[thirugata]

Off late it has become a regular affair for us local Team - BHP members to meet here in and around Mangalore. This is the 3rd such meet that has happened in last 6 months or so.

Wait, but this meet was nothing like before. This was different, very different.
No it was very very different.

Now if you are wondering what this excitement is all about if the meets have been that regular, this time we were going to try our hand driving a jeep on a purpose built off-roading track.

Before we get into the details of how it unfolded first thing first.

This event was a brainchild of Akhil scorpion1558 who built this track for us, risked giving us newbies his jeep to learn the skills of off-roading and guided us on how it should be done.

So a big thanks to him and Digvijay @bdn317 for lending helping hand to him in this process.



Director of the day.

If Akhil was the director of the day, his jeep was the hero of the day. It did everything almost on its own and made us rookies who were holding the steering look like pros.



It is a 1988 Mahindra CJ640 XDP*4x4. Has a peugeot aluminium head engine, solid axles on leafs front and back, a 4 speed transmission with a low ratio gear box.
Mods include buckshot mudder tires, metal snorkel, 6 ton winch, raised exhaust, a roll bar, power steering and*booster*brakes.

It was used in Akhil's saw mill to pull logs in the past and it is the same mill where this track was built for us.

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A couple of months ago during one of our regular banters on a social media platform Akhil asked if any of us would be interested in testing our off-roading skills and that idea caught traction and Akhil started building the track for the day. Finally it was decided that we would be meeting on 12/01/2025 and rest of the plan for food and beverages were finalized.

I am sure few didn't sleep much the previous night because of the excitement and when we met at the track in the morning we were all like kids in the candy shop.

The gang..



Front row left to right : Kiran (thirugata), Arshad (arshad YR), Digvijay (bdn317), Chinmay ( nityaya), Adithya ( a_bharadwaj), Gagandeep (gagan_DB), Akhil (scorpiondicor), Alston's friend, Alston (alstonlobo), Rajesh (carfreak), Prasanna (prasanna_indaje), Anand (dockap), Chethan (gischathan), Akhil's friend, Sundeep (deep blue).

Back row left to right: Pravin (PraVINRai), Johnson (johny-desperado), Srinidhi (SRISRI_90), Samarth (samaspire).

Missing in the photo : Vijeth (emvi)



Our cars













Guys who were leaving from Mangalore assembled outside the city and proceeded towards BC Road. Guys who were coming from Manipal and Udupi had started earlier.
All of us met Akhil at BC Road and then we drove towards the mill. By then few of the local guys who lives in Puttur and around also had come.
Chetan was coming from Karkala and even he joined us.



This guy was not impressed at all that we were making all the noise on a Sunday morning



After a brief introduction and greetings, we assembled together and Akhil shared some instructions about do's and dont's of off roading.
Then Akhil drove the jeep on the track to give us the demo of how it should be done. After this all of us had drive around the track one at a time.
Some of them also drove their own vehicle on the track to test the capabilities of their ride.

For most of us it was the first experience to drive a vehicle on an off-road track. It was fun and the memories of this experience will remain with me for a long time.

Now I will let the photos do the talking.

[thirugata]

Srinidhi was the first one to drive the track. He also showed us how to move the log using the jeep.





Alston's Bolero testing waters



Johnson who had prior experience of Off-roading drove his Major on the track







Digvijay showed us his SWB classic can do the track even though it was 2WD.



Alston's Bolero got into a bit of sticky situation and crane was pressed into action for recovery









Akhil's safari didn't want to let go the chance to show what it is capable of.





















And thus, we ended the day.

[Samurai]

Moving out of Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing...

Looks like you guys had great fun. Too bad for me that it happened when I was away in Bangalore. Wouldn't have missed it otherwise.

[gischethans]

Offroading always fascinated me and I signed up for this when the proposal was first made. It was also my first time meeting the coastal BHPians after being acquainted with the group over social media for the past several months. Many of us were first-timers to off-roading but we never felt out of the place and Akhil had always assured us that all of us would be able to tackle the course. It was very generous of him to make all the efforts to plan and set up the whole track and keep us updated about the progress. He is indeed very passionate about offroading.

