Congrats!! Nice list of extras too! But do the 8000K HIDs give good visibility?

That's the bike I have on my door as a poster!!! I've dream about it everyday!

The visibility is awesome. Will post a night time pic but give me sometime. I am absolutely squeezed for time at the moment.

From Drooling to Vrooming

Caution: This is a long one. Photo seekers go straight to bottom of this writeup

Sportsbike is a desire of one and all. The high revs, aggressive styling and above all the unbelievable performance makes it a dream of all bikers. Our country policies have made it extremely difficult to own SBK. Why? Well, one has to pay huge import duty on the sports bikes. Obviously the cost becomes obnoxious . Come 2008 and the sportsbike majors started their operations in India. Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki, Ducati and Harley Davidson all launched their bikes here. But at what price? Honda CBR 1000RR which is available in the US for $14000 (approx 6.5 Lakhs INR) costs a whopping 13 Lakhs here!!! So clearly it is not for the common man. And this country is full of common men...and counting

In my teenage sportsbikes were seen once in a blue moon. But as I grew up and started working, I started to get a grip of these performance bikes. The looks are attractive but the roar is something that one would kill for. I have spent long hours talking about bikes with my equally passionate friends. I remember one of my friend spending 35000 rupees for modifying his new CBZ, just to make it look and sound like a sports bike

In 2005 the desire for owning a sportsbike started growing in me. We were on a lookout for a bike but couldn't manage to find one that would fit my budget. The moment I saved more money, the bike prices went further up. This continued to till 2007. Being in Information Technology industry the salary was rising well year on year, but still the bike was out of reach. We used to spend hours and hours in front of bike showrooms and in auto expos. Few of the bike dealers knew our passion and would let us sit on the new bikes and let us start them. What a pleasure it used to be

In the meantime, one of my friends bought a BMW Funduro F650. One day something happened because of which I was feeling very low. He came with his bike and asked me to have a ride. At the end of the ride I was on a HIGH...no exaggeration here These high performance bikes inject such adrenaline rush in to you that it cleanses your mind. A year after that, the same friend bought a brand new Honda CBR600RR. The pearl-white/silver-grey combination was unbeatable. He called me after taking his first ride on that bike. I still remember his words; he went crazy experiencing the power and the finesse of Honda. He called me and said "This is something that you should NOT miss out on". He was right. Most of my friends are afraid to even dream about such things. They like these superbikes but they don't dare to dream to own one. It is surely out of reach of common man, but dreaming doesn't cost you! These are the people who have adjusted to the ordinary way of life which is so much tied to the clock. Get up in the morning and first thing to do is to check out the time, only to realize that you are late. Get ready, eat your breakfast in hurry, run for the bus and train and then auto rickshaw and reach office soaked in sweat. Check email, have coffee and break your back working till 8pm in the night before you head back home to crash in to the bed. On weekend you wait desperately for some friends to call you. Then you go out for a movie or shopping to keep yourself happy. This is pretty much my life and I hate it so much

The only thing I did different was to hang on my dream of a better lifestyle and of course the bike. It motivated me to work harder, smarter and get better at work. I was still drooling at bikes that were in showroom or under somebody's butt. I don't think I am crazy for top speeds. I like bikes for their supreme engineering, technology, looks and performance. It doesn't matter what speed you attain, what matters is how did you reach their. I have ridden Indian bikes which were short of my expectations. Post 100 all bikes would start making noise and become shaky With SBK's the story is different. I think SBK rides you rather than the other way around. It is game for more power if you are ready; and you have to be sure whether you are really ready for more.

Well, my colleagues started to pull my leg over bikes. They used to tell me not to look at the bike pics and used to make fun of me. Little they knew about my perseverance. My crave for bike was growing. In December 2008 I found a brand new CBR600RR that was for sale: again my favorite color combination white-red-black. I was working out with banks for loans etc. That bike got sold overnight. I was terribly upset and entire of 2009 was pathetic year for me.

In the meanwhile, DRI went cracking after SBK owners. Everyone ran for covers as they were seizing bikes like crazy. The bike owners were asked to pay horrible amount for penalty and it was impossible to get grey market bikes here onwards. I had increased my budget and was still hoping to find a legal bike for less Me and my friends were strictly against me buying grey market bike now. In the meanwhile a dear friend Rushi bought a new Fireblade in June 2008. I went to his home to see the bike. I cannot forget the feelings of that first-sight. It was the best looking bike I have ever seen in my life. White-red-darkblue combination with golden alloys. It was a HRC limited edition. He got this bike legalized by paying the duty, bank guarantee and every other tax. One fine day, in Jan 2010, I got a call from him asking me whether I am interested in buying his bike!!! Rushi is a fanatic. No one keeps vehicles as clean as he does. He looses sleep if his vehicles are dirty. In next 60 seconds of that phone call, the deal was closed I was looking out for 600RR and I got a 1000RR. I was worried about handling it but my first ride cleared my worries. I will post my first experience separately.

