At last i get the chance to write again....been waiting for this for such a long time now it's not even funny,,,,
So i was on a work trip to California where i managed to borrow a 2007, Honda Shadow VT750 from a friends friend who now obviously is my best friend (thanks Kata :P) Cannot thank this dude enough to let me borrow the machine,,,and then in a certain way, i think the bike too must have thanked him as much....so get this: this bike was 2007 model, and it only had 1500 miles on it!!!! was pretty much sitting in a parking lot for most of it's life so far!!! hadn't seen the tar or the wind at all!!! i know my heart was in pain just when i heard that!!! It's like I could feel the pain and the urge of the steel-steed calling me,,,,,
So one of the colder evening, i decided to get to the parking place where the machine was parked and rolled up the sleeves to see what all was needed, clearly the bike had no oil or lubrication at all, it barely had any gas and the battery was down.
Used Kata's Subaru and jumper cables, to bring life back to the bike, and gave the ignition,,,and wallah it started,,,but only for a few seconds then it died...did that for a few times and finally it was up and running but again it died,,,just then Kata realized that the bike wasn't EFI, it had a petrol key,,,which was obviously turned to ON and not reserve,,,,the bike needed a drink soon,,,maybe not as bad as we did by that time :) we left the bike as is and went on to get our anyways,,,
come the next morning, we met again and went up to the bike, i got it started and drove it to the dealership for an oil change and some battery tests etc. to ensure i am not stranded in case i decided to take it into the mountains etc.
the first trip i pulled off with this beast was down south form San jose - Michelle Pfieffer park Big Sur and back - ~ 280 miles and approx. 10 hrs of riding with gas and leak stops only ofcourse!
the bike handles very well, its got decent power, however it was always a little a tad bit less than what i wanted it to have,,,,it was on those long stretches of empty tarmac that you really want to see the tachometer read tripple digits to you was when you really felt the instability and its almost like the bike is suddenly urging for you to not giving up even at the cost of road contact and you are like neah not worth flying over the road like this,,,if only it had a few more horses maybe yes,,,,
nevertheless the overall journey was more than exciting, took her through winding curves of the highway 17 towards Santacruz, went straight to 1 south from there and then to Monterey, took it to the peir all the way as it was too early and no one seemed to stop me ;) it was fun.
after a few rounds by the streets of Monterey i decided to proceed further, kept on 1 south and started entering the patch where it's difficult for any rider or a driver to not stop every few minutes of driving to take some really great shots of the natural beautiful scenery California's PCH has to offer. each curve you approach s delightful with a crisp mixture of bright sunlight, cold air, Pacific in at least 4 different shades of blue and when you get really close it also throws some white at you which is always welcome, the clear skies and a certain energy in the air,,,brilliant sheer brilliant experience,,,,
the best part about riding in California is that you are never alone on the road!!! i stopped at a certain bridge over look to chat up with a father son team riding their Harley's up the hills, its not that we spoke about anything great, just general how good the day was and how nice the roads were,,,the thing about riding is that everyone who does, and is stopped over at some vista point is almost like he's out of a meditation session,,,,the rider is always happy and a smile always is greeted with a smile, a peace sign is always matched with a peace sign
if i had it my way i might have never turned around but i knew i had to,,,,it was only when i came around all the way back to highway 39 skyline Blvd. and stopped over at Alice's restaurant is when i realized that in fact this journey was my own meditation session,,,I have now made new memories of these places that i had visited before and may have had some unwanted memories,,,,but now it's all cleaned up with brand spanking new ones with this ride.
