Nokia N72

Hey peeps, got myself a new phone a week ago(almost), Nokia N72 with 512MB card for INR9900, kick ass phone, to be frank, my first high end phone.. previously I've only used entry level models.. this is a big step forward for me yeah :D and the sweet thing is the pricing.. killer right? ;)

No amount of words can do any justice.. A loving Son, brother, friend, student and to top it all a very nice person, Rest in peace Karna, the whole class is gonna miss you :(

Shopping for a Bike?

Well if you are on the market for a new bike these days read on. To begin with I would like to suggest the pulsar200, doesn't have a long waiting period, its simply the most value for money proposition on the market currently. But its known to have vibrations past 5k RPM, the digi meters go awry generally, and generally even after the infamous fork issue the bike isn't exactly 100% trouble free, the only solace being there is auto service in Bangalore. For somebody who does 100+kms within city limits 3-4 days a week with a pillion, the p200 is quite a painful option too..


So the next option is p220, here in Bengaluru the waiting list at probiking showroom has over 1700 names, and atleast a 5 month waiting period. And again for all the money you are spending it still wont spare you from frequent visits to settle teething problems..


the next option is to get a ZMA, although a bit costly for what it is, its very refined and absolutely rocks for highway riding and also pillion comfort is much better. But the spares are hardly available even in the metros, even if you do manage to source the spares they are exorbitantly priced, secondly am not aware of a good service center for ZMA in bangalore, all the HH authorized service stations are littered with half a million splendors, so count the ZMA out too..

The next option, logically would be to get an RTR160, its a great city bike, but again falls short on pillion comfort and highway ride-ability, 80kmph at 7000 rpm? will shake all your bones lose I suppose.. and again, for just few grand more you could have the p180 which is faster than the RTR and again you have it serviced at Auto service..


But the pulsar 180 is redudant ever since the p200 was launched, for another 7 grand you get more power, better looks, wider tubeless rubber, o-ring chain, rearset footpegs, bigger front disc, etc etc.. I couldn't be content buying a pulsar180 when I could have had the 200.. so am back to where I began, am looking at the p200 again..



PS: not that am gonna be buying a bike soon, some1 I know is getting one and he asked my suggestions, and actually he's more confused than I am now.. :D

Him

He sits at the edge of his bed fuming with anger, whether he's against the world or the world is against him he doesn't know. With his teeth gritted, fists clenched trying to counter the wrathful hate brewing in him. His heart says something which his mind vehemently disagrees, musters up a morsel of courage to sneak into the bleak future, after all resistance is futile!!

The great men : eve teasers

Hmmm.. lets say I was in a very popular mall in kormangala. There was no empty parking bay, so I asked my friend(female) to get down while I go hunting for a empty space. So there is this cool hunk(what pathetic aspirations you got man) who passes few comments about my friend when she is walking and bows to his chamchas as they start laughing. My friend comes to me and says some guys are acting sick(there was also a girl in their group), by the time I had finished parking my bike and went back my friend had entered into an altercation demanding an explanation for the moron's behavior, he starts denying he never said anything etc etc.. I was watching all this silently standing next to my friend, I didnt have anything more to say to this cool dude, so I just gave him the *finger salute* and we both walked into the mall.


Turns out that Mr.gentleman got offended by the hand gesture I made in public, so he manages to catch up with me near the elevators and when my friend asks for an explanation again he says "I am not talking to you" and says to me "do you know what that means?"(while making the same gesture), "Dont do it ever again man blah blah".. and all the while I look away from him(indifferently) as if he doesnt exist at all. I can assure you the crowd near the elevators wasn't following what was happening between us even one bit. Once Mr.Gentleman finished lecturing me on mannerisms or whatever he was trying to explain me, I just ask him to "pack it all up and leave".. as I had nothing more to add other than what my finger spoke earlier, he left the scene very upset and what not... what a dumbf**k!!!

got new rubber for my ride :D

Michelin M45 3.25x18, got it for INR 1500... need I say anything more???





have clocked 200 kms on it less than a day, boy am I loving :D



BTW I used the zapper-q 100/90/18 for close to 18000 kms, it was doing alright in the dry but absolutely failed at hard braking and rains..

