Southern Raid 6 for Jawa & Yezdis

Raid Approved

Also, I'd be so glad to catch up with you guys, if it's feasible for you guys to head towards for Ooty, for a cuppa chai and what not.

Let the thunder roll.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: Southern Raid 6 for Jawa & Yezdis

All the best in your endeavor. Will stay tuned for updates.

Re: Southern Raid 6 for Jawa & Yezdis

Thanks for the Approval B7ACKTHORN :-)

In fact we guys from Mangalore and most of the other clubs from Karnataka too, will be passing through Ooty, but only in the night I guess :-)

Would be nice to catch up!

Sfx

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Thanks a lot for your wishes!! Pics and experiences to follow soon :-)

Re: Southern Raid 6 for Jawa & Yezdis

Sounds like the perfect plot for a lot of fun!
Good luck everyone, looking forward to the ride report.

Re: Southern Raid 6 for Jawa & Yezdis

16 Clubs and 165 ppl joining at coonoor, Its going to be a fantastic event.

Re: Southern Raid 6 for Jawa & Yezdis

Whoa! Back from the Southern Raid V 06 @ Coonoor and it was just A W E S O M E!!!!
A total of around 175 Jawa & Yezdis from around 15 cities of various clubs, the highest number of which was Bangalore with 52 bikes!!!

Re: Southern Raid 6 for Jawa & Yezdis

Waiting for more updates and pictures.

Re: Southern Raid 6 for Jawa & Yezdis

And while I'm not very sure if we should put down a complete travelogue of the entire trip (of course it may in the next few days) , at least I want to put down the main points that would stay with us forever on what makes these trips special for us --

Meeting up with other city riders : Yep just the thought that from at least 14 /15 cities, different riders on these sturdy motorcycles, would be riding to just meet up at a common place, ie Coonoor.

Trust in the motorcycle : Like a senior rider described it at the meet, without mincing words - "We are riding obsolete bikes, ... bikes that went out of production 18 years ago! What else can be more insane than that?" And yet, we all had the belief in our motorcycles that YES, come what may, we will ride to Coonoor and back! A few breakdowns, and instances where some bikes that to be left behind, but all in all the majority won!

Getting Ready : Knowing what was ahead of us and getting ready for it, almost all of us were working on our rides, till the last moment, maybe till 3 in the morning, stripping and putting the bikes back, ready for the trip!

And the Ride in itself, not just the Destination : for some, Coonoor would have been just 70 kms away, for others 150 kms away, and while we had to travel 390 kms away, others had at least 520 kms of hard riding to do!

The ACTUAL Meet up : We all knew that ahead of us would be the same 250 machines that we were also riding plus a couple of other rare ones like the 350s. But meeting up with the other riders, interacting with each other, making new friends and greeting old ones, checking out each other's ride, understanding their routes and problems if any, weellllllll, that's the Brotherhood attitude of the club!

And experiences from the Mangalore club -
- for the 1st time from Mangalore, 6 riders would be heading out, on a '71 Jawa, an '84 Classic and 3 Roadkings! That itself was addictive in itself knowing that the company was there

- the breakdowns! Hearing the piston seize, while while climbing up the Sampage Ghats to Coorg, can be pretty disheartening, but imagine knowing that we have another 200 kms to go plus heavy ghats section! So what else could go wrong? Or suddenly hearing a rattling from the engine, that could possibly be the piston rings or the crank bearings? Or how about a nicked head gasket that suddenly starts spewing out oil, and then a reduced pull from the engine? Well all that happened and we just did what we could to minimise the damages and then carried on, on our merry way!

- into the unknown!! With prior information that the Bandipur National Park shuts down by 9 pm, we thought we had plenty of time to clear the stretch. However just before touching Mysore, while refueling, everyone we asked kept telling us that the gates would be closed by 6 pm, even though people from Ooty kept insisting that by 8.30, the gates would be closed. Thinking of taking the chance and rushing towards the National Park, we touched down by 7.45 pm. only to be told that 2 wheelers could not enter, only larger vehicles. A little bit of persuasion, with the help of some printed papers, made them permit us to enter, with the warning that we should not stop anywhere! This was definitely not the time for a breakdown!!! Hardly 3 kms into the protected forest, and we saw elephants looming up in the dark on the other side of the road, peering at the noisy brats on smoky machines! (FYI, as a kind thought for the animals we had just put in the mufflers to keep our bikes as quiet as possible)

