Beauty Lies in the Beast. The Beast is Beautiful

I have been lazy and enjoying life for over a month now....should've posted this long back.

On August 2, I got BULLED. Graduated from Plastics to Metal, Got myself the all new RE Bullet Machismo 500 LB Limited Edition. A 2 week booking-delivery lag and I was riding, No Thumping On....

All Aluminum 500 cc, 24 BHP, 40 Nm Torque, >130kph speed...thats as good as anything is available in India...Woaaaah! she runs wild...throttle response is truly and honestly amazing...the power from each stroke is felt separately....

A low revving engine, making sweet noise, stands out in the crowd. High set saddle, traditional Speedo+Odo with Ammeter on the console (yeah!!! no fuel indicator) Thats Retro RE for you...

The Running in (as per the manual) is done now, running 1.5k+ now... and dying to hit the open roads with "NH" suffixed to them... :)

Some more Pics:

Got my First Riding Jacket!

For all of us who ride on the Highways, safety is the primary concern. Having the right protection and Gear is extremely important. More often than not, the road is safe,its you who is unsafe. As a part of my endeavour to keep myself safe..got a great riding Jacket last week...

Told Tanmay (my friend in the US) to get something with similar specs on this link

From My Jacket

But the lazy one ordered this only...and left me in a 300$ debt...anyways..his credit period is six months...i'm happy about both, the jacket and his credit period...I'll be secure the next time I hit the roads...well..to an extent, at least

The Mother of them all!!!

For years and years I always thought the H-D Fatboy and V-rod were the best cruisers ever...

The love affair with cruisers started last year after I saw the world on my avenger...

A couple of weeks earlier i saw this massive machine in a market in Delhi, it said Rocket III, i'd never heard of this...on examining closer I couldnt believe my own eyes...23 fuckin hundred CC..., 3 cylinders...Triump motors (what the hell is that?!!! was the question in my mind..) Got home and got googling..what I found was simply amazing...

have a look...

Also I clicked some pics of this raw beast in life.... And also added to my "wishlist"

woah!!!!

From Rocket III

From Rocket III

From Rocket III

From Rocket III

From Rocket III

From Rocket III

BCM Touring / Bike Nomads

Again through Orkut, while browsing through another bike community, got a link to Bike Nomads. After checking out the site and yahoo group, I was more than happy to join an experienced group like Bike Nomads.
Soon after my introduction to Bike Nomads, one nice Gentleman named Hitanshu Gandhi ;-) invited me to a meet of Bike Nomads and BCMTouring in Qutub Institutional Area on Oct. 28. Gleefully accepting the invitation, I made my way to QIA in the hunt for a responsible group of riders, who share similar riding styles and respect the road. What I got at the meet was something I never expected, met people like Yogesh Sarkar, who've done Ladakh twice...and once solo...woahhh!!! And there were others who've done a lot of riding. I was just a novice.
I fell in love with the group, for the love for bikes, travel and FOOD, it felt so good see everyone hog at the parantha's, maggi, macaroni etc at the dhaba.
At that time they all were planning for a ride to the Pushkar Camel Fair, to be held on the first weekend of November, much to my disappointment coz I wouldnt be joining them. I was to ride to Neemrana, to the Fort Palace, now a popular heritage hotel, to celebrate 5 years of my relationship with my girl friend Amrita.
Anyways all said and done, I would be riding on the 5th Nov. weekend. Not with BCM Touring though.
This is the link to the Bike Nomads Website www.bikenomads.com
and the link to BCM Touring www.bcmtouring.com

Delhi Avengers

For the first 8 months of getting my bike, I'd used her only for the regular city commute, from home to office and back and other daily routine stuff. Till now I never realised that I was a part of a much bigger community, and I was missing out on most of the other uses of 2 wheels.
It happened in October 2006, when after months of interaction, people from the Delhi Avenger community on Orkut decided to meet up. The meet saw 7 guys turning up, all on the same machine, the Bajaj Avenger. After the initial introductions and a nice breakfast (aloo poori) at the Nathu's Sweet Shop in Bengali Market, we decided to head out on the road.
After much speculation and apprehensions, we finally hit NH8 and started towards Jaipur, heading out of Delhi. Most of the guys were excited for being a part of the group and were stunting and riding at higher than required speeds. I guess the adrenaline rush was too much, or just the sheer excitement of being a part of a BIKER GROUP. Something I could notice in most of the people was they had no clue about the bike they were riding, the specifications and details, could not ride in a straight way, wouldn't care about the safety of self or others on the road, but would try to perfom stunts and ride fast. When it finally came down to riding a little further, most of them chickened out. All this was much to my disappointment.
My riding style (the way I see it) is that of a responsible rider, someone who respects the road, respects the rights of everyone else on the road, and more often that not follows all traffic rules (at least in the city). I try my best to stay calm on the road, not let anyone intimidate me in to doing something stupid, be with myself and enjoy my ride.
Somehow, I knew that these fellows are not the kind of bikers I would be comfortable riding with. I needed a group of responsible and safe riders, which I could be a part of. I knew itsie bitsie things about my bike and how to take care of her, but I needed more knowledge and more insights into how much I could do with her.
One good thing that Riding with the Delhi Avengers did to me was, I developed a crush for the empty highways. I on a personal note was extremely happy with my achievement. 140 odd kms for the day and a run on one of the better straight line highways around.

Delhi Avengers - Took a break!

It'd been more than 3 months since I rode with Orkut Delhi Avengers community fellows. I missed a couple of their other meeting, and tried to refrain as much as possible from being a contributor.

In the mean time, at a highly embarrasing meet of BCMT which i clubbed with The Delhi Avengers, history repeated itself. Similar to what happened 3 months back, was happening in the City now, much to my personal disappointment and a sorry face to Yogesh for trying to club the meet.

Anyways, since then, i'd pretty much tried to stay away from the group. In the meantime a couple of guys, whom I introduced to BCMT/BN were banned for their actions (stunting/speeding).

My worst fears came true a couple of days back, when the Delhi Avenger Group (who by now had named themselves Avenger Rangers, got their stickers made and are also planning T's) met again. Three of them while ripping together on the Noida - G.Noida Expressway hit each other @ 100 kph and left themselves and their bikes in a mess. No broken bones or serious injuries to them, but the three Avengers would be needing a lot of repairs. Something i was always afraid of since the first time I met them. As I also mentioned in one of my earlier entries about the adrenaline rush and the kicks they got by being a part of a Biker Group and just to excite and entice themselves further, they went and got the stickers made. They just cooked disaster for themselves.

Anyways my best wishes to them for a speedy recovery, and hopefully some sense in their heads to be more careful on the roads.