Kovai Thumpers Motorcycle Club

I recently signed up for the email list of KTMC, the Kovai Thumpers Motorcycle Club, based in Coimbatore. Here is the self-introduction I posted to the list.

Although I'm based in Chennai, and ride with MadBulls, my first other-club ride/meet was your 4A [fourth anniversary meet] in Nelliampathi [in April 2010], and I met many of you there.

Unfortunately, I missed your 5A [in April 2011] since I didn't hear about it until a week after it happened -- somehow the announcement didn't get posted to the MadBulls Newbies list. And I was on tour at the time, near Mysore, so I could easily have attended if only I had known about it!

I ride a TBTS [Royal Enfield Thunderbird TwinSpark] which I got in September 2009, and have done about 36K km in two and a half years, including an annual "avoid being in Chennai during the north-east monsoon" tour to Karnataka and Goa, usually October through January. In addition, I do a Spring Tour for one or two months.

So far my biking adventures have been limited to the south -- Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, and a bit of Andhra Pradesh. I've never been Leh'd [riding to Leh in the Himalayas], and with my advancing years (I'm one of the oldest active riders in the southern clubs -- 63 next month), I just don't think I have the stamina and endurance for such a trip.

I'm holding off detailed planning for Spring Tour 2012 until you announce the date and venue for 6A, which I will definitely include in my travels. Looking forward to connecting with you all in person then.

P.S. Since most people don't pronounce the Canadian version of my name correctly (Jean-Philipe, en franc,ais), I go by J.P., Jayaprakash, or IndiaJP.

Update on my travels: April to June; Spring Tour 2011, Stage Two

I left off the narrative of my Spring Tour in Mysore in early April. Took two days for the ride back to Chennai with an overnight stop in Hosur. After a couple of days at home, did two short rides within Tamil Nadu, one to Mayilaiduthurai and another to Namakkal, timing my ride back to Chennai to meet up with the Madras Bulls Motorcycle Club in Yelagiri for their ninth annual anniversary meet at the end of April.

A couple of weeks at home, then mid-May left for Mysore, to join Bulls of Mysore for their second anniversary ride, up to Silent Valley Resorts in Kudremukh. At the meet I connected with several riders from Shimoga, and rode back to Shimoga with them, where I stayed for a few days with Kenneth, founder of the Bulls of Shimoga club.

On the way back to Chennai I stopped overnight at the APTDC Resort in Horsley Hills in southwestern Andhra Pradesh. At Rs 1500 it was a bit more than my usual budget, but worth the splurge. Nice swimming pool, disappointing restaurant.

Didn't get away until noon the next day, which was a mistake with the long ride I had to get home, via Tirupati, Puttur, Periyapalayam and Ponneri, so the last hour to home was after sunset, which I hate to do. But there was no point stopping en route so close to home.

And after this Mysore-Kudremukh-Shimoga-Horsley Hills ride, I really felt I wanted to take a break from touring for a while. So apart from a brief ride to Mayilaiduthurai in early June, and several shuttle trips to Tiruvallur to the Foreigners' Registration Office for my annual visa renewal, I'm planning to veg out at home for a few months, until it's time to leave in late September for Grand Tour 2011, otherwise known as my annual "avoid being in Chennai during the north-east monsoon" bike tour.

Update on my travels: February to April; Spring Tour 2011

After three weeks at home near Chennai, I left mid-February for Spring Tour 2011. First stop was a brief visit to Mamallapuram (where I found that Rocks Motcha Cafe, 18 Ottavadai Street, has free wifi for customers); then a 480-km ride in one day via Kanchipuram, Hosur, Bangalore by-pass, and NH48 to Sri Adi Chunchanagiri Mutt, where I stayed at the ashram guest house for a few days of relaxation and meditation.

Work on the four-laning of NH48 is progressing. Even where all four lanes are open, there will frequently be two-way traffic on both sides of the divided highway.

