[HappyWheels]

All these happening, while the Safari was just waiting patiently under the sun on this side:


With cowboy MJothi on the other side:


Now, to the point as to why the Willy is going to remain in my memory for long.

See this (especially the front bumber):



Scratched; scratched when I was parked, by the lovely Willy. Those are deep and I also got some green paint over there!

I am thankful that it was only this much, since the scope for getting a fully smashed boot or a really messed up side door, broken side mirror was there. Fortunately, it came to his only.

And even more fortunate, or good presence of mind, on Sandeeps side! He took it too close to the rather sharp fall, to avoid the Safari - a huge risk! Thankfully nothing happened!

Since that incident, I stayed far away of far back from the Willy!

But, being the first OTR on this machine, Sandeep was getting to know the vehicle, which he did, quite a lot, in this trip.

All in all, a good outing, some dis-appointment that I got nothing much to do, further dis-appointment that I got a scratch without doing anything(!!!) but a good feeling of having had a wonderful time with a great set of people.

What I still find bad is that I notice some people throwing plastic bottles and covers all around. I wish, next time, they use their a dirt bag to carry it back or hold on to it, till then can dispose it properly, as few did by carry plastics in their pocket.

So, till next time, thanks to all!

[mjothi]

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

What I still find bad is that I notice some people throwing plastic bottles and covers all around. I wish, next time, they use their a dirt bag to carry it back or hold on to it, till then can dispose it properly, as few did by carry plastics in their pocket.

Hmm, not good. But all in all, I have seen this team very environmental friendly. We dont litter. We even pick up garbages if found in the forest.

Now you know why Star_aqua's jeep is like how it is.

And that is only the second target. First being the Spidey. Since its a open Gypsy, makes it easy for all

[HappyWheels]

Star_Aqua's jeep was more like, to put it politely, a junk yard!

I am sure going through it will give some interesting finds!

[starter]

It was a wonderful sunday morning. I got to meet most of the members who attended the OTR. Starting from Suresh (HappyWheels) and his red beauty; Safari. Next, i met Sandeep, Devdath and two of their friends in that beautiful Willys. Willys did make a little drama for waking it up so early in the morning. Pampering it with a tank full of fuel, he was ok to go. Feels sorry to read that there was some sudden chemistry that Willys developed on Suresh's Safari over the OTR.

We then went and joined the gang in front of IIMB. Met Dwarak Sir, Shakir, Sunil Nanjappa, another Sunil, Ravi, Vijay and many more friends. What a warm welcome my new Gypsy is given by all the members here! It was overwhelming. You all are wonderful. After another 10 minutes, we started towards the Restaurant at Gottigere for breakfast. Ravi decided to join me till the restaurant.

Once we reached the restaurant, me and Sunil Nanjappa (Blue Spidy) were trying to compare the new with the old. He starts the engine and seriously, we just can't hear it. Its so silent and smooth, just brilliant. Am in love with the Spidys. As all of us have breakfast, i get some time to catch up with Shakir & Vijay. Once all the members had breakfast and started to leave towards the OTR spot, i started to head back home.

I had to back home since i have not run in my Gypsy completely. Will do it soon and hopefully, will make it to the next OTR. When i was almost leaving, i saw Krishna coming in his Gypsy (Almost on time inspite of reaching Bangalore early morning? What dedication! ) and Vijay and Mjothi in Vijay's 540. Vijay's 540 is sporting a new snorkel and it looks ubercool. This is how it all started. Could not click any pictures, i am sorry for that. That's my account of the OTR.
@Suresh: Wonderful pictures!!
@Sunil: Hope, you decide and get your 4X4 soon!
Cheers Everybody.
Deepak

[Baburajs]

I want to recount my experiences at my first full blown OTR. Will try to tell what was running in my mind and how the day panned out through my eyes.