Belated Happy birthday to myself :D

Yesterday was my birthday, am 20 now. Not a teenager anymore. Am growing older :(






and the evolution in 20 years..

Sentence Fiction

I was riding on my bike when I had to stop at a signal, I kept my feet down, a rat groped my jeans and started climbing up it, when it reached near my knee I suddenly realized what was happening and in panic rocked my leg real hard, the rat fell off and I continued riding on my bike..

New Lid

Got myself a new GPR helmet for INR2500, This is one of the best brands of helmets available in India today. I donno how to describe helmets so let the pics do the talking :)


BTW I bought it yesterday in the evening actually, rode home wearing my old helmet. The new one I carried in the bag they gave free along with the helmet. Went home and realized that the top air vent was not there, thought it must have fallen off somewhere, so checked the bag I brought it in. But there was nothing there.. So, I took the helmet back to the vendor today and got it replaced(entire helmet not just the vent thing).. :D


This is an excellent way aheads for me, donno what else to say. especially for someone who was used to wearing a lid like this, I believe its a major step ahead on all fronts :)

Leave your brains at home

Saw two movies recently Cheeni Kum and Naqaab, the plot of cheeni kum is a person who is 64 and single falls in love with a girl of 34, who is also single.. Its a nice watch, but sometimes it gets boring though, typical bollywood ishtyle.. but a nice movie, will rate 3 on a scale of 5..


Naqaab... I got one word for it "rubbish". The plot itself is very unconvincing.. and there are too many twists, all of which the audience would have guessed 3 years beforehand... its like one of those computer games where there are hordes of zombies, but none of them are that intelligent or challenging.. the sameway, naqaab has ample twists in the feeble plotline but none of the twist catches the audience on the wrong foot.. Super flop especially since the movie is pimped around by the makers as the biggest thriller ever or some crap... how dumb!!!

Mudumalai Forest...

pics from my cam
pics from sandeeps cam
pics from praveens cam

I had been to Mudumalai yesterday. The day started at 5.30 when I left home, reached the BMIC road entrance on Mysore Road and saw only praveen waiting there.. few minutes later sandeep turned up on his p200, then followed by kartik on his 180v1, santa on his bored out p180 and murugesh on his apache.. we all waited for parvesh to turn up on his Bullet 500 machismo.. apparently he was lost somewhere on the way to the meeting point..


We left by 6.20 and went little ahead where few guys stopped at a petrol pump to fill up.. next we rode till Kamat Lokaruchi, it was drizzling a little.. Had Idli and coffee and left towards mysore.. we made steady progress and stopped for a break after mandya.. then we continued till Mysore, and stopped yet again for a break.. after that we rode through mysore city, took the nanjangud road and stopped once along the way where we took lots of pics of sunflower fields and santoosh did few stoppies on sandeep's p200. Next we road continuously till gundlupet where we stopped again for a break which got lengthened 'cause murugesh went to get something fixed in his bike, air screw was jammed or something.. here onwards the roads are pretty bad.. very bump and littered with small potholes.. we stopped again near some sunflower fields just before the climb up the Himvad Gopalaswamy betta.. then we road up the hill, a small break along the way to take pics and another break for pics just before the temple on top of the hill..


We were riding pretty fast but were taking too many unnecessary stops/breaks for pics and stuff which was putting us behind schedule.. we visited the temple and sat there for a while then we rode down the mountain and stopped yet again for some more pics.. then we rode till Bandipur and stopped at pugmark restaurant for lunch, we learnt that there was no safari at bandipur and we have to ride till Mudumalai for safari which is just the continuation of the same forest in tamil nadu area.. we had lunch at the restaurant. the bull had developed a problem with the battery and few phonecalls later it was fixed.. I rode sandeep's bike from here to bandipur, the p200 has got nice punch and the seating position rocks :D

