In Manali heading somewhere soon lol

15/7/13 till 30/07/13

   Decided in the night that I would not have enough tobacco to make it around Spiti. So I left a bit later and stopped in Manali to get some. While here I saw it was raining up the pass so decided to spend the night. While chatting to the man at the hotel I discovered you cannot do the loop around spiti at the moment (he said land slide, and I have heard there is also some permit needed for some of it).

   So after 2 days of checking out Manali and contemplating what to do I decided to head down to Pabati valley to see a friend who was down there. On the ride down Faith started having issues and ended up blowing a main fuse with 16km to go. So I rolled back down a couple of kilometers to some shops and found out a new fuse was about 16km back down the road. So I hunted around a couple of the shops and found some electric wire that I thought would burn out if the heat got too much, which it did about 4 times in the 16km. So I was stopping a bit and letting the battery cool.

   When I got to Kasol I found an enfield place and asked about a fuse. He said the nearest place to get a fuse was back 40km down the valley. He grabbed a old one from a bike he had there but had no new ones.
   I spent a couple of days walking around the area and it is a beautiful place. I went for a ride up the valley carrying some wire all the while and the fuse seemed to be working ok. The person I went to Kasol to meet was now in Daramsala but I did meet 2 different people I had met in Pokhara.

Because the mechanics in Kasol did not even have new fuses I decided to head back out to Nagar and get the guy there to look at her electrics. But on the way the fuse went again so I decided to make for Manali using the last of my wire.

So back in Manali I took faith in and ended up getting a new battery and spark plug lead and starter. Then the next day I went for a ride down to Kullu to get some money and the fuse went again, grrrrrr. Then we discovered the battery is moving in it's mounting and so I get a new mounting for the battery. Yes all fixed....

So Up the Rohtang pass for a test ride to see if she will make it.... no not a chance she was struggling at about 8,000ft. So now the last option for going to Leh on Faith is being performed. Changing the front sprocket for a smaller one and doing the rings. If this does not work not sure what I will do????????

Big cassette, no Phone cover...

How do you get produce over the river when miles from a crossing and roads only on one side of the river

I do wonder if they send people over every so often?

nice view from the roof of the hotel in Kasol to wake up to.

Cows do not have the flattest pasture here lol

Safety first

lol yes I went across it. But only because of the size metal sleeper underneath it. I do love it when it is not assumed that I will jump of the edge so no rail is put there.  

From hotel in Manali

A BIG slug

The flowers that I got at Mangu's in Goa are looking too sad to carry on so I gave them a new home on a wall in Manali valley. I hope you enjoyed the 13,000km we did together lol.

Say not to drugs. But note what is a drug mmmm.

 



  Well have just seen the head come off and there is a small leak in the exhaust valve so getting that machined. otherwise looks like I will be able to make it over now.... Lets hope the weather holds.

Enjoy YOUR life.

 

In Nagar heading spiti valley

9/7/13

   Well the dirt had settled down by the morning and there was a couple of millimetres for one small cup. Anyway headed out to Dehra Dun and on through to Nahan. The rode was all good except for Nahan towards Sarahan which for 20km ish had masses of cleared up landslides. To make it worse the landslides had happened on a piece of road that was under construction anyway. Although that probably means they got cleaned up quicker. And from Sarahan it is mostly new road which was very nice. I ended up in an over priced place in Dharampur.

that is the dirt from one glass. Now think the river was only up by about 2 meters when I took that. the earlier flood was another 3-4meters. SO much dirt. 

How many kids fit on a bus at home? 40. well I count 12 just next to the windows. 3 deep all the way in the back seat and the back but with 2 adults in the front only about 5 kids up front. Child seats until 7 isn't it know at home roflol

10/7/13

   Headed out through the Arki road to Mandi. Proved to be an interesting morning as I went through a military base area the end of exhaust was pulled off by a speed breaker. I put it back on but it came of again. The bolt was still there but not the nut so I repositioned it and tried again. But it still came off again. Luckily this time out side a petrol station that had some repair shops so I managed to get a bolt and get the exhaust to stay on.

  I carried on up through to Kullu where I was meeting a friend from Goa who lives in Nagar. Unfortunately the bike has been running worse and worse with the battery getting flatter and flatter until she finally died. About 100m from a car accessory shop that had Enfield parts (but not the bit I wanted). The guys there where great they called a mechanic who said the battery needed changing. I said it is flat because there is no power being generate. I called Antony and tried to organise another battery till I could get the part but before he arrive the guy from the shop let me use the battery off his bike.
  So I went to meet Antony but went to the wrong bridge so almost an hour later I got to the right bridge. So with no lights horn anything power like we headed for Nagar. Only just made it before the bike died but in the dark with no light is not nice. With a bike following it was not to bad but then Antony got a flat and had to swap bikes I did not notice because of the car that was following him I though was still him. But then the car past me and I was left in the dark. Mmm don't want to do that again.

Out for a ride

Nice place for lunch except the fact the water is bloody cold.

In Nagar

 

11/7/13

Took the bike to the shop and 10min later and INR250 was fixed and going much better again. So I headed back to the shop to return the battery. The nice man there had checked my battery found it was almost out of water so filled it with distilled water and recharged it. He then tried it out on his bike and seems all good. So we swap the battery's back.

12/7/13 to 14/7/13

Have been for a couple of rides and got some more adjustment made now Faith seems to be running well enough that I will head out and try to go to the spiti valley for a bit of a test ride. The Rohtang pass is open at the moment and it is not raining here at the moment (apparently monsoon is next month they just had an early bit which had closed the road for a short time). So heading to Spiti should give Faith a resonable test the Kunzum pass is 4551m. I will be interested to see how both of us handle going up that high.

 

Enjoy your life

In Rishikesh

30/06/13

   Headed for the border and rode straight to the immigration office, did the paper work and rode on through. Was very easy and no one asked for the tax papers I had got back at Bhutwal oh well I only got it just in case.

  Because of the flooding up north I decided to go via the low lands area toward Rishikesh. I decided to stop in Haridwar as I did not think I would make it to Rishikesh before dark.

Spot the difference. Top my hotel the day I arrived. Bottom today (and going back down now)

1/07/13 to 8/07/13

   Big day of 24km to Rishikesh lol. But it did mean I had plenty of time to find a place. Decided to go a bit flash and stay next to the river. Been for a couple of rides including a 24km trip back to the last hotel as I accidentally took their key lol. Bike is having gearbox issues again so after meeting an Israel guy who has been using the same mechanic here for years decided to get it fixed before heading on. So new clutch plates and some new bearings, cogs and a few other things Faith is going well again.

mmmm again, well she is an Enfield

  On one ride around the hill I had to ride through a lot of small water flows and each one had a swam(?what is the group name for butterflies?) of butterflies that would take off as you rode through them. Was definitely a ride to remember.
  It sounds like a lot of the lower mountain roads I wanted to take are actually closed at the moment so Manali by the flatter way tomorrow.....well maybe I woke this morning and the river is a meter or two higher so will see tomorrow and decide then lol.The river is amazing, I have no idea how much wood and dirt is carried past but it is very large amounts. I even have a glass of water settling at the moment to try and get an idea how much dirt is in the flow.

One of the Ashrams in Rishikesh

Security fence, well was one

The Ganga really does move a lot of dirt when it floods

And it does this strange fog/steam thing often at the moment

Which can get quite dense

You find some interesting things in the bathroom over here. This is my first scorpion though.

Anyway onwards and upwards.

Enjoy your life.