[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by pareyshaan

In most of the northern states the cops automatically put out their hand when they see an out of state registration. You should never stop and in case they chase you and stop you( which they never will because of their mala fide intentions) you can say that I did not see you. Also, they mostly stop small cars - if you have a Civic or even a City they are cautious because you may turn out to be a senior babu and they won't take a risk. They will never ever stop a 20 lakh plus car even if a dreaded criminal is sitting in it!

It happens a lot in MH and TN too, not just North. I have never faced any problems in GJ or RJ, but faced it several times in DL, PB, JK, UP, BR and HP.

Be careful if you are running away from a cop trying to stop you. Never make eye contact, you can always pretend that you did not see him, and always say because of closed windows you did not hear him. But be careful, one one occasion in MP, they pulled down the checkpost 15 kms away t stop me because I had turned a blind eye to a cop whistling me to stop! With mobile phones, cops are also becoming smarter!

[pareyshaan]

Depends on the situation actually. I was shown a hand once by a lone cop in Jaipur with a rupee sign written on his face. Not only did I not stop but my disdain forced me to thrust my chin downward in the famous North Indian insult ;-). Cop accepted it matter-of-factly and acted as though nothing happened when I looked back in my rear view mirror.

[rkg]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

In Gujarat and Rajasthan, yellow sticker [of about 1" wide] is required to be pasted vertically on the outer edge of the right side headlamp of every vehicle compulsorily, otherwise, be ready to face the music from the cops/RTO. But, my Linea didn't have it, and thankfully, was not stopped anywhere during my last year trip to these states. For vehicles bought/serviced in these states, sticker bearing their name is affixed on the headlamp by the dealer/service station.

In my recent trip to Gujarat, nobody stopped me for yellow sticker. i did not have it. i was in Gujarat for six days

[autoenthusiast]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

In Gujarat and Rajasthan, yellow sticker [of about 1" wide] is required to be pasted vertically on the outer edge of the right side headlamp of every vehicle compulsorily, otherwise, be ready to face the music from the cops/RTO. But, my Linea didn't have it, and thankfully, was not stopped anywhere during my last year trip to these states. For vehicles bought/serviced in these states, sticker bearing their name is affixed on the headlamp by the dealer/service station.

Thanks Ravi, though I still don't understand why they require it. Is it just a plain Yellow sticker ? Or is it a Radium yellow sticker that would glow in the night with the oncoming headlamps, and also clearly show up to motorists coming towards you when your headlight is not working.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by autoenthusiast

Thanks Ravi, though I still don't understand why they require it. Is it just a plain Yellow sticker ? Or is it a Radium yellow sticker that would glow in the night with the oncoming headlamps, and also clearly show up to motorists coming towards you when your headlight is not working.

Supposed to be anti-glare.
Single yellow sticker.
Not reflectors.

[autoenthusiast]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Supposed to be anti-glare.
Single yellow sticker.
Not reflectors.

Thanks Kumar, but that just doesn't make sense, a yellow sticker on the side of the headlight and shown in the way it is in above picture will never serve as an anti-glare sticker. It would be just useless.

I'd put it more down to a way for these corrupt officials to make smart cash. Is this a requirement in the India Motor Vehicles act ? Did one of the politicos put up a Yellow dye or a Yellow Sticker factory ? The questions can be so many, I wonder !

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by autoenthusiast

Thanks Kumar, but that just doesn't make sense, a yellow sticker on the side of the headlight and shown in the way it is in above picture will never serve as an anti-glare sticker. It would be just useless.

I'd put it more down to a way for these corrupt officials to make smart cash. Is this a requirement in the India Motor Vehicles act ? Did one of the politicos put up a Yellow dye or a Yellow Sticker factory ? The questions can be so many, I wonder !

I entirely agree with you, but why argue with cops in a strange place far away from home? The path of least resistance is to comply with whatever State regulation is there and avoid that much worry! For example, use of sun film is not allowed/ restricted in places like DL/CH, and if you have them in your car you are asking for trouble, so better to remove them or avoid such places.

Originally Posted by autoenthusiast

Is it just a plain Yellow sticker ? Or is it a Radium yellow sticker

You can use yellow-coloured insulation tape safely. But, if the cop is determined to make you poorer, nothing could come to your rescue!

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Tinted glasses and headlamp yellow stickers - these appear to be cops favourite extortion topics!

Kumar sir, is it any tint or only dark tints that are a problem? I usually put a very light see-through film would they be ok with the Cops there?

[fine69]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Kumar sir, is it any tint or only dark tints that are a problem? I usually put a very light see-through film would they be ok with the Cops there?

In delhi side-window tints with 50% visibility & rear-window tints with 70% visibility are allowed.
In Chandigarh too tints have been allowed very recently, not sure of the exact percentage visibility but I don't think it'd be less than 70% visibility there.

[droolingvoyager]

Originally Posted by saleem_k

Do post more pics and your experiences with Ritz. I have observed in some photos that you kept the bonnet open. Is it really required with the current generation engines?

Saleem,

The bonnet open thingy is just, that I would think my car needs. Nowhere, did my electronic sensors report of excessive heating, (I have driven 33 hrs non-stop) Its just that I like to do that occasionally. Long back, a very good bus driver had told me that you should treat your car as if it is a person, who can hear and feel. You would find it to reciprocate. I have been doing that. I do not mind if people call me superstitious.

Originally Posted by pamishra

Wow..thats an amazing journey dude. Beautiful snaps..waiting for Leh

thanks you sir

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Fabulous pictures! Mind blowing scenery! I wonder when I will do this dream road trip (Bangalore - Ladakh)



What is this "yellow strip" for? I have no clue. Hearing about it first time here in this thread

Btw, (I know this is a stupid question but) did you face any problem with Ground clearance in the Ladakh region roads? Reason I ask is I might plan to go in my Linea / Swift sometime soon.

