Date: 11/24/08
Location: Goa
Destination: Thailand
Subject: The Motorcycle Constipations
Mileage / KM: 40
Expenses: 1500 Rupees = $30
Lodging: Roosevelt’s Jail
Fuel: Two Avion bottles and a 10 liters
Diarrhea Flow: Inactive …Steve
We hit a snag or in other words a log jam!!! To rent bikes and take them out of state has become a difficult task. Ofcourse we get a different story from each person we ask but it looks like we will not be able to rent motorcycles and take them out of state. This is a problem when you are locked in a state the size of the Bay Area. There are all sorts of schemes to get around this issue but we have grown tired trying to find the way and some body who is willing to facilitate. We are now planning to head to Thailand and carry on from there.
However, the session is not over until the paper work is done. We won’t be able to get a flight to Bangkok… Ha ha… I said Bangkok…. Until Thursday. That gives us 2 days to start a mini motor adventure here.
Riding British A Motorcycle in India ……Larry
So we rented one Royal Enfield (Indian made 500cc copy of a 1955 British motorcycle) and one Pulsar (a 200cc bike of unknown origin). We could not find 2 Royal Enfield to rent so Steve was lucky enough to get a modern bike with the brakes and shifter on the proper side. To bad it has a flat front tire and no mirrors and no gas. With some more haggling we got air in the tire and bought a liter of gas from a plastic water bottle. Riding the Enfield was quite an adventure in itself, not only is the shifter and brake reversed, the shift pattern is also backwards. I kept trying to get started in 4th gear (the bike is only a 4 speed). When I hit the wrong brake, I was up-shifting which had the opposite effect of braking. We were now ready to head out into some of the toughest traffic in the world, driving on the left side of the road, to find a beer….just kidding, we actually rode for 45 minutes before getting a beer. We passed a motorcycle and scooter accident where they just finished loading the people into an ambulance, quite a sobering experience. The guide book says that someone dies in a motorcycle or scooter accident everyday in Goa. Steve said that the quota looks like it has been filled and that we were safe. There are thousands and scooters in Goa, and most people to do not wear helmets. Locals stared us with our full face helmets and body armor (like a dirt biker racer would wear)….we did not care what they thought.