I was lucky to be Akhil's co-pilot (except that he does not need one for navigation) when he showed us a demo of what was to come that day. We followed this practice of the next driver being the co-pilot to understand the machine and the track better and I got to accompany Vijeth later that day. I would rate both of them as off-roading pros given their extensive off-roading experience. It was also evident from how they drove comfortably on the trail.

While we were encouraged to stick to lower gears, the first or second at the max for our own and vehicle's safety, Vijeth demonstrated how it was possible to quickly shift gears beyond that and still be in control. It was amazing to see the engine braking in action with zero pedal input while moving down the steep incline.

When my turn came, I had Digvijay beside me. I realized a few Jeep things as well - gear shifting can be tricky where I had to take my experienced co-pilot's help and brake pedal travel does not end where it seems to end and you can (and must) push more. Perhaps pumping it would make it better. Further, turning requires better judgement - I can only imagine how the experience would have been without the power steering that this Jeep had. It was so effortless for the Jeep to take the steep incline upward - one has to drive to see the power in action!

Apart from off-roading, we got to admire each other's vehicles like Dr. Anand's new Thar Roxx and Alston's tastefully modded Bolero. The venue had good shade from the trees and none of us were exhausted much!

I will always cherish this day and look forward to having my own 4x4 vehicle in the future and proudly displaying "I may get lost but I'll never get stuck".

[Emvi]

Thanks Kiran Rao, for penning it down. It was a fantastic meet, unlike any I’ve had before. The host, Akhil, did a magnificent job not only building the track but also lending his off-roader to experience the track and terrain. It wouldn't be fair if I didn’t thank him for his efforts, as well as Digvijay for his assistance and inputs. Akhil's 'beast' took a lot of abuse, however, every thud was greeted with a smile from the host.

Dr. Anand warmed up by taking his white Roxx for a spin around a section of the track, kicking up some serious dust . Then he hopped onto Akhil's off-roader, while I remained his co-passenger. It was fun going around the track for the first time, and I must say, the Doc handled it with aplomb. When my turn came up, it was Chethan beside me. Although I'm not a hardcore off-roader by any stretch of the imagination, I have a bit of experience driving 4x4s on such terrains. I had a great time with Chethan, discussing and sharing whatever little I know about 4x4 vehicles.

As is often the case, photos can be deceptive. Some of the inclines were nearly vertical, and a couple of sections were quite tough, to be honest. They don't look as extreme in the pics. Thanks to Akhil's(and Digvijay's) guidance, everyone managed to conquer the obstacles with relative ease. It was unfortunate that I had to miss the post-lunch session and the group photo shoot due to prior commitments.

All in all, it was a great event, meeting new, fun-loving auto enthusiasts. Thanks everyone for making this event memorable.

[a_bharadwaj]

It was a fantastic meet, learning about 4x4, making new friends.
A day well spent - with an exceptional host in Akhil - trainer of trainers for anything related to 4x4.

His ever smiling attitude when his Jeep was taking a beating, and the times he had to get his crane for rescue of others cars, was really the highlight of the day!

[megazoid]

superb report. The place looks beautiful in addition to the off-road part.
Lovely pictures too of the vehicles. Please extend the invite to Bangaloreans too next time.

[ssateesh]

Originally Posted by megazoid

superb report. The place looks beautiful in addition to the off-road part.
Lovely pictures too of the vehicles. Please extend the invite to Bangaloreans too next time.

Same request here. Please extend to Bangalore. There are quite a few off-roaders here

[emmenhr]

Originally Posted by ssateesh

Same request here. Please extend to Bangalore. There are quite a few off-roaders here

I too echo the thoughts of Bengalureans getting invited next time. Envy you guys though!!!

[samaspire]

Thanks to our "Pushparaj", we had a wonderful adventure.

This Off-roading is such an amazing sport! I think I might have just found my calling. When we first reached the location and Akhil showed us the track that he had prepared, it looked crazy difficult - with steep climbs 12 feet and 2 feet drops. Then he gave us a demo. Made it look very very easy. After the theory class each of us took turns in driving around the track under the guidance of Pushpa.

When my turn came, it was the first time I was ever driving a Jeep. It took me some time getting used to the torque and the brakes.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=sjVeFFyc03s?feature=share

All in all, this is something I would love to do again and again.

[thirugata]

Adding a short video of the event.

https://youtu.be/b5p0LGF28GI