Arup

Saturday, 8th May : 9:30 pm

Intro:

I finally decided to come out of my state of denial. A state of denial that there she was, standing quietly in my garage space for the last 15 days, a state of denial that she belonged to me, a state of denial that this, that I was dreaming of for oh so long was finally mine, a state of denial that it was MY sweet sweet possession that I was washing, with my IPod plugged in firmly into my ears and Radiohead’s Creep screaming in full blast ……

“When you were here before, couldn’t look you in the eye, you’re just like an angel, your skin makes me cry, you float like a feather, in this beautiful world, I wish I was special …. So @#$%ing special …. But I am creep … I am a weirdo …. What the hell am I doing here??? I don’t belong here ….I don’t care if it hurts, I wanna take control … I want a perfect body …. I want a perfect soul …. I want you to notice, when I am not around …you’re so @#$%ing special, I wish I was special ….. but I’m a creep, I am a weirdo …. What the hell am I doing here??? I don’t belong here”

Yes, I indeed was the creep there and there she was leaning in front of me in her full glory … as if I did not deserve her, but yet she came to me, to be mine and to bestow upon me life’s greatest addiction – the joy of owning, and riding ………… a Suzuki Hayabusa - the K10 Pearl White color beauty with the greyish gold graphics (and similar colour alloys ).

The Story:

Yes, as obsessive and melodramatic as this may sound, I actually felt that way. And believe it or not, this is the first time I am not only owning a superbike, but riding one too. The bike that I owned and rode for 9 years of my life until 3 years ago was – hold your breath guys – a CBZ. So here is someone who took a 3 year break from riding, because he wanted to go straight for the kill – no in-betweens. No 250cc, 600cc, litre and litre plus class …. No step-by-step progression – just a straight cold player (does that remind anyone of Lenny Kravitz??). 10 long years of obsession and 3 very long years of wait. Why the wait? A) Did not want to compromise on laws of the land. The ability to hold my head up high as a first class citizen of the country is of significant importance for me. B) Did not have the money (now that’s simple ). Knowing that if ever, this would only be available at 100% import duty, I decided 3 years ago that I will start saving up …. And thus began the long journey of waiting, wanting, craving, …….. and there I finally was, with the registration of my superbike completed on Friday, 7th May 2010. A dream fulfilled. A desire delivered . Trust me, I did not dare to take the bike out on the street before the registration. Why? Point no. A) same as above, and point no. B) Ego – what’s that you might ask? I haven’t paid this amount to own this beauty and ride it like a rabbit, constantly wondering what’ll happen if I get copped, innit? I will wait, and once the wait is over, the rider shall ride like her like a tiger – afraid of no one with no questions being asked. I have always placed law over everything else. But now, the wait was over.

The tough 8 hours

I connected with a close COPS mate at 9:30 pm and was told that the next scheduled long ride and soon to be my first long ride was 8 hours hence!! Went cold, with the thought that this’d be my first ride. The thought that I would be riding my superbike for the first time made me numb … but I quickly regained composure. I was taking a walk around my building complex with wifey dear. We quickly gave that up with my wife wondering why. Once home, I told her that the odo starts clocking miles 8 hours hence. She was visibly nervous. She looked me as if to ask “Arup, you will ride safe, won’t you?” My look of assurance did her good. Ran back downstairs to check the fuel gauge. One quarter tank full???? Oh no!! Ho boy, what do I do now, where in the name of God am I going to get 97 octane from at this hour ?? But I was determined. The ride had to happen and I had to get out of this state of denial. Called the dealer from who I purchased the bike and I yelped “emergency”. As nice as he could be, he sent his man rushing to my place with 20 litres of 97 octane and at 11:30pm, I was filling her up. She drank and she drank till she could do no more, but I knew, it was I who would get inebriated 6 hours hence . 12:00am, gave her a quick bath, checked the tyre pressure and covered her up, but not before looking at it for a while very fondly. 12:30am – done with my shower, and time to arrange the gear for the morning :

