Motorcycle Travellers Meet India (MTM India) 2013 was held near the outskirts of Tumkur last week, July 27-28. The weekend included talks, shows and tells, trip discussions, guidance and workshops. The event was not brand-specific and had all kinds of vehicles, from small two – strokes to large touring rigs.

The place, camp Sristhi, was perfect. It’s a short distance to the left of National Highway 7 near Tumkur. It’s a campsite, and the place was perfect for an offbeat event like this. We took a slightly longer route through back roads, and in some places, no roads, and got to what was the parking for the event. Not without a bit of searching and losing our way. Other than the participants, only the people running the campsite were around for the weekend. Nicely secluded to avoid distractions. Registrations had begun early, and we were among the last ones to get there. That went off smoothly, and when we got to the main area, the first talk had started. Indimotard had both Anand and Prashanth on hand. First, it was a talk about supported touring and Indimotard, followed by an outdoor workshop about maintenance on the road. They used a Royal Enfield for this; how apt.

Following this were talks by Jay Kannaian, Avinash Thadani and Bharadwaj Dayala. All three need full-scale articles by themselves, but in short, all three went on great adventures and came back with amazing stories to tell.

The first to speak was Bhardwaj, who went around the world on a Karizma despite being down and beaten by life at that point. Then came Avinash,  who rode a KTM 640 LC through Latin America, being greatly influenced by Che Guvera’s road trip through the region. The last of the key speakers was Jay, who has made a fantastic journey from North America to South America, Europe, Africa, and finishing off in India. Of the three, only Avinash rode from Mumbai in heavy rains.

Next, it was another set of speakers sharing almost equally remarkable experiences of their travels. The list included Navroze Contractor, Wing Commander RSR Murthy, Ashish, Kishore, Kedar, Prajwal and Malvika. More on their topics coming up separately.

The day closed with the screening of “Achievable Dream: Part 1 – Get Ready!” DVD from Horizons Unlimited. It was highly informative, covering various topics like planning, partners, costs, paperwork, health and riding. Amazingly informative, and I am thankful to Horizons Unlimited for letting the organizers of the meet screen it at the show. The above DVD is a part of the Achievable Dream – Motorcycle Adventure Travel Guide. Recommended!

Get Off UR Ass, who organized MTM, has raised the bar regarding event content, and I cannot wait for the 2014 edition.

Motorcycle Travellers Meet India 2013