Slice of Life..

Randomness still persists, I just feel betrayed by myself. Hoping to change all this in the matter of time which in about to come upon me.

Some are just surprised but many are still shocked to learn that I will be riding alone.
Why are you going alone? What will you do? What will you eat? Where will you stay? Are few of the questions I am getting from the people know and less known.

If only it were meant for others, it would have been simple to justify. But it’s all about me. This ride is going to be all about me. Riding alone gives me freedom to take the road I want, ride when I want, stop when I want.
“Bandar kya jaane adrak ka swaad” – in the same lines those who have never ridden would never know the reasons behind a ride. In my current state of mind I just don’t care much about this world , all I want to do it right. In pure slang I did say “Gandmarane gayi duniya, mai chala”
No other plans as of yet except the ride in my heart, my mind and my soul…

Random thought on comfort .. and may be happiness

“if you want to be heard, speak out” – I totally believe in this. There is no need of shouting when you are speaking clearly and making sense. Honestly I like to speak and it is even more interesting when there is an audience. It is not easy to speak in front of the large audience - so many preying eyes – so many questions. The truth is simple, each one of us has the same feelings in the same situations . acceptance is just one part of it. Once we know that we are not alone, slowly the comfort zone sets in. there is always comfort in knowing that we are not alone. That there are others like us who get nervous in front of the large audience and yet can hold their nerve.
This is the same comfort that the scientist are seeking when they are searching for life in space. Knowing that earth is the only planet which habitats life is quite discerning. The space is so vast. It is hard to believe there is life only on one planet. If we try and look down in totality of space, earth would look like a speck of dust. The micro organisms living all around us make us look so large, but when the reference changes we are nothing more than that same micro organism in space. All we are doing is searching for life, any kind of life which is out there so we would know that we are not alone. The comfort of knowing that life had to be and that it was not by some freak accident that we are on this planet.
Comfort is not just a necessity, but also a requirement. I define comfort as reduced efforts for equal work. As an engineering student I understood that the purpose of an engineer is to reduce human efforts. Now I know why we need to reduce efforts. This reduction is efforts will amount for the comfort. Comfort is a relative term like any other associative term. I have just defined it as I would like it but there are other more true and accurate definition available.
If only comfort and happiness were related.. (to be contd)

I got Screwed .. for real

Getting screwed is not a good idea, but that is what actually happened to me at the start of the Goa trip. And I mean not literally. At quarter to 6 we started riding. It took us about 15 minutes to reach NH4 from the heart of Pune city. Our first stop would be Satara at 120 Km a ride of about 2 hours. The morning chill was wonderful, the road fantastic and the scenery breathtaking. It was early morning and there was no traffic. We were cruising at about 80 km/h. while tackling my first curve on the road I felt a slight wobble on the bike. I chose to ignore the wobble as low air pressure in the rear tyre and was pushing along. Besides the small wobble on the curves there was nothing else of concern. On the straights the bike was handling perfect. The first two hour ride was perfect and we stopped for our stipulated break for some tea and bread butter. During this break my ridding buddy brought out the wobble of my bike. Since he was riding a thunder bird he assumed the wobble was because of my lighter apache. I assured him that it was nothing much than low air pressure and would be fixed by filling up air. Actually I was feeling the air pressure to be low from Mumbai onwards but somehow managed to reach Pune without filling up on the way. So we decided to stop on to the next filling station and get that problem fixed up. the filling station was just 10 minutes away. The attendant of the air filling station was a young boy who identified that there was a puncture in my rear tyre and not just low air pressure. I was surprised actually on how long I had been riding with a foreign object in my rear tyre. On the initial inspection it seemed to be a nail which had embedded itself deep into the tyre. Thanks to the tubeless tyre I did not have to suffer the puncture bad. It was when the boy was pulling the object out that I was able to identify it as a screw. The boy pulled it out and fixed the tyre in no time. We hit the road again, towards Kolhapur our next destination .Now the bike was handling good on the road even during the curve. I was happy and relieved even after getting screwed in such a manner we were on the road without losing much time .

Afterthought on Goa trip ..

It’s almost been a month now, since I have not been on my bike. May be things would have been different if I had not been on the trip to Goa. Probably there are many people who would think that way Even though I had an accident while returning from Goa I believe it was just something which happened because sometimes accidents do happen.