The roads inside the forest are really well surfaced and has some sexy corners.. but the p200 was grounding its main stand in the corners so, halfway through I gave it back to sandeep and took my bike back.. Then we rode till mudumalai and waited for the safari bus to arrive.. We went inside the bus where the driver said "its an open forest and animal spotting is a matter of chance".. he took us on some nice jungle trails we spotted some deers, bisons and the forest was dense which itself was worthwhile, BTW safari costed INR 35 as against INR 75 on the karnataka side.. then we came back from the safari, few guys wanted to ride to ooty and crash their for the day, see ooty the next day and ride back home in the evening.. But I had to be back at home by night so said I cant come along.. it started raining, but we decided to carry on, we rode pretty hard, we were able to spot peacock on the way back.. since the roads/curves inside the forest(esp karnataka side) were so good we all belted and cornered at amazing angles, we managed to do mudumalai to pugmark restaurant in less than 15minutes, which is about 18kms.. it wasnt raining here.. we took a small break and decided not to stop anymore so that we can make maximum utilization of daylight, it was 5.15pm now.. we road till gundlupet, the roads till here as I said are very bad.. so the battery cover panel fell off the bull, and we lost some time trying to put it back on.. 6pm and we were still in gundlupet.. we started out again and very shortly santa's bike developed a problem.. he called few ppl and tried to nail what the problem was but it was no use..

So everybody suggested that me and praveen carry on home and the others will manage fixing santa's bike.. so we both left(he rides an unicorn too) after bidding goodbye at 6.20 pm.. and rode non stop till mysore it was raining at some places in between and wherever it wasnt raining the wind would dry us up mostly.. Very nice experience it was, we were cruising at 80-90kmph.. after reaching mysore since we dint know the route to bangalore highway thru the city, we decided to take the ring road(even the signboards suggested we take the ring road).. this was a very bad plan as it took us about 15kms more atleast to reach bangalore road, we stopped along the way on ring road at many places and kept asking for directions to bangalore and everybody just said its straight, keep going on ring road.. and nobody seems to speak distances in mysore, I asked everyone of them how far bangalore road is approximately, and everyone replied "its far", so I asked "how far? 5kms?" and they would reply "no, its pretty far".. hmm anyway, we managed to reach bangalore road by 7.35pm, it was completely dark now.. and we had utilized day light as much as possible.. we stopped as soon as we entered Bangalore highway as praveen had to fill up with petrol.. we took 5 mins break, praveen suggested we stop somewhere for food, I suggested we better cover as much distance as possible before we stop next as it may rain and its dark plus we only have stock headlamps on both our bikes which is peanuts..


He said ok, so we decided the next stop will be kamat lokaruchi, the same place we stopped at in the morning for breakfast, we took off on mysore road and were cruising at 80-90kmph, we took turns to lead each other on the highway.. it rained at some places along the way, doing 80kmph in the night with stock headlamps with stupid focus in the rain was sure a crazy experience.. and those damn truckies who crawl along at 10kmph on the fast lane.. grrr!! anyway, we managed to reach kamat by 9.05pm.. which is pretty good.. we had some food and a much needed break in kamat.. and left homewards at 9.40pm... by 5 past 10 in the night we came back to our meeting point in the morning, which is the BMIC entrance, shook hands with praveen and bid goodbye(he took the BMIC road home) and I continued on mysore road through Kengeri... I reached home by 10.15pm.. what a crazy experience it was.. 500+kms done for the day.. each of it i shall cherish for a long time..

and yeah, I still had little over quarter of fuel tank full after the journey, most of the ride was at high revs, 80kmph+ and my bike was ridden by sandeep and santa for a short while on the way, still it's got so much petrol left.. amazing bike.. super handling on the curves(check out the contact patch in the album), did 100-110kmph multiple times, super engine, super gearbox.. Sooper bike, this ride has made me fall in love with my 22 month old bike all over again :D

PS: BTW santa couldnt rectify the prob so he put his bike on a bus and brought it back to bangalore at 1 in the night!..

Bajaj Pulsar220 DTSF-i

I test rode the flagship Bajaj model today. Even with a pillion the bike really pulls hard, especially since am used to riding my unicorn. Khivraj is really taking things ahead in the right direction, apart from being one of the best(the best??) probiking showroom in the country, its the only showroom where the salesman who comes along with you on the test ride wears a helmet.. which is really nice.

They had a silver model for test ride, I didn't take my camera along so no pics. Actually, I had no plans of visiting Khivraj today, was on kasturba road and saw the p220 in the test ride section so just barged in. Ripped the bike hard in each gear took it upto 7-8k RPM in each gear. Its got some raw power to leave the annoying slow traffic behind in the city or on the highway.

