Me and my Motobike- the beginner to expert love story

From 6 year now I have lived about 96 kilometres away from my home. And the daily distance I had to travel comes about 200 kilometres. And like all Indians, from a few years I have been feeling the pinch of rising petrol prices. A major portion of my salary was going in to the tank of my car rather than my pocket.

This was when I decided to buy a motorbike for myself to reduce my monthly expenditure on petrol.  I researched on what would be the best bike for a beginner. It was not that I did not know how to drive a bike; it was just that almost 20 year had passed since I had driven one of those beauties. I felt that a starter bike was the best bet to learn safely before I go for a better bike. This started my visit to various dealer shops to look at the various beginner models that were suggested to me by my friends and websites. I was interested in some beginner bikes which though were easy to ride but were still a little uncommon so that I had something to be proud of my start up bike. Some of these bikes were Kawasaki Vulcan 500 LTD, Suzuki GS500F, Suzuki SV650S, Hyosung GT250R, Virago 250 and a few more. After going through test drives and reviews online, I found Virago 250 which with its v-twin engine felt and sounded good. After searching a while I found a second hand Virago 250 with a fresh college passout. This college student lives around 50 kilometres away from my home and due to some reasons the pick-up truck that I had ordered for was due to some mechanical problems not available. So I drove down there with my wife and then I had to drive the bike back home. I took me a few tries to get my hands on the gear control but I was able to control it soon enough. I rode to my home with a pillion at my back to block a fall in case the bike was slanting. I reached home without any mishappening though I must add, it took me a lot of heart to start the ride but after half the path I actually enjoyed the ride.

The Virago 250 was a 2006 model with nice looks and a good amount of shine usually associated with new bikes. It had run only 6,500 kilometres. All my friends and co-workers praised the bike and felt that it was a big bike. I rode my bike uneventfully for 2-3 weeks, running it in the neighbourhood and nearby markets. Maybe this made me overconfident and I decided to give my wife a ride to the market. While taking my bike out of the garage I stepped the front tire on a water bottle and almost fell sideways. This of course scared the heck out of my wife and she has never again sat on my motorbike.

I had got my learners license sometime back before this accident and was soon going to give the final exam. As you know, we have to sit through the written and the practical exam to pass the test. However, due to some official error the practical tests could not be held and when I went ahead to know the reason I was informed that I will need to wait for another week or so. This definitely raised my temper and after a small tiff the officials, in order to cool me down offered me to practice on the training field for this week! This was a big advantage for me in passing the test. The training officials had left the cones as it is on the training field and I practiced with a lot of enthusiasm on the practice area for the whole week. So when finally the test happened after the week I easily impressed the cop who took my test and he gladly passed me with high numbers. I received my driving license in another week.

I rode my Virago as much as possible. I rode it on freeways, expressways, in busy markets and for my daily office commute. Like everybody else I had my share of close calls and learning experiences, but, all in all Virago proved to be a great choice to “train” myself on.

So after riding my Virago for over 2 years and over a distance of 40,230 kilometres, I started looking for the next, better bike. But my family had different plans. My wife wanted to buy a nice car for all of the family since she was still not over the fear of sitting on bikes. The only down payment I had with me was my Virago. The dealer was really interested in my Vigaro. Several salespersons did a test drive on my Vigaro and were quite happy with the performance and condition of my Vigaro. I got more than expected amount for my Vigaro which I used to pay the down payment. I left my Vigaro at the dealer shop and went away to my home in the comfy seat of my new car. However, out of gratitude may be, my wife agreed that the next time the prices of petrol went up and I had a bonus I could buy a new motorbike for me. This happened only after 6 months.

However, my bonus was less than I had anticipated. I started to start searching for a new bike immediately because the prices of motorbikes, like most other things were just going up and with the finance budget due to come soon I was not in a mood to take any chances. My search sent me in the direction of an old Gladiator. I had heard some people complaining about some problem in its transmission but when I test tried it I did not feel any hiccups. The body was rusted but the engine was in immaculate condition and looked like it was tuned by someone with practice in tuning motorcycle engines. There were few aftermarket pipes and the carbs were re-jetted and adding to these all it was also fitting my budget; so without a second thought I bought it.

I ran my Gladiator on the expressways for a few days and I did not face any problems with the transmission. The bike was standing in the dealer shop for few months before I bought it. As a result there was a little rust and lots of dirt in the narrow places of the bike. I took great pleasure in cleaning it off. Now it looked great and I generally got compliments from everyone. The color is two-tone red and pearl.

My bike caught the attention of my co-worker and he made up his mind to buy a bike for himself too. Looks like the petrol prices were affecting his budget too. Thus he began his search for a new bike. Just like me he had not driven a motorbike for over 20 years. He had owned a Honda 750 in past and unlike me, thought that he would be able to handle a sports bike. He settled for Apache and was quite happy with the compliments he got for the look of his bike. He was particularly happy when his son eyed the bike with a trace of jealousy. I recommended him to go for a trainer to re-learn riding. He decided to learn riding himself. The first week he fell while trying to ride the slant in front of his home entry. He underestimated the power of his bike and gave a too hard acceleration in the first gear. He did enter the gates but was unable to stop at the right time and crashed into the wall. He did not get much injuries but the white body of the motorbike received many scratches because of falling in speed and the front impact.

The second week he underestimated the disc break and did a partial-wheelie when the traffic light suddenly turned red. He fell after the back came down and was somehow able to balance the bike, but that did not prevent the cop from giving him a slip.

We planned an outing together where we would ride about 100 kilometres non-stop to a tourist place. However, he never showed up and so I just took my small daughter on a long ride. When I came back, I came to know that he had decide the take his driving test that morning and during the emergency lane-change and stop maneuver, he again over applied the front bakes, however, this time the bike did not go for a wheelie and instead flipped sideways and gave him a few broken ribs and a fractured arm.

It took him almost a month to get back on his legs. I haven’t seen the bike since.

The moral of the story is that no matter how some of my colleagues had tried to force my go not go for a ‘beginner’ looking bike; I never regretted my decision. It turned out to be the best decision to re-ignite my passion for bike riding. I rode about 40,230 kilometres on that Virago, in the early 80’s I had driven my small Harley (Aermacchi 350) about 6,500 kilometres and how I have ridden over 13,000 miles on my Apache. That adds up to 59,730 kilometres without any major accident.

I won’t add anything more in the praise of my decision, but my decision to start with a beginner bike instead of a sports bike was a decision that I would suggest every beginner to make. It just might save you any major accident.

Story courtesy
This story is of Mr.Anil Kumar, my Uncle who after a lot of cajoling shared his biking story with me. This story is an entry to The Castrol Power1 Blogging Contest