ A Little Bit About Kollimalai: With an ominous name which means ‘Mountain of Death’, Kolli Hills or Kolli Malai are a mountain range located in the Namakkal district of Tamil Nadu. It is relatively untouched by commercial tourism and therefore has retained most of its natural magnificence. The mountains are famous for not only their natural beauty but also have religious significance because of the Arappaleshwar Temple which is dedicated to Lord Shiva. The peak is accessible via road as well and the road leading up to it is winding with several twists and turns. [source: https://www.holidify.com/places/kolli-hills/] Riding Gear Updates: Both myself and my dad have gotten Clan Scout Shoes (https://clanshoes.com/products/scout-black). These are really nice to use everyday while offering some level of protection. I am not yet convinced to get full size boots, so for the time being, these do the job just fine. Knee guards for my dad from Reisse Moto (https://www.reisemoto.com/products/k…kNOxmWx79dWMWc) as well. Finally both myself and dad have same amount of riding gear. Building Endurance: 800 km round-trip is a lot, especially for my dad. Some weekends prior to the trip, we did 2-3 rides to Pondy and back on Sundays, aka breakfast rides of total 272 km(136+136 km). This helped a lot as the perception of daunting distance reduced mentally while having fun. On this trip, we primarily were going for the ride, didn’t exactly visit any tourist spots mentioned. So, the route then, Day 1: Chennai-Chengalpattu-Tindivanam-Ulundurpet-Attur-Belukurichi-Kollimalai Distance: 393 km The start time was planned at 4:30 AM in morning. At last minute, we decided to get a tail bag to fit on my R3 since backpack this time will cause issues and in the long run, not feasible for touring. We went with Viattera Claw Mini – 48L. Got it for around Rs 3900/- from Gears Chennai, Taramani. Turned out to be the best decision too as this meant, there is no pressure on my dad to carry a backpack and everything can be fitted inside the tail bag on my bike. I was initially worried it will be a hassle to fit and get off, but it was pretty simple to secure with three straps, two on the pillion footpegs while the third around the rear mudguard The previous night, it had rained heavily in evening, so there was a concern about if it would rain in morning as well. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case and we were instead blessed with beautiful cloudy weather from the start till the end of the ride. Odometer at the start of the ride Starting to look like a proper Sports Tourer The initial part of the ride was a little difficult as my dad’s MT helmet didn’t have a clear visor. We tried to get one, but was not able to acquire within time for the ride. Therefore we had take is slowly until daylight was prominent enough to use the tinted visor. Since we left early, we did cover good distance. We reached a restaurant around 8:30 AM for breakfast after crossing Villupuram, few kilometers before Ulundurpet. At Ulundurpet, same as the Yercaud trip, we take the NH-79 towards Attur/Salem. Roads were amazing and we made it to Attur in quick time. At Attur, we deviate from the NH, have a quick fuel fill-up and use SH-30 and SH-79 till Belukurichi. Now, if you bring up Google Maps and just set your destination to Kolli Hills from Chennai, it WILL NOT show you the 70 hairpin bend road. It will direct you through a different route entirely which is shorter. The key here is to ensure, you add “Kolli Hills Entrance Arch” as a stop while entering the route. This will get you till the start of the 70 hairpin bend route. Every 60 kms or so, we took short 5-10 min breaks. As mentioned earlier, weather was super pleasant too which made it easy for us. Together on another adventure Not a bad idea to take a break when you’re surrounded by such scenery Somewhere near Belukurichi, we stopped for some tea. It was pure English weather throughout, drizzle to light rain and couple that with tea, as far as long riding days goes, this is one of the best environments I have been in so far. We reached the entrance arch at about 12:20 PM. Here is where I noticed some slush had been accumulating at the back of the bag. There was a rain cover, which I should’ve added in the first place. Nevertheless, nothing major and I just added it before starting the climb. “Kolli Hills Welcomes You” (written