many many congratulations bro for such a nice beauty ,,,,have a great time,,,,ride safely ,,,as ken da told u n every one on the forum that bikes did not have a family,,but we have so always keep them in mind while riding your beloved and mighty busa

Very sad to hear about your crash hope to recover soon

Pune guys, any news on Arup? How's he doing?

arup due for surgery

we met arup in hospital last saturday and although he is in severe pain he has come to terms with his crash and is looking forward positively for a speedy recovery.
he has undergone his first surgery 7 days ago and now he is due for the next surgery maybe today or tomarrow.

OMG! Sad to read about the crash here.
Wishing you a speedy recovery Arup.

Whoa. What happened?

Wish you a speedy recovery bro. Take care.

Get well soon ... Wish you speedy recovery

Sad to hear about your crash buddy. Here is wishing you speedy recovery

Get well soon. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

did he crash his busa or was it some other bike he crashed on, hope his busa is safe.

get well soon mate!

Nice bike mate. Had read about COPS in the Overdrive magazine couple of years ago. Nice group of bikes. Happy riding. Nice write up btw.

Get well soon

Curtains? ….. perhaps ….

Well, here I am back again after four and a half month’s hiatus. Most of you know where I was all this time. For the ones who don’t, here is a quick download.

On 27th June of this year at around 6.30am, my lovely lady in white and I haad a crash that spelt the death knell for the lady and almost did for me as well. What transpired thereafter was a traumatically agonizing and a very challenging 3 months. What that moment lasting a microsecond left me with were : 19 fractures (including a broken rib and tailbone), the pelvis almost pulverized, 5 litres of internal blood loss, 3 surgeries (almost a third of me was opened up!!), 3 metal plates and 9 screws running through my acetabulum, a sciatic nerve damage causing a right foot drop and a limp for life. Of the 45 days in the hospital, I could not sleep for 32 nights, almost hallucinating towards the end of it, at one point of time wondering if I am finally going to go cuckoo in my head …..

Life is limping and snail-pacing its way, in slow-mo, back to normalcy now and pain seems to have become an intrinsic part of me. Many a miles to crawl ... before I can walk. So why am I putting all this for my brethren to read? Definitely not scare all of you away, and most definitely not for any pitiful frowns. No pitiful frowns because doing that is not going to make me any feel any better. It’ll make me feel worse on the contrary. Despite all that I have been through, I am happy. I am happy that I took a U-turn from the pearly gates without slipping and falling off at the turn and I am happy that I made it back with the true grace of the superpower that was looking after me at that time. Need I mention that I am indebted for life to a very handful people for doing what only a few others would do in that moment of distress? Do I then believe in angels now? Well, yes. Those couple of people were God sent and there is absolutely no iota of doubt in my mind about it.

So is this supposed to be a philosophical note? Yes and no. I need for you all to know a few things that I, from the deepest chasms of my heart believe I should share with all of you. I know that some of you have had crashes, and some not (and I pray to God that for those few, it remains that way). But its mostly for those few, and as a further subset, for noobs, that I am writing what I am. A disclaimer though – I am not trying to keep you away from those lovely machines. I am only trying to put down facts, especially after what I went though. Do understand please, that everything is debatable and I mean everything. This is not a debate; its just a perspective that has emerged through some solid and mighty physical trauma and pain that I went through. I am only penning down a few suggestions, which all of you already might know, but my experience might help you reinforce what you already know.

So here are some of the rules / facts of the game :

* The moment you mount the saddle, you are at risk – please recognize that. Never for once be ignorant of the fact that you are riding something, whose capability is humongous.
* Speed thrills – most definitely
* Does it most definitely also cause crashes – No. But the probability of having a crash goes up multi-fold. We all know this, but somehow seem to forget this basic fact the moment we mount the saddle. Was I speeding? No!
* What’s speed got to do with it then? Depends on what fate has in store for you !!
* Right gear – a must under all circumstances, no matter how short the ride. Was I geared? Fully, and horribly injured after that too!!
* What’s gear got to do with it then? Well let me put it this way. What do you say would be the impact on a full carbon fibre helmet having a hole in it (in my case)? Now, what if this was an ordinary helmet; or say no helmet at all?? My tailbone broke despite a spine guard. What if the guard was not there? My elbow got bruised despite an elbow guard. What if this guard was not there? Get the flow? The right gear is not for joy of riding – riding naked would be the most beautiful experience, with air going places where your hands can’t reach!! The right gear is to save you from the impact of crashes. Unfortunately in my case, the pelvis was unprotected and that’s what took all the brunt. For God’s sake, never leave home without complete gear, no matter where you are off to and how short the ride is. Fate can be fateful and the hammer can fall anywhere folks
* Crashes happen because of others’ faults – Not always
* Crashes happen because of your fault – Not always
* Crashes happen because of others’ and your fault – Not always
* Crashes happen for reasons unknown – now that’s the balance reason for crashes. I crashed in a nano-second and, intriguingly enough, do not recall why I crashed in the first place. Well to give it a benefit of doubt, I remember hazy images of me skidding on the road before blacking out, but I do not know how I got there in the first place….. I don’t remember any vehicle hitting me / overtaking me precariously thereby making me lose balance / provoking me … nothing. So why did I crash? To be honest folks I do not know. As surprising and intriguing as it might sound, I perhaps did not know my lady well enough to take her down that road.


