Travelling and touring expeditions is an upcoming trend in India. Every years, thousands of bikers visit places like Leh ladakh, Spiti valley and other Himalayan states in search of adventure, some venture into foreign countries like Bhutan, Burma, Nepal, Thailand even. We have read reports of people driving from India to London by road. If someone had to list the most dangerous roads in the world, the list would surely include The James Dalton Highway – Arctic Circle, USA; the Dempster Highway – Arctic Circle, Canada; the Pan-American section of the Atacama Desert, Chile and the Death Road of Bolivia. All of these were conquered by 3 men and their Bajaj Dominar motorcycles as a part of the Polar Odyssey.
In 2019, The Bajaj Dominar has created history by becoming the first Indian motorcycle to successfully complete the Polar Odyssey – a ride from Arctic to Antarctic. With a ride span of over 99 days, the Dominar Polar Odyssey covered the length and breadth of North and South America commencing from Anchorage to Tuktoyaktuk in the Arctic Circle and then all the way down to the end of the world at Ushuaia in Argentina, and then further in to the Antarctic covering 51000kms and 15 countries.
The 3 brave men to take up this challenge of a lifetime were -Deepak Kamath, Avinash PS, and Deepak Gupta. Deepak Kamath has been riding for over 30 years now and was the team leader of the Dominar Polar Odyssey. Avinash PS is a mechanical engineer by profession with Bosch India and is an avid motorcyclist and photographer. Deepak Gupta, also known as the ‘Mountain Man’, is an active member of the Group of Delhi Super bikers (GODS).
The entire Polar Odyssey was completed with no dedicated service support or back-up team across all kinds of terrain, climate and conditions. The entire journey was spread over 3 continents namely the North America, South America and the Antarctic. The riders passed through the states of Canada, USA, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.
The riders and the machines tamed some of the harshest weather conditions which varied from Heavy snow, rains and slush and loose gravel across Alaska to the Snowy blizzards at the top of Pikes Peak, Colorado to some adventure in the trails and off-road sections of Baja California, Mexico to the inhuman – 22 °C temperature in Antarctic, to scorching +54 °C temperatures in Death Valley, USA – the hottest place on Earth.
Speaking on the occasion of the successful completion of the Dominar Polar Odyssey, Mr. Narayan Sundararaman, Vice President (Marketing – MC), Bajaj Auto Ltd, said, “The Dominar Polar Odyssey has been a man and machine partnership of epic proportions. Hats off to Deepak Kamath, Avinash PS and Deepak Gupta.
The Dominar’s faultless performance over 99 days is a testament of its build quality and exceptional touring capabilities. Touring 51,000 KMs over some of the most unforgiving terrains and conditions on stock Dominars, without any major part change or a support crew, is an achievement that is truly outstanding”.
The entire playlist of 5 episodes, the 4 short films and the Summary of the journey:
Individual links of the Summary film across Social platforms:
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BajajDominar/videos/2244226562336654/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJgbYE7Gsb0&list=PLTQ_eqlp1vmyUSEkZKBu4vT3PH7d4uHuu&index=10
• IGTV: https://www.instagram.com/tv/ByZ7RG1Awlq/