Tweet
Prelude
Nothing can second the awe of the thump & cruise abilities of the legendary Bullets. And the massive torque these machines offer are hard found in any other machines of similar price bands.
I inherit the passion for bullets from my father, who use to tour from Madhya Pradesh to Punjab several times a year(when he was single, of course). And have faint memories of myself riding on the tank quite sometimes. I believe this is when I subconsciously developed interest in riding & particularly on Bullets.
Albeit, I loved Yamaha RX100 as my first bike, because of the insane acceleration. Got a used one in 1998. Rode it for 2 years, exchanged for RX135 5 speed, again a used one. Had that for another year & a half or so. Finally got a HH ambition with the round headlamp in 2002. This is still being ridden by my younger brother. Throughout this my father still had his Bullet Standard 1986 model. Which I use to ride on & off.
Around 2003-04, pulsars were all over & big time. I too got bowled over. Yet never had any, finances & other reasons were to blame.
Precisely in the winters of 2002, I had my first long & solo ride from Raipur (C.G) to Nagpur, which is 270 kms on my then RX135. Post this I had several rides of 300 to 500 kms only.
In about 4-5 months time I realized that I am missing bullet big time, though I did not tour on Bullet much, because of the fuel efficiency. This time only coz the bullets had a totally different road presence & a well kept bullet was always appreciated on road since ages, even to this date.
Riding HH Ambition myself, was more or less happy, yet missed the thump, torque & road presence. After a couple of years, the dying charm of Bullets was reborn & one could see increasing number of old & new bullets on road. And being a Punjabi myself, had several friends, who had bullets then, mostly brought from Punjab. The urge to have a bullet was pushed to limits. And I did not take much time to decide & buy a Bullet myself. This era was of AVLs & the ex showroom costs were more than the cost of a first hand used small car. AVLs somehow had a bad reputation too.
Hence, I searched for used Bullets, got a few, but not good enough to call a deal, until I got to see Machismo 350 1996 through an acquaintance. I loved the chrome, the deal was done in 10 mins of my seeing the ride. Since it was not used for more than 8 months, wheels & rear mudguard were corroding. Yet engine was fantastic. Mechanic had to just open the spark plug & Carb. Bike came to life in very first kick after this.
Had to spend a little on restoration, and the bike ran fine for 6 years till lately, when I got the whole engine job redone. This is still in possession.
About a year or so earlier to this date, I again had bad time satisfying myself for riding pleasures. I now yearned for high speeds & acceleration. It was time for a new bike. CBR250 was my first option. Ninja 250R was always in thought since its launch, but was way too expensive for my budget. Duke also came in, Hyosung was on the list too. And why not C500. Had a test of them all. C5 has it except the thump & a rear disk brake.
I was more into CBR250R now, had a slight research on its ownership experiences. It gave me mixed kind of reviews. A dilemma again. I googled for used Ninjas & found one, barely used (only 2567 kms), kept extremely well. The deal was finalized on phone itself. Booked myself a berth in Rajdhani express from Lucknow to Bhubaneshwar.
Rode the bike twice, found it to be as per my expectations, after slight negotiation, paper work was done & rode the bike back from Bhubaneshwar to Lucknow in 2 days, a total of 1450 Kms. Sheer pleasure it was, even in the extreme hot climate, where I sipped at least 12 liters a day. Fell in love with the Mini Rocket.
I did not worry much, least I decided was I might have to remove fairings if the road conditions worsen.
I got my Ninja on 8th June & had my itinerary for Leh starting 16th June, hence had almost no time on further preparation as per Ninja. Had I had time I would have got a good rear tire, frame sliders, & vinyl strips for Tail, Tank & Belly. My Ninja does not have a bit of accessory or any after market stuff, even the tank pad is yet to be procured.
Cant miss to mention a load of people after my life, calling me lunatic on my wish to take Ninja to Leh. Must I admit Ninja can do almost any road & any distance.
Ninja & I myself got a well deserved ride in Srinagar, Leh, Nubra, Pangong, Sarchu & Manali etc.
regards
Parry
Nothing can second the awe of the thump & cruise abilities of the legendary Bullets. And the massive torque these machines offer are hard found in any other machines of similar price bands.