Isn't that what riding is all about!!!
this ride pretty much was a coastal ride with some really nice curves by the PCH till the Big - Sur National Park and and then all the way back to Half-moon bay from where i took the 280 to get to 39 and had lunch at Alice's before coming back to San Jose
and when i returned i knew i was going once again and this time it was going to be the North of San Jose,,,,i wasn't too sure about the route simply knew basic direction - go north!!! ;) and as i came around on the roads, i kept making my turns and kept stopping for pictures,,,,again one beautiful morning that was too the places i went to were typical tourist spots along with the rare ones too, but i had all the time i wanted since i knew i wasn't too far away form home base and sort of knew deep down that this was prolly the last weekend i had to ride before i head back to home county,,,so had to make the most of it in terms of the ride and the pics and the tourist spots too!! ;)
at the end of this ride too, it was like the bike was now updated with all the spots in NorCal to see or to show its rider,,,,San Francisco, Pier 39, twin peaks, golden gate vista spots, francis drake blvd., tamalpas state park, sausalitos, market street, and so on,,,,
again these places held different meanings to me for different reasons, had different memories associated with the place of the past times but now, all i can remember is I came here riding and had a broad smile on my face when i was up here!!!
So one of the colder evening, i decided to get to the parking place where the machine was parked and rolled up the sleeves to see what all was needed, clearly the bike had no oil or lubrication at all, it barely had any gas and the battery was down.
Used Kata's Subaru and jumper cables, to bring life back to the bike, and gave the ignition,,,and wallah it started,,,but only for a few seconds then it died...did that for a few times and finally it was up and running but again it died,,,just then Kata realized that the bike wasn't EFI, it had a petrol key,,,which was obviously turned to ON and not reserve,,,,the bike needed a drink soon,,,maybe not as bad as we did by that time :) we left the bike as is and went on to get our anyways,,,
come the next morning, we met again and went up to the bike, i got it started and drove it to the dealership for an oil change and some battery tests etc. to ensure i am not stranded in case i decided to take it into the mountains etc.
the first trip i pulled off with this beast was down south form San jose - Michelle Pfieffer park Big Sur and back - ~ 280 miles and approx. 10 hrs of riding with gas and leak stops only ofcourse!
the bike handles very well, its got decent power, however it was always a little a tad bit less than what i wanted it to have,,,,it was on those long stretches of empty tarmac that you really want to see the tachometer read tripple digits to you was when you really felt the instability and its almost like the bike is suddenly urging for you to not giving up even at the cost of road contact and you are like neah not worth flying over the road like this,,,if only it had a few more horses maybe yes,,,,nevertheless the overall journey was more than exciting, took her through winding curves of the highway 17 towards Santacruz, went straight to 1 south from there and then to Monterey, took it to the peir all the way as it was too early and no one seemed to stop me ;) it was fun.
after a few rounds by the streets of Monterey i decided to proceed further, kept on 1 south and started entering the patch where it's difficult for any rider or a driver to not stop every few minutes of driving to take some really great shots of the natural beautiful scenery California's PCH has to offer. each curve you approach s delightful with a crisp mixture of bright sunlight, cold air, Pacific in at least 4 different shades of blue and when you get really close it also throws some white at you which is always welcome, the clear skies and a certain energy in the air,,,brilliant sheer brilliant experience,,,,
this ride pretty much was a coastal ride with some really nice curves by the PCH till the Big - Sur National Park and and then all the way back to Half-moon bay from where i took the 280 to get to 39 and had lunch at Alice's before coming back to San Jose
and when i returned i knew i was going once again and this time it was going to be the North of San Jose,,,,i wasn't too sure about the route simply knew basic direction - go north!!! ;) and as i came around on the roads, i kept making my turns and kept stopping for pictures,,,,again one beautiful morning that was too the places i went to were typical tourist spots along with the rare ones too, but i had all the time i wanted since i knew i wasn't too far away form home base and sort of knew deep down that this was prolly the last weekend i had to ride before i head back to home county,,,so had to make the most of it in terms of the ride and the pics and the tourist spots too!! ;)
at the end of this ride too, it was like the bike was now updated with all the spots in NorCal to see or to show its rider,,,,San Francisco, Pier 39, twin peaks, golden gate vista spots, francis drake blvd., tamalpas state park, sausalitos, market street, and so on,,,,
again these places held different meanings to me for different reasons, had different memories associated with the place of the past times but now, all i can remember is I came here riding and had a broad smile on my face when i was up here!!!