Akkulam Bridge - Part 2

This is the second part of the post about Akkulam Bridge, see the part one here.

Here is a few snaps from the shore of the lake. It is a lonely place near the bridge. From here we can see the bridge of the lake. Along with the bridge we can see some of the buildings which is taking shape to reach the sky. These buildings are a sign of the changing world. Even though it is not a tourist destination, it is a great place for some one who wants to spent some time with the nature.

Akkulam bridge - Part 1

It was a pleasant morning with busy vehicles making the road rush. But there is always room for me to enjoy a great ride through the NH bypass. I was on my bike on the way to office. I cross the Akkulam bridge twice everyday, hence Akkulam bridge is not new to me. Whenever I cross the bridge, I wish I could stop there and enjoy some time there. Many times I missed, but this time I found some time to enjoy the breeze over the bridge.

I stopped the bike just before the bridge. I could see the vehicles rushing over the bridge.

I walked through the foot path of the bridge, I saw the lake with greenery to support the beauty of the lovely lake. The coconut trees are always around when u r in Kerala, even though it started disappearing from some of the places. Below are some of the snaps of the lake.

More snaps in the next post. See the map of Akkulam bridge here.

Bike Review

Its been quite some that I have been with my new bike Hero Honda Hunk. I bought the bike in Jan 2008 so its almost an year. Its was the time Hunk was launched, so I used to get lots of questions on my bike, like "Whats the price ?", "Whats the mileage ?", "Whats the cc ?" ...

Most of my ride is for commuting to office. I occasionally use the bike for touring. There is one thing which I like most - the seating position. Its really excellent i should say, sporty but doesn't compromise on comfort.

It has a massive looking tank which adds to the styling element. The power delivery is superb, especially at gear roll ons. It doesn't disappoint on the fuel efficiency either, I have been consistently getting a mileage of around 50kmpl. I got a best mileage of 56kmpl and a worst mileage of 45kmpl.For me the bike is a bit heavy, its 146kg. I feel really confident while cornering.


I had some troubles with the chain, the chain tend to loose too much. I got fixed it from the service center. The back seat a bit too high, difficult for female pillion riders.

The bike has clocked more than 14500km at the time of this writing. I ride almost 60 kms per day. I haven't done any modification in the bike. I changed the right handle weight, as my bike fell down on a rainy day.


As a premium bike I expected LED tail lights and digital speedo, but we can't expect too much from Hero Honda, right ? I don't ride my bike too fast, my average speed is around 50 kmpl. I haven't ride the bike beyond the 70 km mark. Altogether I am pretty satisfied with my bike. After I bought my bike, some new bike launches were there in the names of Yamaha R15 and then the Yamaha FZ16.

What would be my next bike ?

Its not going to happen in the near future, I mean not with in a year or two. So it would be a higher capacity bike, may be a much civilized Karizma, who knows which all bike will be available in India, CBRs, Ninjas...


Bike Stats

Bought : Jan 2008
Clocked : 14500 km
Mileage : 50 kmpl overall
Power : 14.4 ps
Engine : 150 cc
Services : 6 free service + 1 paid service
Cost : Rs 65000 on road
Rating : 4/5
Maintenance : None

A rider's story

Greatest ambition
For most of the guys a bike is more than a tool for daily commute. I truly believe that a bike is more than that. For me its much like a friend. It was my greatest ambition to own a bike during my childhood days. I got my first bike in 2002, its a second hand Samurai. Before getting Samurai, I used to ride my brother's bike, Splendor. Then I went for higher studies and sold my bike. In 2006, my brother bought a new bike, Honda Unicorn and I took over his bike, Hero Honda Splendor.
Days with Splendor
I used the Splendor for around 2 years. Its a very nice bike, I used for daily commute to office. Its the post 2000 model, without pollution control. It has a good pickup and is very fuel efficient. I used to get around 70kmpl. I have got a best mileage of 82kmpl on highway. After having this Splendor for some years, I decided to upgrade to a new bike.

Bike upgrade
My brother owns a Unicorn, so I know its a great bike. Its time the Pulsar was very popular, its still popular. But I don't want to buy a Bajaj bike, they have a reputation of poor reliability. I ave a great love for CBZ (old CBZ). I liked the look of the bike very much. And at this time that CBZ-X has launched. I didn't quite like the look of the new CBZ, may be they have overdone it. Any way I decided to buy the CBZ-X, but it was on Sep 2007 that I have seen the new bike from Hero Honda. As soon as I saw the pictures of the bike, I am in love with it. At this time I gone out of state for some official trip.


A bike called Hunk
I was very eager know the details of the Hunk. I read a lot of automobile magazines. I came to know that it has the same engine of CBZ-X, which generates 14.4 bhp of power, which was the highest among it competitors. Its the same engine from Unicorn, but returned for better power. So on the one hand I know its a reliable engine, but on the other hand I will lose out the mileage, since it delivers more power. There are some feature missing from the other 150s, such as digital speedo, LED tail lights etc, but I decided to go for it. I need to ride the bike. I rush to the nearest dealer, I test rode the bike. The thing that impressed me was the seating position, its sporty but maintains a good proposition. I decided to buy a hunk, black one. I booked the bike on Dec 2007, for launching the bike on Jan 2008.

Owning the Hunk
On Jan 2008 I owned my Hunk, its a black one. Its a dream come true.


Its been around a year with my Hunk, its a good bike. More on that in the next post ....