So here is where my limited advise for the noobs begins (not necessarily in any order) :

* Get thoroughly accustomed with your bikes before you decide to take her to uncharted territories. Move her around in your locality as much as you can. See how she behaves at nooks, turns, corners, etc.
* Understand the behaviour of roads very very well in all conditions
* Try using your full gear, together, from the moment you mount the bike for the first time
* Do not be in a hurry to open her up. You will get plenty of opportunities in the future when you go to long and open stretches. You want to enjoy your machine for a lifetime right?
* Watch out for that dog / old man crossing the road!!
* Make sure you are fresh before the ride and not one bit groggy – again, no matter how short the ride is
* Do not ride in the rains if you are not experienced enough. Indian roads (when wet) are not meant to handle these machines – not yet.
* Be well read and try and take lessons and imbibe knowledge from an expert / someone who has been riding for years. This is not because you do not know how to ride, but more, to be able to tackle a tricky situation and try and do the RIGHT thing always. These are scientifically, very advanced machines that you are riding. Any information about these then, must be welcome by you.
* After each ride, look back at what you did right and what was it that you should / could have avoided. Keep these as learning for your future rides.
* Don’t be afraid. On the contrary, be confident while riding. If you believe you mustn’t speed up, don’t. If you believe you must not do anything yuppy – don’t. It does not matter what others think. Peers won’t be by your side sharing your pain at a later stage.
* Take it really easy and slow down if you must.
* Choose your fellow riders very very carefully. The company that you keep in matters such as these is of utmost importance. They must be like minded people and your objective of riding must be exactly the same, else you are better off riding alone. Trust me on that one.
* Understand your risk appetite. Neither is everyone Rossi, nor does everyone want to be. You decide what’s best for you – after imbibing maximum knowledge.
* Lastly, say your prayers before you push that “start” button. No matter what your knowledge and experience is, these machines ARE dangerous and there are no two ways about it. You would therefore want someone to be watching over you always. Being a Hindu, I tied a “mataji ki chunri” and a black thread on my back just before that fateful ride. I do not even want to start to think what would have happened without it ….


Again folks, my intention is not at all to scare you away. One will never be able to put together a comprehensive and all inclusive list of reasons as to why accidents happen and what their ramifications might be. Who could say that despite riding safe and slow, I would still end up like this? No one could believe it!

The only thing you can be is judicious. Decide what your capabilities are and practice a lot if you want to hone them. Please make sure you do not disregard knowledge. Riding safe is a subjective matter, as safety itself is subjective. For you, safety is your comfort zone. Do not get out of it, unless of course there is an earth-shattering compulsion to do so.


I honestly hope that this write up helps less experienced riders, even if it does in a small way. I am also not going to put up any photos of my dismembered and disfigured lady, as I do not want to discourage any of you from riding. I know this thread is not a peppy one, but I just want fellow riders to have some meaningful takeaways from my experience. That’s all.

As far as I am concerned, after all that I have gone through, I am not sure if I will ever mount the saddle of one of these lovely machines again. Sadly enough, my tryst with my lovely lady in white in any case is history. So for me, its Curtains …. Perhaps ….. For all those people who love to ride their beauties, ride on and remember to keep your head where it should be.

All the very best and do take care as there might always be someone out there waiting for you to get back home.
Well, here I am back again after four and a half month’s hiatus. Most of you know where I was all this time. For the ones who don’t, here is a quick download.

