Mulki Beaches to Chikmagalur Hills – Waves to Bikes
Rammohan Paranjape
Once upon a time I was a motorhead who only dreamed about riding bikes and surfboards, somewhere deep down I still dream about the same but with a bit of maturity and balance.
In my teenage years, I did a lot of motorbiking trips around India and always thought surfing and biking were like the two different sides of the same coin. Riding with freedom, almost like a meditative process that instilled a sense of exploration in our heads.
Of course, as I grew out of my teenage years, I had to prioritize and focus on certain things which were closer to my heart i.e surfing, entrepreneurship, photography, and biking kinda took a back seat. Occasionally, I rode and enjoyed short trips and mostly followed my amazing motorhead friends who travel the world riding some mean machines at beautiful stretches of terrain.
Recently, I got connected to the Royal Enfield PR team where we happened to discuss a number of collaborations and the potential of exploring biking and surfing together in some kind of exploration format and create content around that. Although some of the plans got shelved or postponed due to the pandemic we are certain of some amazing collaboration happening in the future.
In the meantime, RE offered me to ride their recent launches the new Meteor 350 and Himalayan which worked out perfectly as we were planning a small getaway at Mantra Surf Club. We rode to the hills of Chikmagalur to just unwind, relax and detox from a long strenuous surfing season we have had since last September.
Here are a few photos from the 3-day bike trip on Royal Enfield.
Photos were taken by Vaibhav Gupta
The new Royal Enfield Meteor 350 offers a BS6-compliant 349cc, single-cylinder, air-cooled, long-stroke motor. Linked to a new five-speed gearbox, the engine makes 20.2bhp of power and 27Nm of peak torque. The suspension tasks on the new Meteor 350 are handled by telescopic forks at the front and twin-sided shock absorbers at the back. The anchoring setup comprises single discs on both wheels while the safety net includes dual-channel ABS.
Smiley faces posing with the new Meteor 350 in front of an old temple.
The core group at Mantra has always enjoyed bike trips whenever the surf has gone flat or during the offseason.
Royal Enfield’s 2021 Himalayan has vastly improved upon comfort with a better seat and convenience as well since it now has onboard navigation. It looks a bit more premium, more on the lines of the Interceptor 650, and is still one of the most comfortable two-wheeled machines on sale today and the second-most affordable ADV in India.
Roads or no roads, Himalayan adapts very well to all conditions. Ram tested the Himalayan a bit off-road.
2021 Royal Enfield Himalayan specifications come with 411cc Single Cylinder, 4-stroke, air-cooled, SOHC engine with a Power – 24.3 bhp at 6,500 rpm and Torque – 32 Nm at 4,000-4,500 rpm with Five-speed transmission.
Kiran throttling at full speed in the hills with the new Himalayan.
Ram and Kiran are the OGs of bike trips at Mantra, they go back almost a decade as biking buddies.
After a long ride, posing with the Meteor 350 somewhere in the Kudremukh Forest Ranges.
Meteor 350 is a charm when it comes to cruising and evolution of Thunderbird and Thunderbird X models. The new Meteor 350 offers plenty of comforts, ease of riding with modern sophistication.
GoPros were extensively used to get many different POV shots to create some cool content.
Never thought I would be modeling or posing much in front of the camera with dedicated photographers around me 😉
Somewhere in the hills and estates of Chikamagalur, Karnataka. The spring season throws some unique colors and landscapes.
