Well, not sure how many of you know me. I’m the one who used to come with Bang Bros to all the OTR's. Reason - similar interest.
Been close to a year since I got introduced to off-roading (Kakkabe Was my 1st OTR). Always wanted to do these crazy things, but lack of vehicle made me be just a spectator.
Issue 1. Parents were a skeptical about this sport as it doesn’t look like a sport for them. Dad always says, spending 4-5 lakh on a goods carrier and taking it to some unknown land and come back only with half of the vehicle is not called as sports, its called madness. So they never supported it.
Issue 2. Already own Hyundai Accent (I bought it and I’m just a kid) and affording another vehicle would put me in not so nice condition. Thought of selling Accent and buying a gypsy, But can’t take out parents in it and dad does not drive these kind of vehicles.
Issue 3. We do not have parking to accommodate two 14 feet vehicles (yeah gypsy is 13.8 and accent is 14ft)
So this remained a dream.
After loooong negotiations, requests etc etc dad was like " iska kuch nahi hoga" and told OK to buy an off roader. He was skeptical about used vehicle as it might not be not reliable. And I’m in no mood to buy a new one and use it off road. So decided on used Gypsy.
Why Gypsy? Simple because I do not understand the Jeep. It requires a lot of knowledge to maintain. SO I’m happy off with gypsy.
Now comes the difficult part. Finding a gypsy. Honestly finding an off-roader is more difficult than off-roading. Trust me on this.
Been around 2 months since I started searching but not able to find any good condition gypsy.
I remember Venky (
Red Liner) saying once when I was just thinking of buying one - macha start searching for gypsy, by the time you find one you will have all the money in your pocket. LOl true.
Fast forward.
After all searching thing came to an end, I decided to buy Swastik Vijis gypsy. He gave me 2 options Carb or MPFI. Man that was the day. I had the option to choose also. Chose MPFI initially and then settled to carb (have some future plans).
Fast forward again.
All set and done. Was supposed to take it home yesterday but Carb problem. This vehicle has WEBER carb and tuning it is something everyone cannot do. So viji told me to take it home in the same condition and show it to Harry who is supposed to be an expert in carb tuning.
I said OK and started rolling towards home unaware that this would be the trip of my life time.
Little rewind.
I told the garage people to service the vehicle and change all fluids as it is already in the garage. After the wash the problem started with idling. So the mech removed the filter and few other things and cleaned with petrol. After that the matter turned from bad to worse. The engine idling never comes down to 3-4000 RPM. So in neutral (in signals etc) it sounds as if it’s gonna explode.
Viji checked and told not to fiddle around with it and take it to harry as advised.
On the way back I could not drive it above 3rd gear as I had to control only with the break which lead to engine overheating.
I dint know that if the engine is run on 2nd and 3rd gear for 8-10 kms (30 minutes) the engine gets heated.
So had to take a small nap (read 40 minutes) in lal bagh (yeah that’s where the engine temp was in red).
Ya, forgot to mention about the sound (miss sound). Man that was one freaking sound that a vehicle can produce. Every time I down shift, there will a big explosion. I was like hiding my face in the signals or pretend that it was not from my vehicle.
Took close to 3 hours and somehow managed to come home and parked the vehicle. And in the end it goes "KABOOOM". I run inside as if I never heard it. I could hear some aunty's coming out and asking which transformer exploded now
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This is the end of my story of purchase. Will be going to get the carb tuned and then I’m good to take the vehicle with pride. Other than the carb tuning, the vehicle rocks. The exhaust notes is to die for. I'm in love with it.
Thanks to Viji and all my friends who helped me in getting one of my child hood dream.
Pictures, this is all I have now. Will upload as and when I click. And most of them have already seen the vehicle.
My handle makes some sense now
PS: Tomorrow is my birthday. Can there be a better present to gift oneself on a birthday?? Nah !!
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