Jefy

1 minute ago, Tero Vallas said:

Well .... this AOR setup with 2 piece flag pole & suction mount is exactly what I bought yesterday... nothing else actually available.

Worthless ??

For some people it works, with others it keeps falling off.

Thats why I started this topic, to share the experience.... 

Congrats @asifk

Hereby I want to open a discussion regarding flag mounts.

An off road flag is an essential safety tool for off roading. I see more and more that people are using suction mounts in combination with a relative heavy flag. This combination is sold by off road shops as pair.
A person would think, "well, if a reputable off road shop is selling me this, then this should work, no?" Maybe, but most probably not. Especially not the suction mount in combination with the 2 part flag of AOR. This flag is too heavy for a suction mount.

I forgive you if you are new to this sport and your setup is not working, or your flag is falling down all the time. But from fewbie and above, I can't understand why you don't invest in a good mount. The most expensive garage will charge you 200 AED for a fixed mount. I am sure there are garages doing it for cheaper.

A good setup is not only for your own safety or that of the others, but it gives you also more thinking capacity instead of worrying all the time that your flag will soon or later fall off when you're crossing a ridge. Besides that it is annoying that you have to step out to mount the flag again, it is also holding up the whole convoy.

Please, post your solution, experience, combination of flag and mount. Tell us at which garage you did it, and if possible the price as well.

Hi Kalahari, 

No idea where you specifically should go for Xterra. @Shamil, do you have an idea?

Hi Ale, congrats.

I would like to take this opportunity for all the drivers to have a moment and realise what is possible with a stock car.

Ale's car is a stock FJ cruiser, correct me if I am wrong @Ale Vallecchi.

I know Ale's driving style, we are a bit like Yin and Yang, good cop/ bad cop, Laurel and Hardy, how you want to call it. Where I am aggressive and push it, chases somebody's rear bumper, push a bit harder till the rev limiter,
Ale is delicate, Italian scenery with style and romance, with fair and style. 

And still, he achieves the same, only his car is stock, mine is modified. After the drives, I am pushing back my bumpers in place, unfolding my license plate, Ale is inflating his tires and drives back home.

You are a good driver and every time when we go a bit rough, I respect it what you do with your FJ cruiser. Yes, I loose you sometimes in my back mirror, but I don't ask for it anymore, because I know you'll find me back :).

This is a show of respect to your driving style.

Xaf

Hereby I want to thank everybody for the birthday wishes and what a nice birthday present to receive in your e-mail box, that is what I call a surprise.

Didn't expect the upgrade, I was enjoying the drives with helping out. When I started I was only excited for the rough stuff, but soon it became "normal". Once in a while it is excited to stretch your leg and push your car to the limit, but off-roading offers more then only going full throttle through the desert.

I found my peace with helping out the Marshalls and analysing which mistakes the new joiners make. This keeps me busy in my mind and silently I am trying to understand how these mistakes could be avoided. Still, I have a lot to learn.

The most difficult part of Off-roading is to instruct and teach others the technique and skills of this hobby. If somebody gets stuck, it might be easy in our eyes to get the car out of the situation. Many times, If we would jump behind the steering wheel, we could get the car out of it in a relative short time. But this is the art, now try to help and teach a person what he did wrong and get him/her out of the situation by him/herself. This is now my occupation and goal, how can I help others to become a better driver, I have a long way to go.

Hereby I would like to thank @Rahimdad @Srikumar @Gaurav @Frederic @Emmanuel for the tips and tricks and the fine tuning of my skills. Please don't underestimate these guys.

Of course also to the other members and drivers thank you for being together and having nice drives.

See you soon, Inshallah.

Xaf

1 hour ago, Frederic said:

@Xaf in case the flights don't take off soon, you can dig into this...

Are you going to build it then?

Congratulations! 

18 minutes ago, E.C. TAN said:

Wow, that was so quickly filled up.

Please put me on KIV List. Thanks.

 

Hi E.C. Tan, long time no see buddy.

Just to let you know, this is a Fewbie+ drive.