- and after clearing the Mudhumalai National Park, close to around 10.30 pm, we thought " Well so far so good! Now let's just climb up!" And then while climbing up the steep incline, I catch a glimpse of a board "Hairpin bend 36 / 36"! So we have 45 degree inclines up ahead apart from all the 36 bends? Now, not so good! And our bikes were just beginning to struggle up! So did a Tata Sumo, an Indigo and a Mercedes Benz

- on 1st and 2nd all the way up via Masinagudi, I was in heaven as I cleared the final bend and reached a plateau! Allowing the bike to gently cool off, I waited and was soon joined by the Jawa and the Classic. But there was not a peep or a roar from the other Roadkings. Waiting for another 20 mins or so, and we were getting jittery and none of us were ready to head back down again and see if there was a problem. And then we heard the familiar roar! As the sound drew near, it felt like 2 roars in tandem, in perfect sync at perfect rpms! And then when the 2 headlights, burst into view simultaneously around the bend, we realized that one Roadking was pushing the other one up, which was loaded with a pillion, tools and luggage!

- and then after the remaining 13 + 19 kms to Ooty and then Coonoor, searching for Hotel Vivek at Bedford turned out to be another task with us spending around 45 mins going around in all crazy directions!

- the next day, that started with familiar growls and roars, was a day well spent, in the company of beautiful bikes going up and down, friendly competitions, good company and great food. Evening of course was sightseeing time, then beers and finally the good old campfire!

- on the 12th whle heading back, towards Sulthan Battery, the thick dense fog that caught us by surprise, accompanied us for at least 30 odd kms, in which we could hardly see 5 ft. in front and had to move at reduced speed. The chill in the air, the tiny droplets that formed coatings on our tanks, vehicles that loomed out suddenly from the mist - memories

- and with surprises not ending for us, just after a sleepy hamlet, aptly named Boys Town, on the outskirts of the Wayanad Forests, we went off onto the Hill Highway, at a S T E E P descent of approx 45 degrees. There were just 5 hairpin bends but super dangerous ones with steep drops on the other side and at 9 pm, we had no wish to stop and see what was there! This amazing stretch finally finished off at Kottiyur.

- riding on past Payanur, stoping whenever possible for Tea stops, we then reached Kanhangad at around 2 a.m. We were all pretty much ready to fall off the saddle, but were still gung ho about riding non stop till Mangalore another 80 plus kms., after riding from 10 am the previous day. We needed not much persuasion to rest for a couple of hours at a friends place and then carry on fresh for the last stretch.

- and we did it! 800 kms back and forth of riding, but we took our bikes from the Coast to an elevation of 2,240 m above sea level. And we made it back too all in one piece!!

Re: Southern Raid 6 for Jawa & Yezdis

Breakfast stop on day 1 , near Sullia A brief stop after riding almost 50 kms in the rain prior to reaching Mysore Waking up in the morning to see the beautiful sight of a parking lot full of Jawas & Yezdis SStocks ones, modded ones, imported ones - but all lovely sturdy machines Group ride for the media And then the competitions start with the popular Slow Ride Followed by the Fit Your Bike Time for city sightseeing - the breathtaking Highfield Tea Factory area And then down towards Dolphin's Nose A brief stop near Lamb's Rock, while the BJYMC roars past Getting ready to leave on Day 3, with a final check of all bikes 2 crowd pullers at the meet - A Kochi base Roadking that uses the bore meant for the Yezdi hangliders, and a 1986 Yezdi Classic that came from Pune and has travelled at least 4,50,000 kms. Ready for a little off roading Somewhere around Sulthan Battery, in Kerala

Re: Southern Raid 6 for Jawa & Yezdis

Keep rocking!

Re: Southern Raid 6 for Jawa & Yezdis

Awesome Awesome!!!!Really a feast to Jawa/Yezdi lovers, should have roared the Nilgiris to core..Nice pics write up shawn!!

Re: Southern Raid 6 for Jawa & Yezdis

Woooo. SMOKIN HOT..... You Should have uploaded an audio, where you can here the combined roar.
Some of them are modified with such passion, they can give the Triumphs and HDs a run for their money in looks dept.

Re: Southern Raid 6 for Jawa & Yezdis

Nice write up there man.. nice meeting you guys.

Re: Southern Raid 6 for Jawa & Yezdis

Whoa, at least someone's there. I met you guys as a part of the Yamaha team - had a wonderful chat with Vignesh from Bangalore.
Fortunately rode with couple of KL riders the next day, till Kochi. What a magnanimous gathering it was?! Spectacular indeed, to see so many Jawa & Yezdis together!
Post more pics if you have.