Buddies hit road on identical bikes, clock over 1 lakh km

BENGALURU: It is a classic example of following the path your best friend takes: Two men from Bengaluru travelled the length and breadth of the country from 2016 on identical motorcycles, sharing the same passion for long-distance trips. In the process, the duo clocked 1 lakh km on their bikes.
Meet Mohan Mallappa, 50, and BH Babu, 54, from Bengaluru. They have been on the road on their BMW 1200 adventure motorcycles more often than they’ve been at home in the last five years. Mallappa, a businessman, started his road trips in 2013 on his Harley and shifted to a BMW adventure tourer in late 2015.
Inspired, Babu, an architect, purchased the same model in 2016 and they soon became twin riders.
In 2019, Mohan covered 1 lakh km on his bike and travelled 1.85 lakh km so far, a feat that could be challenging for other adventure bikers in India. Babu did not want to be left behind: he too completed 1 lakh km last week. There are 30 adventure motorcycle riders across the globe who have completed 1 lakh km on the same adventure bike, experts said, and two of them are from Bengaluru.
“I had done a few endurance rides like 2,500km under 36 hours on my motorcycle and began serious long-distance riding after that. Babu joined me soon after and we became an on-road team,” Mallappa said.
Pandemic challenge
The Covid -19 lockdown last year posed a different challenge for the two, who are members of Bengaluru-based Riders Republic Motorcycle Club. They became part of an eight-member team delivering life-saving medicines to remote parts of south India.