• Joe Rocket Jacket – Check
• Joe Rocket Gloves – Check
• Joe Rocket Full Carbon Fibre Helmet – Check
• Sidi Boots – Check

12:45am – in bed, eyes closed, adrenaline flowing hard, various thoughts, images, both good and bad floating all over … constantly reminding myself of what I should and what I most definitely should NOT do. Tossed again. Got up for a drink of water – 1:45am. Paced up and down my living room – back to bed at 2:00am, eyes open – the only sound I could here was that of a distant cricket and the clock ticking … tick, tick, tick. Woke up with a start, hoping that I did not miss the 4:15am alarm – only to find out that it was 2:30am. The remaining 105 minutes was spent tossing an turning, and some prayers being said intermittently. 4:15am – the alarm goes off. I wake up in a scurry to make sure that my wife does not get up. Half an hour later, I am well clothed in. Luckily I broke into my Sidi boots sometime back and thought it’d be easy to ride with. Went to the puja room – said my prayers. Quickly closed the door behind me and went down holding my helmet and gloves – down to where she was waiting for me. Uncovered her and I said to her – so this is where we begin.

The first very short ride:

With my helmet and gloves now on, got onto her, with her quiet demeanor almost telling me – don’t worry, treat me like you would treat someone you really love and respect, and I will do the same to you. Ignition switch turned on – headlamps light up; the Fuel indicator gauge, RPM meter, Speedo and Temperature meter, do a full swing with its red backlight bright in the night – reminded me of a similar act the R1 did, the first time I saw it in 2007 and drooled over this fancy salutation . The LED check-light next to the keys did their bit to indicate that the lever can now be pulled and the ignition button pressed. I heeded to her command. She fired up nice and quiet (remember – she’s a full stock). I let her be for a minute. Drive mode changed to C. Checked the time. 4:50am – ready to roll. Shifted the gear down to first – CLANG. That’s how it happens initially, I am told. I released the clutch slow and easy while synchronizing the throttle. Found my way out to the main road, where I opened her up a bit … 2nd gear-60kmph, 3rd gear-whoa, I am already at 100Kmph – slow down Arup, slow down. And remember, this was my first ride EVER, on an SBK. I decided that I am going to do this real nice and easy. So I rode her like I did my CBZ, and there were stretches where I was doing 50KMph on the 6th gear !!!! Man – what versatility – that’s the first thought that came to my mind. Found an open stretch, downshifted and opened her up a bit more, swerved to the left (obviously after checking the rear view) and braked - It must have taken me not more than 4 or 5 seconds to come to a complete halt. I must have been at 80kmph when I started to brake. Continued doing some checks and balances and covered the rest of the ride at approx 50kmph. We took some time to get to know each other and 20 KM hence I was at the meeting point.

Eh?

As I pulled the side-stand and switched the engine off, I realized that the outside was still pretty dark and quiet, and eh, I was completely alone. I panicked. Have the rest of the bikers left? Have they called it off? They had told me 5:15am. I quickly removed my helmet, gloves and unzipped my jacket to pull out my mobile phone and check the time – 5:14am. They could not have left then, the first thought that came to my mind. I quietly sat down on the stairs in front of the bike - looking at her trying to anticipate what lay ahead of me in this ride. My lady was almost smiling at me as if to say– you’re good and will do well. 5:20 am – and I decide to call my mate – Ashish – Ashtorque for all of you familiar with him. A groggy voice tells me, “hey, I will be there in 10 min – where are you?” I confirm that I am at the starting point. 10min? Man – I can bet that my phone call woke him up. Anyways, 5:35am and Ashtorque pulls up with his beautiful 07 limited edition Fireblade. Vrooom goes his Yoshimura!!! And the engine switches off. “Surprised to see that we are all alone!!” – that’s what his first words are. He then drools over my K10 stock and that goes on for 10 minutes. Then a distant rumble catches my attention. Some vague shadows cast by xenon lamps are visible in the next few seconds and then …. 3-Busas, 2-600s, and an R1 pull up – Jardines, Racefit, Akros, you name it – Wow !! We all get to know each other and I get introduced to Rahul, Manish, Jeetu, Sumit, Neeraj and some other folks (sorry – first time – can’t remember all).

