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Last Updated: August 28th 2007
Hello there!
A big hearty welcome to my number plate and thanks for looking. Since you are here and must be a little curious(i hope), I've made a small effort to pen down a few words about myself and my motorcycle related experiences. I really hope you enjoy reading it.
So here we go, a little bit about myself first then.. By qualification I am a mechanical engineer. Once i left college I started out with working in the mechanical industry but soon wanted more. The whole culture in the industry of politics did not go too well with me, add to that the not-so-great income. So i switched professions and joined the Software bandwagon much like many people of my generation. The new profession actively engaged my mind and the good salary finally afforded me the luxury to pursue my hobbies with the passion i always wanted.
I learnt riding 2 wheelers before I was of legal age on my uncle's old Deluxe Blue bullet when we used to goto our village for summer vacations in Punjab. It was fun to ride and very difficult to control probably because i was too small for it :) Since then ive been totally hooked on to motorcycles. I rode a Vespa scooter for a long time throughout school and college but was always in awe of the big machines and more so Enfield's. All persuasion of my folks yielded no results as it was considered a heavy and dangerous motorcycle for me.
So quite a few years down the line I bought my first bullet after getting a decent job. I finally I had to myself a brand new Black and Chrome Machismo 350cc. Oh the smell and feeling of a spanking new bike, nothing beats it. From there on started my motorcycling adventures. After riding around on it in and around mumbai, I yearned for more. After hooking up with 2 fellow bulleteers through a dormant internet site we came up with the idea of starting a motorcycle club for Enfields in Bombay. We named it Inddiethumpers and Inddiethumpers still stands proud today after 5 years of rocking the roads. But that is another story.
WITH MY RE 350: JUGGERNAUT
Coming back to my bikes, I love naming my machines. I believe it brings me closer to them, and call me crazy but i talk to them too.. coax them on in times of trouble and share the thrill of a tightly taken twisty with them as well :) So I christened my machismo as Juggernaut- my first and most dear motorcycle.
During a short stint of work in bangalore I managed to lay my hands on a very nice 500cc with the help of a great chap from bangalore bullet club RTMC called Prashanth. After redoing it mechanically and cosmetically I had a Silver Chrome 500cc called Blitzkrieg. The bike was a must because my 350 was now im complete control of Shweta(who's my wife now) and she used to ride the bike daily back in Mumbai and go with the club on rides as well. The 500 was lot of fun and we had some great times and big and long rides on it.
MY 500(On Right) AT GANPATIPULE
Now, I have this bug in me which always bites after a little while ;) I couldn't pass up the chance of a fantastic Yamaha RD350 when i saw one for sale.So with a little coaxing of my wife we bought it and got the engine to pristine health. I called it Diablo after the devil. Anyone whos ridden the 2stroke Twin would testify how much fun this bike is to ride. My bike is a '84 HT model, still on the original bore. I could not get the time to do anything cosmetic to the bikes condition but its engine was sure brought back to its glory days.
I then had to come to US on a work assignment in Oct 2003. I had to sadly part from my brothers back in bombay and cribbed day in and out since i came here about how much i miss my bikes and friends back home. But I was a happy lad once we managed to save enough to buy a bike here. And what better than another British Iron, one with legendary status on top of that. So the bike which used to be my wallpaper on my computer back home was standing in my backyard here. Imagine the smile on my face :) I couldn't stop grinning for days! I was a proud owner of a Triumph Thunderbird, 3 cylinder liquid cooled 900cc motor with 87 horses and 70Nm torque. I rode it all summer of 04 and had fun on some short rides with it. The Triple was a really different experience from what i was used to riding- it was a fast and nimble machine, though like all British irons was not without its quirks. I had to brush up my skills and improve them quite a bit to accomodate for the higher speeds of riding here.
Come spring 05 i was getting the itch to start riding the bird again so i went to the dealership on a very cold morning to get the bike serviced for approaching summer. As fate would have it, right on entrance of the dealer stood a huge overpowering Triumph Rocket III. Oh man, the bug in me had risen again and this time it would not be quietened. So with the help of a very understanding wife(who absolutely loves mcycles as well),on march 30th 2005 I was able to fullfill the dream which I had been having from countless nights after i saw the bike :)
MY ROCKET III ON THE ROAD TO AMERICADE
The thunderbird was traded in(sadly) for a brand new Graphite Triumph Rocket III. Its currently holds the title of world's largest prodn. motorcycle at 2300cc with a 140bhp power output and 200Nm torque.The monster weighs 800 pounds but is very nimble in handling once it gets rolling. The bike does 0-60mph(almost 100kph) in 3 seconds! Talk about acceleration, the feeling is more of sitting in a Catapult instead of a bike. Another big rush i get from her is of breaking the 200kph barrier which ive done quite a few times now :) its all a matter of a few seconds with the big motor.
USA is a very beautiful country with the largest biking culture in the world and I have been experiencing my share of it. I covered around 11500 something miles on the bike last year(actual riding time has been 7 months or so). I've explored almost the whole east coast,and have taken part in a few motorcycle rallies as well. The biggest one of those being Americade which saw an attendance of over 70,000 bikers(imagine that!).
I've also become a part of a Triumph Rocket Owner's group here and have made some fantastic friends as a result. There's something with motorcycles which transcends all cultures and boundaries. Its a universal language which everyone understands and appreciates. I get thumbs ups where I go with my Baby. And yes, i call her Obelix based on my favourite character from Asterix ;)
With all this happening I still miss out riding with my brothers back home and i hope to go back someday and ride with them again. I thank the Almighty One for the good things in my life with a humble head and would always cherish these moments in my life.
I do have a few other hobbies which keep me busy apart from bikes. I'm as passionate about photography as motorcycling.
We finally visited India after 3 years and also did a ride with our fellow brothers in Inddiethumpers! We also met Anukaran and the fantastic guys at Nagpur's bullet club Wanderlust and they are an amazing bunch of guys!
WITH ANUKARAN
It was amazing riding the bullet after almost 4 years and I finally got to ride again on my trusty Blitzkrieg again. It brought back all those happy memories of riding with the club and all the thumping bullets. Its been almost quite a few months since then and we are back in the US but the memories are still fresh in our mind.
WITH THE CLUB
WITH THE CLUB
We are hoping to make another trip to India next year and do Ladakh with our fellow thumpers. Shweta couldn't do it the last time with me and i want to show her the beauty of our land and relive it myself. Lot of people from Inddiethumpers have also shown interest and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it all works out.
These days I'm feeling a bit nostalgic about the friends, India and the memories back home. I'm thinking of returning back to India for good and joining my brothers back in bombday.Though it may take some time to have enough capital and wrap things up here, I'll try to work things out.
If you've made it this far,let me thank you for going through such a long writeup :) I hope you had fun reading through and now its time to get back to your work;) Please feel free to get in touch with me at my email id.
Cheers!!
Daman
My Links
Motorcycles:
Inddiethumpers website
My Photography:
Through My Lens
My Blog:
My Rumblings
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