BAL - A New Round Of Disappointments

Bajaj has come a long way in the last decade after almost losing out to the competition during the 90’s; to being one of the top two wheeler companies in the Indian market today. But their customer service by no means complements their market standing

I experienced the same when I had to change the rear shock absorbers of my Pulsar 180 Dtsi which has run 23000 kms. Every time I went over a bump there was a loud thud. My techie[Reddy- Bike care centre, very famous with Mumbai guys] suggested a change of shock abs as they run out of life after about 25000 kms. I planned to install the Pulsar 200 shocks as they are a little harder and work well with broader tyres. This was when it got tough.

I called the Bajaj Pro Biking showroom[Sai service- borivli] on Monday { 3rd dec}and as soon as I said I own a pulsar I was transferred, they were not even ready tohear what I had to say but just kept transferring me from one department to another. After being transfererd 3-4 times they said the pulsar 200 shock absorbers were in stock and would cost me 1650 rupees. I called them again on Tuesday at 9:30 Am to confirm, was given a positive reply once again. I told the concerned person that I would be there to collect it by 11.

However on reaching there I found out there was no receptionist, no supervisors, and no one to guide the customer. It almost seemed like people don’t care. Finally after asking some one they told me to speak to the spares supervisor, who said that the shock absorbers were out of stock. This was such a waste of time as I had to bunk my lectures specially to collect the shcok absorbers and even after several confirmations they could do nothing but repeat that it was error. They supervisor was almost rude and did not even apologize. After being threatened with escalation to the head office the person returned with pulsar 180 shock absorbers. So thanks to Bajaj and their poor customer service I had no option but to buy the shock absorbers, as I had to ride to pune that evening for a meeting. And even more disappointing is that the brand new shock absorbers also give a small thud on even the smallest bump.

I was really impressed by the way Bajaj responded to the 220 complaints but i have lost all trust in Bajaj now. No wonder guys like Arpan go all the way to Pendharkars in Pune, just to service their bike. Hope the people at Bajaj can really do something about the customer service before going a step further and launching another performance bike. The way an organization treats its customers tells a lot about the company. Planning to write a letter to the Bajaj guys about this episode

Celebrating Diwali- BN Style

Trip Duration- 3 days
Distance- 1178 Kms
Mumbai- Chiplun-Kunkeshwar-Malvan-Pavas-Ratnagiri-Ganpatiphule-Mumbai

Day 1

As I left from home at 10:00 Pm I was thinking about the unusual turn of events. I had almost decided to go on a solo ride to Hedvi when Vinod called at 7:00PM. “where do u wana go” I asked. “Lets meet up at Vashi den we will decide” came the reply. We rode out of Vashi toll naka at 11:00Pm with no destination in mind. We were doing good speed and reached Vadkal about 70 kms from Vashi at 11:50 PM. A small halt for chai, a couple of calls later we were off at 12:15 AM. Still no destination in mind. once past Vadkhal things got really trickybeing amavas it was pitch dark. Our puny little headlights were no help at all. About 5kms from Vadkal Vinod suddenly veered to the right and narrowly missed a man lying in the middle of the road. On the left we could see an Autorickshaw had rammed into a tree. We stopped and Vinod asked me “what do u wana do”, lets check, said I. So we backtracked. We could see the man twitching a little bit. I feared the worst. My mom’s words came rushing back to me “beta its amavas today. Not a good day. dont ride tonight.” Scared to hell we checked upon the man only to find that he was drunk way beyond limits. We woke him up; he walked a couple of feet to the side of the road and fell asleep again. We continued a little more cautious now. The second scare came in the form of an 18 wheeled trailer with no lights whatsoever. Vinod again braked hard to avoid rear ending it. I was thinking now if it was a good idea to ride at night. We rode mile after mile with the only trace of life being a lizard or a snake crossing the road. Finally we reached Poladpur at 2:00Am, and stopped for some chai. We had covered a distance of 180KMs in 3hours. Not bad I thought. With still no destination in mind we decided to ride on to Chiplun. We took on Kashedi ghat at 2:15 am. Kashedi was a great experience during the day and I was curious to find out if it was as much fun at night. In fact it was. The eeriness and silence broken by the growl of our engines made it even more fun. The thing with a ghat like Kashedi is, no matter if u like riding or not. No matter how tired you are. It refreshes you. 3:05AM we reach Chiplun and things are a getting a little tough now. Not because of the fatigue but because of the dense mist. The visibility was barely 10-15 feet. But after a short break we decide to ride on. Still no destination in mind. But things get even worse. The mist is denser, the roads are bad, there is condensation on our visors. My jacket, gloves, pants are wet cause of the dew. And the worst part is we cannot see beyond 10 feet. Earlier we managed to cover a distance of 280 km in 5 hrs. but with the conditions change we struggled to cover a distance of 40 km in 1 1\2 hrs.

The Mist at Kasedi ghat.