The entire plan of the Goa trip had changed the day I started with the organizer backing out of the event. May be if they had reached out to me earlier I wouldn’t have left home. I was somewhere on the road nearing Khopoli when I first received the call stating that the trip was off as the lead rider had some issue. The trip was to start next day early morning for Pune. I was on my way to pune for the trip and halfway it was like a bomb shell falling on me. But instead of breaking or blowing I told the voice talking to me that I am on my way to pune and would like to continue ahead. I also told him to make the arrangements for me at Goa. The boy was surprised to hear this from me and told me that he would be calling me back in five minutes. So I pushed ahead on the road. In another hour and half I was in Pune. I did not receive the call but instead I had an sms from some other number. The sms gave me a name and number of another participant who was also willing to join in for Goa. This was getting better for me. That is all I could have asked for is another avid rider. We both shared the same kind of passion for riding. The three day trip was a success with just a small hiccup for me at the very end. In those three days I had travelled about 1500 km without much trouble but the failure occurred in the end with just 20 km to go for home. This month long break has provided me with enough time to give an afterthought to my Goa trip and plan out another trip soon.

Apache 180

This advertise of Apache 180 is quite perfect. The machine truly chose me. I was all set with another bike on my mind. I had a lot of time in my hand as my decision to buy a new bike was postponed indefinitely. When I had first set out to buy a new bike, I had my mind set for the Apache 160 FI. I was all set to get that bike but wasn’t able to do so. During this period I really felt miserable. Nearly after five months when Royal enfield introduced the Classic I was relieved that I didn’t buy the Apache 160. Now I had my mind all set for the Classic. By my estimation it would have been another six months before I would have been able to get that bike. All the good things in life have to wait and so I started waiting. Life had apache 180 in mind for me hence on the Christmas eve I was able to get it. That was a Christmas miracle for me ..

Crazy as Crazy was :

The day began as usual. The plan to ride out was there on my mind but not sure about the timings. Me and my friend are both biking enthusiasts. We both got new bikes so we are always planning to hit the road at the earliest opportunity possible. For me the opportunity presents twice a week but for him its only the Sunday. Today being a Saturday I was tentative about him. I was surprised to hear from him today in the afternoon. He is doing a sales job and is always on a sales trip. Today he was on a trip here in Borivali. Now this was very convenient. The surprise was short lived when he told me that he is giving his bike for servicing and only be able to get it back in the evening. I cooked up a quick plan of getting the bike in the evening and going for the ride. When I picked him up in the evening his bike was not ready. Now we were not sure of what to do. There was still day light left so just started on my bike. Without his bike the plan to go far was off. I just thought of going on a short ride to Vasai or Virar and we hit the national highway No.8. It was about 6:30 and getting darker by the minute. By the time we reached Vasai it was already dark and the wind was chilly. I was wearing a jacket and helmet for protection. But my eyes were exposed because I had to put my visor up. My helmet has a tinted visor which was good when I am riding under the sun. But it virtually blinded me at night. When we reached Virar junction I was concerned about my friend, he neither had a jacket not a helmet. The only advantage he had was that he could close his eyes. He didn’t have to keep watching the road. Just as we crossed the junction I stopped the bike and asked him if he wished to push further. Both of us were pretty high by the ride we had so far. I still hadn’t pushed the bike above 90 km/h. after getting his affirmation I started out. Beyond the Virar junction the road opened up, less traffic and suitable condition during the day. But it was dark and chilling. I was barely able to see the road. Slowly I kept pushing my bike, now we were going over 100 km/h over taking every vehicle on the road. Immediately my eyes started watering. They were exposed to the elements, the chilly wind, the dust, the strain of seeing through the dark, partial blinding by the light from the vehicle coming from the opposite direction. All of this didn’t matter. I was going forward pushing the speed. The maximum I was able to reach in this condition was 110 km/h. no matter how much the speed, my general rule is to always stay in control of my bike and hence I just limited myself to that speed which I was able to manage. It was a very amazing to and from ride. This was the first instance for me to push the new bike and see what it is worth. The fastest I have been on a bike is 125km/h and that is a milestone I need to attain on this new bike. May be on my next trip, when I am riding alone. The handling of the bike changes considerably when riding with a pillion who is in excess of 100kg. it puts a lot of load on the bike. I have told my friend to reduce his weight or I am not taking him as a pillion on long rides. The other pillion for whom the seat is reserved is the girl who can take on the elements with me, loves adventure and will have tea with me on a road side tea stall …

The Bullet & a miracle of Christmas eve..