Then via Turuvekere - Tiptur - Arsikere - Shimoga (overnight stop), and as an alternative to the Sagar route to the coast, I rode Shimoga - Savalanga - Shikarpur - Siralkoppa - Soraba - Sirsi - Mirjan - Gokarna. 220km in just over 5 hours. Almost exactly the same distance and time as the Sagar - Gersoppa - Honavar route.

Road conditions mostly good to very good. Only a couple of stretches, maybe 20 km in total, that are a bit rough on the Shimoga to Sirsi sector. The last 15km before Sirsi are great riding. Beautiful road surface, and almost no traffic.

Sirsi to Mirjan is about 2/3 recently resurfaced; those parts are excellent. The older sections of pavement aren't too bad, even in the ghats. Much better than the Gersoppa ghat road.

In short, a good alternative route from Shimoga to the coast.

After a few days in Gokarna, I rode up to Calangute in Goa for the Bike Nomads Tenth Annual Meet. Great to connect with so many fellow bikers that I had only known electronically. Had the good fortune to share digs with Roy Skaria of Cougar-rides.com (link).

See Roy's writeup on the AMX here (link)

I left my bike in Vasco, hopped a train to Chennai, and met up with the intrepid travellers of the Great Circular Indian Railway Challenge at Chennai Central. (link)

I joined the GCIRC for the southern circuit, Chennai Egmore - Rameswaram - Kanniyakumari - Trivandrum - Kovalam Beach, and the Rajdhani up to Margao; said my farewells to the GCIRC crew; picked up my bike; stopped for a couple of days at Patnam Beach in south Goa (Roy's excellent recommendation); and then rode to Gokarna to settle in for a couple of weeks.

Roy and Ashok rode down from Goa to meet me there, and we had a great couple of days together before they rode on to Bangalore.

My next destination was Kodagu, too far to do comfortably in one day, so I stopped for the night at Malpe Beach, then continued the next day, via NH17, Mangalore bypass, NH48, Puttur, Sullia, Sampaje, the "closed" road, Napoklu, to Palace Estate Home Stay near Kakkabe in Kodagu.

Road construction work starts as soon as you turn off NH48. It's rideable but pretty rough in spots, for about 100 km. The last 10 km or so as you approach the Bettageri turnoff are completed and the road is wonderful. It will be great when it is finished, but that certainly won't be this year.

I've read a couple of articles in the Deccan Herald about how the Kodagu police are making a fortune by charging motorists Rs 100 to 200 (and more for lorries) to allow them to drive on the closed road. (Two-wheelers don't have to pay.)

I think I would have been better to continue south on NH17 from Mangalore into Kerala, and turn inland at Talipparamba (or Kannur) to Iritti, then on the new road to Virajpet. Longer but probably faster.

Spent four delightful relaxed days at Palace Estate Home Stay, my second visit there. Highly recommended. (link)

From Palace Estate I rode south to Virajpet; and just for the hell of it rode down to Iritti in Kerala. The road is now great on the Karnataka side, although it's not 100% finished. Had a quick visit with a friend in Iritti that I had met a couple of years ago; rode back up to Virajpet; then via Ammathi, Siddapur, Guddehosur, Cauvery Nisgardama (where I stopped for lunch), Kushalnagar, Hunsur, and an overnight stop in Mysore.

Next a few days at Adichunchanagiri; a spur-of-the-moment ride to Shimoga and Jog Falls; and on the way back to Mysore, just by serendipity I discovered a great bit of road to ride. Lots of ups and downs and twists and turns. Recently resurfaced, and the pavement is flawless. It's SH57 between Tarikere and Chikmagalur. About 55km.

If you were riding from Bangalore to Shimoga, take NH48 to Haasan, then north on SH57 via Belur and Chikmagalur. It's about 50km longer than via Tumkur and NH206, but better road conditions.