We reach Sangameshwar at 6:00 AM and decide to halt for the night. Check into a local lodge and straight off to sleep. 10:15 Am the phone rings and there is Prasad askin me where we had reached. I sleepily answer his call and off to sleep again. Finally wake up at 10:30Am. Walk sleepily to the balcony and it’s the best view ever. The sun warming me every so gently and all the green around soothing my eyes. Inquiries from the hotel manager reveal that there is a hot water spring nearby. I and Vinod decide to take a bath the natural way. But damn the water is too hot. back to the thotel room and after a very conventional bath and a heavy breakfast we hit the road again at 1:00 PM. The beauty of Nh17 is ever so mesmerizing. The next 150kms was pure peg scraping fun with butter smooth roads and scarce traffic. All this meant that we reached Talera 140 kms from Sangameshwar in 2hrs flat, a 15 minute nature admiration break included. Halt at Talera for some refreshments and we finally decide to head to Kunkeshwar.
Check into the hotel at 4:15, wash up, change and we were off to Kunkeshwar temple. After the temple darshan we took a walk on the beach. The beach is actually a sort of an unpolluted fishing village and we witnessed at local fishermen at work. It’s amazing to know that the fishing season lasts only 3 months in a year and these guys make the most of it. If someone thought fishing was easy, think again. A normal fishing net goes about 1km into the sea and it takes 2 boats and about 50 men to lay the net and about 50 other men to pull it back to shore. While Vinod was all excited, being a veggie watching the fish struggle without water was a pitiful sight for me.
By the time the fishermen pulled the net to shore it was pitch dark {remember it was amavasya} we were about 2kms into the beach and I was shit scared. The vision of crabs biting me all on my foot filled my mind. On the other hand, Vinod being a native was pretty cool and after many a silent prayers we finally made back to the temple. After all this if I thought the day was over. I was mistaken. Diwali in Konkan is very different from the crazy, noisy Mumbai diwali. It’s a sight u can’t describe. Each and every house, no matter how big or small is lined with an array of diyas and a very artistic lantern. So after a walk around a village and very tasty Konkani dinner we retired at our hotel room.

Day 2

06:30AM
A very enthusiastic Vinod wakes me up. We take a walk at a nearby hillock and are amazed by the peacefulness of the place. Our ears hear no other sound than the sound of water crashing on the rocks below. We just sit there. Quiet. Absorbing the beauty of the place. After about an hour, we reluctantly walk back to our hotel rooms and hit the road again at 8 AM. Destination - Malvan. The next 50 KM is a very relaxed ride with a few stops for photography. We reach Malvan at 9:30 Am. A trip to the local Ganesh temple followed by a short visit to the beach and we are off. Destination- Ratnagiri.
After covering about 70kms, I asked Vinod to stop. We hadn’t had breakfast in the morning and I was hungry, and thirsty too. The Konkan heat was sapping my energy. A half an hour stop at Talera. A Great breakfast and we are off again.
There was a natural stream we had missed on the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg border and I didn’t want to miss it again. We stopped. I asked Vinod if he wanted to take a dip. He said we’re late. Lets ride. Disappointed I started my bike. After riding about 10 feet I Asked again. This time he said. “Heck we haven’t had a bath. Lets do it.” Just one step in the water and we realized what we would have missed. No swimming pool. No Bubble Bath, No Jacuzzi can. relax you like a natural stream .After flapping in the water for half and hour and trying to catch fish with our bare hands we decided to ride on, Thoroughly refreshed. I made myself a promise to visit the place again. Now was the fun part as we were ready to take on the best section of twisties after a good break. A hour and a half later we reached Pavas. A small town near Ratnagiri. After about half an hour of sight-seeing we were off to Ratnagiri. The Pavas- Ratnagiri road is simply breath taking, with hills on one side and valleys lined with rivers on the other. After visiting Ratandurg fort we headed to Ganpatiphule.
5:00PM A little tired, we set out to find accommodation, We were in for a big surprise. Ganpatiphule being a commercial place the hotel charges ranged between 1000-1500 bucks. Which was ridiculous, as we just wanted a resting place for the night? We were contemplating riding back to Sangameshwar when an autowala came to our rescue. We found a fairly decent lodge for 300 bucks. After parking our luggage we were off to the temple followed by a short visit at the beach. After such a great ride we didn’t like Ganpatiphule at all. Lots of noise, Pollution, a huge crowd of people. Not the way we wanted our Ride to end. With this in mind we went out for dinner on the outskirts of Ganpatiphule Followed by a little walk in the countryside. We were back at the hotel by 11:00 PM and being tired we went straight off to sleep.

Day 3

Up at 6:00AM. Muscles a little sore with all the riding, but a hot water bath fiexd it all. After a quick darshan at the temple a good breakfast we leave Ganaptiphule at 9:00AM.
Cross Kashedi Ghat at 1:00. No matter how many times you cross Kashedi, you cant miss but enjoy the ghat a little more every time. We had covered about 180kms in 4 hours and longed for a break. We decided to rest under a tree by the river side. After a nice nap, we rode again.
After riding for about 10 minutes, I could see another bike coming up fast in my RVM. And we were already doing 90KPH. I veered to the left and was overtaken by a guy on the Yamaha Frazer wearing Alpinestars. He had a great bike but was not a good rider. We could figure that out. He was twitchy and our puny little pulsar engines easily beat him on the corners. The three of us rode together for about an hour. Constantly doing 100-110. We stopped just before Vadkhal. The guy introduced himself as Zulfi, Owner of Bacchu motors. He was waiting for his friends who were far behind, So I and Vinod decided to move on.
We reached Mumbai at 7:00 thoroughly refreshed by a great ride. It’s been two months now and the city with traffic congested, potholed roads is starting to get me. Longing to ride on the open road again.