My first bike

Too much sentimental stuff was shared in the last post and I am not sure I am up for something similar again. So I have decided to go in for something more materialistic, yet at the same time is extremely close to my heart.So,this post is about my bike, my beloved Hunk!

I was in class X, when dad taught me how to ride a scooter. And I absolutely loved it. For the first time, going somewhere wasn't a pain anymore. I mean don't get me wrong, I love cycling, but sometimes you do long for a machine which would take you places without any physical efforts whatsoever. And somehow I had this notion that chicks dig dudes who have a motorized vehicle.I still remember how in class IX, I had borrowed a neighboring Didi's gearless moped and had zoomed it at a Hayabusian speed of 20 kmph to our play ground to show it off to my friends and the girls who used to hang out there. Imagine my disappointment,when no one turned up! There were only a couple of toddlers who were rolling in the dust much to the anguish of their weary mothers.Ten minutes later, my own mom crossed our playground,(she was on her evening walk)and realized what had happened. There,right in front of her eyes, was her stud of a son, on a girl's scooty, alone in the playground, waiting for girls to check him out.I so wish the ground had swallowed me then and there! Ahh...the fallacies of teenage hood, we would believe just about anything they showed on TV. Luckily, I had a set of parents who knew when and how to put me straight, so the idea of having my own personalized bike/scooter never really caught up with me. Plus, all my friends were like totally middle class kids, whose only aim was to study well and get into the best of colleges.So I had to shelf my plans for my dream bike for the time being.

So, I thought,"Ok, let me get into college and then I will pester dad for a bike.Everyone has a bike in films, so I should have one too." My reasoning seemed sound in logic, so I was happy thinking that my bike was just round the corner.
I think God was listening to my prayers, but in the opposite sense I guess. For he decided to put me in a college, where even the professors used cycles to come to class. Motorized wheelers were banned in our campus and almost everyone preferred those two wheelered nuisances that they mass produce in the downtown factories of Ludhiana.And to top it off, I was in a five year course, so the wait just got longer and longer.

So, for the next 4 years, I didn't even bother finding out which bike was hot in the market. But when finally, I landed with a job, I realized my dream was near. Another 6 months,and I would be out of that god forsaken place. I would kick my old bicycle away for good and never mount on another one for the rest of my life.I was going to Bangalore, where my childhood friends were presently working.(as software engineers, what else do you expect???). More importantly, my girl friend(eehh..I am blushing as I am writing this) was also in Bangalore, so once again, the thought of us together on a super bike, riding out to the sunset, seemed like a luring possibility. Needless to say, I couldn't wait to get onto my flight to Bangalore.

p.s. I later realized that instead of becoming the cool dude who rode on his cool bike with his gf to all the cool hotspots in Bangalore, I was now more of a glorified chauffeur, who took his mistress to all the malls and bazaars and tailor shops which appealed to the whims of her Royal Highness.But more of that in a later post!!

So, now that only a few months were left, I started googling for the hottest Indian bikes. I already knew that I wasn't go for anything less than a 150 cc bike. The price range seemed right too. The 150 cc ones started from Rs 65k and the bigger models(225 ccs) ended at Rs 100k.After a lot of analysis, reviews and fundas from the internet and from friends, I had zeroed in on the Hunk and Karizma from Hero Honda, P 220 from Bajaj, FZ 16 from Yamaha,Unicorn from Honda and the Apache RTR from TVS.

The Hero Honda bikes were good looking, reliable, sturdy vehicles which came at a pocket friendly price tag. I loved the Hunk's muscular looks and the fact that it was a very heavy bike, which meant that it would remain stable in high speed conditions was a major plus point for me. Also it had the reliable Honda 149.6 cc engine embedded beneath it's giant body, so it made for a very good choice indeed.
The Karizma was a beast of a bike, a true blood sports bike, which would make one's heart go thumping at the start of it's engine. Being a 225 cc bike, it wouldn't be fuel efficient, but I was ready for that. If, mileage was an actual concern for me, I would have gone a CD 100.

The P220 was a bike in a similar league to Karizma's. In fact it is the fastest bike in India, and it's majestic wolf like looks had dudes swooning all over it. I didn't consider the P150/180 for 2 major reasons: (a). they are too common on Indian roads and I wanted a more exclusive bike. (b). The reliability of Bajaj bikes is a major concern and I had heard too many cases of Pulsars breaking down within an year or two of purchase. There were similar quality issues with the P220, but so fascinated was I with this bike, that I was willing to take the risk.

