So... I pick up my bike and Sunil's shop. So pretty! I can't wait to take it for it's virgin run.
Off I head to go see the Lotus Temple! Bike dies! Nice mechanic kids help me recharge the battery and I'm off again! Whoohoo! Wind in my hair...
Off I head to go see the Lotus Temple! Bike dies! Surly mechanic man helps me get a new battery and it's too late to see the Lotus Temple so I head over to Chanderjeet's birthday party! Yay! It sure is getting dark fast...
Crawling through traffic.. Bike dies! There's something sucking the life out of my batteries! Chanderjeet brings his birthday party over on motorcycles to push, by foot, at highway speed, my derelict bike. Happy Birthday!
I take it in to Sunil, he fixes all the electrical issues just in time for me to join Chanderjeet, Sonny, and Deepak to Dharamsala, 10 hours away in the Himalayas.
Off I head to CJ's house! Bike dies! I decide to power through the night, working on the side of the road, playing mechanic and figuring out what's wrong. Fuel line blocked! Fixed - thanks to my dial-up mechanic "Toolbox" (aka Jen from Wersktatt), and I arrive at 4:30am. The crew will be up at 5am to ride, so I just make some calls and chill.
Off we head to Dharamsala. Bike dies! Fuel line is not blocked, it's suctioning itself! No prob. We'll just pull off the gas cap whenever it starts to die. MacGuyver!
Keep going for hours, stopping for chai and food and just cruising. Hitting the mountains. Bike dies! Mechanic declares it a piece of crap, gets it running. The last stretch, Deepak is at the helm, riding at night through mountainous hills and potholed roads.
Spend the weekend cruising the neighborhoods of the Dalai Lama and crew, beautiful roads and scenery. Getting very frustrated with my bike (not feeling all that Buddhist at this point). The whole crew says "Sell it".
5am Monday, head back to Delhi. The roads are so gnarly the bottoming out causes the luggage rack to break. Off flies the gas cap, goodbye says the side compartment bolt, sayonara says the air filter. The bike is a leper from all the bouncing around. We rig the thing up like survivorman and putputput our way back to Delhi, oil is leaking out of every orifice... 14 hours through traffic, and Deepak, who is riding the last half, is a maniac.
It makes it, though. Prognosis? I ran her too hard, too soon. Mm hmm... It was fun, though. We take a poll, decide to rebuild her. Another engine job, reinforcement of rack, better shocks, new gas cap, some gaskets, bolts and a better air filter. 4000 rupees, maybe? That's only $80! Love this place.