bike it Baby

You can bet on this…The first thing I’m gonna do once I’m no longer unemployed, is start saving up for a bike. Not just any bike, one of those MEAN MACHINES. Those imported Honda’s/Yamaha’s/Suzuki’s.

I love bikes. Even though the pollution and discomfort(as opposed to a car) gets to you, a part of you would still like to be a biker.

My first bike was my CBZ. We called her Trinity.



She was sporty and sexy. It took a LOT of effort to convince my dad to lemme have a bike, considering that at the time I didn’t have a license(not that it matters!), Didn’t have any experience driving on the road, and I had only just learnt how to ride. But I managed to convince them 

If I didn’t have trinity I doubt I would have even attended ANY of my lectures. My department was about 1.6 kms away! At the end of 4 years , I’d done about 40,000 kms on my baby. But thenI couldn’t take it with me to Bangalore: had to give it to my bro Shanu(Refer pic)



The CBZ was one successful bike. No one could have imagined its success, it was launched at a phenomenal price(at the time) of 70K and it have a pathetic mileage of 35 something. But all in all, it looked good and drove well, and it started the growth of the Indian biking scene.

I honestly believed it was the best bike in India. Ofcourse everyone thinks his bike is the best..but I REALLY believed it was. That’s until I got my thunderbird. We called him Mustafa.




I’d already fixed a deal with my dad to get myself an Enfield. Thunderbird was the only model I could go for since it was the only enfield model where the gears and brakes were on the same side. It drove beautifully. It really was something else.

But all good things come to an end. The Enfield has one weakness, over water it behaves like someone wearing greasy shoes on ice. On a very normal day, while driving on a normal road at a normal speed, I happen to brake while the bike was over about a puddle of water not more than a centimeter high. And that was that.

I might have been unscathed(seriously..not a scratch!) but Mustafa was beaten and bruised beyond recognition. My parents obviously made me sell the bike. But in return I got my bro’s car. My older Bro Sonu that is.



But I’ve managed to sell it to someone within campus, so atleast this way I get to take it out for an occasional drive.

Thunderbirds and CBZ’s might be awesome, but there are nothing compared to the monsters that Honda/Suzuki/Ducati produce. And there is one place where I could get a chance to test out these bad boys. Home sweet Home, Dubai. 2 years back while I was at home, I saved up enough cash to rent a CBR for one day. One day only. It’s really expensive 250Dhms(Rs. 250x13 per day!). That day I drove 275 kms within the city, my shoulders and forearms were sore for 3 days, and that night I collapsed in pain(over the bed fortunately)



But it was all worth it. Its any bikers dream to command such power. It tops out at 285 kmph!! Imagine that! I thought I could take it to its limit, but no way man..at 200 I chickened out. But 200 aint that bad, rite :P