I know this big grin at the start of this topic and the title has already told you what you are going to read inside, but I hope I’ll still be able to get some readers; well at least those guys would read it who have ridden superbikes (just to compare if they felt the same way when they rode it for the first time) and those who haven’t got the chance yet (just to know how it feels like when you ride the big bikes).

I had always thought that I’ll never ride a superbike until I own one and that day seemed pretty far, for obvious reasons. But ever since joining the GIR-2 team as a co-rider, I knew (or I was hoping) that I would be riding the R1 some day pretty soon. And truly so, I got the chance to ride the beast, to really “ride the beast” during this ride.

The first time I rode the R1 was when we were riding back after the Ahmedabad event towards Udaipur. NH8 was inviting, with its arms wide open, and Sandeep sir was obliging, and all this set the stage for my baptism into the superbiking.

So there we were, after a drinks break somewhere in the middle of the highway, Sandeep sir more than happy to lend me his R1 and Sunny anxiously asking me, “will you be able to handle it? Please don’t crash it. “ . Sunny’s anxiety was understandable. Though anxious and a little nervous myself, I was pretty confident in myself that riding it won’t be such a big issue as it is sometimes projected as. I knew that I need not be a rocket scientist to be able to ride this, the same rules of riding that I apply while riding my Unicorn will be needed, but with utmost precision. There was no margin for error. But riding this particular R1, painted in Castrol colors, meant that there was ABSOLUTELY NO margin for error. When we set out on the passion hunt ride, the aim was to show people that you can ride big bikes in India and still be safe, so crashing these Castrol-painted bikes would’ve sent a wrong message across and this was the last thing we wanted on this ride. So, after a silent little prayer and last-moment instructions from Sandeep Sir and Sunny, I pressed the ignition button and boy immediately I knew that no matter how I tried to downplay, I was into something seriously big. Those 178 horses ready to break out with just a little twist of your wrist, that was a different feeling. Suddenly you feel so powerful. But I was determined not to let that power corrupt me. A gentle release of clutch and off I was on the road, doing something which is a dream for most of us. The first 1-2 kilometers went just familiarizing myself with the bike. For a not-so-tall rider like me, the already aggressive riding posture was proving to be too much. Sitting on the bike, I literally had to reach for the handlebars. The heat coming from the engines under my legs was making me feel like I am sitting on some kind of a rocket, and literally it goes like a rocket as soon as you roll your wrist, something I experienced when I touched the 145 kmph (the best I had then) in almost no time. Before I could even understand, I had crossed that ‘magical’ figure of 140. What a contrast, just a few minutes ago, I was struggling to get past 130 on the R15 and now past 140 without any effort whatsoever. Rest of the few kilometers went without even crossing the figure of 100. I was cautious, no, ultracautious not to make any mistake. The ride on R1 was ‘Sone ka andaa dene waali murgi for me’ :P and I couldn’t afford to be greedy on that.

Now imagine me on R1 at an empty race track, where you can ride your heart out, utilizing every bit of your riding skills without the fear of a cow or dog coming in your line while you are sweeping a corner at 100+. Did I hear somebody say “lucky dawg?” he he! It sounds awesome, but believe me, a liter class is not a bike for anybody to ride if he is first timer on the track and has literally no experience of riding the big bikes. You actually ride slower than normally you would do on corners on these bikes most of the time fearing not to give too much gas on any corner. There was hardly any time to enjoy, only the long straights were the saviors where you could have some fun but even those would come to an end before satisfying your need for speed. I would like to be at the racetrack on an R1, but not before I’ve had some serious riding experience on it.

The third and the only time I could finally enjoy and see why this bike is what it is was when riding towards Kanyakumari from Chennai. The day was hot as expected and we had a long ride ahead. Sunny and me were only halfway through our 720 km ride. To my utter surprise, I was handed over the R1 keys; though somewhat reluctant at first to ride the beast, I am happy that I rode it that day. I was more confident this time, a little more ‘experienced,’ and the 6-lane empty highway was inviting me to test my limits. I was talking in the 3-digit figures only this time. There were some rough patches where the road was broken or was under construction, riding through these boosted my confidence many folds. So whenever I got the empty stretches of road, I lost no chance to break my own “records”; 150 didn’t even matter and after 3-4 bursts of 175+, I saw one stretch where I could see till horizon and my eyes lit up, a little boost of adrenaline and a slightly longer roll of my right wrist on ‘The One’ and I just had a fraction of a second to look at speedo that was showing 202 KMPH!!!! Hurrah!! a psychological barrier had just been broken. I had something more to brag about. But after that, I didn’t push it and was just enjoying riding the beast very calmly, celebrating my ‘achievement.’

Around 100 kms of total riding experience isn’t much in this 13,000 km long epic ride if you see the numbers only, but personally those few kilometers brought a new turn into my biking story.

I’ve tasted blood now!

Oh! And while I was writing this, a song playing in the background on the radio says that, “iski aadat jo pad gayi to ye nasha hai” :P