From my early childhood I was passionate about bikes. I used to dream about riding the bike across the country. I learned everything about riding a bike before I even got on a bike. No friend or family every allowed me to get on a bike. It was when I turned 18 that I forced my father to get me a bike. That is how my biking journey began. I got the bike before even I had the license to ride it. I started learning to ride on my own bike.
My first bike was Yamaha RX 100. It was a mean machine but I loved riding it. As the time changed and the fuel price kept going higher and higher I was on a look out for the alternative to that bike. A suitable alternative I found was in the Bajaj Pulsar 180. The first model from the Bajaj stable was pure monster. It was so dam quick. My time with that bike lasted for about 6 years till one day I decided to sell it off.
It was then that I was on a look out for another bike when I decided to try out a bullet. A bullet is a biker’s fascination. As a test case I decided to get a used bullet and ride is for some time to see how it works for me. Even after planning to get one cheap I ended up paying higher than what I would have wanted for that bike. The bike looked great. While buying I knew there was some minor work to be done. But that minor work turned out to be major work when on the very same night riding out I blew the piston. It was a sad case but not to be disheartened I got the bike fixed. Honestly the ride of a bullet is just brilliant. There is no comparison with any other bike.
Before buying the bike I was warned that it can be heavy on the pocket. But since I was now earning I was not much concerned about the expenses. As the time with the bullet passed I started to realize how much attention the bike demanded. I had to take her to the mechanic ever alternate week. This compared to my earlier two bikes was just too much. I was used to visiting a mechanic alternate months. A single visit to the mechanic for the bullet would cost me an average of about Rs.2000. even with all its riding pleasure the bike was quite unpractical for my sense. With a 350 CC engine it is expected to keep on going. But as I found out, the bike got tired earlier than me. Being a regular rider habituated on riding for long hours this was annoying for me. If looks, style & riding comfort was excluded there was nothing much in the bike. The bullet was not much reliable as I would break down in the middle of the road. As one day it happened to me in the middle of the night. The bullet mechanic was now more friendly with me as my frequency of visits increased. After about 4 months of trial I finally decided to get rid. A friend of mine showed interest in the bike even after my initial warning. He was of the opinion that my riding style was not proper for that bike and that he would be fine riding it. At his own risk I handed over the bike to him. One fine day I received a call from him stating I was correct all along. The problem was with the bike itself and not with my riding style. Still the bike was with him. I told him to keep it till the time I get a good paying customer. My problem was that if I had kept the bike with me I would have rode it regularly denting my pockets further. It was a sorry case to find the taker for the bike as it became difficult. One other thing which came to my mind was that I got a used bike, so might have been trouble. If I had gotten a new bike it would have been easier on me.
During all this time while I was waiting for the bullet to be sold off the Royal enfield company announced the launch of the classic model. The review of the classic was fine and promised to be a reliable bike. I checked out the bike at the dealer and got the required details for getting one. Now I was just waiting for the old one to be sold off so that I can get a new one.
The irony of life is played once twice but not many times. Now already seven months had passed since I have decided to sell of the old bike. With no buyer I had given up on the idea that it will be sold of ever. I was left stranded without a bike. This part of my life was quite miserable. I had lost my ability to fly. I had once tried a dealer and get the valuation of the old bullet to see if I can exchange it for a new bike. The price offered by the dealer was considerably low. It would mean I have to take a loss of Rs.10000 & so I had decided against it. Now with so much time gone by I had just given up on the idea of a bike.
It was like a joke to me as I had decided to go for the new royal enfield classic bike. I had not discussed it with my friend who was holding on to the old bullet. During all this the life kept going on. I had my own plans but they never materialized. This Christmas I witnessed magic. I was out with my friend at our regular spot. We were just discussing on goings in life. Before that I had never discussed about my plans to buy a classic with him but that day I just told him. His reaction was as expected. He told me that is would be a mistake to buy that bike as it is not a practical bike. He gave me example of new classics laying at the service center. I was little annoyed with his response. I told him “if I am not buying the classic, than I do not need to wait and can go directly to the dealer and book a new bike”. He asked me “Do you want to go now”. Yes I said and we took off with the Bullet to the dealer. Even with the Rs.10000 loss I was ready this time as I had already started saving money for the classic. The Christmas magic must have hit the dealer as well, because this time around the price quoted by the dealer was near my expectation. I had break even on the old bike and now I was on my way to get a new bike.
Now I am just a week or two away from getting my wheels back and start flying. Overall this year was going to be down the drain but for this end. This was totally unexpected to me. This Christmas changed the whole year which had gone bad. As it is said “All is well if it ends well”
-Looking forward to riding the years ahead