BLR-Kanchipuram-Chennai-Kanchipuram-BLR : 53,100+ km update
Monkey Business:
After a long gap since the Yokos were fitted, last Sunday & Monday, I had the opportunity to test the Yokos on the BLR-Chennai-BLR trip. A key incidence is posted at the link here (
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...arth-1-fluidic-verna-2012-a-2.html#post516126). "At 40 kmph, an object covers 33 feet per second" and I was well over triple that speed. The monkeys were 30-40 ft away. With a finger on Horn Pad, I slammed the breaks, felt ABS kicking in and steered to the left and SAFELY drove around the group of primates. The fact that there were no vehicles in that area helped a lot.
Funny, how people with less experience / knowledge, keep complaining about Verna's handling. The Yokos too earned my appreciation.
Figo Trouble:
May be an hour and half later, a Figo was taking a wide right hander, sticking to the inner lane. As there were vehicles on the outer lane, I took the middle lane. As I was a car's length behind, the Figo started driftingtowards the middle lane, with Left tyres firmly eating into atleat two feet of middle lane !!! My honking did not deter the Figo driver (he could have corrected the direction or slowed) and he kept coming in front of me. I don't know, why people could NOT drive within a lane; may be lack of discipline and "Mera Baap Ka Road" attitude. I slowed down, exited the curve and then passed the Figo. The Yokos and Verna
behaved properly and maintained the line.
The U-turn Menace:
The Sunday travel included visits to "Nemili, Thiruthani and Kanchipuram". The roads are single carriage SH, with mandatory potholes. Only problem was with the drivers. The smaller vehicles in particular made sudden U-turns, whenever they saw "20 feet gap between me and them (Grrrrrrr)". My wife commented, "after seeing our car, they are doing this. WHY?". "May be Verna didn't appear to be fast, I said. But, overall I felt that the guys on bicycle/TVS50 decided to upgrade to a Bullet at my cost
![[surprise]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Surprise.gif "Surprise [surprise]")
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The Yokos worked nicely in tandem with the breaks.
Kanchi to Chennai:
I left Kanchi at 5:45pm. Kanchi-Chennai road is notorious for potholes, hectic 2W drivers and slow moving Trucks. Hence, I planned to take it slow. Apart from these, drivers in double mind (to overtake or not) delay the progress. Within 10 minutes I found a Ford Endy going past me clearing the traffic. I took the offer and joined the party. We never went above 100 kph in this stretch and reached Chennai outskirts in good time. Thanks to the Endy.
Poonamallee High Road: As I had to go to Nandambakkam, in Chennai, took this road. Madness is the apt word to describe traffic. While moving, if I had left some breaking distance ahead, some 2W driver would poke his front tyre there, forcing me to apply break. It did not matter if he was solo or with his family; almost 70% bikers were
actually diving in front of my car. Same story with Autorick or a shared auto.
None gets bothered by the sound of a Horn. "No helmet, driving on the right lane, triples or more, blocking the car lengthwise and what NOT" !!!
CAR DRIVERS IN CHENNAI and driving in THIS road ... take a bow friends. You guys are immensely cool headed. Finally by 7:15pm, we reached the destination in Chennai.
Wet Grip: While approaching Vellore, rains started and lasted for perhaps 15 minutes or so.
Kept speed at 80 kph and felt the Yokos hugging the wet road even around the curves. But, then, I never had problem with my earlier Kumhos or the Bridgstones in my old Matiz at 80-ish and 70-ish speeds respectively.
Bottom-line is to drop speed to 40-50 kph (in SHs) 60-80 kph (in 4 Lanes) during rains, depending on the familiarity of road, road condition and type of vehicle.
From Service Road onto NH: Just as we passed Vellore, a Swift was adamant to go to the fast lane straight from the Service lane !!! He kept aiming for the fast lane in-spite of my flashing headlights. I positioned my foot for the breaks but neither applied it nor changed my direction. He veered off to left very late. From the Service lane (or parked state),
I always take time when joining ANY road. It is gentle acceleration on the left lane and/or correct speed so as NOT to SLOW down others coming from behind. This is what I learnt. Why many pathetic excuse of a drivers cannot follow these simple and effective rules ?!!
Return Journey: Totally calm and relaxed drive till back home. Mostly driven at 80-90 kph on the left or middle lanes with occasional overtaking runs. Max speed was 160 kph for about 10 minutes to safely run away from bottleneck creators.
Misc:
- Saw an Alto and Kwid competing. As their speeds matched mine, I was enjoying their race closely from behind, from Krishnagiri to BLR. Mostly, the Kwid was leading the Alto.
- Saw a white Tiago doing a brisk run inside BLR City limits. With sooooo much reserve power in Verna (4th gear is the key, in late night traffic), lurching ahead and disappearing is easy and fun. But, the Tiago kept catching up.
- As I returned one day earlier, ALL the Toll-Booths were almost traffic-free
- BLR-Chennai route registered an FE of 21.5 kmpl (Sunday)
- Chennai-BLR route registered an FE of 20.7 kmpl (Monday).
![[;)]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Wink.gif "Wink [;)]")
, Key, Fuel, Battery", Vehicle Recovery was offered that day. I took the 3 year package for Rs 2,046/- . I know, I know, this was a knee-jerk reaction after the tyre burst.![[clap]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Clap.gif "Clap [clap]")
![[confused]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Confused.gif "Confused [confused]")
![[cry]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Cry.gif "Cry [cry]")