I'll get my bike serviced at Royal Enfield in Mysore this weekend, then head back to Chennai on Sunday, for a brief stop at home before continuing with Spring Tour 2011, Stage Two. Stay tuned.

Update on my travels: November to January

My apologies to my faithful readers (all three of you) for the long delay in updating my blog. Since my last entry, I have:

- completed Grand Tour 2010-11
- had a 3-week break at home near Chennai
- started Spring Tour 2011
- joined the Great Circular Indian Railway Challenge for the southern portion of the circuit; and
- resumed Spring Tour 2011.

I left you hanging out at Royal Enfield's Second Annual Rider Mania at Vagator Beach, north Goa, in November 2010. Here's a write-up about the event on the Royal Enfield web site (link).

For me one of the highlights of the event was the group ride, with a couple of hundred bikes on a 20-km tour of the vicinity.

From Vagator I headed south to Agonda Beach for a short stay, before moving on to Gokarna. I wound up spending a full month in Gokarna, which has rapidly become one of my favourite destinations in India.

Spent Christmas in a friend's village near Shimoga, and New Year's with a friend in Coimbatore. Pongal was at a friend's village near Kumbakonam. Home to Chennai by the end of January, officially completing Grand Tour 2010-11. About 4000km in three months.

Grand Tour 2010 -- Stage Two, Mysore to Goa

My planned route leaving Mysore was via Bilikere, Krishnarajanagar, Holenarsipur (yes, that’s really the name), Hassan, Belur, Chikmagalur, Aldur, Balehonnur to Sringeri. The road conditions were great up to Hassan, dreadful through Hassan itself with mud, potholes and traffic galore, great again up to Belur, and a bit rough in spots thereafter. Since I had topped up with petrol leaving Mysore, at Rs 59 per litre, I was a bit annoyed to see it at Rs 45 just outside Hassan. How can there be such a discrepancy within the same state?

There were broken clouds and sunny patches when I left Mysore. The forecast was for afternoon showers, which indeed started just after I passed Aldur. The shower turned into a real downpour, so I sheltered until it let up, but my beloved RedWing (my Royal Enfield Thunderbird TwinSpark) suddenly developed engine trouble, and although it would idle ok, it cut out and there was no power when I tried to rev up. Somehow I managed to limp a couple of kilometers to the next village, asked around for a Bullet mechanic, and was referred to Ravi just down the road. He pulled out the sparkplug, said it was ok, and started disassembling the carburetor. After half an hour's work, he said there was some blockage which he couldn't fix, but that I should now be able to ride to Balehonnur, about 10km away, where there was a better equipped Bullet mechanic that he recommended. I asked him to accompany me for a bit just in case I broke down again, and he did so, and since RedWing was running ok now, albeit a bit roughly, I waved him goodbye after a couple of kilometers, and made it to Balehonnur. I found the shop with the aid of some helpful locals, explained the problem to the mechanic, and since it was now late afternoon, I left RedWing in his care, went off to find a lodge, got a decent room for Rs 220 at Asha Lodge, took an autorickshaw to fetch my luggage, and settled in to unpack and dry out. 235 km today.

My bike was ready next morning. The mechanic had replaced the sparkplug (probably unnecessarily) and cleaned the carburetor, which he said had had some water, whether from bad fuel or yesterday's rain I don't know. Anyway, with a smoothly running bike I was soon on my way to Sringeri, where I stopped just outside of town at a shop where the owner had been very helpful last year in giving me advice on local road conditions. We chatted for a while, then I proceeded to the temple's guest house booking office, and asked for and got the same room I had stayed in last year, TTD #19, the "fifty rupee room with the thousand rupee view". Later I went to see another friend whom I had also met on last year's trip, and we had a nice visit. Unfortunately he was quite busy working on a project so we didn't have as much time together as I would have liked, but we were able to meet briefly a couple of times over the next few days. Only 39 km today.

