Hello fellow xBHPians,

I am Suvrajit Ganguly. I joined xBHP back in May 2013, 9th May to be precise. I grew up in the steel city of Durgapur, West Bengal. My childhood was rather very much restricted to school, tutions and home, sweet home. Did any riding back then? Well..my dad gifted me a red coloured BSA SLR on my 15th birthday for the sole purpose of going to tutions, but after tutions i seldom used to come back home on time. I used to take it out on the streets and on the gullies for a spin, sometimes to unknown destinations .

I finished my 12th and it was time to join college, hence shifted to Kolkata, West Bengal: to join IIIT Kolkata. Lady luck did not favour me much when i asked my dad for a motorcycle, reason being the unbeatable traffic of Kolkata.Durgapur being a township, there were hardly any traffic jams and back then during the late 90s and early 2000s there was nothing as signals, so coming to this metropolitan was more of a surprise for me. It used to give me immense pleasure watching lined up cars, buses, motorcycles in the traffic signal from the window of the bus i used to take to my college. I believe i always had a traveler residing in me and i simply used to love going to new places. Although, under the tight schedule of academics, i was restricted to only places around Kolkata and not long tours.

Cut to 03rd Feb, 2007. Got into an IT organisation, there i was standing in front of the door of opportunity wide open in front of me, to travel to the Garden city of Bengaluru. The first week i moved in Bengaluru gave me a golden opportunity to make a trip to Mysore with my new colleagues whom i hardly new.

Anyways, lets fast forward to 10th March, 2010. By this time, i have covered lot of places in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, some by bus, some by train; some with office colleagues, some with flat mates and some alone. The traveller in me has grown stronger and stronger, hunger for places have increased. I have become a Tourer. The initial problems of office pressure has come down, am now settled in this organisation. Learnt to ride on my colleague's pulsar 150 (the first model i would say) and I now felt the need for a motorcycle (ofcourse the need was for commute to and fro from office). It was just a day of thought and a discussion with my dad, who now had no issues in me taking a motorcycle (Lady luck smiled at me ). At the end of the day, i finalized Pulsar 135LS to be my steed. Booked the bike the next day, sooper excited i was! I was soo excited that i could not resist putting lots of accessories on my bike (one of them was the auto cop-for-bike).

My First Day with my First Bike

Got the bike delivered in time and took her immediately to the temple, did pooja, named her as Tarja (singer of my all time favorite band, Nightwish). Took the bike for a spin, took it to my friend's place. I could not resist myself showing off and i wanted to show my friend the ignition switch on my keys (came along with the auto cop). Started off the bike and asked my friend to take some snaps while i ride in front of him . Not even 100 metres i went when my friend shouted: "dude..fire! get off the bike". I got startled, saw white smoke coming out underneath the my pillion seat . I jumped off the bike, parked it immediately, called the Bajaj service centre guys. People from the service centre came over and showed that the electrical wiring for the auto cop has been shot and that has caused the fire. By then half of my pillion seat was burnt! . Got a replacement though..but my first day was not as sweet as i expected to be.

However, after that incident, i seldom had any problems with my bike. It served me for 3 long years and been with me through all the rough as well as smooth terrains i been to.

KMS Under my Belt

Bajaj Pulsar 135L 2010 Model: 32,000 kms
Date of sell: 10-Apr-2013
First Long ride: Bangalore-Ooty
Most kms driven at a stretch: 210 kms
Most kms driven in a day: 480 kms

I was evolving as a rider and wanted to go for long rides more and more. I was hence looking for a cruiser in the market. Came across my colleague who was planning to sell his Avenger 2007 model, 180cc. I got a good deal out of him and decided to go for it.

Bumped into xFlo | xBhp.com - India's Most Popular Motorcycling/Biker's Community | India's First Motorcycling Biking Lifestyle Magazine

With the second bike confirmed, i was more interested in long rides. After couple of searches in google, i bumped into the Tourer thread of the xbhp. I..felt..simply..awesome. These t-logs were so much in details, with pictures, with real time experiences. This is what i was looking for since i first started riding. The more logs i went through, the more elated I was! Best of all, it was a community and it was made by and for people who love to travel, just like me! . Did not waste my time, registered over xbhp. I was feeling great because i was able to make some quick plans looking into the T-logs, i was having soo many options now!

Since the past 5 months, i have travelled 10,000+ kms on my Avenger 180cc and i dedicate every bit of it to xBHP. It is because of this community that i have found a new direction to my riding career. And not only riding, xBHP excels in providing tips to the riders as well. It had become more than a community for me, it was now a religion. I carry xBHP with me anywhere and everywhere I go.