RIDE ON

I wrote this on Mouthshut.com some 18 months back after buying the Avenger.

THE BAJAJ AVENGER:

Finally after a long wait, visiting showrooms endlessly, I got the bike I wanted…that bike is the powerhouse of a Beast they call, THE AVENGER.


I will not trouble you with tech details, you can get them on: www.bajajavenger.com

The D-DAY

Wife and I got the call 01 Oct. We went to the showroom. The red Beast was there waiting to take me off on a ride. Formalities over, I mounted the Beast, started and took off on a busy road. Mind you, I was driving a bike of my own after 31 years! The ride home was wobbly, awkward, the heavy traffic and the bad roads did not help.

02 October, early morning I told my woman to get ready for a highway test-drive, a stretch of 40 kms, close to my home.

The FEEL the TOUCH the RIDE

The ignition start was a breeze. Getting to the highway, I stopped the Beast. Gear one, revved up the RPM, shot off quite quick off the blocks. I was cruising comfortably at 50 kmph down to the fifth gear. That is the limit for first 500 kms.

The Feel: Great feel. Everything worked fine, the gears, clutch, and the throttle. The exhaust 4 stroke revs sounded fine. Not too loud just the right rhythm.

The Sound: Amazing soft sound of the 4 stroke engine, sending up super vibrations right up the spinal cord to the nerve centers of the brain, ending up with a feeling of pure ecstasy.

The Touch: The powerhouse of the Beast, the 180 DTSi, reacts swiftly to gear changes synchronized with the throttle. Surprisingly quick for a heavy cruiser bike.
.
The Ride: Amazing stuff. The comfort of driving this Avenging cruiser is phenomenal. Overtaking is swift, just push up to 4th gear, open the throttle and everything moves behind the bike at the speed of light. The road grip is good, thanks to broad rear tires. The front brakes are very efficient. The foot brakes are a problem for me. The headlights are powerful. Banking is a breeze. All iAll in all, I love this Beast!

You are pushing 54, why bike now?

This is a question my friends and family ask and my answers drives them crazy. Here are a few answers.

1. The Beast is primarily for highway rides, say Pune to Bangalore type of rides with spinouts to jungles, sanctuary, lakes, forts and whatever else enroute. A car is a utility device, a machine that takes me from point A to B. Period. A bike on the other hand, the Cruiser kinds, is a Beast of PASSION.

2. A car is relatively safe, comfortable with an a/c, music, protects you from pollutants. The Beast exposes me to elements of nature, especially the wind. The danger adds a bit to the spirit of adventure. The sheer delight of hearing the revs of a 4-stroke bike engine, the quick response to the throttle makes the car look like a lumbering elephant.

3. Driving a car say 5000 kms on a vacation is a pleasure. Driving the Beast 5000 kms will be an adventure of the highest order, especially in company of biking club members. The physical and mental wear and tear is a must to be endured to get the max out of biking adventures. Most Royal Enfield bikers who ride away on long drives are over 40 yrs. In the USA I saw so many bikers over 60 yrs. They are all big beefy men and women.

4. Bikes are cheap for the riding pleasure. The same excitement can perhaps be matched by sports cars and they cost a bomb. In a car you drive, on a bike you ride. There is a world of a difference tween the two.

This list of Q and A’s goes on and on.

MY RECCOMENDATIONS

The Avenger is very cost effective cruiser at Rs. 67 k on the road. The VFM (value for money) is great. The power to price ratio is fine. The low chassis makes for a low center of gravity, stabilizing the bike on rides. The shockers are first rate. Can take the bumps pretty good. Max cruising speed after engine run in should be 80 kmph, though 60 kmph is fine for the cruiser rides. The kpl is abot 50 kms to a liter of fuel. The Beast looks beautiful. Most car n bikes look great in show rooms and advertisements; few look good when you see them on the roads. The Beast looks better on the road.

Make no mistakes; the Beast is a KILLER APPLICATION.

A DREAM FANTASY RIDE:

Your AVENGING RIDE, your DESTINY, your SPIRIT, your SOUL, and your Point of no RETURN

Mount the Beast. Start the power plant. Rev up the engine fast and furious down to the fifth gear smartly. Then, open the throttle max and BLAST down the valley of Death with all the God given power and fury at your disposal. Have no fears, the Avenging Angels will pull you up the steep slopes and awaken you to a new dawn. Remember, cowards die many deaths, the brave die just once. Your Avenger has begun to avenge your inner demons. Ride on…..

You have begun to learn from the winds, you learn from the mountains, you fly with the devil, you learn from the wisdom of nature and life.


You ride at night sleep by day, your back hurts. The Odo shows 550 kms. Ride on. Your music is the throbbing stereophonic sounds of the macho exhaust, the air, and the fury of speed. Your protections are the Gods in heaven. You feel the God within you urging you to open up the throttle further. Push beyond the limits known and unknown. There is no destination. The road of life never ends never begins. You are the destiny’s child; the Avenger is God’s gift for you to learn, to ride, you are on a new voyage. A voyage that takes you to the point of no return, till you have awakened the soaring spirits within you. Nothing else matters. This is the essence of biking, to begin with. The Odo shows 2543 kms. Ride on…….


On the road of enlightment, the future is what you see ahead of you, the present is you and your Avenger, the past is what you see in the rear view mirror. You have begun to come back to life, to soar, to get the highs and the lows. The Avenger is your silent broadband, let the music play on. Ride on….



Odo says 3521 kms. You have begun to discover yourself. The demons have gone. A part of you has died, giving birth to a new you. You are sore, tired. The horizon changes, the road ahead is there to be traversed. The pent up fury within you has eased. Ride on…….


Remember you and I were born to live. You are riding, down 6589 kms on the Odo. The biker and his machine join in unison. The Avenger slowly becomes a part of your biological body. The man machine interface is your new matrix . You have a whole new philosophy. A whole new thought process. You are still learning. You want to Avenge your self against yourself, your killer dreams.You die. Happy birthday to the new you. Hang on. I need you to live a wee bit longer. To stay wild, it’s déjà vu time . Ride on. ……..


Hell fire and burning souls. The devils have gone. You open throttle max, speedo reads 120. The roar of the energies let loose, silencers all gone. It’s the magic that never ends. You have forgiven all else, be they mortals, your fate, your wretched horoscope. Your past has been erased. You are fully reconfigured. Ride on….



Odo reads 22,569 kms. You have scorched the earth, have burned the CD of life like never before ……..your way to your ultimate destination, a destination you never want to reach.

You are riding. The Odo says 48,623 kms. You have understood ecstasy, fulfillment, and desire. You are celebrating LIFE. Eventually, you will have mastered your fate. Ride on…..


The Avenging Angels fly away. It’s the end of the road. You have learned everything. The Odo reads 98989. Who cares? Your ride into infinity has just begun. The Avenger is you, YOU are the AVENGER. Ride on…..

You rest your tired broken body and shattered bones against the Avenger’s tank. The body dies but your spirit lives. Ride on……

Now you hear your inner voice say:

“I FEEL LIKE GOD. I AM GOD.”

Your soul is liberated forever. Ride on……….

Somewhere in the space, in the dak starlit twilight zone, we meet and walk the talk of life, and pass judgment on the Avenger.

We can do that coz we be the GODS . We shake hands and what do we say? We say...............

“ RIDE ON…..”



LAST LINE

I have often said “ What better way to die than in the pursuit of a PASSION.”