Rain, Slush & Fog Ride

Done with shopping and I cannot wait to get a hands on all the stuff that I have purchased in last few weeks before I take it to Leh. I had to test

1. A Leather Jacket (Without armor)
2. Leather Gloves (Not meant for riding)
3. Saddlebags
4. Full face helmet
5. Knee and elbow guards (Roller skating)
6. Gum Boots
   
7. Newly serviced bike

Woke up at 8 AM which gave me little time to pack the luggage. I had to come back by 2 PM to take care of few pending things. Dumped everything that I found in the saddlebag with the intent of stuffing it to the capacity.

Started off at 9 AM with full gear on. Decided to head towards Tamhini-Lonavla offroading track which was the best choice for a test ride with such a little time in hand.
Weather was awesome. Mostly sunny. First thing that I realized was that gloves are not doing their job well. Their grip didn't feel confident. I continued. As I was reaching close to Mulshi, scenery was getting prettier. It felt like the first trip. All fresh. Avoided temptation of clicking at at least 100 places. Wish I had more time. As I crossed Paud, I could see roads appearing wet and as expected rain started as I neared Mulshi. Time to take out rain suit.

Road along the Mulshi lake was even more beautiful. I told myself not to stop. As soon as I neared Tamhini Ghats, rain droplets were multiplied by 2. I took a turn and my god, I automatically stopped the bike. It just happened. 10/10 to the rain gods.

Clicked some more on the way and zoomed ahead for way to Lonavla- the dirt track.
Its no one on the road, its raining hard and you couldn't see anything beyond 5 mts welcome to this dirt track - Mansoon version.

After this small jungle patch there is some "kachcha" tar road. My Avenger was taking it very easily. Every vibration of the front wheel was triple filtered before it reached by hands (btw, i had to remove leather gloves as they cant stand the rains). Thanks to Mr. Pendharkar (BK Automobiles) and his mechanic for fork job.

As I approached this point I took a shot in the similar way as this one when I did this trip in summer. It was nice to see the dramatic change in the total feel of this place now.
Real test begins here. It was a surprise encounter with some "simulated Manali-Leh water crossings" as I went ahead.


Tested gum boots by passing over it twice! worked well but don't know how will they behave if the water is deeper. As expected, met with few slushy patches like this:


Went through the most difficult looking part of them, carefully. No skidding.
I turned back after covering some distance as I knew there were no different "tests" ahead for me. It was a fun passing over the same track once again. It was raining continuously throughout this part of the ride. Took some risk because I didn't want to miss this opportunity. You could see rain if you see enlarged version of these pick on flickr collection. On the way back I had to shop clicking because of the moisture developed inside the lens :P

You could see all the pictures here.

Now the conclusion:

1. Leather Jacket - Good for riding but needs protection from rain.
   
2. Leather Gloves - Ok. Look good for cold but still have to get an alternative.
3. Saddlebags - They carry lot of stuff but are not water proof. I completely forgot this. You can imagine faces of my room mates when they saw their wet jackets and wet bedsheets :P. Need to buy a polythene covers and 4 mm ropes.
   
4. Full face helmet - Better than my half face in terms of cold and rain protection. Water droplet crack in from the little the gap in between the helmet and visior. Need to go for new visior or new helmet.
   
5. Knee and elbow guards (Roller skating): Knee guards are fine but elbow guards were uncomfortable. I couldnt bend my hands to touch my shoulders. Should try using knee pads here otherwise I had to go without elbow guards.
   
6. Gum Boots: Very much useful for water crossing. Consume considerable amount of space in saddle bag.
   
7. Newly serviced bike: What can I say. What is a better servicing than one which makes you feel confident for Leh trip? Super smooth forks, smoother engine feel (thanks to additives he suggested for petrol and oil.
   

All in all a confidence++ for leh.

P.S. Read about the Ladakh 2007 ride I did all the planning for.