Kalhatty Revisit

Kalhatty Revisit- SB


12th of July 2008 was same as other 12ths. But this 12th had few specialties.
-Moshaii woke up before sunrise.
-JSR rode with pillion.
-Meppa had his first ride after he shifted to USB (United States of Banaswadi)
-We could flag off before sunrise as planned.

This time Kalhatty was the proposed venue for TVM guys to meet Blore gang. Making them ride all the way from TVM, around 500km- almost 12 hours of butt breaking ride was one criminal offence. Bangalore fellows escaped with less than 300km.

Bangalore gang: JSR, Moshaii, Meppa, Conductor, Shre, Karthik, GK, Sassi, Keeny and myself Jo.
TVM team: Jay, Crank, Anil and Venu.

I was excited to take out the white lady for a long run for the first time after the overhaul and modifications. MuneerDa kept his word and delivered the bike the night before the ride. When I took the test ride, I felt the extra kick of the additional CCs along with the convenience of operating levers at the ‘right’ sides as those used to be in my old 350.

Expectations are high when Kalhatty visit is planned. Many of us who’d been there before had wild dreams about the Kalhatty climb. Starting at 5:45 seemed a bit impractical considering the punctuality of our men. But noone came much late. There we go again to SB’s most visited Kalhatty for the Nth time. Few of us pushed hard and some like JSR kept their cool.

JSR wouldn’t have ridden like this before. Like a ‘just licensed’ rider, medium rev/speed in all the gears, dead slow in cities and almost in Hanuman gear on speed breakers and even on zebra lines… Our respected madaam AntaGulika seemed to enjoy every bit of the ride. Experimenting with the camera in different angles, sometimes stretching hands wide, thinking whether to put on sunglasses in the darkness or not, wondering if sunglasses are removed that’s gona affect the glamorous pillion look… Gulika, I think was under the impression that holding something while pillion riding is the sign of fear and a daredevil like me shouldn’t do that… Evidently JSR seemd fed up with this myth riding. His eyes started to pop out saying ‘yeh dil mange more’…

JSR finally stops before eyeballs touch the visor. I continued riding on JSR’s assurance that he and the stopped pack will start soon and catch up. But, by the time I reached Mysore people were scattered everywhere. People took different routes to bypass the city and I took the city route and since no sign of anyone, had breakfast too from Kamat alone and headed straight to catch up with others. But amazingly the confusion made most of them stuck here and there and just before Kabini I could realize from Meppa’s call that I’m atleast 15km ahead of rest. What an irony! Anyway I got reunited with others at Nanjangud. Breakfast at Nanjangud was great. Moshaii and Meppa had a dosa which was longer than moshaii.

JSR kept his cool for some more Kms and then an unexpected twist… I’m talking about the throttle twist child… He couldn’t control his emotions seeing the wild ghat curves. JSR flies like Luttappi flying the spear with Dakini as pillion. Our pillion daredevil started to shiver for the first time and was seen holding the rear carrier tight praying for life. (That rear carrier was found lose on reaching Kalhatty and JSR had to tighten all the nuts and bolts on it.)
Bits and pieces overheard by co riders on the way--
Dakini: Entahda Kunthathinoru virayal? (Dai Lutt, why does the bike keep wobbling all the time ?)
Luttappi: No problemo Dak, That’s not issue with the bike.
He then explained about the banking and other technical stuff about taking curves at high speeds.

This time noone’s bike gave up on the Kalhatty climb and everyone made it to the top safe and sound, but to see the ‘Kondi’ waiting there. Pattambi Satyan is almost an Anaconda. Earth, sun and other smaller particles rotate around him. What comes out of his mouth is pure spirit fume. Noone dared to light a cigarette near him. Pattambi is 100% inflammable.

Ride to Ooty after Lunch was eventful. There we had the next ‘Kondi’. Sassi’s chain gave up and fixing it took around 2 hrs limiting our plan to visit one place- the beautiful landscapes at 9th mile. It’s an awesome place. Coonoor is dropped.

We headed back to reach Kalhatty before sunset and the TVM guys too reached there almost at the same time. Crank was stuck in the middle of the final climb when I passed him. Anyway he need not worry about the bad performance of his bike on climbs. That is a road runner with unbeatable top speed. Though there were minor issues on the way all TVM guys, Jay, Crank, Anil and Venu made it on time in style. They would really have enjoyed the last part of their ride- the ghat section.

