Riding their motorcycle throughout India and scoring long odometer readings is one among verified hobbies of Indian automobile lovers. Gaurav Siddharth took this to another level and got himself a Guinness World Records for travelling the longest distance within a country on a motorcycle.
To be precise, he covered almost 1.22 lakh kilometers, out of which, Guinness approved 1,15,094 kilometers due to repetition of routes on some places. The ride took him through 450 major cities of India, covering 29 states and 5 union territories during the ride. He was not allowed to stay for more than 2 days at one place to get his record verified by the agency.
He could not even travel to Lakshadweep and Andaman Islands due to restriction of not leaving the mainland. He selected Hero Impulse for his ride as it returned better fuel efficiency and more ground clearance for all type of Indian roads.
He kept on riding 200-500 kilometers daily (depending on terrain and weather), covering this huge distance in almost 589 Days. The ride must have tested his endurance to maximum level as he not just went through different roads but also had to survive on completely different type of food and culture in every couple of days.
Gaurav met many renowned Indian personalities like Sourav Ganguly, PT Usha, Kiran Bedi, Anna Hazare and many more during his ride. He took the mission of spreading awareness regarding use of Indian made goods, cheating at petrol pumps, digital lockers, vehicle transfer and highway safety during this period.
He first thought of choosing an Avenger 220 but due to bigger engine and lower mileage, he went ahead with Hero Impulse. Even after facing lot of troubles during his ride, he never gave up and continued till the record was made on his name. His record was made official by Guinness World Records on February 25, 2018.
The record is now listed on the official website of Guinness World Records: “The longest journey by motorcycle in a single country is 115,093.941 km (71,708 miles) and was achieved by Gaurav Siddharth (India), who rode throughout India from 17 September 2015 to 27 April 2017.” Source
Hero Impulse Quick Specs
| Displacement | 149.2 cc |
| No. of Cylinders | 1 |
| No. of Gears | 5 |
| Maximum Power | 13 Bhp @ 7500 rpm |
| Maximum Torque | 13.4 Nm @ 5000 rpm |
| Seat Height | 835 mm |
| Ground Clearance | 245 mm |
| Kerb/Wet Weight | 134 kg |
| Fuel Tank Capacity | 11.10 litres |
| Top Speed | 115 kmph |
