Hey, cool write up, Ken! :-) Was a pleasure meeting all you guys in Shimla, look forward to seeing you again, soon.

Hey Manoj

It was a real pleasure meeting you and the entire team!

Thanks for all the help. The routes that you suggested were a treat to ride on...any day better than NH-22.

Look forward to meeting and interacting with you again, soon.

Cheers

Nitinjit

Take it from all of us... the fun is unbelievable... really. You cannot imagine how much fun it can be... you do things with a motorcycle you could never have imagined!

Great to see you replying. Did not have any suspension crashing issues. Remember however that last year a P200 was running 2nd overall in the Raid till the last day when he crashed on black ice! And running 2nd with a P200 running nearly stock against the WR of Yams and other Group A motorcycle in the Raid is not a joke! My 220 did not have any suspension issues and I did not expect any either. The Zma Suspension gave way however... not much, the oil seal leaked due to suspension-travel heating!

That was Nitin you saw sitting behind the bike looking for the source and as Nitin has suggested, we took out the massive nail that was sitting there for a day and then pumped with slime but did not help beyond a few kilometres.

BMW houses spoked tubeless tyres!!!

Couple of months means 2 months! A couple = Two in English. If it is end march, it means 6 months, not a couple!

Hey Manoj. Great to see you hear. It was great to meet you guys at Shimla. I had heard of you from Vivek. And meeting you was a privilege, honour and fun and pleasure. You guys do a great job I must say, the way you promote motorcycling. Hope to see you again.

Ken da awesome write up and nice pics of the trip there
the bikes were looking simply amazing with offroad tyres,offroad bike handles & headlights looking like a hybrid.... + i think Vivek sir's bike would be flying on the roads (bike's wish comes true...)...

route update for Mr Dheeraj and Mr Manoj

Mr Manoj,

It has always been a pleasure to meet you an your team. We have following route updates -

1. wakhnaghat - Subhatu - 90% tarmac but good narrow roads. Gripping tarmac.
2. Chakki Mor - BhojNagar- All roads connecting BhojNagar were closed. The only way out was back to chakki Mor. Road to Parwanoo had immediate land slides at Bhojnagar - Mallah road was closed 5 kms from Bhojnagar.

Ken- Few corrections for our own records-

1. Mashobra- baikhalty stage is not on SMC map. It is a SJOBA stage. SMC was localized around Shoghi.
2. P200 did not crach on ice. That was Wr450. P 200 had a flat on last stage. Another fact is that bike was running in group A. we can never comment on suspension(or any other) mods done to a Grp A motorcycle.

It 's a pleasure to read your trip logs. Looking forward to more trips with you and Nitin. To some new destinations yet to be explored by us.

...amen!

@ Nitin, was super meeting you too! I believe most of the roads we spoke about have been black-topped now..but that kinda tight tarmac can be real fun to ride on too. Hope to see you in competitive action soon

@ Ken, thanks mate, hope to continue the attempt to promote the sport..

@ Vivek, thanks for the update. The rains just before your trip here had closed down many roads, I was skeptical about you guys being able to get through some of the tracks we discussed. Well, there's an update from our side too...we were on a recce for an event we are planning soon, and discovered a 47 km pure gravel stage, fast and smooth with lot's of technical corners and sections thrown in, you guys should try it when you are here next. Look forward to seeing you soon and get well sooner

Thanks Ken. Then its probably just me complaining. I have always found the suspension up front a lil too soft. Probably the 200 that won the Raid beefed up his front suspension? Is there anyway to do that?


I'm not sure if I read this in Haroon's thread or else where but BMW's solution to this was to simply have the spoke setup on the extreme outer line of the rim. The tires wall would easily cover the point where the spokes join the rim. Hence the tire wall acts as a sealant. I'm not sure where I read though.

If you look off the net there are some people who have used a glue to stick a rubber piece on the inner part of the rim which apparently does a good job in sealing. I like BMWs idea though, pretty rad and simple at the same time.

EDIT: This is something I found off the net.

The wheels use the BMW patented cross-spoke design that allows the fitment of radial tires. They are assembled on a very expensive CNC machine in the BMW motorcycle production plant, Spandau in Berlin. Fine tuning is carried out by a craftsman using a sophisticated diagnostic tool.

That update sounds interesting.

@Nitin and Vivek: Shall we try this out soon? I am itching!

As Vivek pointed out, it is not possible to comment on a Group A motorcycle. He may or may not have beefed up the front suspension. Vivek has not checked it up close. Difficult to say since none of the Bajaj bikes are homologated and hence they are all Group A!

Nice writeup Ken, Guess you had a great time and enjoyed every moment of the trip

They are homologated up till the 180, beyond that, they will never get homologated. Though why Bajaj doesn't do that remains a big mystery..

what does this mean ??

Great Adventure dude! Wish i could;ve joined you guys! Is gareeb ko bhi yaad kar lena agli baar!

Wow! That was a neat thread.... !

I dont know if its a coincidence or what, but I wanted to do an off roading mod to my RTR as well...
Though I can do a relatively easy mod like Ken and Nitin did, but heck I want to go all out and hence am waiting for a good chassis .... (any suggestions?)

Gareeb indeed. Come for practise with us during weekends to begin with. You can get to know the others and vice versa.

Are you serious about this? If you are, then lets talk.