Thus, finally, I BOUGHT A HONDA CBR 1000RR FIREBLADE HRC EDITION. As per our information, this color combination is only one of its kind in India, I guess (please correct as appropriate). It is a head turner. It is so awesome!! I will write another blog about my first riding experience, but really this journey from drooling to vrooming is a tough one. At hindsight, I can talk a lot about keeping faith and patience etc etc but the phase where you get burnt in fire is very difficult.



I wish:

• Every bike enthusiast should get an opportunity to own such bikes
• Our roads become safer for us to ride.
• Govt of India cuts the import duty on these dream machines.
• I should own one new bike every year

I am posting some pics. I am longing to get some free time do a photo shoot the way I want to. Kindly bear with me till then.





some posing

PM me. Can't tell you the exact cost because it was not in all cash, but can give you a benchmark.

Yes. I have a custom clearance paper and every other document that is needed.

Awesome Bike

The bike looks awesome and the fabulous writeup does more than justice to the beauty. May you enjoy years of trouble free, fun filled rides
Cheers !!!!!!!

Thanks dude...Do PM me your number or email Id. I would love to be with you when you take the delivery of your Pearl Despoine from Pune.

Congrats Dude, The beast looks awesome, please handle with care
enjoy and make your every ride safe

Epic styling and color scheme. Oh how i love the 05 - 07 Fireblades.
Hands down gorgeous.

Congratulations man
Ride safe

can you please tell that which which documents you have with you while acquiring the bike and which govt dept you had to visit to verify the documents?

Home Comin of the Despoine

I have pmed you my number
The BUSA is gonna be delivered @ my Home in Mumbai
You are welcome to join me then
Ram

Excellently written man! Felt so nice reading it. It was real frustrating for those few years, I understand, but you got the juicy fruit didn't you! And a unique one, at that!

Congrats once again! Feels so good!

Riding Gear and Tyres

Thanks a lot to all of you out there. I know for sure these wishes are coming straight from your heart.

I will be buying riding gear in next few days. I like Alpinestar as I have got some good reports about it. Kindly shed some more light on this topic. I will be in Mumbai on this weekend to checkout what performance racing store has for me. But I have heard that they dont keep AStar so not sure. I think I will buy most of this stuff from DreamBikes Pune in next week. Any other suggestions please??? (@Doktor, I think you can help me out here)


I want to buy following stuff:

1. Helmet
2. Jacket (pref AStar)
3. Shoes (pref AStar)
4. Gloves (pref AStar)
5. Paddock rear-stand so that I can use the chain spray regularly.

Need inputs. Be generous

Tyres:
My requirement is very good road(street) grip. Reading posts from Fireblah, Stewarch and Bladerunner I think I am inclined towards Michellin Pilot Road2. Again, please provide with your valueable inputs, especially Fireblah since you are already using Road2.

Also, where in Pune can I get these tyres? Any special recommendations about where to get the tyres changed?

Congratulations on the fireblade Ash! The RS-5 seems to be quite famous between the 06-07 fireblade guys I know.
For the helmet, from what I know Alpinestars isn't into helmets.
There is a plethora of choices availble for riding gear, and ideally I would suggest reading up a lot, comparing sizing charts carefully and seeking inputs from guys already using the stuff you intend to purchase. Do not entirely go with experiences of guys on the Brit or American forums as their riding conditions are very different from ours.

However, following is a list of my brand prefrances:

Helmet: Arai (if you can afford one), or Shoei / Shark (for a snug fit) and AGV (comparitively comfort fit)
Jacket: Alpinestar / Joe Rocket / AGV
Gloves: Alpinestar / Joe Rocket / AGV
Boots: Alpinestar / Sidi

Tires: For regular street riding, I've used the BT 20s and they were fabulous tires which would last considerably longer than the track focussed stuff. Am not too fond of the Road 1, but Bladerunner has been saying good things on the Pilot road 2 which I am tempted to swap for my next set on the 954.

manson.

Great inputs manson

manson thanks for those inputs
Would surely help me a lot
What do the ARAI helmets cost in mumbai ?
Alpinestar seems to be your favorite. Is it comfy to wear for mumbai's climate ?
Your gyaan would help me shortlist my gear for my upcomin BUSA
thanks in advance
Ram