The 346 cubic centimetres, 17.7 brake horse power and 26.98 Newton-metres of torque developed at a lowly 3000rpm make the Lightning one heck of a Bullet. For all her 175 kilos, the bike is capable of mighty strong acceleration in any gear as long as revs are kept over the 2000rpm mark. Trucks, buses, cars all are passed with just a twist of the throttle and rarely is the need for downshifting felt. But I downshift anyway just to soak in that exhaust note resounding off trucks and buses as I pass them. The new 5-speed 'box ensures that shifting is no longer a chore that it used to be on a Bullet. Frankly it is a pleasure to use, nowhere near the superslick gearboxes around these days but very much in keeping with the overall theme of the bike. The tall first gear ratio results in storming acceleration but the final ratio is a trifle disappointing. For all it is worth, having a lower final drive ratio would have resulted in a higher cruising if not top speed. In any case with the present set up, the Lightning has a comfortable cruising speed in the region of 90kmph. Of course it can get well over the ton mark but then the revs go through the roof and the resulting vibrations become a little too much. So 90kmph it is for me with the bike ticking over at a sensible 3500rpm. All that bulk of the bike that makes her such a pain to ride in the city turns out to be a blessing on these roads. The bike remains planted On the Road, rock steady with nary a crosswind bothering her. Headshake is negligible if not totally absent.

The Lightning isn't left wanting once we hit the twisties either. Granted the age-old single downtube chassis isn't completely flex free but then neither does the bike feel like it is hinged down the middle. Grazing the footpegs calls for a slightly different technique, thanks in part to those upswept handlebars and also the lack of feedback that results in cornering being an act of faith, but once you get the hang of it, the Lightning can be leant over quite nicely. However tackling a series of fast left-rights throws up chassis and rider limitations. Pulling her up from the right-hander and then leaning her back down for the left-hander takes a load of effort and that's if you are skilled enough in the first place.

Mid-corner irregularities and bumps manage to throw the bike off-line, thanks in part to the stiff suspension setting that permits a very negligible amount of travel. The front end is too vague and the bike won't talk to me. There is no feedback of where it's final limits lie, which freaks me out a little. The handling is pretty tidy beyond the limit but in the faster corners I'm not in the mood. If the bike isn't going to tell me what it is up to, I'm not going to risk pretending to know more than it does. So I ease off and seem to have a little less fun than Bertie on the other bike.

The ghats that make up SH32 are a bikers dream come true. No straight stretch of road is long enough for more than anexhaled burst of acceleration, a grabbed higher gear, and another burst and then straight onto the brakes. We make good time, easing off to catch our breath through the numerous villages that come by every couple of kilometers. We slow right down for these, trickling through the narrow streets, heart-rate falling away, palms drying, angle of view widening. We chill. And then at the exit of these villages, we wring the throttles open again, and the impression of speed is deepened by contrast with that dawdle.

We are at Mahabaleshwar by 8am where we stop off for a bit of photography. But then we are itching to get back on our bikes and so after a quick drink we are back On the Roads heading down the mountains. The problem is the road surface now isn't all that great and progress is kind of slow compared to the blast we had earlier. In time we make it down the ghats and hit NH17 and then the blast begins all over again. The long ride though has taken toll and fatigue now starts to creep in, our stomachs start crying out for nourishment as the heat begins to make its presence felt.