Motographer
A high-altitude tyre blowout and series of unfortunate events...
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It was so unlike me to fiddle around with the bike just a day before the ride. I changed one of the simplest, but one of the most important components of the bike: the tyre. The proprietor of Master Tyres (Nailwala, Karol Bagh, Delhi) wanted to save a few hundred rupees at the cost of my life by shoving in a shrimpy 90/90 section tube inside a big fat, 130/80 section tyre which was the obvious reason for tyre failure. It's high time I paid heed to my buddies who keep warning me about 'Notorious Delhi Shopkeepers'. I was riding at 80 kmph when the blowout occurred. It was perhaps my rapid down-shifting and progressive front wheel braking that helped avoid a disastrous fall over the ledge! Thankfully, I came through the accident unscathed.
[The last time I had such a terrible blowout was 5 years ago on the Chennai-Bangalore highway at 0300 Hrs when trying to overtake a lorry at 110 kmph. I'd blacked-out for 15 minutes or so, my Enfield was royally totaled (well, nearly) and I had to be hospitalized for over a week]
It's rather funny that Ananth and I, despite having enough experience changing the tube from a steel spoke wheel rim, had to struggle with an alloy wheel which we thought would be easier. Also, here's where we flagged down Yogesh & Co of BCM Touring who were good company and provided moral support to ensure that we were back on the road as soon as possible.
[ Thanks guys, that was good meeting you all. Oh, and what a place to meet! ]
That's not all, we also happened to meet fellow flickr-ite and motographer, Suyash from Pune, who was part of the BCMT group.
Here's a pic of me in this same place (from Suyash's collection)
I also ran into fellow motographer, Mani Babbar, who chased me down from the market to the Petrol bunk in Leh after recognizing me from the decal on my bike. Some eidetic memory, eh?
Enough digressing. We managed to get some help from our friendly Fauji folks after several miserable attempts to flag down trucks passing-by. Later, we realized that the Army Jawans' sheer brute force only complicated the problem. The tyre carcass was 50% damaged by then, however, at that moment it seemed ride-worthy for at least another 100 kilometers or so. As always, many thanks to the Army for their timely help. Jai Hind!
After riding around a bit, it felt as though the tyre would come off the rim anytime. Adding to my woes, the chain/brake alignment clamps (aluminium) in the swing arm had been shattered too. We'd realized this immediately after we managed to fit the wheel back on the bike. I had to quickly fashion a makeshift clamp from an adjustable calliper from my tool kit! So much for my creativity!
Ananth, who's a tough guy by my standards, had to endure a back-breaking ride from Sarchu to Pang and put up with my crazy riding antics. I lost my mood to ride because of the tyre situation and we'd decided to stopover at Pang where our intrepid cyclist Vodka aka Dr.Hash aka Harish (yeah, the cycle dude) had halted for the night before his sprint to the world's second highest motorable pass.
By the time we got to Pang (about 75 kms from the accident site), Ananth was exhausted and had his bout of AMS the same night despite proper acclimatization.
[ Ananth: Thanks a ton, mate. I couldn't have pulled this off without you! ]
Strangely though, I rode the bike like I stole it, if that should sum up the speeds I was doing in such a terrain especially considering the bike's condition. Like they say in Ladakhi "Key Key So So Laargaye Lo" [ Meaning "Fortune favors the brave"] and the bliss fueled by my ignorance of the impending perils!
Looking back now, it was just plain absurd of me to have ridden my bike like that, but, fortunately, nothing disastrous ever happened. I had lost the mood for motography as my only attention was on the bike to reach Leh without any further trouble. In hindsight, I feel really guilty for behaving in such a self-centered manner and spoiling Ananth's -- who was on his first trip here -- opportunity to capture the magnificent sights of the magical Manali-Leh road.
More misfortune awaited us in Leh. I had to ditch this barely-1000-kms-old tyre which you could see, even at the time of this writing, at Mohan Sharma's garage in Leh decking his grease and soot-covered wall like a prized trophy!
The tyre was damaged beyond use due to the hard riding and I couldn't find a worthy replacement. At the time of this writing, none and I mean NONE of the shops in Leh stock tyres for 17" rims. Luckily for us, we were able to locate a shop that stocked a slightly used "Dunlop Geo Cruiser 100/90" tyre. Well, as regards the puny Dunlop: even a skateboard would've been easier to handle. GeoCruiser -- my arse!
We had stepped in and out of every sorry automobile shop in Leh and wasted enough time by then that our plans appeared to be collapsing. That was my only darn option, lest I should sacrifice the trip by being driven around in a cage. And I have the travelers' worst nightmare: motion sickness. It doesn't hit me when I drive or ride; only when I'm made to sit idle in toss-y cages.
Meanwhile, Ananth wasted no time and got hold of a deft Sardarjee who owned a lathe and helped fabricate the chain alignment clamps. The problem was temporarily solved and the next day we decided to ride either to Nubra Valley or Tso Moriri.
Lessons Learnt (a costly one at that): Do not change anything in your vehicle a week before you leave home on a trip. As a fellow rider once said, Don't fix it if it ain't broke! This could happen to anyone and it could have been far worse. Overall, this trip was a very humbling experience.
4 days later I'd have had another tyre failure. Only this time, it's the front tyre for a change; except that it was tubeless and we managed it with about 2 cans of Slime and tubeless tyre repair cement, but that's another story for another time.