Some people who have already bought the bike in the city(the first lot of bikes are already sold out) are reporting 40+kmpl in the city and 55+kmpl on the highway, and thats pretty good when compared to my bike which gives 50-55kmpl in city/highway riding.. But the folks at the showroom told me that theres a 6 month long waiting period for the bike, which is pretty long and pretty annoying..

About the bike itself, well, whats left to say.. its been discussed everywhere on the net ever since it was shown in the auto expo last year.. but from my test ride what I found out was the power is really neat, the seating position is excellent, and the exhaust note is really meaty..

The negatives now, there still is a little delay in throttle response, maybe Bajaj hasnt fine tuned its FI system properly, or it may also be down to the fact that it was a test bike.. and the rear view mirrors are absolutely useless.. they're too small/ too narrow..

How I wish I could buy, with a pricetag of 91+k OTR and a 6 month waiting period on top of it.. I'd rather stop dreaming about it :p

The specs(from rearset's blog)
======================
Engine
Type
Single Cylinder Air Cooled, 4 Stroke Sohc
Valve Train
2 Valve
Displacement
220cc
Bore & Stroke
NA
Comp. Ratio
NA
Starting
Electric Start only
Ignition/fuelling
Fuel injection (DTS-Fi)

• First four stroke engine in the world employing DTS-Fi technology
  
  • Intelligently controlled ignition timing for each plug
  • High combustion efficiency
  • Low performance variability between engines
  • Precise metering of fuel for highest outputs and lower emissions
  • Easy engine starts in all conditions of temperature and altitude
  • Best in class fuel economy [as in beating the Karizma? Is that even a task?
    
• First natural air-cooled 4-stroke engine in India employing a oil cooler
  
  • Maintains lube-oil viscosity even under extreme conditions of stress and ambient temperatures.
  • Also helps in cooling the engine internals
    
• First high capacity engine in India to employ rollers at rocker arm pivits and camshaft interfaces for low friction
  
• First engine in India to have electric start as the sole means of cranking

Performance
Max. Power
20 bhp (no rpm claim)
Max. Torque
1.95 kgm (no rpm claim)
Top speed
135 kph
Fuel economy
50 kpl in 'sane riding'

Transmission
Gear Box
5 Speed Constant Mesh
Clutch
New. Superior to Pulsar 180/150

Electricals
Battery
MF typre, 12V 9Ah
Head Light
Ellipsoidal projector 55W/parabolic 55W H7
Tail Light
High intensity LEDs

Chassis
Type
Double cradle (new frame)

Suspension
Front
37 mm Telescopic Hydraulic Type 130 mm travel
Rear
Ellipitical section Swing Arm With twin Hydraulic
Gas-charged Shock Absorbers; 101 mm travel

Brakes
Front
260mm Disc Type
Rear
230mm Disc Type

Tyres
Front
90/90-17 tubeless
Rear
120/80-17 tubeless


rearset's blog

Mekedat Beckons!!

Apart from the crazy 1 day rides I do on my own often, I do ride with my classmates sometimes.. recently we had been to sangam and mekedat. Its a very nice place, especially now, after the rains the water level has increased, couple that with the overcast weather and the place is heaven on earth..

The route - we met up at rajarajeshwari nagar arch and from there headed towards the BMIC road intersection on mysore road past Kengeri, and took the BMIC road to reach kanakapura road.. the kanakapura road is pretty good, although there is moderate traffic its a pleasure to ride on the tank bund road which throws in plenty of twisties to satiate one's itch! after reaching kanakapura just take a left and keep going through some small vilages to reach sangam, the roads are generally screwed up which brings the average speed down.. its about 90km one way..

Ahem

Greetings you all.. Its almost been one long year again. Fret not, 'cause am super back this time. No seriously, I hope I can muster up enough will power to blog on a daily basis as I used to back then(2005 that is, although most of the posts are deleted now..) anyways, 4th semester just got over. Enjoying the break now, and having got inspired by few people am back to blogging my backside off.. will put a considerable amount of time and effort on it in the next couple of weeks.. gee gee y'all..