The FZ 16 from Yamaha was a new entrant in the Indian biking terrain. And it was absolutely smashing. Having riden this machine, I can vouch for it to be having the most refined engine, the smoothest gear box and the best power transmission from any other comparable bike.It's looks were also radical and made heads turn at every traffic signal. But the bike was over priced, nearly 7-8k more than other bikes in the same league. Also its fuel efficiency was pretty low. Still, I was willing to forego all these drawbacks. I was sure that the FZ was the bike for me...until I discovered that FZ doesn't have a kick start! It only came in auto start, which meant total dependence on the bike's battery and I certainly didn't want to be left with a plausible situation that one fine day when I am hundreds of km from the nearest bike service shop, my battery gives way and I then have to drag my bike all the way till I reach civilization. Then and there, the FZ was out of my list, and consequently the Karizma and P220 were also out as they do have the same auto start issue.

The Honda Unicorn was the last bike in my list. Its the perfect bike. Simple yet elegsant looks, good fuel efficiency, a superb engine and Honda's legendary reliability tag made me realize that the Unicorn could very well possibly be the bike for me. I tried the Apache RTR,but didn't like it one bit. It's a race bike where tall people need to crouch to ride it. Also its a bike for thrills, and I doubt you would get much of it in the busy lanes of Bangalore. Lastly, I heard about some quality issues with the bike's spare parts, so very soon the Apache was kicked out of my list.

Thus it was now a 2 way race between the Hunk and Unicorn.

But before I finally zeroed in on my favored bike, something else happened with me. I got a mail from my new employees that since the world is in the middle of recession, there will be a massive pay cut from our promised salaries. Also there will be a delayed joining for all of us, the extent of which was unknown even to them. The world came crashing down on me.All my dreams of settling in Bangalore in the very near future was gone, and awaiting me now was an uncertain tomorrow.

However, God was looking over me all this while. By a stroke of luck, he got me an offer with another company in Bangalore. The pay wasn't much but at least I had work now. My salary didn't afford me a bike, so I initially commuted to office by public buses. But in Bangalore,even that is expensive. So I settled on the next best thing. Believe it or not, I bought a 2nd hand cycle for 500 bucks!! Imagine my anguish when instead of a brand new Honda at my doorsteps, I had a 2nd hand cycle waiting for me. I bet God must have been dancing on the latest Himesh Reshammiya's songs at that moment. But nothing could be done, and exactly 2 months after I had sworn I would never get on a cycle again, I was back on the damn thing again.The memories of Kgp had come back to haunt me.

So my life continued in this way for the next 5 months. Each day I swore at my cycle and prayed for my agony to end. On the roads, I made jealous glances towards the other bike wallahs and consoled myself that at least I was saving precious money on fuel this way. The consolation didn't help much though.

But one fine day, I got a call from my original company that they were ready to take me on board within a fortnight. Life seemed sweet again. I had also saved a sizeable amount by then and since my new office was about 15 km from my flat, I had to buy a bike...ASAP! So once again it was back to inquiries and opinions from friends, office colleagues and almost anyone who had a bike and could speak in Hindi or English.After satisfying myself that the Hunk and the Unicorn were still the best options for me, I got a couple of my friends to accompany me to Honda showrooms.I still couldn't decide which bike I wanted. Everyone gave me a different opinion. My gf wanted the Hunk because it looked cool, my flatmate wanted me to go for the Unicorn as it was more fuel efficient, and others were still confused. So, I decided that I will buy the bike which will be available immediately and I wouldn't have to wait for it. Since the Honda show room was closer to my house, we went in there first. The black Unicorn was priced at Rs.68k, but it had a waiting period of 2 weeks. Disheartened, I headed to the Hero Honda Showroom. Sure enough they had 10 black models on display. Within half an hour, I was the proud owner of my very own Hunk.

That night,I couldn't sleep. Every half hour I would keep going down to admire my beast's looks. My dream was realized and I was a happy boy once more. Till date it has clocked 3800 km in 3 months, with 2 servicings done. Zero issues upto now and I dont have a single regret with my choice.

Next bike: A Kawasaki Ninja 250(most probably after I am done with my MBA.)