Eventful night…
To be honest, this time the camping was disastrous. Two more teams share barbeque and dining, not enough space to accommodate such a big crowd and on top of all Pattambi is fully out. Result: everything out of control.
Then the unthinkable, unacceptable happens. Blue Grape, specially brought for TVM guys vanishes in a matter of few minutes! GK rose up to handle the situation. He played double role as Sherlock Holmes and the drunken fist. In an amazingly choreographed climax GK kisses the villain and villain kisses the ground multiple times. THE END. Issue solved. Whoever has that bottle, keep it as a memento.


Next day during the ride two more ‘Kondies’ were in the list waiting to happen.
Sashi’s battery cover flew off and scares the car behind him. He amazingly avoided running over it. Conductor who was behind him did manage to sweep it and then to his amusement the battery itself comes flying off. This time our hero had no other option but stop and fix up with others help before heading further.

Mappa’s break down added icing on the cake. I could see big fire balls coming out from bikes exhaust. Bike stalled with no spark. Thankfully it never started again. Problem lied in the clutch box cover- a broken soldering from the coil to the CDI unit- the only thing we did not open and check. Anyway one carrier auto got a good ride to Bangalore. Keeny deserves a special thanks for staying back till bike got parcelled.

Without paamban pattambi's Anaconda performance… sasi’s chain and battery kondi… the great blue grape incident… Meppa’s bike's breakdown…
there wouldn’t have been much to learn and remember from this ride. But what I’m wondering is how come all the “Kodies” happened on this single ride.

Finally, how many of us would return to Kalhatty once again. I don’t think anybody will do that unless it is to give pattambi a ‘kickback’ on his undercut.

Each and everyone had their own contributions to make this ride a memorable one. Thank you all for being a part of this wonderful group event and for the nicest company.
I owe few guys special thanks.
Meppa, Moshaii, Jsr, GK..... those who offered me their pillion seats when my bike's delivery was in doubt.
Sasi even offered his bike....
Thank you..........

PS:-
Kondi: Disaster
Anaconda: Fully drunk state of a human being or the heights of drunkenness.
Hanuman Gear: 1st Gear
Luttappi and Dakini: Cartoon characters in one of the Mal publications. Luttappi has a flying spear. He takes Dakini and another character Kuttoosan to places on his spear. Lutt is their driver/pilot.


Photos (Few from my clicks)

Ooty Coonoor revisit

Ooty and Coonoor revisit
7th and 8th of June 2008

Bike: Chingismo :)
Agenda:
Ride through the Bandipur forest once again and of course the mountains roads of Ooty and Coonoor
See some of the tourist attractions- Pabbu wanted it.
Accommodation: At Ooty Gate. They hold the award for the lousiest service provider in the entire subcontinent. Only rate seems BIG at the gate.
I can’t forget Pabbu walking to the reception lobby where ‘distinguished’ guests wait, asking for a mug in the bathroom after waiting in the room for more than half an hour. This can be called ‘heights of escalation’.
Food included accommodation package got changed for some technical, hidden reasons. Anyway we did not want to pay them for food. Instead, explored Ooty town and could find some real nice biriyani and mutton.
Two “nuts” crossing the town on Bike to find a particular restaurant in the middle of the night, wearing shorts and T shirt, ignoring Ooty’s cold weather…. that cop on duty at the signal wearing a no. of sweaters, but still shivering… I’m sure he wouldn’t forget the scene for a long time.

Started from Bangalore at 4:15am, this was the earliest start I’ve ever had. Pabbu was a decent, calm and quiet pillion. Thankfully he does not add much weight to the rolling (thunder motorcycling) system and alter the center of gravity much.

I took the roads through inside the Mysore city for the first time and had a glimpse of the Palace after a very long time. It’s really a charming view in the early hour of the day- golden sunrays of early morning reflects on the golden minar of the palace.

I did not forget to stop at Kalhatty and have a look at the Dutchy’s den. It is newly painted and seems that the road to there is repaired. Proof is the Innova seen on top. Once again I felt the Mudumala route a steep climb- this time because of the extra pillion weight on the bike. Anyway Chingismo did a fantastic job giving no issues on the entire ride.

Pykara lakeside visit was just for the sake of it. Lousy crowd have destroyed the charm of that place. But the trek in the forest from the drinking water reservoir site was the experience of the day. On the way, from some spots the Dodabetta Peak is visible. But we could never go closer to it, coz finally there wasn’t any idea on which direction we were walking. There was the first time monsoon rain decided to pour on us. Anyway wet chickens could return to the base without much causality, but chingismo’s one slip and slide for few meters at the unused most slippery forest road (well, almost a road) and a near fall was inevitable.