Congratulations, welcome

The 130 liter fuel tank 🤣

Offroad zone

I have no experience with this garage, but I've heard good stories and got also a recommendation from a colleague who maintain his Jeep and BMW for years and is very satisfied.

As I said, I have no experience, so if somebody else thinks different, please hook in.

So far as I read and understood, the cars had to shut off the engine at the MOE drive in, advertised as, it’s on the roof of the parking, with the windows open you can catch the summerbreeze....

No thanks, I’ll wait till they open the cinemas again.

@asifk This is a Fewbie drive, there is still one spot open in the Newbie Pink Rock morning drive. Be quick, otherwise you'll miss the spot.

Welcome back everybody, was a nice day out in the desert again. Good to see all faces again.

Hope that everyone arrived home safely.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Xaf

2 minutes ago, Chaitanya D said:

Hello all.

Now that weekend desert drive has kind of become a routine , my family is upping the ante against me for taking the patrol y62 to sand and getting it back all dirty.

I have decided I will go in for a used weekend desert drive car to save myself and also my y62 which has been a very comfortable drive for all at home.

I have shortlisted few used cars as below

1. Pathfinder 2005 - 160000 km run for about 13.5 k

2. Wrangler TJ 2006 - 120000 km run for about 22 k.

3. X terra s  2010 about  2 lac run for 25 k.

All cars have been GCC , without any mods and have been Registered recently. All from direct sellers

I would like to have the suggestions from the forum on going ahead with these.

Personally if the pathfinder is good after checks , I will go ahead with it with some negotiation on price because it's quite cheap and probably easier to maintain.

Thanks in advance 

I don’t have much offroad experience, but I would go for the pathfinder.

This is just from experience what I have seen with my own eyes from our group (Rahimdad and the other white Pathfinder, forgot his name) and also in other groups.

The car has different versions of engines, try to get the one with the higher volume. @Rahimdad

Rahimdad has the smaller one, he is doing fine with it, but he is also an expert and knows how to take everything with his relative smaller engine.

Good luck with the choice.

6 hours ago, m_abdelfattah said:

The other question, can I negotiate with Volvo and get a better price or a better offer? or no way I can get anything than the advertised price?!

Habibi.....

Always, always there is something possible, take your wife with you, play good cop bad cop, let her tell you that the price is too high. It is a show/ art.

Saw this add on Instagram, just wanted to share it with you.

@Salarios

Thanks for the honest advice. I appreciate it. I know the risks of driving motorcycles. I have lived 2 years without car and did everything by motorcycle (300 km winter drives in the Netherlands.)

Summary, I stay with the Japanese brands.

@m_abdelfattah

- With that budget, I assume you can get a new car or a pre-owned at a certified dealer. If it comes with a good service package/ deal/ warranty, I would just go for the car with the highest resale value. (based on ownership of 5 years)

- Will the car be parked inside or outside? I know from my colleagues that owned Volvo xc90's and parked their cars outside, they had a lot of problems due to the heat. 

Good luck.

3 hours ago, Frederic said:

If you’re out for a cheap ride, buy a 180cc like the delivery guys are driving. Plenty around, and good for a leisure drive. I had a 200cc Cagiva in Belgium and had the most fun with it simply because it was underpowered and i could drive TOW. (Throttle Wide Open).

No Fred, not in Dubai :), imagine going to Jabel Jais with a 180cc

Little bit above the budget I had in mind, then it becomes more an investment. Will start digging in the Ducati community in UAE.

Want to treat myself with a secondhand motorcycle this summer. Hope to find a good deal this summer on Dubizzle.

Which motorcycle brands should I avoid in the UAE? I have only driven Honda's.

Not looking for something special, no investments, just a bike to take out on my days off.

Happy Birthday Sri! Wish you a nice day.

Don’t use grease or oil, this will attract dirt and you’ll get a black heavy chain.

Use dry ptfe instead, you can get it at ACE. 
 

Put the bike upside down, or hang it. Spray it on the chain and all moving parts, swing a few times the peddle, take an old cloth, spray it again on the chain and swing a few time the peddle while you’re grasping the chain with the cloth. This will clean the chain.

From a Dutchie, cycles are in our blood.