in Tamil on the arch) The ride up was amazing. Technical and challenging like its aimed at testing the handling capabilities of your bike/car. The aerial view shot as you have seen above totally is justified. Its as sharp as it looks. Basically a paradise for sportbike guys. But of course you need to be pretty careful too as most of these bends are totally blind and you need to keep your speed in check. A special mention to the new TVS Eurogrip Protorq Extreme tyres. They performed phenomenally well in such wet conditions that too with such sharp curves with reasonable steepness. The EBC semi-sintered brakepads in the front too were top notch adding great bite and feel. The R3 though, was the absolute king of the hill. The chassis, the throttle input, the lean angles, so damn fun! Rev-matching, as you slow and lean down, its in such corners you feel the machine is an extension of yourself. Almost like both of us have molded into a single entity. All the while, you keep yourself in check not to get too ahead of yourself and get into trouble. No words can express this feeling, only experience can. Total concentration, every other thought, worries all gone, all that remains in that moment is you, the machine and the road ahead. Yercaud was fun, this was thrilling. Priceless! If the racetrack is its home, this is where is its sabbatical34th Hairpin bend as I wait for my old man to catch upLetting folks back home of our progress We reached our hotel – Lotus Resorts & Inn at around 1:45 PM and checked in. For Airtel users, there is no signal at Kolli, except at one or two places. So we had to rely on Hotel Wifi for contact. As per hotel staff, only BSNL has good enough coverage. After having lunch, both of us got on the CB350 and did some exploration around the area to pass the time. Since its not that much developed, it isn’t that big of a hill station for tourists when compared to the likes of Ooty, Kodaikanal, Yercaud which are more commercialized. It rained quite heavily at night, but thankfully it soon abated. After dinner, we set our alarms to wake up at 5 AM the next day and went to bed. Day 1: Kollimalai-Mullukurichi-Attur-Ulundurpet-Tindivanam-Chengalpattu-Thiruporur-Kelambakkam-Kovalam-Chennai Distance: 364 km The next day, daylight was very much delayed so we had to start later than originally planned. We could start around 7 only and we were welcomed with lot of mist, almost like we were in the clouds. After packing stuff on the back of my R3, we had some tea opposite to our hotel before commencing our journey. Customary Odo pic before startingKind of has a supernatural vibe in a way For the return journey, we decided to use shorter route which does not have the hairpins. But in my opinion, this route I felt was even more scenic than the 70 hairpin route one. With thick fog engulfing our path, 25-30 kmph was maintained as we navigated gradually down from the clouds to the plains. Dense fog while descendingAs we neared the end of the ghats, some of the views were spectacularTwo Beautiful Machines we are fortunate to have in our livesFinal Goodbye to Beautiful Kollimalai The weather till Attur was good, and beyond that, it got hotter and we had to take more frequent breaks on the return. After joining NH 79 at Attur, we had breakfast at an A2B outlet. At Kallakurichi, we once again filled up our tanks, this time thankfully we had power95 which wasn’t the case earlier and had to use normal petrol only. Man, if E20 wasn’t implemented like the way it is, such stuff won’t be of this much concern. Progress was smooth, but my dad did get a little more tired than usual, so we took more time to reach home. After reaching Tindivanam, we had light lunch and proceeded. At Chengalpattu, we turned off the GST Road and headed towards the OMR from Chengalpattu towards Thiruporur, to eventually join the ECR at Kovalam. A short tea break later, we reached home around 4:30 PM. With the ending odo reading, 17,266 km. Another memorable journey on two-wheels come to an end Overall, my R3 averaged around 28 kmpl while the CB350 averaged 34-35 kmpl. This is of course approx values and I usually never use the reserve which is 3 litres so on the R3. The next adventure on 2 wheels, we are thinking of Coimbatore, more distance, but without ghats. Let’s see what the future holds! Until then, Ride Safe! Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
