Kings Raid III - Maravanthe Beach Ride

Guest Post
Author: Meghana

Does the heading sound like something from the history books? Well, no. This is the name of a ride to a beach destination, led by Sreedhar Kacchu from BJYMC.

After completing successful rides to Kudla (Mangalore) and Goa in 2015, this time the kings were all set for their 3rd Raid. Maravanthe is the name of a small village and a beach near Kundapura in coastal Karnataka. I had heard that this beach runs on one side of the road (NH17) and on the other side is the Suparnika river, which makes it popular and is one of a kind. To behold this eye-catching view, I decided to join this Kings Raid!

We assembled at 5am on Tumkur road during mid March for briefing and direction handouts. Post which, the bikes took off at 5.30am. I, along with two ladies Chaitra (Krishna's wife), Shruthi (Bharat Venkatesh's wife) and their son Anirudh were a part of the sweep team with Krishna as our chauffeur while Bharat Singh and Bharat Venkatesh were the sweep riders! It is always a pleasure to ride on a highway and NH48 not only offers a widespread road but also beautiful scenery alongside. 

After riding for about 100 kms, we stopped at Mayura hotel for breakfast, one of the good hotels on the highway. The bikers also refilled their tanks to roar all the way to our destination. The weather got hotter and hotter as the day passed by, so we stopped at a coffee shop for a quick break just before entering the Agumbe ghat. The team decided to cut short on number of breaks so that we reach the resort by lunch time. Agumbe has number of breath-taking hair-pin bends and the roads are also in good condition. After few minutes, we (sweep car) could not see any bikes that were ahead of us. I said to myself, may be the roads have compensated to the hot sun that these bikers just ripped off our sight. 

Aerial view of Agumbe ghat and the mountain range

Finally, without any challenges or breakdowns, all the bikes covered 400+ kms with ease and we reached our destination i.e. Vits Pratham Resort by 3.45pm. Tired, happy, exhausted, excited, everyone dispersed to their rooms and to the dining hall. I always wanted to try riding a Jawa bike and after several attempts of pestering Manu, I got a chance to ride his bike, but making him as my pillion. Loved that royal feeling of riding a Jawa for the first time ever!

The fun began when the team huddled in the evening after a short relaxation. Kacchu initiated the most common and well known game 'Antakshari'. Needless to say how entertaining this game will be, but this time it was different. It became a game of singing and laughing, b'cos 'TAKE IT' was born right here!

While we were busy singing, there was some roaring in the background. Yes, it was the group of boys coming from Mysore, Coorg and Mangalore lead by PC and Shawn Fernandez! They were welcomed with whistles, hugs, smiles and then the 'take it' antakshari continued till midnight!

Father and son shaking a leg, Krishna and Chaitra, Bharat family (Shruthi & Anirudh

Day 2

After breakfast, goodies were handed out and we set out to Maravanthe beach which was about 35-45 mins away from the resort. On the way, we enjoyed the scenic view of coconut and palm fields though the weather was unfavorable.

I was stunned at the first sight of this beach. I could see nothing but clear sky, blue water, fine sand and no humans at all for at least 180 degree! Yes, the beach is unlike any others and has many dangerous whirlpools, hence people refrain from getting into the water. It was far more stunning than I had imagined.

The team at Maravanthe beach, Karnataka

We spent sometime gazing around and started back after a group pic was taken by our own photographer Sachin Shetty, who came from Mangalore. There was a lot more in store for the day such as water amusement rides, games, music and dance. Post lunch, everyone jumped into the swimming pool. Competition games such as pushing the bike, riding with one hand, off roading etc were also played. I had a great time watching the team enthusiastically participating in all these games while I was playing with my camera!!

Games that were played and the winners. Yes, take a 2nd look at the trophy please!

Sachin, who is a cinematographer by profession, delighted everyone by clicking the pics in all possible way. Portraits, couple pics, sitting on the bike, beside the bike, what not!

Sachin's photo shoot with our local heroes

 The resort also had a big stage, which was another boon for us. The team organised for a music system to make it a perfect DJ night. But before that, it was time to give away the trophies. Amrit did the honors and Muthappa, Nehal, Vivek and Birosh were the winners of the games that were held, while Ashwith Kumar grabbed the trophy for being the most disciplined rider/ biker.