Enough - time to get down and dirty :

6:00am and we now decide that we must start. With our gear firmly rested where they ought to, one bike starts after the other. The music, the sweet music – that rumble, that universal noise, that one note, that beautiful pink noise from another world almost left me floating in the ethereal space , when one of the riders quickly brought me back and made enough signs for me to understand that I need to ride safe, and that they are with me. Heck it wasn’t pretty to feel like a noob, but I was one . We started off – I played very cautious as my boots were playing truant (did I mention that I broke into them?). Soon, and obviously, I was at the tail end of the stream, with some folks dotting out somewhere beyond the horizon. No worries Arup – take your time – Ashtorque signaled. Well I did take my time, but that time I took did not take too much time!! Ten minutes into the ride, I encountered a long stretch. I was probably at 80kmph on the 4th gear – visibility probably was about 3 km. I downshifted to the 2nd gear, throttled up and wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee – I was at 130kmph before I knew it – slowly shifted to the top and was cruising between 130kmph and 140kmph. Nice so far. Enter the first bend – now I need to remind you again that this is my first ride. I was approaching it at 140kmph and I started palpitating, fearing that I might not make this one. I knew too little of this bike to try and lean – in fact, I don’t even know how to do corners. The age old Indian reflex action technique – disengage and brake – came to my mind. I knew that in SBKs the fronts take up 70% of the braking and I got lever-happy. To my absolute absolute surprise, I managed to slow down in a jiffy – the bike stayed on the road, and I was now taking the bend at 80kmph – whew – that was so damn quick and comforting ! Its as though she knew I was making a mistake and helped me correct it. I was careful at the corners through the rest of the ride and was very anticipatory too. Did several quickies (no puns intended here pls ) along doable stretches and was thrilled at this SBKs capabilities – after all, need I remind myself or any of you that this is the fastest commercial bike under production?? Our first stop was MacDs, where the boys usually stop for coffee. I parked and got off the bike, removed my gloves and helmet – saw my hands – trembling. I could not believe that I had achieved this feat. Absolutely thrilling. A quick coffee break and the slow and easy category folks (yours truly and a couple of others) decided to start off earlier so that the entire gang can reach the breakfast point together. We started and were 10 minutes into our ride, when suddenly, Vrooom, a dot goes past me and disappears, Vroooom, another dot goes past me and disappears and this happens twice more. I checked my speedo – I was at 120kmph. The Vrooomers must’ve passed me at 200kmph (and when I checked with them later, I was told that they were at 225kmph). Its as though I was at standstill and someone passed me by at 100kmph . Wow that was something – I thought to myself. But I knew that I am not a speed freak – I got this lady home to enjoy and relish every bit without getting too mischievous and hence, such speeds are never ever going to be for me. Reached peacefully at the breakfast joint by 7:30 am and relaxed with some chai, pohe, vada pav and missal pav. Now I do not know where these folks popped out from, but there were hoards of public gathered around the bike and a few SLRs popped out too!!! Click and flash and click and flash. Wow – I was super thrilled. Why? Because up until some days ago, I was the one clicking photos of other people’s beauties. What a feeling to be on the other side now .

