A date with the BIG daddy

Had been for a ride with the BIG daddy today. Posting a pic from today's ride.

Talk about pushing a 350 kg intruder pfff, i died pushing my 150 kg pulsar for sme 10 mins in the alibaug heat.
i wud have passed out with the thought of pushing the intruder , and the part about carrying the pump is really useful.

It sure was tough, could only manage because there were 2 of us. I am not going on any mega rides without new tyres and a pump for sure.

I had promised myself when I bought the bike that if I buy it, it will not be like those rich kids who buy the bike to show it off at a local club or in their garage. I wanted to ride it properly and make it do all that it was capable of. The most fun on 2 wheels that I have had in my life was when I was riding on my intruder at 170 kmph between Barmer and Jaisalmer on a straight impeccable road with the bike in its soft spot humming with me to the tune of a Rajesh Khanna (may he rest in peace) number from the 70s. In short I did ride it full and proper for almost a year and half. But then when I realised that the bike is happiest on broad uncluttered highways, I understood that there are very limited things that I could do with in our country with its wonderful cratered roads and crazy traffic jams. The way the bike should be ridden and the way that this bike is most fun is to take week long holidays to ride it on pristine highways, both pristine highways and week long holidays are theoretical concepts.

Imagine a rider in full gear (black one at that) at 40 degrees Celcius stuck in an hour long traffic jam with an open 1800 cc engine over heating. But all of this pain is something all of us who have owned a superbike have gone through at sometime or the other. It is an inconvenience but the sheer joy of owning and riding a machine like this trumps it all. Even when I was not riding the bike, just washing it on a Sunday morning with the chrome reflecting the sun all over and then giving it a wax polish in itself was enough to let the stress of the week melt away. It was the most beautiful machine that I had owned till now, I may be biased a little, but I am yet to come across a car and bike which can match its beauty, when I saw it for the first time, I knew I had to own it.

A well written GoodBye note. The LOVE; Appreciation; Respect, all reflects in the writing as well.
Just hope that the baby gets treated the way it should be....
and yes, the Void wont be filled with just a GoodBye

A nice farewell write up atul, but sure the parting is painful. Reminded me of my own farewell thread on my R1100RT. I am sure soon the itch for another big bike will come knocking... Ride safe.

BTW, since you have had an official import suzuki, have you ever felt (leaving aside the looks, cruiser etc), maybe if you had bought the Bandit 1250, would it have stayed with you for longer.

To sell your first bike..the first time you had the wind on your face and you forgave the world for all its failings , it always hurts to say good bye!


Atul..you just made me feel real sad man! Understand your pain!
Its been nearly 3 months since i have had a ride and its been like there is a part of me which is slowly dying!

Hope you are riding the wheels out of the CBR thou to overcome the grief!

My mindset changed after riding the cbr250 that i have, the joy of having a nimble bike which is ready to go everywhere means a lot in mumbai. bad roads, traffic, i am not a sunday morning rider, i like to go everyplace with the bike. that is the criteria for selection. since you are a bmw fan, just saw f650gs yesterday, while r1200gs is every long distance rider's dream bike, but given its size and cost, i gave it a pass, but 650 looks awesome and nimble and within budget, road or no road, but am confused about the other road options - fz or cb1000 or yet to be launched street triple..

any suggestions??

I am just ripping the cbr day and night man, rains or no rains. have been doing that ever since i decided to sell. got myself a dainese just like yours.

Its sad and i dont feel like looking at the garage, but since i want a smaller bike, most of the existing options are within budget which feels good.

why are you not riding, earning dolllars again??

All the best Atul. Your post shows how much you loved the bike yet had to let her go for all practical purposes. Do test ride the FZ-1 and the CB1000R. Both bikes are wonderful machines and comfortable for long distances.

Triumph has pushed their launch dates to "early 2013" so i wouldn't bet on them making an entry until mid 2013 or even later. Also, it would be worthwhile to wait and watch in case of triumph just in case they do a "ducati" on gullible indian customers.

My suggestion is to go with tried and tested brands which have been here for some time like the honda or the yamaha. If they have a service facility close to your city (or in your city) all the more better

Thanks Shibadip. missed your comment earlier. I hope that the bike is treated well, am not sure it will get its weekly wax polish still but its difficult to ill treat something this beautiful.

All work being undertaken in trying to fill the void. lets see how soon and which one.