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A high-altitude tyre blowout and series of unfortunate events...
Follow me on Facebook
It was so unlike me to fiddle around with the bike just a day before the ride. I changed one of the simplest, but one of the most important components of the bike: the tyre. The proprietor of Master Tyres (Nailwala, Karol Bagh, Delhi) wanted to save a few hundred rupees at the cost of my life by shoving in a shrimpy 90/90 section tube inside a big fat, 130/80 section tyre which was the obvious reason for tyre failure. It's high time I paid heed to my buddies who keep warning me about 'Notorious Delhi Shopkeepers'. I was riding at 80 kmph when the blowout occurred. It was perhaps my rapid down-shifting and progressive front wheel braking that helped avoid a disastrous fall over the ledge! Thankfully, I came through the accident unscathed.
[The last time I had such a terrible blowout was 5 years ago on the Chennai-Bangalore highway at 0300 Hrs when trying to overtake a lorry at 110 kmph. I'd blacked-out for 15 minutes or so, my Enfield was royally totaled (well, nearly) and I had to be hospitalized for over a week]
It's rather funny that Ananth and I, despite having enough experience changing the tube from a steel spoke wheel rim, had to struggle with an alloy wheel which we thought would be easier. Also, here's where we flagged down Yogesh & Co of BCM Touring who were good company and provided moral support to ensure that we were back on the road as soon as possible.
[ Thanks guys, that was good meeting you all. Oh, and what a place to meet! ]
That's not all, we also happened to meet fellow flickr-ite and motographer, Suyash from Pune, who was part of the BCMT group.
Here's a pic of me in this same place (from Suyash's collection)
I also ran into fellow motographer, Mani Babbar, who chased me down from the market to the Petrol bunk in Leh after recognizing me from the decal on my bike. Some eidetic memory, eh?
Enough digressing. We managed to get some help from our friendly Fauji folks after several miserable attempts to flag down trucks passing-by. Later, we realized that the Army Jawans' sheer brute force only complicated the problem. The tyre carcass was 50% damaged by then, however, at that moment it seemed ride-worthy for at least another 100 kilometers or so. As always, many thanks to the Army for their timely help. Jai Hind!
After riding around a bit, it felt as though the tyre would come off the rim anytime. Adding to my woes, the chain/brake alignment clamps (aluminium) in the swing arm had been shattered too. We'd realized this immediately after we managed to fit the wheel back on the bike. I had to quickly fashion a makeshift clamp from an adjustable calliper from my tool kit! So much for my creativity!
Ananth, who's a tough guy by my standards, had to endure a back-breaking ride from Sarchu to Pang and put up with my crazy riding antics. I lost my mood to ride because of the tyre situation and we'd decided to stopover at Pang where our intrepid cyclist Vodka aka Dr.Hash aka Harish (yeah, the cycle dude) had halted for the night before his sprint to the world's second highest motorable pass.
By the time we got to Pang (about 75 kms from the accident site), Ananth was exhausted and had his bout of AMS the same night despite proper acclimatization.
[ Ananth: Thanks a ton, mate. I couldn't have pulled this off without you! ]
Strangely though, I rode the bike like I stole it, if that should sum up the speeds I was doing in such a terrain especially considering the bike's condition. Like they say in Ladakhi "Key Key So So Laargaye Lo" [ Meaning "Fortune favors the brave"] and the bliss fueled by my ignorance of the impending perils!
Looking back now, it was just plain absurd of me to have ridden my bike like that, but, fortunately, nothing disastrous ever happened. I had lost the mood for motography as my only attention was on the bike to reach Leh without any further trouble. In hindsight, I feel really guilty for behaving in such a self-centered manner and spoiling Ananth's -- who was on his first trip here -- opportunity to capture the magnificent sights of the magical Manali-Leh road.
More misfortune awaited us in Leh. I had to ditch this barely-1000-kms-old tyre which you could see, even at the time of this writing, at Mohan Sharma's garage in Leh decking his grease and soot-covered wall like a prized trophy!
The tyre was damaged beyond use due to the hard riding and I couldn't find a worthy replacement. At the time of this writing, none and I mean NONE of the shops in Leh stock tyres for 17" rims. Luckily for us, we were able to locate a shop that stocked a slightly used "Dunlop Geo Cruiser 100/90" tyre. Well, as regards the puny Dunlop: even a skateboard would've been easier to handle. GeoCruiser -- my arse!
We had stepped in and out of every sorry automobile shop in Leh and wasted enough time by then that our plans appeared to be collapsing. That was my only darn option, lest I should sacrifice the trip by being driven around in a cage. And I have the travelers' worst nightmare: motion sickness. It doesn't hit me when I drive or ride; only when I'm made to sit idle in toss-y cages.
Meanwhile, Ananth wasted no time and got hold of a deft Sardarjee who owned a lathe and helped fabricate the chain alignment clamps. The problem was temporarily solved and the next day we decided to ride either to Nubra Valley or Tso Moriri.
Lessons Learnt (a costly one at that): Do not change anything in your vehicle a week before you leave home on a trip. As a fellow rider once said, Don't fix it if it ain't broke! This could happen to anyone and it could have been far worse. Overall, this trip was a very humbling experience.
4 days later I'd have had another tyre failure. Only this time, it's the front tyre for a change; except that it was tubeless and we managed it with about 2 cans of Slime and tubeless tyre repair cement, but that's another story for another time.
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