I inherit the passion for bullets from my father, who use to tour from Madhya Pradesh to Punjab several times a year(when he was single, of course). And have faint memories of myself riding on the tank quite sometimes. I believe this is when I subconsciously developed interest in riding & particularly on Bullets.
Albeit, I loved Yamaha RX100 as my first bike, because of the insane acceleration. Got a used one in 1998. Rode it for 2 years, exchanged for RX135 5 speed, again a used one. Had that for another year & a half or so. Finally got a HH ambition with the round headlamp in 2002. This is still being ridden by my younger brother. Throughout this my father still had his Bullet Standard 1986 model. Which I use to ride on & off.
Around 2003-04, pulsars were all over & big time. I too got bowled over. Yet never had any, finances & other reasons were to blame.
Precisely in the winters of 2002, I had my first long & solo ride from Raipur (C.G) to Nagpur, which is 270 kms on my then RX135. Post this I had several rides of 300 to 500 kms only.
In about 4-5 months time I realized that I am missing bullet big time, though I did not tour on Bullet much, because of the fuel efficiency. This time only coz the bullets had a totally different road presence & a well kept bullet was always appreciated on road since ages, even to this date.
Riding HH Ambition myself, was more or less happy, yet missed the thump, torque & road presence. After a couple of years, the dying charm of Bullets was reborn & one could see increasing number of old & new bullets on road. And being a Punjabi myself, had several friends, who had bullets then, mostly brought from Punjab. The urge to have a bullet was pushed to limits. And I did not take much time to decide & buy a Bullet myself. This era was of AVLs & the ex showroom costs were more than the cost of a first hand used small car. AVLs somehow had a bad reputation too.
Hence, I searched for used Bullets, got a few, but not good enough to call a deal, until I got to see Machismo 350 1996 through an acquaintance. I loved the chrome, the deal was done in 10 mins of my seeing the ride. Since it was not used for more than 8 months, wheels & rear mudguard were corroding. Yet engine was fantastic. Mechanic had to just open the spark plug & Carb. Bike came to life in very first kick after this.
Had to spend a little on restoration, and the bike ran fine for 6 years till lately, when I got the whole engine job redone. This is still in possession.
About a year or so earlier to this date, I again had bad time satisfying myself for riding pleasures. I now yearned for high speeds & acceleration. It was time for a new bike. CBR250 was my first option. Ninja 250R was always in thought since its launch, but was way too expensive for my budget. Duke also came in, Hyosung was on the list too. And why not C500. Had a test of them all. C5 has it except the thump & a rear disk brake.
I was more into CBR250R now, had a slight research on its ownership experiences. It gave me mixed kind of reviews. A dilemma again. I googled for used Ninjas & found one, barely used (only 2567 kms), kept extremely well. The deal was finalized on phone itself. Booked myself a berth in Rajdhani express from Lucknow to Bhubaneshwar.
Rode the bike twice, found it to be as per my expectations, after slight negotiation, paper work was done & rode the bike back from Bhubaneshwar to Lucknow in 2 days, a total of 1450 Kms. Sheer pleasure it was, even in the extreme hot climate, where I sipped at least 12 liters a day. Fell in love with the Mini Rocket.
I did not worry much, least I decided was I might have to remove fairings if the road conditions worsen.
I got my Ninja on 8th June & had my itinerary for Leh starting 16th June, hence had almost no time on further preparation as per Ninja. Had I had time I would have got a good rear tire, frame sliders, & vinyl strips for Tail, Tank & Belly. My Ninja does not have a bit of accessory or any after market stuff, even the tank pad is yet to be procured.
Cant miss to mention a load of people after my life, calling me lunatic on my wish to take Ninja to Leh. Must I admit Ninja can do almost any road & any distance.
Ninja & I myself got a well deserved ride in Srinagar, Leh, Nubra, Pangong, Sarchu & Manali etc.
regards
Parry
Do finish your blog by then.
Comment