As a newbie to off roading I was little apprehensive of doing this OTR. I was patiently rebuilding my Jeep for past some months with full floating rear axles , new tyres , 4 core radiator etc. But I was not sure whether my jeep will withstand the rigours of the OTR and more than that I was worried whether I could drive through the treacherous terrains. More than that I was worried as the last OTR i attended had ended in a wimper when my gear top assembly went Kaput before even starting the OTR. But when Dwarak sir announced about the OTR i really wanted go for this. So I took two days leave in my office and wen to kerala ( I had decided that I was going home this weekend) and came back on Saturday. Due to some unforeseen events I reached back in Bangalore only by Sat midnight. My Jeep was with my brother in law and he stayed quite far. He wanted to come for the OTR but because of personal commitments he couldn't make it. So I had to go and get the Jeep in the morning. I slept off in the night thinking that I would miss this. But in the morning I got up at 5.45 AM automagically !!!! . I was still groggy and decided not to go. Then my friend called at 6 AM and asked arent we going. Then I decided we will go after some pushing and prodding from my wife ( she is very sweet you know ) but I was sure I will be late.

Went to my brother in laws place and got the jeep and reached IIMB. It was morning 8 by that time. No trace of any Jeeps. started driving towards the breakfast point and voilaa there goes a gypsy and a Jeep with a snorkel. Wasnt I relieved. I was sure these guys were going to the OTR . Joined them and went to the breakfast point. Many of the guys were there and were getting ready to leave. We had a very swift breakfast of Idlies dipped in Sambar and left the place to the OTR venue.

Drove for some 45 Minutes and there i see the machines were getting together. They came from all the directions and we had a informal meeting there.



Vinay Dwarak and Prithvi briefed us Newbies about the essentials before starting the OTR and off we went. I was on 3rd Low and went down to the valley through the rugged terrain of mud , grass and stones. Reached down and saw the now infamous pit and the incline . The pictures dont do justice to the incline there. There is a mud pit and an incline with a left turn. Its a little tricky as there is only one approach angle to the incline. All other places its deep pit as the Willy later found out.



Dwarak sir and Prithvy cleared the Pit and were on top and then started the struggle of us mortals. One by one the vehicles tried and many failed. Dwarak sir was towing them up and happy wheels was happy to toe them from behind.

In between I could do this obstacle without much of a trouble may be more out of the luck than me finding the right way. Dwarak sir helped me in spotting the track . I was on 2nd Low as i was instructed and went with a fair amount of momentum towards the incline and covered it with relative ease.

In between this Dwarak's Jypsy's clutch cable broke. The vehicle was trying to pull up another jeep and the cable went dead. We pushed the monster in to a place where it will not impede the movement of vehicles. After this I was entrusted with the toeing of vehicles up the incline which I did after Vinay demonstrated me how to do it the first time. At last all the participating vehicles did the obstacle and we went down towards the next obstacle in the track.

It was during this time that the Willy had got stuck rayally in the pit and Happy wheels was trying to rescue him and people in the willy got bathed in slush.

And one more point I saw happening when the safari was trying to pull a jeep. The jeep driver was not doing anything and was unaware that the monster truck was going to pull . So without the help of the jeep The monster just pulled it out of the Muck in to safe land. Hats off to the power of the truck here.

[Baburajs]

We came back from the slush and then moved towards the next stage. This was a rocky decline with stones protruding. It was a little tricky at the center and at the end. .Care had to be taken that you climb on both the stones at the same time or else you can say bye bye to your differentials. At the center there was two stones jutting out. And at the end in the centre we had a pit which had a stone in it .People started going down and the blue spidey did a break dance and went down without any hustle. It took the difficult root and did it without any problems .

I as a newbie was little bewildered of doing this but did it at the end without much fuss


It was here that Viji ( i think i havent got the name wrong here) tried to go through the road less travelled (through the pit ) and got stuck on a rock.

If these two obstacles were difficult i was taken aback by the next one where dwarak sir took us.

[14000rpm]

finally pix from my side. too sleepy to give captions to each of the pix but then, enough has been explained already.

[jaysmokesleaves]

Wow!!! some really good fun out there, you guys!!
I hope to be able to drive down to OTR with you guys once.

Happywheels, sad to see your green brush stroke there, but honestly , there is no telling what can happen on OTR meets. Damages could be minimal like you paint job to busted tires, fenders, bumpers, fuel tank, footboards, exhausts and god knows what else. especially with the Safari, this can be expensive. So when you go out there, be prepared & beware!!