Then it was time to move on again, and I rode via Koppa, Thirthihalli (excellent roads to this point), SH1 to Riponet (quite rough in some spots), joined NH206, which was very good except through and around Sagar, and was at the Jog Falls turnoff by early afternoon. The weather forecast was calling for heavy afternoon rain especially in the ghats, so I decided to make an early stop and stay in Jog Falls, which I had also done last year.

There are three levels of accommodation to choose from. The KSTDC runs the Tunga Tourist Home (basic doubles at Rs 300 with a view of the parking lot), and Hotel Mayura (nicer doubles at Rs 450 with TV and morning hot water, with a view of the falls). A little higher up is the PWD Rest House, with huge two-room suites with bay windows and a fabulous view for Rs 500 (24-hour hot water but no TV). I treated myself to the PWD. There was a brief but heavy downpour about sunset. 169 km today.

Next morning was the ride down the ghat road via Gersoppa to Honavar (very bad in some spots), then NH17 via Kumta and Karwar into Goa. NH17 is greatly improved since last year. I considered stopping for the night in Gokarna, but since I'm planning for a longer stay there on my way back south, I decided to keep riding on to Goa. If I had known what was ahead, I would have stopped, but ...

Shortly after crossing into Goa, the rain started. I sheltered under a tree until it let up, then continued, but had to pull over again as the rain got worse. It turned into a real storm, with thunder and lightning galore, and the rain so heavy you could barely see across the road. I got completely drenched. Eventually it abated, and I continued on, bypassing Palolem Beach, where I had stayed last year but found too commercial and touristy for my taste, and rode on to Agonda, which I had looked at briefly last year and got a very favourable first impression. The first couple of guest houses I looked at were overpriced for what they were offering, but I lucked out and found a very pleasant room at Franter C Guest House near the church for only Rs 350. They have one large two-bedroom suite on the main floor, and three double rooms upstairs sharing a large verandah, with a view of the ocean through the trees. I settled in and unpacked to start drying out. 207 km today.

It was so pleasant in Agonda that I stayed a day longer than initially planned, and early on Friday 19th November I headed out via Cabo de Rama, NH17, Margao, and Mapusa to Vagator Beach. Just as in Agonda, the first couple of places I looked at were overpriced, but, third time lucky, I got a great, clean room with hot water (no TV) at Robert's Place for Rs 350. After a minimal unpack, I headed over to Hilltop for Royal Enfield's Rider Mania, the reason for coming to Vagator. 90 km today.

It was very nice to be greeted by name while walking from the parking lot to the registration desk -- thanks, Praveen S of Royal Enfield, for making me feel so welcomed! So here I am at Rider Mania until Sunday, when I'll head south for Grand Tour Stage Three. Stay tuned!

Grand Tour 2010 -- Stage One, Chennai to Mysore

After weeks of deliberation and planning, on Tuesday 26th October I finally set out on Grand Tour 2010, otherwise known as my third annual "avoid being in Chennai during the north-east monsoon" motorcycle tour.


This year I managed to get out of Chennai ahead of the serious rain, and avoided getting wet on my first day. After a false start (I realized after 15km of wretched riding conditions on the Minjur-Manali Road that I had forgotten to bring my Thermarest inflatable seat cushion, which is essential for comfortable travel, and had to go back home to fetch it), I was on my way by late morning, with a wasted extra 30km on the clock. And all because I had forgotten to run through my pre-departure mental checklist one last time.


Had breakfast and lunch at stops along the highway, and reached my planned overnight stop of Hosur by late afternoon. 330 km (+30 km) today.


Day two dawned with overcast and showers. I was in no hurry, and waited till the rain stopped at noon before moving on. Had to pull over soon to put on my rain gear, which I should have done before leaving. But it was only a brief shower. The highway from the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border up to Bengaluru is now finished, a great improvement over last year. Took the NICE Ring Road (which they still haven't finished, although the detour at the first exit is shorter and with better road conditions than it was last year) for a toll of Rs 42 around to the Tumkur Road, which is also much improved. Here you can take the inner lanes of the toll road (no charge for 2-wheelers) up to the Mangalore turnoff just past Nelamangala onto NH 48. The rain caught up with me a bit later, after lunch, and was intense enough that I pulled over and sheltered until the downpour was done.


