I HAVE BEEN RIDING MOTORCYCLES FOR A VERY LONG TIME, but despite having been to some of the most far-flung places in our country astride one, the ultimate bucket list-worthy destination, Ladakh, had always been elusive to me. I have tried multiple times to reach the desolate plains and some of these attempts have been solo while some with other riders, but one thing or another has always made sure the plan got cancelled and, on one occasion, that reason was a natural disaster of scary proportions. It seemed like my luck in Ladakh was not going to change. So, when the boss informed me that I would be joining the Bajaj Dominar Ladakh Tour 2024, I was happy, but cautious, as I had been burned before.
As it turned out, I had reason to be cautious. The plane I was on to reach Chandigarh, the starting point of the journey, was called back into the terminal after reaching the runway due to technical difficulties. I felt for sure my luck had not changed and I wouldn't even be able to reach Chandigarh, let alone Ladakh. However, the airline was able to find me a different option that would take me to my destination, albeit a little late.
But as every motorcyclist knows in their bones, once you get on the bike, all your troubles seem to get blown away in the slipstream and the next morning, once I was on the Bajaj Dominar, I began to relax. The temperature was in the 40° Celsius range around the plains by midday and the highway was covered in a shimmering heat haze in the distance. Our destination for the day was Gemur, a village 360 kilometres away from Chandigarh.
Esta historia es de la edición August 2024 de Bike India.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición August 2024 de Bike India.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Tussle for Supremacy
Having watched the racing action from afar during the first two rounds of the Honda Idemitsu Talent Cup (HITC), we got a chance to take a closer look at the proceedings in round three. Here is how the weekend zoomed past
Multiple Winners
The third round of the TVS One-make Championship saw the emergence of multiple winners as the favourites struggled to do the double-race win
The Title Fight Becomes More Intense
The weekend at Mandalika turned out to be a spectacular display where the title contenders, Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia, locked horns while Marc Márquez's and Enea Bastianini's chances at the title diminished
Andrea lannone is a WSBK Winner
Nicolo Bulega, Andrea Iannone, and Alvaro Bautista headlined the weekend for their respective Ducati teams as they blew past the competition on their Ducati Panigale V4 R motorcycles
Italian Domination
The weekend at Cremona saw the Italian, Danilo Petrucci, dominate his home race astride his Ducati
Bastianini Shines in Final-lap Thriller
Just like the previous race at Misano, this one also served up a thriller but for very different reasons. Here is how it unfolded
No Dearth of Drama
Marc Márquez had to wait for 1,043 days for his 60th MotoGP race victory, but his 61st race win only took another seven days
Kolli Hills on an NX 500
We rode from Bengaluru to Kolli Hills astride a Honda NX500 and it was a memorable ride for many reasons
For the Easy Life
Triumph India believe there is a market for a friendlier version of the Speed 400. Here is what you should know about that version, called the Speed T4
The Star Reborn
We finally got our hands on the new BSA Gold Star 650 and took it for a long spin. Here is our first impression