Happywheels, did your Safari make it through that slush without towing & assistance..????

[Baburajs]

Too sleepy to write more . I will write about rest of my experiences in the morning. Waiting for the photos .

[Baburajs]

The next was a narrow passage with lot of loose rocks and many huge rocks protruding out . It can be said of two stages. First one was relatively ok with a ascent and a narrow passage as i said and second was liittle tricky and needed good maneuvering , good spotting .

The first part
-------------



The second part
-----------------



Prithvi with his gypsy was the first one to attempt this. He went towards the second stage with some problems because of the loose rocks and then got stuck there for some time. After some amount of jumpings and rockings it cleared it .

Next Raj tried it and cleared with quite a bit of struggle but came out quickly.

Then it was my turn . I put in 3rd Low and started the climb . cleared the first part but was thrown to my right to the rock in the second part. I think my momentum was a little high. Came back at the instructions of people there and again tried in the same gear. The result was the same. My fron differential was resting on the rock now. Some how again managed to come out and got back. Now i tried the 2nd Low and went in little more slowly and yes this time i cleared it. Oh man it was feeling good

After finishing the Obstacle I was looking for Prithvi and Raj and it was then I saw they perched on top of a steep rock quite some far. I couldnt fathom how the heck had they reached there. Thought there was some way surrounding the rock and moved towards the rock. But to my dismay Raj asked me to crawl the rock. Now I was shaken. I knew that the jeeps could do it with relative ease but since I hadn't done it till now i was apprehensive for obvious reasons.

I lined up the Jeep in a position where the rock was more or less uniform , slotted to the 1st low and moved in towards the rock with my foot in the mouth as i couldnt keep the foot on the clutch or the break :-) . And there she was slowly crawling up the rock at the slightest touch of the accelerator. I was discovering one more capability of my baby




There was strong cool breeze on top of the rock compared to the heat below. I sat there and saw other crossing the obstacle one by one. In between we could get the strong smell of some one cooking his clutch in great style. One of gypys had fried half his clutch trying to come up the rocky climb . (Dude i dont know your name ) .

Then we saw the willis with the baleno heart coming towards us to climb the rock. When he started the crawl his approach angle was not correct and he tried to correct the course mid way where there was a hump or a bump on the rock . It was then the jeep decided to do a nataraja stance. Two of the wheel of one side was in air . And he had his family with a kid in the jeep . Man werent we all scared . It was one of the scariest part of the OTR. Some how the jeep became normal and he came up but only after his kid was brought down from the Jeep.

Now one by one people were coming up the rock and I was seeing the difference in Jeeps and Gypsys. Jeeps were slowly crawling up the rock without much revving but gypsys were coming up quite fast with higher revvs.

Then we all started to descend and thats when Willy decided to play it a little different. This is what I think happened. Sundeep was trying to come down and to align his vehicle he had to come back. But accidently instead of slotting the reverse he had come in to 4th or the 3rd gear and the jeep jumped forward with good speed . Man this was more scary than the other incident . I was little away from where it was happening and saw people clinging on to the Jeep like leaches to slow it down . Guys amazing courage you have . I salute you. Again the Jeep was controlled and any mishaps were prevented with Gods grace and with good presence of mind.

Then some were trying to climb the ascent in reverse direction as their carb had some problem when climbing the right way.

After coming down from the rock people started looking at ways to go back to the gathering place. It was around 3.30 PM by then. Many of us followed a village road trail which took us through a narrow bund that took us to the gathering place. But many others took some other treacheus ways to come back and at last we were back where it all started.

In between all this after the slush challenge there was another challenge that was spicing up the atmosphere. It was the at the obstacle where Khan is said to have failed last time ( I dont know as I was not there ). Now I think the place has sobered a little bit but not much ( looking at those photos) . Now the Blue spidey went down the same place and was trying to climb it. It tried two to three times but was getting stuck for want of momentum at the last point. At this point Vinay on the Willis just drove and cleared this like it was a piece of cake. Now the Gypsy guys were egging on Sunil to clear the obstacle and thats what the blue spidey did in the next attempt. The momentum was correct and he too cleared it easily. It was amazing to see those machines doing those stunts.


