my tryst with bike began when i was in college 2nd year. the guy who lives next to my room bought a new pulsar 150 ug2. i liked that bike very much.i wanted to buy this one and then give it a full fairing , dreamt about it for days but the only problem was that i did not know how to ride. however decided to ask my father, initially he was hesitant but gave a meek yes, a yes nevertheless. so i decided to learn riding ,went to riding schools but noone teach you to ride bikes ;all they have is bajaj M80. finally one of my friends who had a pulsar 180 (classic) offered to teach me to ride, i was thrilled. however that offer came with a precondition - he asked me how much do i think he will get if he teaches someone to ride a 180 (he stressed on the word 180). well ! i said maybe 500( though i was a bit sceptical, i thought may be iam offering him a bit too much , see back then i was still a child and was ignorant about a lot of things) he laughed and told me- for that money i can sit on his bike but cannot ride it, so we settled for 1000 + petrol charges as applicable). my first day was horrible , i kept on stalling the bike and when i finally managed to get it rolling i forgot to release the clutch in 2nd gear and twisted the throttle . my friend got angry and said he will not wreck his bike for 1000 bucks he however took rs30 towards petrol charges.

i was crest fallen , one day when i was in my room one of my senior whom i know through one of my best friend called me up to ask if i can come to his home coz he's feeling bored and has nothing to do.i told him i cant coz i dont have a bike and his home is far, moreover i have never been to that part of the city by bus. that's when he asked if i know to ride the bike coz his bike is at my hostel , i said no, and from here everything changed. he said he has a spare bike at home but without petrol. if i can bring some petrol then he can teach me to ride. i jumped at the idea. ran to the nearest shop bought a litre of mineral water , drank half of it and threw the rest , took my old t shirt wiped the inside , took an auto and was at his doorstep in half an hour.poured petrol in the Rx135 started it and took it to the nearest pump and we are ready to go. this time around i didnt stall the bike , the gears were changed neatly, with the wind blowing on my face i cannot stop grinning.i was over the moon.from then on he would come everyday and we would go for long rides and i got hooked up with bikes. we bonded well and within a short time he became a close and trusted friend.he is a very fast and capable rider and always talked about power and performance however i was quite contend with just riding bikes.


now it was time for me to buy a new bike .he had Rxz ,loved it to the core. i decided to go for Rxz but alas i was late by 8months. yamaha stopped its production 8 months ago. i searched everywhere but couldnt lay my hands on it. except pulsar there was no other choice .we would go to the showroom and then stepout to have long discussions ,i liked pulsar but all my friends said it was not reliable ,there was no other bike which would match the pulsar in power or looks. my father was strictly against 2nd hand bike. So i had to wait.


just then i got the news that honda has launched a new bike unicorn.we rushed to the showroom and i fell in love with it the red one in particular. it was smooth ,very easy to ride and powerful as well and the shape of the headlight resembles that of karizma. As time passed by i got more confident on the bike and start to ride it fast, it was a great bike .then i decided to do some modifications , put a 17” rim in the front and the yezdi 16” rim at the back with a 120/80 tyre.raised the shocks a bit and shaved some foam off the seat, added a belly pan as well. Took out the chain cover and replaced it with a half cover. The bike was a looker now and coz of the changed geometry the bike became a very sweet handler.the handling was so good that i can scrape footpeg at will.i was very happy and loved my bike to the hilt. My friends thought i was crazy to spend so much time washing and polishing my bike.


All good things come to an end and soon my honeymoon period got over .my friend took my bike and met with an accident .an auto took a U turn on a one way without indicating signal and knocked my friend down.there was damage to the handle bar ,tank etc. Got it repaired but it never felt the same again. There was damage to the t-stem and steering cone was gone , as a result of which the handling had gone for a toss.repeated visits to the service centre didn’t solve any issues. I got frustrated . someone recommended a local mechanic , took it there, and decided to carry out some more modification along with the repair works, got new alloys for my bike both 17”this time, disc brakes and stuff, however it became even worse. I started having lot of problems with the bike. On top of that the front wheel got bent when i hit a pot hole. Now since 17’wheels were not available i had to put 18’wheel at the front. This was the final straw, the bike was worse then before .the bike started to feel like alien to me. I cursed myself for making a mess of my bike. I felt quilty and at the same same time i didn’t had the confidence to take it to those mechanics who are just after money and will not care about anything else.


Finally it happened. Seeing my agony my friend suggested me to sell the bike and get my self a new one. I pleaded with my father and somehow convinced him. Now again i was looking for a bike , never wanted the RTR coz now i wanted to upgrade so the obvious option was ZMA. Went to the showroom ,there they were more interested in selling splendour ; super splendour to be precise.they told me ZMA has poor mileage buy the splendour. To further dissuade me they refused a test ride and asked me to pay half the total amount for booking and refused to give a date within which i can get the bike, leave alone the color. Sir you have to take whatever color comes or wait for more time.at this exact moment a gentleman came enquiring about splendour and to my horror the salesman left me there and start showing him around and even offering a test ride. I was left to fend for myself . i went upto that person showered him with the choicest abuse , the whole showroom came to a stand still and before anyone can realise what happened i left the showroom.