These trophies have great respect among the rides since they are not just bought off the shelf but custom made. BJYMC's very own Jose Martin and his wife Beenu collects discarded Jawa and Yezdi bike parts from mechanics and designs them. So this time, we had a clutch plate supported by 2 wheel spokes mounted on the outer ring of the ball bearing which in turn was fitted on a Jawa piston. While the clutch plate and wheel spokes hold the award details, the piston (aluminum) and fly wheel (metal) are fitted together such that fly wheel can be rotated. Not at all a simple thing. Kudos to Jose and Beenu for their efforts and extraordinary idea!! :-)

Like always, we had new comers who introduced themselves and shared their thoughts & experience to be a part of BJYMC. There was a couple with 2 kids on a holiday who were also introduced and later joined and partied with us. Old, new, Kannada, English, Tamil, Hindi all type of songs were played and if I remember correctly, we danced from 8 pm to 12.30 am NON-STOP!! 

I was walking back to my room and one of the staffs there said, "Goodnight Mam, neevyellaru chennagi enjoy maadri, Nimma istu dodda group nodi tumba kushi aithu"!! 

Day 3

If you are having a good time, you don't realize how time flies. Our 3 day vacation was over before we knew it and it was time for us to pack our bags. After breakfast and group pics, those heading towards Bangalore said their goodbyes, marked the event on postcards and left around 10AM.

Meghana on a Jawa, Krishna with the sweep car and the 3 heroines!

Visiting agumbe is truly incomplete if we do not see the rainfall and we had this blissful experience on our way back. It rained all through the ghat section as we enjoyed the scenery listening to songs in the car.

Yet another ride, yet another experience. I wholeheartedly thank BJYMC, Amrit & Sreedhar for this opportunity. I was part of Gandhikota Ride, Malnad Dairies 3 abd Kings Raid III making this my third ride for the year with BJYMC. Wish to be part of more rides and at least some as a biker too!

This raid might not be from any history books, but now it will surely be remembered in the history of BJYMC.

#TheKings #BeautifulLadies #MePrincess #SweepRiders #LeadKacchu #LoadsofLUV #ThankUEVERYONE #TAKEIT!!

Discovering India's hidden jewels - Gandikota, the Grand Canyon of India

Guest Post
Author: Meghana C R

It was a few months ago when a friend showed me a pic of a place and said it's called "The Grand Canyon of India", somewhere in Andhra Pradesh. Impressed by the pics, I decided to plan a trip to this place called Gandikota. I failed. My friends planned and they failed too.

Finally, another good friend "Mahi" came up with an idea to the same place but with a different plan. A road trip on bikes with the Bangalore Jawa Yezdi Motorcycle Club! At that moment, all I knew was that I am going, no matter what!!!

So, on a cold December morning, we gathered at Hebbal junction at 5.30am for a brief introduction and instructions by the lead rider as there were both regular bikers & first timers too in the group. By 6am, the bikes started to roar and our epic journey began. This was my first trip with BJYMC and I was neither a rider nor a pillion! I was part of the 'backup' crew in the car.

We had some hiccups on the way, but we managed to overcome challenges quickly. Looks like the rides are well accustomed to their bikes and issues that tend to crop up. After breakfast at the border of Andhra, we stopped at a town called Kadiri for a short break around 10.30am. Soon enough, these roaring bikes attracted a huge crowd. People looked at us as if we were some celebrities, or aliens or even daciots I guess because all of us were in black riding jackets!

Sunflower fields on the way to Gandikota

The day started getting hotter, but the roads were a real bliss. The curves and turns just delighted the roaring lions. We passed through lush paddy and sunflower fields before reaching the fort town of Gandikota. It is around 285 kms from Bangalore via NH 7 & SH 28. It is a small village of Kadapa district and has a history of several Kings. Like any other place, this village too had temples, mosques, ponds, lakes, most of which are now in dilapidated state. We reached the Govt run Harita resort at lunch time and enjoyed the typical andhra meals. After taking a short break, we headed to the grand canyon which next to the Gandikota fort & the temple for sunset.

The fort is  around 300 years old and is pretty well maintained by the AP tourism board. It depicts ancient structures and languages, paintings, kings names and so on. There is an old cannon too in the premises. The aura of the sun setting down by the fort and the valley can be captured only by the human eye. We walked further up on the rocks to see the breathe taking view of Pennar/ Penna river alongside huge red stones. Completely amazed and lost in thoughts, one can only wonder the number of years taken for this beautiful natural formation. The red blocks of stones next to this reservoir looked just amazing.

Panoramic view of the Pennar River and the canyon

We spent enough time sitting there, enjoying the view, clicking pics, selfies and then took a short off roading ride to Madhavaraya temple and back to the home stay before we called it a day. For the rest of the night we had goodies being distributed, music, dance, laughter, booze, food and full on masti with the awesome company of 28 people. What more can one ask for?

