Ride was not a success in its entirety: Sushanth

MANGALURU: Sushanth Shetty, who attempted to ride one of the world's fastest motorbikes from the UK to India, said that he is unlikely to attempt the challenge again.
“The ride was not a success in its entirety,’’ he admitted. “I don’t think I’ll attempt this route again as getting a Pakistan visa in the current situation is difficult. I will try something else,’’ said Sushanth.
His Suzuki Hayabusa, which was loaded on the vessel Xpress Euphrates in Dubai 10 days back, has finally reached Mumbai on Monday. Sushanth flew from Bengaluru to Mumbai on Wednesday to finish the paper work and get the bike released from Customs.
“According to my customs clearing agent, I should get Patrick (Hayabusa) by Thursday evening. Immediately, I will start my journey towards Bengaluru and be home on Friday. Since I do not know the roads, I will depend on GPS navigation,’’ said the rider, who started from London on October 25.
“I have the right paper work, so it should not be a problem to get the vehicle released,’’ he said. However, on Wednesday, his bike was still inside the container and Sushanth tried to contact the officials to get his bike released, since he has to fly back to UK on Sunday morning.
The vehicle possesses the Carnet de Passages en Douane (CPD), a customs document, which identifies a driver's motor vehicle. This is required in order to take a vehicle into a country where it is not registered and can be there for six months.
The vehicle will stay in Bangalore for six months and will return to London. It will be displayed at a couple of shows before it leaves India.
Sushanth had attempted a self-challenge- The East India Express – planning to ride 12,0000 kms across 12 countries and seven time zones, alone in 15 days. If things had gone as planned, he should have reached his destination almost a fortnight back. But denial of a Pak visa, sandstorm at Bandar Abbas port (Iran) and delay in finding a vessel to transport Hayabusa to Mumbai, delayed his plans.
He spent the extra days, which he got while waiting for his bike, at Bengaluru with his parents. He will be reporting for duty in London on December 1.