Karthik,

the yellow strip is something already explained by Kumar Sir. I would just like to add, that it may be just me, but driving in Rajasthan during the night was just a bit more comfortable with the glare relatively lesser. Rajasthan is a place where 90% of RJ cars would have the yellow strip. While driving through Rajasthan I did assume the yellow strip was good thing.

The GC for ritz is 180mm and with some load should be 176mm. There were major hits on the sump and chasis. I am relatively new driver for such terrain, and hence I got hit twice in the sump. The sump is a crucial part as I heard the mechanics saying that there is a oil suction mechanism there which is expensive to replace if broken. A hard hit can break that. So, when you drive, you should just avoid a hit to sump. There are folks with even lesser GC who do quite well in the Ladakh region. So, the GC should be good, however one should just learn how to navigate in these regions. I had already got some advice from stalwarts, like, a hit is unavoidable, so just decide which place you want to get that, and drive accordingly. Mostly the guys who are experienced drive so that the chasis bears the most brunt. I tried that, and I was successful all the way. On all the bad parts I was not hit on sump. But when I was looking at the beauty of the hills on good tarmac, suddenly I would get a rock right in the middle. So, if you are driving just concentrate on that and do not enjoy the spectacular views this was too difficult to exercise.
End result (image)

The hit to sump


The side chasis, getting the major hits.


Luckily nothing happened inside. It was checked once I returned back to bangalore, and the technicians said even though the hit looks bad, the inside was all good. To increase the GC one can go for a higher profile tyres (costs roughly from 18K to 60K depending upon what you choose) or suspension spacers (costs around 3500 at JC road). However, under the guidance of Mr. Girish head technician from Suraksha motors I dod not do both. Just for the info, he said the suspension play is customized for each car after thousands of Kms of testing and when we buy the car and run it for some kms the suspension tend to get seasoned. He said when we put suspension spacers, the bolts which hang the suspensions can crack under high plays. Higher profile tyres can increase 4-5mm at most at a higher cost and loss of the drivability one is accustomed to. Both are debated on our forums, however I went by my technicians advise and I am here to tell the story. By, God's Grace I did not even have a puncture.

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Kumar sir, is it any tint or only dark tints that are a problem? I usually put a very light see-through film would they be ok with the Cops there?

I would just like to add, that when you drive their tends to be some dust accumulated on the windows, you can never convince the cops that its the dust which is making your light tinted appear darker, because they want to nail you They just are looking for ways to get the money. Can you believe this, Cop asks me to show license, the license is in the wallet, and I need to remove the belt to get the license, so I remove the belt. Then he asks me to park my car on the left, so I drive it a small 10 meters to the left and I do not have the belts. He says you are driving without a belt

Originally Posted by fine69

In delhi side-window tints with 50% visibility & rear-window tints with 70% visibility are allowed.
In Chandigarh too tints have been allowed very recently, not sure of the exact percentage visibility but I don't think it'd be less than 70% visibility there.

I would just say, avoid tinted if you need to come to the north Or be ready to shell out some money. I find this OK to shell some things out. How to shell out. Always have a smile, and keep the 'Sir' word ready. Do let them know you have been traveling regularly be speaking about some local places. I just want to say, confrontations at night can be highly risky, some comments like 'I know some_big_politician' can be fatal, as these guys then take it to ego. spend some time coolly, do not show urgency and talk it out. If you are nice and make them feel happy they tend to take a smaller amount and let you go.

Originally Posted by droolingvoyager

The GC for ritz is 180mm

The GC for MS Ritz is 170 mm, according to Autocar India and Overdrive.

I did not even have a puncture.

Glad to learn that.

[droolingvoyager]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

The GC for MS Ritz is 170 mm, according to Autocar India and Overdrive.

Thanks for correcting me, I had been somehow believing its 180mm not sure where that got into my head.

[droolingvoyager]

Day 11, Leh - I had reached my destination finally I was ecstatic and checked into a Ladakhi guest house, recommended by the person I gave lift to. Its called Dorjee Guest House. The rooms were neat and with awesome view and it costed me just 400 Rs a night. The best part came later, I was offered unlimited ladakhi bread with butter and salty tea. This is the first I ever tasted salty tea with Yak butter, and I was loving it. I should have had taken a snap of the Ladakhi Bread, it looked bad, but tasted awesome. I went to German bakery to see if they have that, but no. If you need to eat Ladakhi roti (bread) you need to visit a Ladakhi Home. 'Juley' means Hello, and saying that helps in building friends there.

Here is the Hotel Pictures and the family of Dorjee

[Irish]

droolingvoyager,

A very well written travelogue with amazing photgraphs.

Originally Posted by hvkumar

This is how it looks like - the yellow sticker on your RHS head lamp. They insist on this in GJ & PB.

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

In Punjab too? OMG. I thought this menace was restricted to GJ & RJ only.

There is no such rule of having the yellow sticker, vertically on headlights in PB. But yes there is a rule of having a strip of Black paint or sticker, horizontally on the top of the headlights. While accessing the total fine, they include all the missing things in the car and then demand for a bribe accordingly.

Originally Posted by fine69

In delhi side-window tints with 50% visibility & rear-window tints with 70% visibility are allowed.
In Chandigarh too tints have been allowed very recently, not sure of the exact percentage visibility but I don't think it'd be less than 70% visibility there.

Chandigarh too has the same rules as of Delhi. Please refer to this site for more details: Safety Helmets

Whereas Punjab Police need 100% visibility i.e. no sunfilms. But it becomes legal if the car owner has a letter from Minister of Punjab Govt.

Sorry for being

Cheers!
Irish