Thanks Aditya, even I have been thinking about the same this, I cant base my purchase decision on some thing which might or might not be available in 2013. I like both these bikes and their owners have vouched that they are too much fun. I also saw the F650GS and while I have not riddent many bikes from that Genre, it is quite difficult to ignore. Lets see what next.

Hey Atul,

Sad to hear about you parting ways with the beast. I still remember the day we rode together. I was waiting for you at the meeting point & suddenly I could hear the roar of the engine and you appear. It was fun riding with you, but things got tied up and we could not meet and now the beast is gone

Happy to read about your plans of filling up the empty space in the garage with a new ride. Looking forward to it

Meanwhile lets meetup and ride with the cbr.

Got the message yesterday and went through the farewell post, was a lil teary eyed by the end of it. After our conversation I knew this would happen, was keeping an eye on the thread, but it still came as a slight jolt.

You have done justice to the Intruder Atul, rode it the way it was supposed to be ridden and the decision to let it go, though hard , was a very practical one.
I am planning to do the same with the RTR, just not doing justice to it and it pains to see it just lying there

I am sure the new owner will treat it with love and respect. Farewell Beast.

Now coming to the next big question, whats next? Triumph seems to have put off their entry as Adi said and that puts a big ? on the ST you had your eyes on.
650GS should be fun as well but are you looking at that category? For touring, definately but what about the track (whenever that happens)? I know you are enamored by it. :P

Its an exciting time ahead for you again, going through all the options, figuring out what pulls the strings.

Thanks Sammy, it was a tough but correct decision. As you well know, was planning on this for months now.

I am glad that I rode the intruder to its fullest and the moment the ride kilometers dropped I decided to let it go.

I am stil thinking about the GS and CB1000 and FZ. The one and only problem that I see with the GS is the track thing, I can't seem to get the track out of my mind. We cant take long test rides in this great country of ours so I will not know how the GS feels. Where as I know many people who own FZ and CB1000s while they interest me a lot - I feel that 1000s are a little too big.

So I am again stuck.
BMW
+ve - Great in all kinds of road
touring capability
light and nimble
Brand
-ve - can not be used in Track (Big negative)
No one I know has riddent it

FZ/CB1000
+ve good road bikes
can be used on track
good feedback from owner
-ve - 1000cc so a little big and little heavy both
- plain looking

So you see why I am stuck

Last year I had a chance to briefly ride a co-riders F650GS (800 twin I mean). The engine is really nice & the gearbox is also smooth (when compared to BMW boxers), the bike is nimble and me being 6ft tall I was comfortable with the handlebar, footpegs etc. But beyond that I was not super impressed with this bike. Its just about ordinary. I am not an expert in off-road stuff, so I cant comment on that, but for a road going bike I was definitely much more impressed with the Suzuki DL650 that I rode 3-4 years back. The stock seat on the F will easily take the top spot for the worst ever saddle on a motorcycle. It was like a log of wood. Like you said the BMW pricing hits the roof in India. Also there is almost a 3-4 lack price difference on a 1200GS between Navneet & Deutshce Motoren. Can local state taxes make so much of difference? From my touring perspective, the F650GS is definitely a solo bike that can take you & your luggage, but for 2-up touring I wont say the bike is underpowered, but its not going to be very comfortable for the long haul. Besides, on international forums I have been seeing some quality issues (mainly electrical & oil gasket leaks etc) on the F bikes.

The FZ1 and CB1000 are fine machines, but it again boils down to what is your primary purpose of riding. I haven't ridden either but I used to own a 07 Kawi Z1000 which was almost similar in most aspects. If track is also a good part of your requirement the FZ or CB would do very well as an overall fun bike, but if touring is your thing, then maybe some serious customization for wind protection, seat etc may be required. I always say this, for long distance touring the lack of wind protection can substantially increase your fatigue levels.

BTW, it may sound funny coming from a R1200GS owner, but from a functional aspect of touring I give high marks to the Bandit 1250. With a few mods it can do many things that a GS does and its a bulletproof bike that will need very minimal maintenance on the long run. Just dont ask me about its looks

Hi Haroon.

DLs as you well know are not available in India. All i need is a under 200kg machine which gives me more than 70 bhp of power period. Even that is a tall ask in our great country.

The research is on, even feel Duc-795 is good value for money and meets criteria but the people who have booked in jan have not yet got delivery. So heaven knows.

So I research and wait. thanks for your advice