I start with a quote by U.S. president John F. Kennedy, “Nothing
compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride.” That is so true about biking,
it sure is a pleasure enjoyed by a lucky lot who ride their beloved machines.
In the wee years of my life I don’t exactly remember when this love, this
craze, this fever for bikes took over & captured my imagination, the earliest
memories I have was of these collages which me and my brother used to make
during our summer vacations and the topic of our interest was bikes, with
pictures cuttings from various magazines and newspapers we used to adore at our
own creations for months at length. I used to save my pocket money to buy those
international cars & bikes magazine (second hand) and was quite popular in
the group because of them.
My first bike ride (well sort of) was courtesy my friend
who, after a lot of cajoling… reluctantly handed over his bike keys to me, but
refused to sit behind. I had learnt to ride bikes a lot of times…. In my head
that is…for hours I used to imagine my
bike rides, used to observe bikes on road and used to mentally plan my
moves…. But this was the real thing… the
first actual physical ride. After confirming the gear position I set off.. only
to come to a standstill after about 10 meters…thud… the bike went dead and all
my confidence and hours of planning went down the drain. The most relieved
person was my friend who promptly took the keys back and hurriedly took control
of his bike, giving me no chance to explain.
I got so nervous about the whole gear and clutch combination
that couple of months later when the time came to buy my first own two wheeler
I opted for the, then nation’s most loved non geared scooter ‘The Kinetic Honda
zx’ (kinee), I loved the high revving auto gear engine, flat footboard, it was complete freedom the in mind as well as
on the roads… I was always first off any red light leaving behind all the other
bikes and scooters and I just loved the small races to the next red light… on
the open highway well it was no match to the bikes but yeah in the city where
there are more red lights than trees, this little kinee was the king. About 3
years & 37000 kms later I parted with it but the memories of those days are
so fresh that even today I remember the petrol bunk guys used to fill half
litre petrol for 10 bucks and that I used to squirm if anybody called my kinee
a scooter.
My next bike was a Hero Honda Passion.. the fill it-shut it-forget
it tagline company was becoming popular as people were now more concerned about
rising petrol prices and ‘kitna deti hai’ was the probably the first question
on everybody’s mind. The trusted 100 cc motor, improved handling and better
looks were the plus points of Passion over its older sibling ‘Splendor’. With
this bike I could go further on the same quantity of fuel than my kinee.. it
was a no-nonsense bike, it never once let me down mechanically and I loved the go
anywhere attitude of this bike. I even changed the colour scheme and gave it a
complete makeover in its mid-life. It was my true companion in my job struggle
years & its frugal nature only helped. It gave an ultimate final sacrifice
when we parted as the money helped me buy a plane ticket for my first
international job assignment, for this reason and many others it will always be
a long lost true friend.
As some bike lover has rightly said “Only Bikers understand
why dogs love to stick their heads out car windows”, therefore when I came back
to motherland, the search for a two wheeler started again, for a few months I
relied on a friend’s Hero Honda CBZ, the bike was faster compared to my earlier
one and the increased cc only gave me more confidence to look out for a bigger
bike as my next companion.
The Royal Enfield… the name gives me goose bumps even today
as it used to when I was a kid collecting pictures for my collages. The company
had come out with a new twin spark engine and many reviews suggested it to be a
vast improvement over its previous editions. I went to the showroom with the
intention to have a look at the lineup as I was aware that the prices were
steep and out of my budget. 1 hour and 10 minutes later I walked out of the
showroom after having signed the dotted line, I was smiling all the way back
home and my face shined as bright as a well lit marine drive…. and all of this
was even before I got my bike home.
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The Royal Enfield Thunderbird twin spark came home in late
2009 & since then it is living with me. The moment you start the bike you realize
rich legacy of the bike and you are overwhelmed the fact that the company has been
churning out heart thumping bikes for over half a century with the same
passion. My relation with this bike has been getting stronger by the day. I
have been on many solo and group rides and every time I have come back with a
greater respect for this legend.
Today I don’t aspire to be off the red light first (though I
know this bike is very much capable of doing that), I don’t engage in those red
light races. This bike has taught me to be a more mature human being, but still
even today every time somebody gives a second look at this fabulous machine, I
have the same hint of grin I had when I first booked this bike.
I finish with a quote from another biker “Four wheels move
the body. Two wheels move the soul.”
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