The next day, we checked out after breakfast and road 40 odd kilometers to another historic location called Belum Caves. This is a 1.5km long cave network with natural mineral formations is one of the longest caves in the country. The AP government offers free guided tours of the cave which is definitely worth a visit.

Entrance to Belum Caves

Passage inside the cave

My special thanks to the BJYMC riders for making this a memorable trip!
If anyone wants to treat their eyes, just ask them to visit The Grand Canyon of India!!!

- Meghana can be contacted via email

Books To No Books

Long Post Alert: This is the second guest post from one of our members - Mahidhar


Warangal to Hyderabad on a JAWA – RECW days - 2006

When the whole world disagreed with me, when studies became wars, when teachers became demons, when books became weapons of mass destruction, when booze was not enough; that’s when I needed peace. I searched for it like a nomad and found my Jawa lying in corner of my hostel room (I used to park inside my room) with an emotional face suggesting me that it was also in the same situation; it was neglected and leaking oil like blood. Emotions took over partiality, that’s when I realized we both needed to break free.


It was Friday evening around 5pm when I took my Jawa to the mechanic and got the clutch cover gasket changed to stop bleeding oil and also got the air filter cleaned. My Jawa was breathing fresh air and was ready to take on the world. Next morning, I decided to have a meditation session on Jawa, I mean to have a small ride of around 300km (Up and Down) from Warangal (books) to Hyderabad (no more books).

It was around 8:20am when I went to my friend Ajay’s room and told him about the plan (with the motive of sharing the fuel cost, as I was still living in economy mode) and asked him whether he was interested in coming along with me. I was amazed seeing his enthusiasm and just found out he was as interested in bikes and bike rides as I was. I took out the Jawa from my hostel room and started cleaning the tank and its fenders. As I was wiping its front fender and facing the head light I suddenly felt that she was staring at me with a unique smile as if she knew in advance what my plans were.
At 9:30am, Ajay with his backpack and me with my helmet headed towards my Jawa. As I was walking towards the bike, I prayed to god hoping for the bike to start since the weather was cold. I unlocked the huge godrej lock (neck lock) pushed in the ignition key, turned the fuel cook to reserve and with two compressions and a mild kick it fired, I was truly amazed!!! I thought, maybe it was preparing the whole night to welcome me in the morning in this way, regardless, I was honored. After two quick throttles twists slowly she started settling down in its own thump which was nothing less than Metallica.

We settled, and with an up shift of gear lever (you can also call it as kick lever –patented technology of Jawa) the monster jerked as if someone tinkled her all of sudden and she started rolling living behind two thin and parallel lines of blue smoke like a rocket on fire. As I approached the Main gate of RECW the watchmen were alert all of the sudden because of the exhaust note.
 


We began cursing at 60km/hr and looking at the Rocky Mountains around me, the greenery of farms was a treat to watch. The most interesting thing to notice here was the lush green cultivating lands end with rocky grey mountains, a rare combo. I could make out that Ajay was struggling for grip as the seat was too small in length for two. We had done around 30km now and time was around 11:10 am, Ajay told me to stop for a tea break. I found one small shack kind of shop were tea and Kallu (Telugu name for toddy) was served. The white bottles tempted us but we were not ready to take risk as we had to ride a long distance. After a refreshing cup of tea, we rolled again. Now I was in a mood to ride fast. I twisted the throttle slowly and with a lazy ease the Jawa picked up and before we could realize it was on steroids, zooming past Pulsars. The handling and the stability was so amazing that it could make all the modern India bikes look like snakes. The front breaks were so sharp and in great shape the same can’t be said for the rear ones though. I got the whole experience of what young Indians riding Jawas in 60s and 70s really felt. Since the road condition was also of 70s my experience was more realistic, well that’s what I call icing on cake.

Now it was 1 pm, and Ajay was feeling hungry. Even I was, but I was lost in the charm of my bike and was really not felling my own stomach’s request. We pulled in to a dabba which had no name but, had most of the curries. We ordered palak panner and dal fry with some rotis. As I noticed the jawa’s exhaust pipes were still smoking like old man smoking cigar slowly, it was even blowing out smoke rings. Made me think how my friends would try to make rings out of ciggy’s smoke and were mostly unsuccessful.

