Around a year after Bajaj embarked on the famous Trans-Siberian Odyssey on Dominar 400s, it has now set out on another cross-country ride. Called the Polar Odyssey – Arctic to Antarctic, riders will go from Anchorage to Tuktoyaktuk in the Arctic Circle and then all the way down to Ushuaia in Argentina by the Antarctic Circle.
The ride will span four months and cover more than 50,000km across 17 countries in North, Central and South America, averaging to around 450km of riding every day. Bajaj also claims the riders will not have any dedicated service support and will be riding in a variety of conditions, from snow to tropical river beds to even desert roads.
The three riders taking on the Polar Odyssey challenge are Deepak Kamath, Avinash PS, and Deepak Gupta. Deepak Kamath has been riding for over 30 years now and was part of the Dominar Trans-Siberian Odyssey. Avinash is a mechanical engineer by profession, and also an avid motorcyclist and photographer. Deepak Gupta is an active member of the Group Of Delhi Superbikers (GODS)
The bikes come with modifications to adapt to the terrain and conditions the riders will face. The front mudguard gets replaced by an ADV-like beak to help reduce spray and dirt coming back at the rider off-tarmac, and the bikes also sport a larger flyscreen and hand guards. Other changes include all-weather tyres, panniers and jerry cans. Other than this, Bajaj has said the bikes are completely stock.
All the modifications have been made in-house by Bajaj and we wonder if they offer a hint at more things to come from the Dominar brand, perhaps in the form of a more touring ready version. There have been whisperings of additional variants being developed in the Dominar family and that would be something to look forward to.
Ved Janve
Azaman Chothia
Dinshaw Magol
Vishal Venugopal
