I took thunderbird on 22 nd April 10, since the day I took this bike - I wanted to go on long ride :). I drove 200 km in first 3 days and there came shock 'I had to wait for first servicing for ~15 days', there was no other choice but to cancel the long ride plan :(
I got the first servicing done on 11 th this month. None of my friends were ready to travel on week days :(. I had to go to Nrusinhawadi for first long ride (it is temple of Shri Nrusinha Saraswati), finally after some thought I decided to go alone.
I left home on 12 th May 6.30am, for safety I took one extra clutch cable with me.
I must mention here that NH4 is pleasure to ride. The road is mostly in very good condition. I think this was the first time for me to ride through tunnel - Katraj tunnel is 1.38 km long and I could not believe that 35W light which comes (by default) with thunderbird is hardly of any use there :(. I was worried about crossing Khambatki ghat, but actually when I reached there I did not notice when I entered Khambatki ghat section and when it was over (I mostly used 3rd and 4rth gear - rarely 2nd was required). View from Khambatki is really good :).
About 12.15pm I reached Sangli - finding hotel was not that difficult, Ratna International looked quite OK to me. Food was really superb and very cheap. Room rents are OK but rooms are not great. I took some rest and in evening I went to Nrusinhawadi, the road to Nrusinhawadi is again quite good - mostly it goes through farms. The parking boy gave me permission to park thunderbird in car parking :).
Next day I left for Nrusinhawadi (2nd visit) @ 4.25 am, reached there around 4.50am the kakad arti (early morning prayer) has just started. One suggestion : now there are good hotels in Nrusinhawadi (I did not know this earlier) - try to avoid Sangli hotels (if you want good service then try hotel Ambassador in Sangli).
I started back for Pune around 8am. Because of sunburns on hands, it was quite difficult for me to drive after Satara (11.30 am). There is hotel by name Mahendra executive in Satara - I tried all orders "Veg Biryani / Dosa / Curd rice" for every option waiter told me please try Idli sambar in our hotel. Finally without asking me he bought Idli sambar???. I left that place and started journey back to Pune. I forgot to remove goggles before entering Khambatki tunnel :D (@ 838 mtr) it was real adventure for me till I finished that tunnel :).
Thunderbird gave me unbelievable mileage of @55-60 kmpl on hiway :). I did not face any oil-leak problem in this 600 km ride. Now waiting for next ride.
I had done one Konkan ride with friends few years back (that was on Bajaj boxer) and one to Shirawal (on Bajaj Caliber), but riding on thunderbird is totally different joy altogether. I missed friends in this journey :(, next time it would be great experience if I get company of friends :).
Happy thumping :)
I got the first servicing done on 11 th this month. None of my friends were ready to travel on week days :(. I had to go to Nrusinhawadi for first long ride (it is temple of Shri Nrusinha Saraswati), finally after some thought I decided to go alone.
I left home on 12 th May 6.30am, for safety I took one extra clutch cable with me.
I must mention here that NH4 is pleasure to ride. The road is mostly in very good condition. I think this was the first time for me to ride through tunnel - Katraj tunnel is 1.38 km long and I could not believe that 35W light which comes (by default) with thunderbird is hardly of any use there :(. I was worried about crossing Khambatki ghat, but actually when I reached there I did not notice when I entered Khambatki ghat section and when it was over (I mostly used 3rd and 4rth gear - rarely 2nd was required). View from Khambatki is really good :).
About 12.15pm I reached Sangli - finding hotel was not that difficult, Ratna International looked quite OK to me. Food was really superb and very cheap. Room rents are OK but rooms are not great. I took some rest and in evening I went to Nrusinhawadi, the road to Nrusinhawadi is again quite good - mostly it goes through farms. The parking boy gave me permission to park thunderbird in car parking :).
Next day I left for Nrusinhawadi (2nd visit) @ 4.25 am, reached there around 4.50am the kakad arti (early morning prayer) has just started. One suggestion : now there are good hotels in Nrusinhawadi (I did not know this earlier) - try to avoid Sangli hotels (if you want good service then try hotel Ambassador in Sangli).
I started back for Pune around 8am. Because of sunburns on hands, it was quite difficult for me to drive after Satara (11.30 am). There is hotel by name Mahendra executive in Satara - I tried all orders "Veg Biryani / Dosa / Curd rice" for every option waiter told me please try Idli sambar in our hotel. Finally without asking me he bought Idli sambar???. I left that place and started journey back to Pune. I forgot to remove goggles before entering Khambatki tunnel :D (@ 838 mtr) it was real adventure for me till I finished that tunnel :).
Thunderbird gave me unbelievable mileage of @55-60 kmpl on hiway :). I did not face any oil-leak problem in this 600 km ride. Now waiting for next ride.
I had done one Konkan ride with friends few years back (that was on Bajaj boxer) and one to Shirawal (on Bajaj Caliber), but riding on thunderbird is totally different joy altogether. I missed friends in this journey :(, next time it would be great experience if I get company of friends :).
Happy thumping :)
10 comments:
For next time... I am in :)
You are most welcome Sir.
Nice one. The funny bits of your journey have been depicted well :) I'm sure you enjoyed the ride!
Thank you Nikhil :)
Thank you Chinmay :)
how was that idli sambar anyway ??? :D
@Chetan - I did not eat it :)
I left Mahindra executive without eating anything :)
good article.
I am sure you must have enjoyed riding Thunderbird. LOL :D
Yes Yogi Sir - enjoyed a lot :-)
You enjoyment is evident from your post! Good you had a great time!
Thank you Gayathri :)
Really enjoyed it :)
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