When were around 30km from Hyderabad, all of sudden, the bike started jerking as if it was choking; she turned off, she ran out of gas. I was clue less really; didn’t know what to do now, Ajay gave me an idea to bend her to left, I told him ‘dude, this is not Bajaj Chetak’, he replied ‘just try out man.’ With great difficulty I bent the bike and for the first time experienced how bending this bike can actually build your biceps. I held her for 15 seconds I could feel my biceps stiff and nerves of my forearms having blood rush. She quickly came back to life. After riding about 2km, I found an Indian oil station and asked for five liters of petrol and oil. The guy at the bunk enquired if we still get spares for this bike, this is one question that most often people ask me and I am sick of answering. I told him ‘Yes, but second hand’. While he was fueling the bike, he slowly began running his hand on the head light and the speedometer as if he was experiencing an Italian female sculpture. Ajay told me that I should ride a bit fast from here on. As I picked up my speed, Ajay started recording the ride and the road on his soap box (actually Nokia 6600, that’s what he calls it as).

As I got a first glimpse of so called ‘posh apartments’, I knew that we had arrived. We had to go to Banjara Hills, one of the posh localities in Hyderabad where Ajay’s friend stays. With lot of gear changes we finally reached Banjara Hills. Believe me, the place was treat for sore eyes. I started searching for a Maruthi 800 here because all I could find were Toyota Camry or Mercedes belonging to ever class including A class and a red SL 500 convertible within half an hour. But between all these German, Japanese mob my little Czech beauty was also getting attention of some of the people, it made me proud. Suddenly I hear a real load and roaring sound approaching me from behind. They were two Italian beauties, a black Ducati Monster and a red and silver combo M V Agusta. The whole crowd in front of Hyderabad Central were trying to have glimpse of those super bikes but sudden the Ducati guy who was in his mid 40’s slows down and says ‘good bike man’ and zooms off. I felt happy and jealous of thir bikes and then compromised due to my present economic condition (student you see). Then I told to myself ‘What the hell, I own a legend, I own a Jawa man.’ It’s the bike that always made me proud, always taught me how to gain attention and respect, a legend that always made its own road and it’s the bike that never moved my body, it moved my soul.

Now this Jawa 353 shares her place with my grandfather’s model B along with my CBZ and kinetic Honda in our house in Malleshwaram.

I want to conclude by telling what Ajay said to me once we reached his friend’s house in Hyderabad, ‘Kay bike hai Yaar, kay bike hai.’


Author: Mahidhar M V
Email: mahidhar16@gmail.com  

Ride to Kanwa Reservior

Its been a while since we've updated this blog but going forward you will get regular updates on the rides and events happening at the club.

Had been a while since the biker boys met and rode together so a ride to the not so popular Kanwa Reservoir was planned on one misty sunday morning during the last week of May.
As usual, we all assembled at the Rajarajeshwari Arch at 6.30am and after a short chat and exchange of greetings about 30 bikes headed out on Mysore rd towards Channapatna. After about an hour of continuous riding we reached Kamat Lokaruchi restaurant but didn't stop there. We wanted to reach our destination first so continued beyond for another 3 kms till we reached the arch on the right side which said Ramanjenaya Temple which is quite popular among the locals.

There is a small lane beside this arch which is a dirt road and after about 8kms of dirt riding we reached the scenic yet peaceful reservoir. There is some construction work underway hence we had to go beyond and take the back side rd to get on top of the reservoir. We soon gathered all our bikes and parked in order for our traditional photoshoot. Unfortunately, my bike had a small puncture and the rough terrain had taken its toll on the rear tyre which was completely flat by the time we reached this lake.
After all the bikers had gathered, some with their family members including small children, we had a round of photoshoot and brief discussion about the upcoming Annual International Jawa Yezdi Day celebrations. One enthuiastic oldtimer came prepared with notes on how to form the club formally with a lot of do's and don'ts which he share with all of us. We all went around appreciating some rare beauties and exchanged notes on spares and cues on modifiyin the latter models.
By 10.30 our tummies began to grumble and it was time to head back for breakfast but i on the otherhand had a task to complete before i could think of food. So with the help of a few bikers i quickly dismanteled the rear tyre and we were on our way back to the highway to get my tyre fixed. Within minutes we were back at Kamat Lokaruchi for a sumptious breakfast and exchanging notes on our bikes. With fully bellies we were read to head back and Amrit on his Yezdi Monach was kind enough to take me back to the resorvior to fix my bike.

Soon we were back on the road towards Bangalore with the sun god being kind to us and providing shade all thru. Guess we all reached the city by 1 pm and parted our respective ways with memories of yet another successful ride on our good old classic beauties.
Those of you who were part of this ride, do share your comments and hope to see you all for the next ride in June.

For the Bangalore Jawa Yezdi Motorcycle Club

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