 | |  | | | Colombian biker, Daniel Velandia traveled across three continents astride his Pulsar 180 DTSi UG II, finally ending his epic journey in Pune at the Bajaj plant. What began as an idea of doing a fun ride across South America and Africa soon became a journey of self-discovery, freedom and the very spirit of biking for 34-year old Colombian biker Daniel Velandia. Many will wonder what is so special about Daniel since there are a lot of bikers touring such great distances all the time. Well, not only was this Dan's first ever long distance touring ride but more importantly, he did it on our very own Bajaj Pulsar 180 DTSi, which he fondly calls Elvira. Daniel began the ride from Medellin, Colombia and then headed south towards Argentina before flying to South Africa for the second leg of the journey. Daniel and Elvira set out again on the road from Lesotho and from there on they went northwards all the way up to Turkey via several mystifying places like Namibia, Tanzania, Sudan and Egypt. After surviving the torturous cold in Sudan, the Colombian adventure rider started in the direction of India and passed through Iran and Pakistan before entering the Indian sub-continent on 30th April, 2009. |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | The 14-month long trip gave Daniel insight on lives and cultures but more importantly it taught him a lot about himself as well as different people. Daniel's ride was sponsored by Auteco, which is the biggest Bajaj distributorship in Colombia. He had some moving experiences like once in Argentina where he was given a very warm welcome and then en route Sudan, a Muslim man invited him for lunch in the sweltering heat of the desert. While in Sudan, Daniel had to undertake a ferry ride across the Nile river and when he spoke of being Colombian, the ticket selling officer told him that he was the first Colombian at the ferry and hence he could take the trip for free! The only hairy experience Daniel had was in Namibia, where he had a nasty crash over loose gravel and ended up pretty messed up. However, his bike took little damage and he was back on the road with minor repair work. The Bajaj Pulsar 180 DTSi held up throughout the journey except for a magneto failure issue in Turkey. Bajaj Auto shipped a replacement for the magneto from Pune to help get Daniel back on the bike. Surprisingly, unlike the common belief in India about the Pulsar build quality and reliability, this is quite a revelation since Velandia did not face any sort of breakdowns or reliability issues with his Pulsar 180. Impressively, Daniel also rode the bike in complete stock form with a stock headlight, stock handlebars and other stock cycle parts. The only bit altered on the Pulsar was a crash guard for the front bikini fairing, a GPS holder and fitments that will hold the two big panniers in place. After crossing continents and rough terrain, by the time Daniel entered India he was running the bike with third pair of tyres. | | | | |  | | | | | The fourteen month long ride came to an end when Daniel entered the Bajaj Auto's Akurdi factory in Pune on the 30th April, 2009. Bajaj Auto then felicitated the Colombian and also gifted him a scale model of their flagship, the Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi. In Colombia, the Pulsars enjoy a very strong following and throughout the country there are several clubs dedicated to the Pulsars. They have weekend rides as well as annual gatherings where all Pulsar owners come together and participate in various events like races, bike show offs, etc. This is just another addition in the long list of accolades that the Pulsar has gathered over all these years since its debut in 2002. The Bajaj Pulsar also has the honour of being the first and only motorcycle to successfully complete the prestigious Pan Americana Rally, held in Mexico in 2006. Now with the Pulsar Stunt Mania already underway, expect the new breed of Pulsars to get back in action and further strengthen their market position in the premium segment in India. |
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