Time to get back:

We started to head back at about 8:00am. I was much more confident and not so shaky and nervous this time around. Although by now, my gloves were hurting me bad, and my fingers were going numb. I realized that I was putting too much pressure on the handlebar. This despite several repeated reminders that the bars should be left loose and light with the weight hold transferring to the inner thighs and stomach muscles. Well for a 6’1”ft guy weighing around 110kgs (that’s almost obese ), this was not easy the first time around. Guess its only a matter of time before I learn the tricks of the trade. I kept slowing down in between to release the numbness of my fingers. Some of the fellow bikers were slowing down with me as they thought something was wrong. Very very nice set of people I must say. Anyways, with the confidence levels a tad bit higher on the way in than the way out, I explored a bit further on the maneuverability and she did not hesitate to behave like small bikes in slow traffic. The more I get know this superbike, the more it beckons me to know it more. Some more quickies and I think I have now managed to scrape the tip of the knowledge iceberg of this monster of a Busa after a 160km ride. They say that for beginners to know a tenth of what the Busa can do, one needs to clock a minimum of 3000km. Naiice. We ended at the same spot where we started from, where we took a half hour break – I spoke of my first experience, people recounted theirs and kept giving me stories that made me more cautious than I already was. Some more chai and ready to disperse. Reached home at 10:30am. Stood next to her for 10 minutes thanking her for taking good care of me.

Went back home and day-dreamed through the rest of the Sunday ………

I know a lot of you people out there are professional superbikers and hence may have found this experience way too naïve. Hence, for those of you who slept off halfway though – that’s perfectly alright. However, for those of you who skipped in between, but read till the end – Thank you. And for those who read all of it, word by word – Wow – A big big thank you. I will try and keep posting more such rides and also on how I am getting better by the day with more and more experience. Hope noobs like me will learn from what I learn on the job .

Thanks for reading. Will post some pictures real soon.

MG

Topic Approved

So the other SBK thread is here. Congrats Arup. Waiting to see pictures of your lovely lady in white.

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My photography page: Gourab Das Photography

haxor

Congrats!Ride safe!

Nicely narrated!

Correct me if I am wrong
SBK's on XBHP

Hayabusa=5
fireblade=4
R1=5

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ashtorque

Ok...here is Arup's lovely lady in white (and dark grey)

This low quality photo doesnt do an ounce of justice to her beauty...but nevertheless here it is.



Cheers!

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ken cool

Another "wow" thread! I read it word by word. Nicely put. But I would like to add something here. You seem to be a guy with a responsible head on steady shoulders. Keep it like that. You do not have to look to do 300! Do not attempt such antics. The problem with the Busa is that it is so damn smooth and the body geometry is such that the whole dynamics of the bike is way different from other "Superbikes". In what way? Read on...

I just came back from a 25 kilometer 2009 Busa ride a few minutes back and I still say the same thing that I said years ago when I first rode the Might Busa. It is much mightier than what it seems and this leaves us with a false sense of security. I was almost scared when I read that you were going into the corner at 140kmph. Today on the highway, I was cruising on "easily". I had the feeling that the other vehicles on the road had slowed down somehow for some strange reason that I could not fathom. I was going on my lane when I "happened" to glance at the console and I was at 170kmph!!! It was way too fast for what this kind of traffic could handle. The problem being with this bike is that it does not let you feel the speed. I was so comfortably nestled into its cockpit comfortably "cruising" that I did not realise its speed. That is where the danger lies. I instantly took a rain check and shifted down and engine-braked.

So, my word to you; first and foremost... Congratulations for your buy! Secondly, tread with utmost caution. Stay well within your limits because the bike has none!

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BMW Motorrad Days 2011

Xbhp's Indo-French Kashmir-Ladakh Tour

kurtrules

The monsoon's nearing, but this time there's a difference. This time, it's raining Superbikes, here on xBhp!

Congratulations on your purchase

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Sunny

Congratulation! Phew, we need a Suzuki big bike G2G soon!

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ankitmohan

Congratulations..!!

RIDE SAFE....!!

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ashtorque

I liked this line Ken. Made my day..Can I borrow it please

@Arup
I can "feel" what your writeup as I was a part of it...Awesome stuff dude. Really happy for you.

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jd666

great write up man.. i could feel the emotion in the words!! great!!

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My offerings to the gods of speed -

- KTM Duke 200
- Yamaha RXZ 5 speed