On 27th June of this year at around 6.30am, my lovely lady in white and I haad a crash that spelt the death knell for the lady and almost did for me as well. What transpired thereafter was a traumatically agonizing and a very challenging 3 months. What that moment lasting a microsecond left me with were : 19 fractures (including a broken rib and tailbone), the pelvis almost pulverized, 5 litres of internal blood loss, 3 surgeries (almost a third of me was opened up!!), 3 metal plates and 9 screws running through my acetabulum, a sciatic nerve damage causing a right foot drop and a limp for life. Of the 45 days in the hospital, I could not sleep for 32 nights, almost hallucinating towards the end of it, at one point of time wondering if I am finally going to go cuckoo in my head …..

Life is limping and snail-pacing its way, in slow-mo, back to normalcy now and pain seems to have become an intrinsic part of me. Many a miles to crawl ... before I can walk. So why am I putting all this for my brethren to read? Definitely not scare all of you away, and most definitely not for any pitiful frowns. No pitiful frowns because doing that is not going to make me any feel any better. It’ll make me feel worse on the contrary. Despite all that I have been through, I am happy. I am happy that I took a U-turn from the pearly gates without slipping and falling off at the turn and I am happy that I made it back with the true grace of the superpower that was looking after me at that time. Need I mention that I am indebted for life to a very handful people for doing what only a few others would do in that moment of distress? Do I then believe in angels now? Well, yes. Those couple of people were God sent and there is absolutely no iota of doubt in my mind about it.

So is this supposed to be a philosophical note? Yes and no. I need for you all to know a few things that I, from the deepest chasms of my heart believe I should share with all of you. I know that some of you have had crashes, and some not (and I pray to God that for those few, it remains that way). But its mostly for those few, and as a further subset, for noobs, that I am writing what I am. A disclaimer though – I am not trying to keep you away from those lovely machines. I am only trying to put down facts, especially after what I went though. Do understand please, that everything is debatable and I mean everything. This is not a debate; its just a perspective that has emerged through some solid and mighty physical trauma and pain that I went through. I am only penning down a few suggestions, which all of you already might know, but my experience might help you reinforce what you already know.

So here are some of the rules / facts of the game :

• The moment you mount the saddle, you are at risk – please recognize that. Never for once be ignorant of the fact that you are riding something, whose capability is humongous.
• Speed thrills – most definitely
• Does it most definitely also cause crashes – No. But the probability of having a crash goes up multi-fold. We all know this, but somehow seem to forget this basic fact the moment we mount the saddle. Was I speeding? No!
• What’s speed got to do with it then? Depends on what fate has in store for you !!
• Right gear – a must under all circumstances, no matter how short the ride. Was I geared? Fully, and horribly injured after that too!!
• What’s gear got to do with it then? Well let me put it this way. What do you say would be the impact on a full carbon fibre helmet having a hole in it (in my case)? Now, what if this was an ordinary helmet; or say no helmet at all?? My tailbone broke despite a spine guard. What if the guard was not there? My elbow got bruised despite an elbow guard. What if this guard was not there? Get the flow? The right gear is not for joy of riding – riding naked would be the most beautiful experience, with air going places where your hands can’t reach!! The right gear is to save you from the impact of crashes. Unfortunately in my case, the pelvis was unprotected and that’s what took all the brunt. For God’s sake, never leave home without complete gear, no matter where you are off to and how short the ride is. Fate can be fateful and the hammer can fall anywhere folks
• Crashes happen because of others’ faults – Not always
• Crashes happen because of your fault – Not always
• Crashes happen because of others’ and your fault – Not always
• Crashes happen for reasons unknown – now that’s the balance reason for crashes. I crashed in a nano-second and, intriguingly enough, do not recall why I crashed in the first place. Well to give it a benefit of doubt, I remember hazy images of me skidding on the road before blacking out, but I do not know how I got there in the first place….. I don’t remember any vehicle hitting me / overtaking me precariously thereby making me lose balance / provoking me … nothing. So why did I crash? To be honest folks I do not know. As surprising and intriguing as it might sound, I perhaps did not know my lady well enough to take her down that road.

