Solo offroad trip to Rajmachi > Safari 2.2 4x4 on 6th July 08:

jaysmokesleaves · 7th July 2008, 18:00

Hi everyone,
Have been busy traveling. Did a trip to Udhwada followed by a round trip of Mumbai - Mahabaleshwar- Pune- lonavala - RAJMACHI - Mumbai.
The roads were wonderful throughout. Rain accompanied me through the whole trip. Poladpur to Mahabaleshwar road has broken tarmac for most of the way. Mahabaleshwar was completely fogged out in the day and the night was almost zero visibility- so all the pics are pathetic. Panchgani was better off the next day. Drove from there to Puna and stayed for a day and headed for Mumbai . Reached Lonavala @ 10am approx and then remembered that Pdev had said the Mumbai gypsy gang would be there offroading almost every weekend at Rajmachi. So off i went straight through to join the fun.
I didnt find anybody there and decided to go straight right all the way up to Rajmachi myself. Lots of trekkers making the best of the weekend in the superb monsoon weather.
The road up to Rajmachi was pretty easy. I was skeptical initially from an earlier experience a few years ago when we got stuck in a couple of mahindra classics(lack of skill then). Besides, this time i was going solo and if i got stuck then nobody to help other than gather a few enthusiastic drunk weekend warriors who would hopefully oblige to assist or wait for rains to subside and then dig myself out.
However, since i was already at the base i decided to go lock stock & smoking barrels(bharat stage III). A thought crossed my mind along the way that they should collect pollution tax here rather than Mahabaleshwar & Panchgani.
Hope you guys enjoy the pics most of which were shot at the Shiva temple @ Rajmachi. Some were shot on the way Mahabaleshwar from Poladpur.
The drive to the top of Rajmachi was comfortable to say the least. The safari did not feel stressed out. Comfortably forded through 2ft+ of the stream crossing and the subsequent rock climb(as seen in Pdevs Rajmachi pics & vids).
I had to reverse on a couple of sharp curves while climbing, thanks to the fantabulous turning radius of the safari. But the ship sailed through.
Not many pics because there was no one to click but the greenery enroute speaks for itself.
By the time i got down from Rajmachi, the safari footboards were covered with 2" thick muck. Sory no pics of that... too much rain .

jaysmokesleaves · 7th July 2008, 18:07

Some more pics from the trip. enjoy..

anilkalvani · 7th July 2008, 18:13

amazing.com dude

Limpid · 7th July 2008, 18:51

Hmmm, I am missing Maharashtra. Nice photos! Did you get a chance engage 4x4 in this trip ?

musicmanaman · 7th July 2008, 18:59

Those are really good pics and the locations are fantastic, looks like you had one hell of a time. The pics makes me want a Safari too.

indianrunner · 7th July 2008, 19:01

Nice writeup and the snaps show that you really had fun. However do be cautious when off roading alone.

aaggoswami · 7th July 2008, 19:10

Nice photographs.
The location is quite impressive.
Its really risky to go on offroading alone, but it must have been a lot of fun.

Were there any risky/heart stopping moments with Safari ? How was Safari's 4 X 4 performance ? Was it engaged all along ?

akroy · 7th July 2008, 19:15

Nice pictorial Jay!! Mahabaleshwar route looks gorgeous in monsoons.

Abhi

jaysmokesleaves · 7th July 2008, 20:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Limpid

Hmmm, I am missing Maharashtra. Nice photos! Did you get a chance engage 4x4 in this trip ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Nice photographs.
The location is quite impressive.
Its really risky to go on offroading alone, but it must have been a lot of fun.

Were there any risky/heart stopping moments with Safari ? How was Safari's 4 X 4 performance ? Was it engaged all along ?

Thanks & glad you all liked the pics. There was a lot to shoot but i dint want to keep geting in and out of the vehicle in the rain since i havent had the time to get seat covers yet.
I did 70% of the route in 2wd. Rest of the route i did in 4H since it was very slippery. while returning i had to engage 4L once on a downhill curve since there was almost no traction. IMO the safari 4wd is quite capable if driven intelligently. The ground clearance really helps. I do not know about the torque curves & spec sheets but whatever is under the hood, works pretty well. I will certainly recommend the 4wd safari for the enthusiast.

I hope to do the route again with a bunch of friends sometime soon. Anyone reading this is welcome to join in.

bglsrini · 7th July 2008, 21:50

great pictures jay.Really enjoyed seeing them and the safari

jkdas · 7th July 2008, 22:10

Nice pix Jay. Golden Beige looks great. Where did the alloy cups (? ) go ?
Using OE wipers?

adarvesh · 8th July 2008, 11:36

i suggest you not to go alone to rajmachi if you are stuck then god help you

indianrunner · 8th July 2008, 13:56

Where you using stock H/T tyres or have you invested in A/T or M/Ts?

Rgds

PhrozenFire · 8th July 2008, 14:56

Hey great pics there Jay! Takes me back to the trip two of my friends and I made to Rajmachi back in 2002, on a CBZ and Suzuki Shogun. The tarmac road ended in Lonavla itself and from there on till the base of the fort was a gravel and rock strewn path. We had to fjord quite a number of streams, which was great fun! And we barely sat on the seats at all. Most of the time we were just standing on the footpegs - imagining ourselves to be Paris-Dakar riders! Dont have any pics of that trip as digicams were way too expensive then for college kids to afford. Nevertheless, your pictures took me back on a nice trip down memory lane!

VJ_MAVRICK · 8th July 2008, 15:01

Nice pics there Jay and keep them coming.

