"go"a west, young man

[lionheart133]

hi all,

I planned a trip to goa from Bangalore from 30th 0ct to 3 Nov. As usual did my research in Team-Bhp regarding routes & stay (where else) . Got my car checked and serviced. Four ex-classmates joined me for the trip. The route was from Bangalore-Chitradurga-Davangere-honali-sagar-etc etc to Goa.
We left at 130 am(thursday 30 Oct) on the dot from Bangalore. Thanks to my human navigator, we missed the turn to chitradurga at tumkur (he was sound asleep)
We continued the shimoga route and by 4 am passed tiptur when i took a curve at 60 km/hr. It was a textbook safety turn but hey we are in India right, there was a ditch on the side of the curve (i should call it a well).
I wanted to avoid but too late the left tires came in contact and BANG.......
I knew the tyres were history because they started wobbling. Immediately stopped to inspect (since it was dark switched on the ignition and turned on the beam lights) and my partners too got out and we locked the doors and were stuck outside (oops, did i mention we did not get the spare key as mentioned in the thread "Preparation for an Indian Road Trip")
heh heh

well here is the scenario

we are 8 kms from tiptur village.
2 tyres (front and rear left) of my wonderful tubless tyres (205/50-15) are history
we are locked out (with stereo on and the beam lights on too)
at 0430 am.

We flagged down cars, trucks and tried to do the scale-down-the-door -thingy. Those didnt work so made the decision to break the glass and open.
Well, we didnt (New Car and all)

A Nice Dhaba owner stopped by, called his mechanic friend and waited with us till the mech came (by 715 am) who turned and twisted and finally opened the door.
Our troubles were far from over.
I replace one tyre with the stepney but had to repair the other. We were told there was a 24/7 tubeless repair shop in tiptur!!! Thanked our stars and went there. I cant describe the horror that was done,friends.
Guy said he knew how to repair a tubless, you just insert a tube in it!!!
and then bang, bang,bang,scrap,scrape,clunk, clunk and pryed the tyre from the alloy. he inserted a tube that looked like it had been covered by band-aids (6 patches in all) excuse was thats all he had. We were like whatever, we need to get to shimoga atleast and see what happened.
Replaced the tyre and left tiptur by 900 am. Oh how happy we were. Forgot this incident and proceeded passed birur and then BANG.
That tubed tubless tyre gave up the ghost again. Hailed a Taxi to birur and other "I know how to repair a Tubeless" guy takes charge. Bang,bang, scrape, scrape, clunk, clunk. He is horrified seeing the sorry excuse of a tube inside the tubeless and curses the tiptur chap. He says the sidewall has a torn patch and that he will repair it. Well he does some sort of rubber metling, the strip is literally squeezed in between. But still good old air was leaking out. Guy gives up and puts back the same cursed tube inside.
We were like THIS IS IT. Shimoga or nothing.
Insert the tire and are barely 10 meters ahead when BANG again!!!!!
I literally lost it. But still we parked our car in a hostel. Hitched a ride in a Pick Up truck to shimoga over roads that make me wonder why india sent a rocket to the moon.
Met with MRT Shop owner who says the both tyres sidewall are badly damaged and you need a replacement. Called up prakash from super tyre tech who send the tyres from bangalore in the evening as i was talking to him.
We took up a room in shimoga (MG Palace) went out and literaly ate like dogs and had a sound 13 hour sleep. Got up in the morning(friday), tyres arrived, fixed it and made the decision to get back to bangalore (we ran out of time, were supposed to back on monday)
Well, i dont actually regret this "voyage". It was out of the ordinary, complete opposite of what we planned. But it did make us realise that whatever the situation, maintain a calm mind and voila the solution is right in front of you. Plus Village Folk and way way better than city folk in terms of hospitality

Cheers

Lnhrt

[btirthankar]

Buddy, be careful on long trips like these.

Don't drive as if there is no tomorrow.

You need to be cautious. I am sure you will not repeat these mistakes and wish you great drives in future.

Thanks for sharing the story with us. I liked your writing style.

[lionheart133]

@ btirthankar - drive safe is my mantra from now onwards, bro. This was my first long drive in my own car and what an experience

Rgrds

Lnhrt

[btirthankar]

Originally Posted by lionheart133

@ btirthankar - drive safe is my mantra from now onwards, bro. This was my first long drive in my own car and what an experience

Rgrds

Lnhrt

Glad to hear that.

• I always roll down the windows down a bit when I pull over the vehicle on the highway.
• "Never Run out of that Road"
• Don't push the vehcile to the limits, "Nobody is going to telecast a video-coverage on National Television if you miss that exit or even overtaken by some speed-demon"

There are Golden Rules and Golden Rules, but I guess caution is the best bet. Else, even if we carry a set of 4 spare tyres, we may get into a mess.

[BlackPearl]

Sad to hear that you had to cancel your trip, but on the other hand it was good that nothing else was damaged apart from the tires while trying to avoid the ditch. I can very well understand the trauma of seeing your beloved alloy being hammered upon by a quack.

[lohithrao]

lionheart thats sa d stuff anyways should say you managed well!

Shimoga route is risky, was there last week and i must say i was very cautious as throughout you find big potholes sometimes inbetween good stretch...this is where one gets into trouble!!

btw which car you drive?? and how are the suspensions doing?

[kpzen]

Glad that u made it back safely.
Was there any other damage other than the wheels??
Anyways in case u get locked next time try using the scale on the rear doors.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Another lessor you need to learn - the guy on the front passenger should not sleep. I (or rather, every body in my family) never allow that.

[phamilyman]

I think this thread needs to be cleaned up a bit for readability, and needs to be put up as a sticky to warn newbies, as well as warn junta of the dangers of traveling in India!

Good that its all ended, but that'd be one messy expensive trip.

And its okay, I'm very sure your concentration lapse would've been ever so minor, but the damage is always done. We all screw up now and then!

[lionheart133]

@ Blackpearl - Quack! thats a nice word for the tyrewallah
@lohitrao - the car is a getz crdi with 205/50-15s. suspensions are fine, checking it tommorrow
@kpzen - rear door got it, sir. btw the car has a lot of scratches courtesy "too many cooks spoil the broth"
@ Backseatdriver - comeon man, i had to kind of multitask then. with looking at the road to avoid the "craters & ravines", too the high beam drivers to the occassional sleeping trucker etc its hard to check your passengers too.
@phamilyman - actually the best part is the guys split the expenses so me not bleeding too much

rgrds

Lnhrt

[lionheart133]

Hi,

ummm did i mention that the ICE was belting out "Highway to Hell" all the time we were stuck outside the NH 206

If that ain't ironic, i don't know what is

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Lionheart, please - I meant it in the sense that it is the obligation of the front LHS passenger to stay awake.