So here is where my limited advise for the noobs begins (not necessarily in any order) :

• Get thoroughly accustomed with your bikes before you decide to take her to uncharted territories. Move her around in your locality as much as you can. See how she behaves at nooks, turns, corners, etc.
• Understand the behaviour of roads very very well in all conditions
• Try using your full gear, together, from the moment you mount the bike for the first time
• Do not be in a hurry to open her up. You will get plenty of opportunities in the future when you go to long and open stretches. You want to enjoy your machine for a lifetime right?
• Watch out for that dog / old man crossing the road!!
• Make sure you are fresh before the ride and not one bit groggy – again, no matter how short the ride is
• Do not ride in the rains if you are not experienced enough. Indian roads (when wet) are not meant to handle these machines – not yet.
• Be well read and try and take lessons and imbibe knowledge from an expert / someone who has been riding for years. This is not because you do not know how to ride, but more, to be able to tackle a tricky situation and try and do the RIGHT thing always. These are scientifically, very advanced machines that you are riding. Any information about these then, must be welcome by you.
• After each ride, look back at what you did right and what was it that you should / could have avoided. Keep these as learning for your future rides.
• Don’t be afraid. On the contrary, be confident while riding. If you believe you mustn’t speed up, don’t. If you believe you must not do anything yuppy – don’t. It does not matter what others think. Peers won’t be by your side sharing your pain at a later stage.
• Take it really easy and slow down if you must.
• Choose your fellow riders very very carefully. The company that you keep in matters such as these is of utmost importance. They must be like minded people and your objective of riding must be exactly the same, else you are better off riding alone. Trust me on that one.
• Understand your risk appetite. Neither is everyone Rossi, nor does everyone want to be. You decide what’s best for you – after imbibing maximum knowledge.
• Lastly, say your prayers before you push that “start” button. No matter what your knowledge and experience is, these machines ARE dangerous and there are no two ways about it. You would therefore want someone to be watching over you always. Being a Hindu, I tied a “mataji ki chunri” and a black thread on my back just before that fateful ride. I do not even want to start to think what would have happened without it ….

Again folks, my intention is not at all to scare you away. One will never be able to put together a comprehensive and all inclusive list of reasons as to why accidents happen and what their ramifications might be. Who could say that despite riding safe and slow, I would still end up like this? No one could believe it!

The only thing you can be is judicious. Decide what your capabilities are and practice a lot if you want to hone them. Please make sure you do not disregard knowledge. Riding safe is a subjective matter, as safety itself is subjective. For you, safety is your comfort zone. Do not get out of it, unless of course there is an earth-shattering compulsion to do so.


I honestly hope that this write up helps less experienced riders, even if it does in a small way. I am also not going to put up any photos of my dismembered and disfigured lady, as I do not want to discourage any of you from riding. I know this thread is not a peppy one, but I just want fellow riders to have some meaningful takeaways from my experience. That’s all.

As far as I am concerned, after all that I have gone through, I am not sure if I will ever mount the saddle of one of these lovely machines again. Sadly enough, my tryst with my lovely lady in white in any case is history. So for me, its Curtains …. Perhaps ….. For all those people who love to ride their beauties, ride on and remember to keep your head where it should be.

All the very best and do take care as there might always be someone out there waiting for you to get back home.

Dear Arup,
Welcome back and we all want you to see you riding again so never say 'curtains', it's hurting to hear it from you. First of all thank God you are here and thanks a lot for the wonderful tips you've given us. The very thing that you've come back and writing is so nice and we are relieved.
I dont know the extent of your injuries or how well you've recovered at this moment and I do know it has lasting impacts when you crash heavily but all I can say is you can still bounce back and there are living examples for this too. We are there to support you on this. Be courageous bro, I think i need not tell you this cause you are, i can see it from your post. Dont think of anything at this moment, keep your mind relaxed at the moment which I know it is very tough but try your level best and do keep us posted on your progress. Get well soon.

Dear Arup,

First up, I am very sorry to hear about your accident. I read through the whole thread for the first time. The important thing is that you are safe, and thank your blessings for it buddy. As you put it youself, you should be glad and thankful for taking a U-turn from the pearly gates. Glad to note that you are back from the hospital sasfely and took the time to share your experiences with us.

I agree with all of your points. Motorcycles are a double edged sword. On one side, they offer the excitement of a lifetime for passionte bikers like us. On the other, one cannot deny that fact that being on two wheels does make us vulnerable, even due to unknown reasons, as you put it yourself.

I like how you emphasized the importance of wearing the right gears. They are the reasons why you were able to take the U-turn from pearly gates, otherwise, it would have been a one-way ride to the pearly gates.

The problem with the indian biking scene is that many riders are ignorant of safety. And when an accident happens, it becomes too late. One wouldn't go outside without wearing clothes, in the same way, I CANNOT image riding a bike without a helmet at the bear minimum. So thanks again, for emphaisizing the importance of safety and dorning the right protective gears.

And yes, by no way is your note on safety would scare anybody from riding or enjoying bikes. Point noted. I am just hoping that many people would read your note and exercise the safety precautions properly.

Glad to have you back in good health buddy, and happy riding again! Cheers!