Cutting across through the mountains we found some of the best roads for bike blast. To these roads we took two of the India's finest bikes - the Kawasaki Bajaj Eliminator and Royal Enfield Lightning 350. Sirish Chandran reports on a road trip of a lifetime.

We shall delve into regional geography to get started. Some 100-odd kilometres from home base Pune, up in the mountains are located the hugely popular (at least to Puneites) twin retreats of Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar. Harking back to times when I was little, I recall getaways to this accessible paradise in dad's Ambassador almost every other weekend. Those were the pre-cable TV, pre-internet, pre-cell phone days when Friday was a weekend and Sunday was a Sunday, not another day of the damn week. Back then there were not many visitors to these lofty mist-enveloped climes and those who ventured up were all enamoured by the enchantment of the mountains, and deposited litter in their cars. But then good things never last! Today, especially at weekends Mahabaleshwar is choc-a-bloc with tourists, a majority being the brain-dead, environmentally dysfunctional, litter-where-I-go type.
  

To reach our setting for the Ride of Your Life, OVERDRIVE headed for the scenic twin mountain resorts of Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar. The route from Pune starts with the NH4 that takes us through the demanding Khambhatki ghat after which we cut off at Wai on to SH32. This scenic state highway cuts through Western Ghats comprising of some amazing ghat roads, a bikers paradise. SH32 take us through Panchagni and Mahabaleshwar enroute to the Mumbai-Goa highway. At Doladpur we turn up towards Mumbai on NH17 till we pass through Mahad after which we hit the newly constructed state highway that criss crosses the picturesque Mulshi reserviour enroute to home base Pune.

In spite of these inopportune invasions, Mahabaleshwar still exudes a charm all her own, the precise nature of which I cannot place a fingertip on; the confluence of peoples is definitely not it, I'm very sure! Probably it has to do with the attraction of trees and clean air that city dwellers crave for. Probably it is because this place holds memories of carefree days gone by. Or probably, for us, it has something to do with getting there in the first place. And that's where we get to the crux of the matter. For all its splendour and charm, half the fun of Mahabaleshwar is getting there in the first place. What better way to recharge batteries, cure writers block and set the mood for a lazy holiday than a blast down a mind boggling variety of roads that are on offer here?

Here at OVERDRIVE, biking is a religion without equal. And there is no better form of worship than straddling a great bike and hitting the road - touring, if you know what I mean. Touring on a bike is a world apart from any other mode. In a car, you're always in a compartment, and because you're used to it you don't realise that through the car window everything you see is just more TV. You're a passive observer and it's all moving by you boringly in a frame.
Astride a bike, and the frame is gone. You are completely in touch and tune with it all. You're in the scene, not just a vicarious presence, and the feeling is pretty much overwhelming (unless you are a total insensitive clod). The tarmac whizzing by five inches below your boot heel is the real thing, so blurred that you can't focus on it, yet put your foot down and you are in touch any time. This whole happening, the consummate experience is never removed from immediate consciousness.

Which is precisely why we're here On the Road to Mahabaleshwar!
There are very few routes around Pune that offer the kind of ultimate biking experience. The route we have planned for the ride of your life is nonpareil, the staggering variety of roads leaving no base uncovered. Starting from Pune, our route takes us on NH4 past Khambatki ghat after which it cuts into SH 32 that will take us up the mountains to Mahabaleshwar. We continue on SH32 after Mahabaleshwar, climbing down the mountains till we hit the Mumbai-Goa highway. We then go up NH-17 towards Mumbai past Mahad till we hit the cut-off that will take us to the Mulshi lake and ultimately home to Pune. The 300-odd kilometres of pure biking roads, are biking unplugged, to coin a music-oriented cliche.

The bikes we have here originate from the same school of thought but the paths traversed by each couldn't be more different. While one is an evolution of a mid-1930s British street bike, the other is an Indian-built Jap clone of a scaled down American chopper. What these two bikes share though is an underlying sense of purpose - of touring and looking good at that. And so we meet the bikes.

First off the Lightning 350, son of the glorious old Bullet. Bullets have been synonymous with touring in this country. For all her quirks, niggles, ancient design, engineering and quality, there isn't a better bike for covering the vast distances between the borders of this country. But then India doesn't really have such a rampant touring culture and so selling bikes to tourists and tour operators wasn't going to get Royal Enfield out of the red. So they decided to follow the beaten path, for a change, and 'improve' on its bike.

The Lightning 350 is the fruit of this endeavour. Compared to the standard Bullet, the Lightning 350 is better, much better. Making it possible is first and foremost the redesigned (by AVL) engine, engineered to end the leaky thirsty habits of the past unit while at the same time retaining the original stroke dimension so as not to lose that glorious exhaust thump. The archaic CB point ignition has been junked in favour of a more conventional CDI unit. And better still, power transmission is handled by a new 5-speed 'box operated by a left foot gearshifter while the brake lever is conventionally positioned on the right. The brakes are also better but more on that later.

Compared to the Lightning, the Kawasaki Bajaj Eliminator is state-of-the-art with a capital 'S'. No reworked archaic engines, gearboxes and brakes here. Electronic ignition, CV carb, disc brake up front, electric starter, all herald her technological superiority even before throttles are wrung open in anger. This is the same bike that dominated her segment in Europe (with a 125, not 175cc engine) to such an extent that Honda had to develop a V-twin 250cc machine to make an impact on her sales. And it isn't hard to see why. Take for instance the detailing on the bike. The sliver of chrome on the fuel tank, the classy single speedo unit, the machined top yoke, aluminium levers, smallish headlamp, everything looks superb. Stylistically there is no bike out there that can hold a candle to her.

What she doesn't have though is the street presence of the Lightning. The sheer size of the Lightning is intimidating, to say the least. For starters the Lightning rides on 19-inch wheels compared to the tiny 15-inch rear of the Eliminator. Then we have those upswept handlebars, ten-storey tall engine and the high and wide tank. In isolation the Eliminator is a delicious visual treat but against the Lightning she is simply dwarfed for presence. In the parking lot the Eliminator will attract hordes, the Lightning just a admiring glance but parked side by side and there is no mistaking that the Lightning is the boss.

The night before we set off, I can barely sleep in anticipation of the journey ahead. All evening was spent scrubbing, shampooing and polishing the bikes. And before that I spent an hour tightening every visible nut and bolt of the Lightning, a good thing since almost all the nuts had worked loose. All this should have had me exhausted but anticipation keeps sleep at bay. In the middle of the night I sneak downstairs to catch a glimpse of these majestic machines and find my watchmen huddled around the bikes. Universal appeal, that's what these bikes have. You either love these bikes or you love them so much that your heart hurts, not even a skirt will disagree.