There is still a lot of work left to do on the four-laning on NH 48. Getting through Kunigal is a real bottle-neck; it will be much improved when the by-pass is opened.


One last downpour to slow me down a bit, and by late afternoon I was at Sri Adi Chunchanagiri Mutt, where I took a room at the ashram guest house. 165 km today.


After a couple of days of contemplation and relaxing, I moved on to Mysore (95 km), where I got my bike serviced at Royal Enfield, and stayed a few days, meeting friends and getting to know my way around the city a bit more.


And now a non-biking detour. Just before Diwali my son phoned me from Kerala and asked if I could come and meet him there on an urgent family matter. The trains were all fully booked for Diwali, and I didn't fancy riding to Kerala and right back, since my tour plan is to head north and west, so I booked the overnight Volvo A/C luxury bus from Mysore to Trivandrum. (Rs 700 one way; 10% discount on the return if you book it at the same time.)


It's a 14-hour trip, faster than the train, and as comfortable as you can be on the sometimes dreadful roads. The route is Mysore, Gundulpet, Sulthan Bathery, Kozhikode, Trissur, Ernakulam, Alleppey, Kollam, Trivandrum. I did the overnight outbound up to Kollam; did my visiting and family stuff and stayed a night at Yatri Nivas in Kollam; took a late afternoon train to Trivandrum; had dinner at the architecturally fabulous Indian Coffee House; and caught the overnight return trip. I'll stay in Mysore a couple more days, then move on to Sringeri and the coast.

Grand Tour 2009/10, Stage Six - Kerala and Tamil Nadu

On New Year's Day my friends and I took an autorickshaw from our guest house at Cherai Beach to the My Gothuruth festival in a nearby community. There was a museum-type display of cultural and historical items, and some local food specialties on offer. There was a cultural festival scheduled for 7pm; but first, a few words from our local dignitaries and guests of honour ...


Indian public figures, a microphone and a captive audience are a deadly combination. By 8:30, with the festival performers still waiting in the wings, the speeches showed no sign of being done, so my friends and I summoned our auto driver and headed back to our guest house. Pity, I'm sure the cultural festival would have been interesting, if only the visiting big shots could have been persuaded to shut up. Organizers of next year's event please take note of this sure-fire way to drive visitors away in dismay.


After a couple more days relaxing at Cherai, I rode to Muvattapuzha to visit some friends, then headed via Munnar to Maraiyoor for an overnight stop. With the electrical system still jury-rigged, RedWing had been running Ok up to this point; but wouldn't start when I was ready to leave next morning, and I had to get a push start. It konked out a couple of times en route to Namakkal in Tamil Nadu, my next stop, but at least I was able to kick-start once the engine was warm. (The electric start was completely dead. I think the battery wasn't charging properly.)


After a week visiting friends in Namakkal, I pushed on to a friend's small village near Mayiladuthurai, another of my favourite visiting spots, to spend Pongal with my friend's family.  Then a brief stop in Mamallapuram, and the final leg home. As I rode up Rajiv Gandhi Salai into Chennai, RedWing started cutting out frequently, and I probably should have headed directly to the Royal Enfield service shop in Thiruvanmiyur. But it would have been a real hassle to take my bike bags home on the bus and train, so I managed to limp the last few kilometres to Minjur, arriving home after my three-month, 5000 km adventure.


I took RedWing for the 6000-km service as soon as I could book an appointment; it took them two weeks to replace the wiring harness and set things right again. Cross my fingers, RedWing now seems to be running fine. All part of the challenge of being a proud Royal Enfield rider.