From the last point I left directly to my home as I had a function to attend but majority of the people were gathering in the food and watering hole.

All in all it was a great memorable OTR for me and was initiated to the journey . Learnt some things about using right gears at the right time and about use of momentum and torque.

Thanks guys for helping me out it was indeed a great day for me

[swastikviji]

Originally Posted by Baburajs

Yes the guy in black tee indeed. Sir where are the photos. We are waiting ....... .

Avinash. Let the photos come. Dont worry if they are duplicates. The more the merrier. What say mates.

Babu

Good writeup baburaj. do you have any videos in your camera?

[mjothi]

Originally Posted by [B

Baburajs[/b];1562221]There was strong cool breeze on top of the rock compared to the heat below. I sat there and saw other crossing the obstacle one by one. In between we could get the strong smell of some one cooking his clutch in great style. One of gypys had fried half his clutch trying to come up the rocky climb . (Dude i dont know your name )

It was our Swastikviji's Gypsy.

And good writeup sir.

Originally Posted by jaysmokesleaves

Happywheels, did your Safari make it through that slush without towing & assistance..????

No. He did not want to try. Reason is, the slush was too much dug with all the vehicles try and next to impossible for the safari to make it safely.

Most of the Gypsy made it initially and made the place much more challenging for the Jeeps to follow

With every try, the slush is dug & dug. The last one tried was the Willys and thats it. It got stuck. Our suresh was so happy to pull it that he started towing the vehicle even without the tow cable attached to his vehicle.

Not sure why, but several times the tow cable came off from the willys side while starting to pull.

I think the willys had more chance of pulling from the front. But not sure why they attempted from rear everytime. May be the seniors saw some advantage on this, which I could not.

And the Baleno engine. Man, thats a excellent vehicle. Esp the sound it makes. The bumpy tires also helped a lot. He just passed across that slush.

Archit gypsy, first it got stuck. No, I should say it lost the momentum and stopped in middle. Then with a little push from Dwarak and one more, it made to make a reverse. And next try, was easily on top.

Btw, whose vehicle was that that zoomed making Dwarak to run for life

There were so many hands clicking left, right & center. And I see only 2 or 3 people posting here. Where is ravibhat? I dont see him posting. He did cover the event with his camera.

Swastikviji's gypsy also struggled and could never make it in the slush. Everytime he tried, it went half way and sits happily. Finally it was towed.

And siddu's spead record was beaten by Prithvi. hehehe.

After all these stunt, everyone started to come down to get to the next spot. And it was then, our blue Spidey wanted to cross the climb where you had 2 high humps next to next. The deep valley between these 2 humps would definitely hit the bumper for other vehicle. Initially he tried slowly and climbed down.

Then several tries was made for climbing up but failed. It was due to the fact that he wanted to be really safe not to hit any diff or break anything.

And Vinay was silently watching this sitting in Willys. Then he gives a look.

The look that says "you Gypsy guys can't make it baba".

Then he starts the willy, zooms and with a big thud goes up and when everyone thought it made it, it stopped at the top. And then a somemore press in the pedal, it clears.

Now, Sunil has to clear this. So, he also decides to do it in momentum now. Ready, get set, and go. Zooom, it climbs.

So, the famous fight of Gypsy or Jeep will again keep continuing. Lets decide it in next challengine spot. Lol.

[14000rpm]

Originally Posted by swastikviji

Good writeup baburaj. do you have any videos in your camera?

I have a few videos.especially of the spidey 2's attempts and thereafter vinay's attempt in the jeep. basically the gypsy vs jeep fight lol.
Will put it up in youtube soon and eventually post it too.

[krishnathanthri]

Originally Posted by mjothi

Btw, whose vehicle was that that zoomed making Dwarak to run for life

It was my Gypsy

Everybody told “momentum, momentum, keep left, keep left” so I did the same

I was glad that I reached without getting stuck.

[mjothi]

Originally Posted by krishnathanthri

It was my Gypsy

Everybody told “momentum, momentum, keep left, keep left” so I did the same

I was glad that I reached without getting stuck.

Attachment 220518

Moral of the story is - Aim Dwarak?