Traveling Caravan

Finally, I could take out little time for myself last weekend. So I went to Mysore with a friend of mine on my beyond-repair bike. And I covered the 130 kms in just an hour and 27 minutes. Whoooo. A great feat given my bike is in bad shape.

We had loads of fun. Managed to click tons of picture, check out my flickr for all the fun we had. Next weekend we might (still on papers, ha) head towards Pondicherry - the french colony but this time on the TRIP bike.

Biking nostalgia

J. C. Road in Bangalore is a great place to buy second hand vehicles, mostly two-wheelers. Gujjri is the best place to buy spare parts. Last Sunday, I had to go to Gujjri to buy a hex wrench, carburetor and a clutch plate for my 1987 model 100 cc Yamaha RX bike.

I love my bike. Its sleek, its slim, its retro but a blazing gun. A hard-to-control beast when it fires up. And I love the sound.

While negotiating the price of a clutch plate with the shop owner, he offered me a clutch spring worth Rs. 100/- free. Upon asking him why, he replied, “Saab yeh original RX ka spare hai. Bina is spring ka plate lagaye to koi fayda nahi hai.” (This is an original spare of RX, Sir, without this spring your bike won’t give the desired performance) But why free I asked him again. “Saar, ye bike aaj kal milta nahin hai, aur main RX ka bara fan hoon. Mera paas saat RX hai, ekdum naya aur main ushe race karata hoon. Aap bhi RX chalate ho, to socha sahi parts dal ke aap chalayo, second hand hua to kya.” (Sir, RX is out of production and I’m a big fan of RX. I have seven of them. Since you ride one, we share a common passion, so I thought use an original spare even if it’s seconds) Am impressed. Brand loyalty at its highest order.

This got me thinking. I know the Govt. has banned manufacturing of all two-stroke bikes in India. Surprisingly they did not ban people from riding one on road. RX100 has a huge fan following in our country; ask any biker in this country and two brand names crop up – Bullet and RX. While Bullet riders love to thud, RX rider love to zip.

So why not help bring those loyal followers together? Why not help restore the bikes, help in engine modification, body beautification, and conduct street drags, anything that brings those rugged, free-spirited, street biking values back? Yes, you may not sell your Gladiator models but you can still keep a whole lot of followers closer and happy.

The RX100 club, The RX100 – 100 meters race, The RX100 – 100 Km torment test (endurance test), The RX100 – 100 days on the road celebration. You don’t need mass media help. Neither do you need to do a MTV Roadies. You’re the original ROADIE. Just bring back that BRAND NOSTALGIA. John Abraham alone cannot change your fortune, no matter how hard you try. Remember your most loyal fans have given up HOPE.