Security cops sent us back from the Dodabetta Peak’s entrance check post. They shut at 5pm and opens only at 8 in the morning. So we had to go back in the morning again. Aha, what a traffic in that narrow road… and the smell of burnt clutch plates and break shoes. The atmospheric temperature at that narrow strip of road is much higher and doesn’t come par with Ooty climate at all.

Coonoor railway station and loco shed were revisited again… and the 1904 railway tunnel and bridge too.
Sunday afternoon:
Lamb’s rock and Dolphin’s nose- two good view points and decent enough places to spend some time because of very less no of visitors.

After a real good sleep we started back to Bangalore on Monday morning at 6:15 and reached home at 11:15, just took a half an hour break for food. No rain and no sun- the ideal climate for a ride… Thankfully the rear breaks improved after the slopes in the wet morning conditions when it was a real big concern.

Thanks to Pabbu and his bike Chingismo for the nicest company.
Photos

Kick starting the AVL Bullet

Kick starting the AVL Bullet

Kick starting the old Points ignition CI engine is a beauty.
But the newer avl500, Machismos and Thunderbirds- Kick starting is a nightmare for some. Harder kicker on these TCI avl machines is a known issue. One needs to literally stand up on the kicker and risk more wear and tear to leg joints than that to the bike parts. Right foot slipping of the licker lever and getting jammed between the lever and the foot peg giving the toe a one of a kind strike and tissue damage is one major risk.

Let me share an observation to make kick starting a smooth exercise. This basically depends on the effective use of the decompression. The decomp in TCI avl bullets are said to be ineffective and useless. It doesn’t decompress at all, the lever doesn’t even get pressed… few myths.

Try this-
Press the decomp lever. Yes, it’s obvious that the lever is kind of stuck and doesn’t move. Keeping your thumb pressed on the decomp lever, push down the kicker lever gently. You might feel that the kicker also rejects with the normal tension initially. What I do is stand up from the seat and apply the body weight on the kicker. Then, it gently goes down relieving the decompresser too. Now the depcomp is applied fully and the kicker is totally free. Now release the comp lever and kick start smoothly as in a points CI bullet. The gentlest push on the kicker and the engine fires up.

LED Tail Lamp for Bullet

Thought of posting this an year ago when I did and installed this circuit on my bike, but then forgot. I’m a living example for procrastination.

This is one arrangement I thought of when I started using extra headlamps on my bike that drain battery very fast. One solution I thought of was to cut the power to other bulbs that are frequently in use- tail lamp and break light. I think a tale lamp bulb rating is 10W and 21W for break light.

I replaced the bulb with an LED setup same as that in most of the newer vehicles (not on any Royal Enfield though). This one is not as exclusive as those come from the factory, but it serves the purpose and when the tail lamp cover is fixed we don’t see the setup inside but the light. This alteration has been done on a TB tail lamp that has more than enough space inside to add a circuit board. Same setup is possible inside a regular tail lamp too, but need to reshape the circuit board a bit which is not a big deal.

Components:
Line Circuit board - 1
LEDs (bright and focused type. Ordinary ones are useless) - 8
Resistors (4K7 Ohm) - 2
Wires (about 6 inches in length) - 3 pieces
Bulb that suits the socket of the tale lamp, glass and filament removed - 1

There are two different circuits for the tail lamp and the break lamp. A set of 4 LEDs are used for each. The LEDs are connected in parallel with the resistor in series to them. Ground is common for both circuits. Wires are soldered directly to the terminals pop out from the broken bulb, which are insulated with sleeves or insulation tape.
Two small aluminum clamps are soldered to the board and is fitted on the base tightening screws.

Tips
I have used red colored LEDs for the break lamps and are pointed straight (The top row in the pic). Two of the tail lamp LEDs are connected straight and are red in color. The other two are pointed down and are white in color to illuminate the number plate.

Gain
Instead of 10W/21W the new set up draws only a fraction of a mW. (I haven’t calculated the correct value though)

PS: The circuit can be improved by designing a bigger and shaped circuit board and by adding more LEDs to improve brightness.

This is a new design I have tried on my new bike. The setup has more LEDs. The illumination is not very impressive. It would have been better with reflectors.