These two rode the 4,500 km from Kanyakumari to Kashmir not on great, hulking machines. Girish P V and Suraj Henry from Mangaluru city did what they call the K2K ride on a 1968 Lambretta and a 1982 Lamby.
“It was not easy to prepare these old but tough machines,” Girish said. “Our mechanic said the compression in the engines were as good as new, the chassis could also take a beating but we still had to improve the shocks, gear shift and the storage on the vehicles. We did not want to tamper with the classic lines of the scooter so we kept all the body features intact. We fixed bigger horns as we had to run on major highways. The seats also needed to be worked on with some extra cushion; reconditioning of the springs and a small lumbar support was also fixed by our fabricators.”
Special Arrangement
Girish and Suraj are both members of the classic scooter club of Mangaluru. The members considered the decision to ride to the Himalayas as a milestone for the club and they all helped Girish and Suraj with several details.
The riding was the most challenging. “We knew we were riding scooters that had lived their time thrice over but they were in good condition, their fuel economy was also good. Though on a riding mission like the K2K, fuel economy did not matter, we made provision to carry an extra can of fuel. We includes spare parts such as cables, bulbs, a spare wheel. A mobile and GPS holder was the only anachronism,” Suraj said.
Special Arrangement
The two scooters were transported to Kanyakumari on a truck and the journey began on June 26. “We took the Grand Trunk Road which was well paved throughout,” Girish said. “However, in some sectors, there were bad roads with heavy traffic. The thumbs up signal popping out of car windows and other vehicles perked up our spirits.”
Girish and Suraj presented the Star of Kargil Banner to the Border Security Force. The banner had the signatures of riders from the many motorcycling clubs they met on their-21 day drive.
Special Arrangement
Hit the road
The two scooters CTA 8593 (Lamby) and MYG 9615 (Lambretta) are now back in the garage with other classic vehicles belonging to Girish and Suraj.
The 4,500 km-ride took 21 days
The vehicles had only few minor problems
Riders of local motorcycle and scooter clubs from the towns and cities all along the Grand Trunk Road met Girish and Suraj
