Originally Posted by strider

It all started with an ad about a new bike in 1998(when I was in 8th grade) from Yamaha in a auto magazine my uncle got from USA, with a picture of the bike called the YZF-R1 in a Red-white-black color scheme and that’s when I decided that I am gonna buy one.
After lot of fighting, my uncle agreed on me cutting out that bike picture from the magazine, so my next task was to find more about the bike like power, top speed, price and yes of course mileage.
Yamaha had caught my attention then from the wheelie RXs to the loud RDs...
I just couldn’t get the thought of buying The One out from my head..

So started my mission(then) to save money in a piggy bank(my chocolate allowances, bus travel fare, cycle repair money, painting competition cash money etc) through high school... I wondered why is there a wall-poster of Sachin Tendulakar available but not of the R1..

During my pre-university years, I used to copy notes, assignments or write records for classmates (more or less everything which couldn’t be photocopied and submitted used to end-up with me) and I used to get paid like Rs5 per page..
I could finally find a wall-poster of the R1 then and hence picked it up..

Engineering opened new avenues to earn and save money, being a bigger campus and lot of diverse students opened new and big ways to earn money for the bike like hosting parties, working for music concerts, new product promos, call-centres and as a pizza delivery boy(the best job at that time,I was paid to ride a bike faster; off course I really hadn’t thought of any safety gear etc as I was 19 then)..

Somewhere in my 2nd year of engg, dad got me a 2005 Pulsar 180 and was given a fuel allowance of 800 bucks a month,I saw an opportunity there, so I used to take the bike from my place park it at my friend's place on the adjacent road and used to travel by bus..800 was big money for me then...

By the end of my graduation, I had graduated from the a 2003 R1 poster to a 1:12 Scale model of the 2006 R1..
In fact so happy was I to hold the scale model that I went and bought 2 more models of different colors of the R1 the next day, making it to 3 of Red, Black and Blue color each..
What’s left was to pick the life-size replica...

By the end of engineering, before my first job as a programmer I had saved at least 1/4th the money worth the R1..

During my software stint after engineering, the saving mode hit the power band. At the end of about 2.4years of slogging, ensured that the remaining amount to buy the motorcycle was in my bank account..

During my tenure as a software engineer, I realized that had I bought the R1 then I didn’t have the time to ride it and off course my fitness levels were at the least during that period due to the sedentary lifestyle..Hence I decided that this madness will end the day I pick up the bike..
So after a pursuit of about 11 years, on Jan 3rd 2010, the dream transcended to a reality, from a paper-cutting, to a wall poster, to a scale model and finally onto the real bike, The R1 was realized...
That moment when I saw my name written as the owner in the RC book still and shall always be with me..
The after-effect being that I was left with a balance of Rs400 in my account..



It will be a year with my 2008 R1 in about a fortnight and I want to give her a very special gift, which would be remembered by the biking fraternity in xBhp and in India.

PS: I no longer have that paper-cutting from which this dream started, but I can never forget that piece of paper which was everything to me then.

Originally Posted by strider

It all started with an ad about a new bike in 1998(when I was in 8th grade) from Yamaha in a auto magazine my uncle got from USA, with a picture of the bike called the YZF-R1 in a Red-white-black color scheme and that’s when I decided that I am gonna buy one.


It will be a year with my 2008 R1 in about a fortnight and I want to give her a very special gift, which would be remembered by the biking fraternity in xBhp and in India.

PS: I no longer have that paper-cutting from which this dream started, but I can never forget that piece of paper which was everything to me then.

Originally Posted by frankpilli

Strider, i'm really touched. the determination behind your dream to own the "ONE" is really inspiring

Originally Posted by nfsnfs

That's super writeup . . Mine is yet to arrive . .

Whats the big bang . ?

Originally Posted by kinshuk.arya

amazing writeup.....
a parallel story going on here as well although the crush is not that old.... infact it is pretty new started last year only and from then i have numerous wallpaers screensavers etc. of the one including an authentic yamaha approved 27 piece 1:12 model of the black 2007 R1 from Maisto(gift from my gf).... and till now have save around 1% of the amount... savings will drive into power mode once i join my job after 4 months....

Originally Posted by satyenpoojary

Inspiring to say the least! Very well written!

*Waiting for my dream to come true too!*

Originally Posted by addyrulz01

Wow. I just wanted to share that my story is exactly the same as yours. I had the same poster in 8th standard and even i have the same scale model of the R1 in red. The only thing differs is that i am just 21 and havnt started working but i will make sure that my dreams come true after i start earning.

Thank you so much for sharing your story

ride safe

Originally Posted by nats

^ +1
got the 08 R1 poster and its scale model...just that im only 18 years old
Still a long way for me! Amazing write up there!
Cheers!

Originally Posted by bluevolt

Inspirational story Ajay!

Do we see a mega R1 road trip in the offing?

Originally Posted by saj

@strider: man you are the reason why even i am into the saving mode now. it was your talks when we first met that has taken me into saving mode. and since you have realized your dream, i am optimistic about realizing my dreams too.. 2011 will bring me my first job. let's see how close i will come to my dream!!
thanks to you

waiting for the gift you are giving to your R1!!

saj*

Originally Posted by SKSy_Biker

Lovely story of how you got your R1 Ajay! I'm sure this would be a motivation to everyone dreaming of getting one someday and a testament to the fact that you don't need to be a millionaire to get what you dreamed of!

You are a millionaire now