Day 19 A slight problem.

Day 19 A slight problem.

Natraj Yes Please Hotel,  has been a great place to stay, with its nearby bazaar and street parades

Staying at the Natraj until I fly out with a day layover in Bankok. No direct flights to Aus with Thai

Conclusions – and lessons.

Have had some very near death experiences on my side of the road from the TFI drivers who drive like demons so it's a nerve wracking experience at times and you can't relax for a second. I think the Indian guys with me, having a more inherent risk taking mentality, just went for it. Dying or being injured in India, for me, wasn’t appealing, and breaking my shoulder again would have been bad news. One guy in the group came off 5 times and he used to blitz past me regularly.

It's been a tough trip and definitely an adventure so I will store the memory and maybe get a different perspective on it. It's very easy to see all the chaos and dirt and rubbish and shocking air pollution but at least with the boys, we had a lot of laughs and the catch cry we adopted was not "incredible India" but "Fnn incredible india  YEEHAH"

I couldn’t have persisted alone with the crap roads.

The IAA deal was very good and worth every penny. Akarsh is a great tour leader and the support boys were good.

When you look at the daily mileage figures in the brochure, they seem small and the number of rest days, too many but IAA have got it right.

The food was a bit of a problem and the roadside dhabbas were possibly too “buggy” for me. If you eat “street” food in India, then  getting sick seems inevitable. A lot of the bottled water (tested) is very suss and you need to just drink certain brands.

I didn’t bother using an antiseptic wipe when I cut my knees crashing and two days after getting back ended up in Lismore hospital, with a severe patella infection, on an antibiotic drip for nine days. Pretty stupid but you don’t think of the consequences at the time. But butter side up for fallen toast, I end up in a room by myself with the only free TV (movies included) in the whole hospital.  “The discharge transit unit” it’s called but apparently I’m here for a while.

Free TV, free drugs, free tea and coffee – I’m made.

Doesn't last. Spend the next eight in a ward, thoroughly bored.

Get home only to find that there's been a Court hearing while I've been away and they taken my licence for 3 months for going through a speed camera 34 kph over the limit. Fnn Australia!!!!!!!

Day 18 Fix it day

Day 18   Fix it day 

Well the outcome was better than I expected .

Despite the team mechanic thinking that the clutch would have to be done before I could get over the passes, it survived and the hirer can replace it, not me.

The engine didn’t run its bearings but I kept pouring oil into it every day and put a litre in yesterday. Now the oil level can’t be seen !!!!!!!

As soon as I got onto the plains, the terrible on/off throttle response disappeared and the bike was was OK to ride. It’s got  fuel injection so should have been a lot better to ride then a carbed version, but despite being of Bosch origins, the management system is crap. One of the ride support guys tried to tell me it was not “chipped” – seriously???????

The bike was disappointing and despite people in AUS telling me, I’d get to like it, I’m glad to be off it and looking forward to getting on one of my BMW Ks at home.

The good – it was capable of surviving dropping into huge holes in the road and the brutal Ladakh roads. Seemingly good fuel economy. Survived a crash with minimal damage.

The bad – gutless motor, no decent engine braking,- seemed to have worn out at 15000kms, - heavy bike with all the grace of a Tata truck, dubious suspension,- dodgy fuel injection system.

Neel tells me, when I get back, that all the Classics with EFI play up and that I should have taken a carbed Machissmo.

Indian engineering can be pretty crude and ugly. This is what the emergency tool box looks like on the Delhi to Rajastan train.

                           HULLO – Is that the axehead in the bottom R H corner???????

Ran far too rich and fouled plugs – used 3 in 3000kms) Geared too high (terrrible gap between 3^rd and 4^th ) Would be  much better with one tooth less on the front sprocket or fewer on the rear.

Akarsh has got one of his boys coming over in the morning to take me to Karol Bagh (motorbike city) and  buy the replacement bits for the bike – headlight surround etc, a mirror, and potential to hit things with a big hammer.

Finally there’s no trace of a prang and so I take the bike out to Neel, who refunds the deposit and gives me a ride back to the hotel.

Day 17 Chandigarth to Delhi.

Day 17  Chandigarth to Delhi (275 kms)

It wouldn’t have been possible to do a one day, McLg to Delhi ride without getting in the dark and being totally stuffed.

There was no internet available last night so I couldn’t look at google maps to figure how to get out of C and on the road to Delhi. I get confused but finally get the right direction and with a good road surface (in fact very good) the ride is great in the cool morning air.

The sky is typically greyish, but is like this pre monsoon and no direct sun and I want to keep it on my left so I am sure of heading south. It seems a bit like those mariners rounding Cape Horn who needed an occasional glimpse of the sun to make sure of establishing their position.

The motorway demands a level of attention though, because there are guys turning onto it or across it and you’re never quite sure what is going to happen. Often trucks just turn on, and so you haul on the brakes and almost stop. As usual there’s no “lane discipline” and there are trucks doing 40kph in the “fast lane”. With farm tractors in the far left, there’s a stupid funneling into the middle lane going on and when a tuk tuk driver decides to overtake the tractors, there’s some pretty dramatic moments.

There’s still a rural landscape until about 40kms out of Delhi so it’s a good ride and there’s no point in doing more than 90kph. At the various toll stations, the tin tops have to pay but the bikes go down a narrow freebie lane, so you end up getting past them. The motorway would probably get a rating of about 2 out of 10 from Germans (because it reverts to pothole city at points) and the driving style would get about  .5.

Most Indians are really bad drivers, and big risk takers but apparently get their licences through the post, not tested.

Their greatest ability is in knowing exactly where the four points of their vehicle are, and not hitting other stuff (generally) on the road. 

Despite all the planning and google maps I printed, the whole thing was torpedoed when I couldn't get off the Ring road at the planned point, and got totally lost . Delhi is hell to try and figure out unless you have a co navigator in a car with you. Got a tuk tuk driver to lead the way for 15kms but I swear he passed my nominated close to the hotel point - the Rama Krishna metro station - and we did a huge loop again.

Finally I get to the hotel and I’m drenched so my jacket is going to the "dry cleaners" and clothes at some laundry. Somehow my stress level didn't get up and I found the riding "style " (pushy no nonsense assertiveness) wasn't as difficult to manage as expected. Two weeks ago I was terrified at the prospect of picking up the bike.

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Delhi is like no other city and the contrasts are huge. This shows the billion dollar new metro passing in front of a 'religious icon' . Not sure if it's Shiva or Hanuman. 
From the swanky consulate section of the city with its greenery to this, adjoining the trainline to Rajastan

And the old. - Shiva statue (or is it Hanuman? ) with a train, part of the new billion dollar metro, passing  in front.

The now forgotten and dilapidated vestiges of the British raj era. This one in Chandi Chowk.

But this photo, I took, opposite the hotel, says that happiness is not the preserve of nations that have more.

next

day 15 rest day at McLg