While returning i saw a modified looking bike coming the opposite way, i looked closely and i was like OMG!!! The 220 is here. Rushed to the bajaj showroom, there a black 220 was standing in all its glory. I fell in love with the looks. I asked them about test ride and was promptly granted one. My hand was shivering with excitement as i thumped the started .the bike started with a smooth but distinctive grow. Opened the throttle and the bike surges forward ,it was very smooth i never expected it from a pulsar. Damn it was so easy to ride .went around a roundabout and it felt really stable. My heart said this is the bike i was looking for .i had to buy this one. I told the saleswoman i would like to book one immediately. First i asked for the blue colour she said she will confirm and tell if its with them, after a few calls she said blue will take 1month however they have a red and a black one for immediate delivery and if i pay the full amount i will get the bike within 2 days. I reached for my pocket , took out all the money i had in my purse 3000 rupees in total and paid the booking amount. I saw the black one and ask them to book it for me . asked them not to sell it to anyone and promised them that i will deposit the full amount on next working day along with the documents for registration.then she told me the total cost will be 92 onroad. After confirming the booking I came out ,i was excited and anxious at the same time , excited coz i will be the owner of a brand new 220 Fi and anxious coz i overshoot my budget by 10k rupees. I still remember it was a Saturday. Called up my father told him how much i love the bike and said i will never ask anything more from him if he gets me the bike. Finally to my surprise he agreed . on moday morning he deposited the money in my account and by afternoon i was collecting the money and i was damn excited and fumbled at the cash counter, this got the cashier in suspicion he started asking me a lot of questions .finally satisfied he asked me to be careful with the money and advised me to ride slowly after getting my powerful bike.i thanked him and reached the showroom, there i saw my baby in black waiting for me, deposited the money ,noted the engine and chasis no and gave it for a Teflon coat .i returned to my room couldn’t sleep that night. Next day waited impatiently for the call from the PBK.at about 3.00pm i heard those magical words “sir your bike is ready”. My happiness knew no bound .went to PBK thanked them and brought it home. Took it to the beach in the evening with friends. The bike was great, great acceleration , good handling, and refined as well. Sitting on the beach whenever i look at my bike i feel elated and satisfied that i had made the right choice, it had the looks ,the power , gorgeous lights and reasonably refined as well. I was glad that i gave the ZMA a miss .Well this is my story .

For me, the reasons are simple, need a bike to go from point A to point B. I started begging my parents for a bike, at first they said, if you get first position in HSLC exam, we'll buy you a bike, but they did not. So after a lot of begging, I realized that they were not just playing hard to get, they did not have much money in their hands. I stopped begging and started saving money and finally bought a "tooti footi" RX135, for about 12K rupees, I did some minor repairs and abused the crap out of that bike. Those were the years when I was in HS first year, I never took my bike to college as the condition of it was too embarrassing. I loved that bike, but I was unaware of proper care and the bike started giving me problems too, maybe to take revenge. One day I tried to overtake a xBhpian who was riding a P150 UG4.5 with my girlfriend as pillion, tried my best but could not overtake him because I felt like my bike's piston would shoot up blowing a hole in the gas tank anytime. Since then I started neglecting my bike and myself even more, bike was totaled by a friend few months ago and me turned from 84Kgs to around 45Kgs.

Now-a-days , I ride a bicycle for my commuting purpose and for work and college, everybody laughs at me for still riding a bicycle from the 70s but I know better, well I don't. I had 2 girlfriends in life and both were stolen by xBhpians well, as somebody said, she redlines before I even warm up bicycling over 70KM a day is taking a toll on me and with my problematic back I can't bear it anymore, and to top it up, broke my wrist yesterday in college, and typing this post is taking way longer with one hand.

My parents promised to get me a bike when I scored first position in HSLC exam, they did not, then again they promised to get me one if I score first position in higher secondary exam, I scored it too but they did not. Now here comes the funny part, they knew I am not bad in studies, so they set me a hard goal, highest marks in the state in my major subject and they would buy me any bike I choose. Result came out in 12th of August, and I scored the highest marks in the state in my major subject and still they are not buying me one. But this time I'm not stopping, I'm breaking things around the house and causing a havoc at home, not to mention those suicide threats. At first they did not take me seriously but after a broken wrist they might buy me one. But the main problem is they don't actually have a penny with them, dad invested a lot of money in chit fund and lost all of it. I used to be good and obedient but not anymore, "no bike, no college" is my motto now.

So, there you have it, those are my reasons for NOT buying a bike.

Hey buddy,

I liked your post first but then after reading the whole thing I quietly clicked on unlike.
I understand that craving, that force asking you to go and rest your backside on the saddle of the new bike that came out. But since you understand that money is an issue right now you should also understand that your parents are setting up these goals for you so that one day, you can go and buy whatever bike you like with your own money. Then you'll see, how it feels, it would make your parents even more proud than you topping your exams just seeing you fullfill your dream with your hard earned cash and that day buy a gift for your mom and dad too.
They have made you capable enough, have funded your studies all these years and doing this they are taking you closer to your dream bike, they don't want any compromises for you that is why they are making you capable of buying the best, just that their way is different.
Understand their situation too and give it a rest for the time being, stop breaking things. That day would come soon.
I know its hard to wait but do it and that day would be the best when you ride out of the showroom with a bike earned with your own money, the smile on your parents face that day would be priceless also the ex-girlfriends can be shown a birdie then(only if they left you for silly reasons), who knows, miss Assam might be riding behind you...