7th July 2008, 18:00	#1
jaysmokesleaves Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Mostly Mumbai Posts: 1,701 Thanked: 1,466 Times	Solo offroad trip to Rajmachi > Safari 2.2 4x4 on 6th July 08: Hi everyone, Have been busy traveling. Did a trip to Udhwada followed by a round trip of Mumbai - Mahabaleshwar- Pune- lonavala - RAJMACHI - Mumbai. The roads were wonderful throughout. Rain accompanied me through the whole trip. Poladpur to Mahabaleshwar road has broken tarmac for most of the way. Mahabaleshwar was completely fogged out in the day and the night was almost zero visibility- so all the pics are pathetic. Panchgani was better off the next day. Drove from there to Puna and stayed for a day and headed for Mumbai . Reached Lonavala @ 10am approx and then remembered that Pdev had said the Mumbai gypsy gang would be there offroading almost every weekend at Rajmachi. So off i went straight through to join the fun. I didnt find anybody there and decided to go straight right all the way up to Rajmachi myself. Lots of trekkers making the best of the weekend in the superb monsoon weather. The road up to Rajmachi was pretty easy. I was skeptical initially from an earlier experience a few years ago when we got stuck in a couple of mahindra classics(lack of skill then). Besides, this time i was going solo and if i got stuck then nobody to help other than gather a few enthusiastic drunk weekend warriors who would hopefully oblige to assist or wait for rains to subside and then dig myself out. However, since i was already at the base i decided to go lock stock & smoking barrels(bharat stage III). A thought crossed my mind along the way that they should collect pollution tax here rather than Mahabaleshwar & Panchgani. Hope you guys enjoy the pics most of which were shot at the Shiva temple @ Rajmachi. Some were shot on the way Mahabaleshwar from Poladpur. The drive to the top of Rajmachi was comfortable to say the least. The safari did not feel stressed out. Comfortably forded through 2ft+ of the stream crossing and the subsequent rock climb(as seen in Pdevs Rajmachi pics & vids). I had to reverse on a couple of sharp curves while climbing, thanks to the fantabulous turning radius of the safari. But the ship sailed through. Not many pics because there was no one to click but the greenery enroute speaks for itself. By the time i got down from Rajmachi, the safari footboards were covered with 2" thick muck. Sory no pics of that... too much rain . Attached Thumbnails
	() Thanks

7th July 2008, 18:07	#2
jaysmokesleaves Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Mostly Mumbai Posts: 1,701 Thanked: 1,466 Times	Some more pics from the trip. enjoy.. Attached Thumbnails
	() Thanks

7th July 2008, 18:13	#3
anilkalvani BHPian Join Date: May 2008 Location: Bandra West, Bombay Posts: 633 Thanked: 90 Times	amazing.com dude
	() Thanks

7th July 2008, 18:51	#4
Limpid BHPian Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 84 Thanked: 11 Times	Hmmm, I am missing Maharashtra. Nice photos! Did you get a chance engage 4x4 in this trip ?
	() Thanks

7th July 2008, 18:59	#5
musicmanaman BHPian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: kolkata Posts: 927 Thanked: 25 Times	Those are really good pics and the locations are fantastic, looks like you had one hell of a time. The pics makes me want a Safari too.
	() Thanks

7th July 2008, 19:01	#6
indianrunner BHPian Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: bangalore Posts: 226 Thanked: 33 Times	Nice writeup and the snaps show that you really had fun. However do be cautious when off roading alone.
	() Thanks

7th July 2008, 19:10	#7
aaggoswami Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2007 Location: Vadodara Posts: 4,997 Thanked: 3,012 Times	Nice photographs. The location is quite impressive. Its really risky to go on offroading alone, but it must have been a lot of fun. Were there any risky/heart stopping moments with Safari ? How was Safari's 4 X 4 performance ? Was it engaged all along ?
	() Thanks

7th July 2008, 19:15	#8
akroy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: San Francisco, CA, USA Posts: 2,424 Thanked: 88 Times View My Garage	Nice pictorial Jay!! Mahabaleshwar route looks gorgeous in monsoons. Abhi
	() Thanks

7th July 2008, 21:50	#10
bglsrini BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: bangalore Posts: 291 Thanked: 2 Times	great pictures jay.Really enjoyed seeing them and the safari
	() Thanks

7th July 2008, 22:10	#11
jkdas Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Thiruvananthapu Posts: 9,685 Thanked: 1,497 Times View My Garage	Nice pix Jay. Golden Beige looks great. Where did the alloy cups (? ) go ? Using OE wipers?
	() Thanks

8th July 2008, 11:36	#12
adarvesh BHPian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 42 Thanked: Once	i suggest you not to go alone to rajmachi if you are stuck then god help you
	() Thanks

8th July 2008, 13:56	#13
indianrunner BHPian Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: bangalore Posts: 226 Thanked: 33 Times	Where you using stock H/T tyres or have you invested in A/T or M/Ts? Rgds
	() Thanks

8th July 2008, 14:56	#14
PhrozenFire BHPian Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 267 Thanked: 5 Times	Hey great pics there Jay! Takes me back to the trip two of my friends and I made to Rajmachi back in 2002, on a CBZ and Suzuki Shogun. The tarmac road ended in Lonavla itself and from there on till the base of the fort was a gravel and rock strewn path. We had to fjord quite a number of streams, which was great fun! And we barely sat on the seats at all. Most of the time we were just standing on the footpegs - imagining ourselves to be Paris-Dakar riders! Dont have any pics of that trip as digicams were way too expensive then for college kids to afford. Nevertheless, your pictures took me back on a nice trip down memory lane!
	() Thanks

8th July 2008, 15:01	#15
VJ_MAVRICK Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Sydney Posts: 1,239 Thanked: 34 Times View My Garage	Nice pics there Jay and keep them coming.
	() Thanks