I have no idea where to begin and am sure this is gonna be a longish ramble.
Hope I have posted it in the right section


Short version:
I just took the delivery of my (pre-loved) Suzuki gsx1250FA
All the years of staring wistfully at liter bikes whenever I get to spot them are finally gone (or are they ?? ;-) )
The progression (not counting the numerous scootys, activas, lml vespas that I have ridden on a temporary basis) was:
Hero Honda CD100SS (brother-in-laws bike) for a year.
Hero Honda Karizma -R for around 7 years (and 60000 km)
And now the Suzuki GSX1250FA - hopefully for a lot of km





Firstly, I have to thank my wife for this. She was the reason we moved to Australia (I had put up a huge resistance).
She knew how keen I was to own a "big" bike. She also knew that upkeep of one was quite expensive.
In spite of all that, she didn't put a stopper on my bottle of dreams.


I am hugely indebted to this community (I know I haven't posted much).
Just about everything I learned about biking in India was from this forum and I have taken away quite a few.
I also am thankful to quite a few friends from my college who taught me how to ride a "geared" bike.
Lastly, but never the least, I want to thank my parents who always said "ride safe" and never "don't ride".




Really Long version:
The biking bug was ignited in me when I was riding the CD100SS is Bangalore.
This was in 2007 when I was fund collecting for a CBZ Xtreme and this was a temporary bike lent to me by my brother-in-law, bless him.
But once I started riding, I slowly realized that I "might" want a bigger bike.
The want became a need within a few months and I decided to save some more for a Karizma - R, the then hottest bike.
I saved continuously for 6 months and I had the cash ready for the bike (84k on road).
I had booked it in the meantime in Millenium motors, Domlur. I was told there was a 2 month waiting period. Sigh!!
But time did pass soon and surprisingly the bike was ready for me on my birthday!!
The feeling of my first own bike and that too a Karizma was thrilling for me.

I went out and bought Cramster K2K jacket and touring gloves)
Had my first fall within 2 months, damn Omni guy reversed out of nowhere and I was going a little too fast to stop (my mistake).
Grabbed the front brake and bam! The front got wiped out and I was sitting on the road nursing my (lost) pride.
Luckily I was wearing gloves (the cramster touring ones) and nothing happened to my hands, my knees did take a beating though.
I was devasted about the damage on the bike and couldn't sleep. I was literally delirious (bless my roomie who took care of me)
Got it fixed first thing (learned that fairings are quite expensive)
I have been careful about riding ever since and I am proud to say that I have been able to avoid a lot of accidents and have never had any spills since(touch wood man!)
I also added crash bars and bought knee guards


I had always been ridiculed for wearing full protection and I really wouldn't fault them.
On the hottest day, I would still be fully kitted and must have looked ridiculous for sure.
But as they say, its better to sweat than bleed. I believe I have matured a lot as a rider and have picked up tons of stuff from xbhp.


Did an xbhp independence ride once headed by Sunil "hi_sunil".
Did a lot of touring on the Karizma, in fact most of my km were touring km.



Did a Bangalore- Cochin ride once.
Wanted to do Leh Ladakh, but that did not materialize since I had other priorities (still on my bucket list)
My Karizma also 'helped' me woo my wife. Yellow bike, decent riding skills..you get the drift


I really loved to accessorize my bike.
I added a HID from Navnit. Got a ticket for "Dazzling headlamp once). Put in Bosch twin horns.
I also completely joel'ed my bike (Exhaust, ported head and the works). I had a few leaks here and there (nothing that my trusty mechanic couldn't fix)


I was once caught for the exhaust and he wouldn't let me ride away. I begged him and told him that I was returning from a track day.
I must have looked the part, because he gave a once over and let me go!!


50000 km later, I was lusting for the Ninja 650, the triumph street triple and Z800.
But they were beyond my budget and did not want to endanger my family financials.


I read every superbike account in xbhp and always wanted to read more.
When somebody said that they have saved for a long time and bought their bike, I felt hopeful that my day would come.


My wife always wanted to go abroad, and I was dead against it.
In 2014 things came to head, and we finally decided to head to Australia (In my mind I was making plans to buy a Hayabusa there)
After all the process blah blah, we reached Australia and settled down in Brisbane.
I was aghast to learn that I had to obtain a driving license before I could even attempt to ride.
And according to the rules here, I could only drive for 3 months on my Indian driving license.
I failed the driving test twice (my wife passed in the first go ) and that was it. I was done with my bike dreams (for a while).
It was expensive to give the test again and again on a hired car.
Instructors were expensive too. And we had just set up shop in Brisbane and wanted to set up an emergency fund first.
I was left still staring wistfully at the big bikes here...damn!!


After quite a few months, we bought a car ( June 2016) and I did my test again.
This time I passed and slowly hope re-kindled again.
Come Sep 2016, and my colleague from office (who knew about my bike madness) suggested that we do the test together and soon since there were going to be a few changes which would make it a little more difficult to get a motorbike license.
We did the test together (for the open unrestricted category - on a gsx750) and passed with flying colours. It did feel good to be back on a bike after so long.
Finally, I had my license, phew!!
Based on our finances, my wife and I allocated a budget and date (Jan 2017) for buying my bike.
I was already looking at bikes everyday first thing in the morning. it was my daily dose of motivation.


For my budget, I could only buy a bandit/sprint GT or a GSX1250FA.
Ruled out the Triumph after a while for reasons of parts and stuff.
I was on the lookout, they were on my alerts list.
Come January, I was alerted about price drops on the bikes that I had shortlisted
Checked out 2 of them, liked both, owners weren't ready to give it at the price I wanted them at. So left it at that.
Checked out the third one, liked that too. I negotiated a decent deal from Brisbane Motorcycles.
Booked it immediately and did not tell my wife.


For the delivery day, I had to smuggle my gear to office in secret.
I had already bought an HJC helmet and had my Bluetooth kit attached (for directions - I am still not good with Brisbane roads)
Finally, took delivery on Friday, the 13th of Jan 2017.
The date seemed to have turned out quite lucky for us - my wife successfully cleared an interview for a better position.
Reached home and revved the bike (Scorpion exhaust) and my wife's jaw dropped.
Happy days!


Ride impressions:
Easy to ride, decent flickability. More than enough power to lose you your license.
Very stable. had some difficulty putting it on the center stand.
I don't have a space in the garage and I had some difficulty manoeuvring the bike onto the parking space near the front door.
I am not of a very strong build (175cm - < 70kg) and the bike is heavy to move around manually.
But overall, solid bike (not that I have too much experience in big bikes though)

Not much of a photographer, but here are some pics


And a video - sorry for not twisting the throttle.


Now, the whole game of accessories start.
Already bought a big chain, lock and bike cover.
Will need to buy a disc lock as well.


Planning to put on quite a few miles on this baby.
So, that's my story and thanks for reading it till here.
I thank the xbhp forum again for all the knowledge I have gained and for pointing my in the right direction with respect to safety and riding skills


If anybody wants to PM me for any information at all, feel free.