The bikers dilemma…
A note: this whole shabang is before I finally got my new bike..
Can’t believe it’s been almost 7 years since I’ve headed out, well atleast for a long solo ride. The last few years have been purely weekend rides, 100-150 kms at the most on my beloved steed, the RE classic 500. The 12 year old beast still rides like a charm, and still gives me that same rush from day 1. Last couple of years I’ve been thinking of replacing it with something that has more horses, more modern electronics, more torque, the works. Back in the day (well the last decade), this bike used to command the roads being a head turner on pit stops, and there weren’t too many riders around, the occasional group or so. Fast forward a few years, chugging along on highway weekends, I realised there are a few hundred newer bikes in the market, plenty from abroad, and a few pure Indian bred ones.
Been doing research on and off, on what bike to pick up. Indian motorcycles, triumphs, ninjas, bennelis and some more… Changing my mental filters each time I saw a new one zooming by. Set some stronger filters – cruiser, 1000cc+, wider tyres, and yet affordable. The last one is literally like asking for free food, so most bikes were out, and I narrowed down to the kawasaki range. Never been into Harleys; Indian motorcycles – love them but way too expensive. Triumphs – great bikes, but cruisers were out of budget – well the one I liked atleast – rocket 3 😀.
Sobered up one fine day, decided it doesn’t make sense to pick up 1000+ cc bikes – not really my genre, and more power – well it doesn’t make sense. Why would I want a bike that needs to put my 200hp 4 wheels to shame ?
Went on a complete tangent, picked up an EV bike (now 2 bikes in the garage, RE classic 500 and this one), to “wheee” around in the city, and then figured it will be a psychological blocker to own a third bike, so sold it within 6 months. Now back to being a single bike owner again.
Well then one fine day I decided I’ll pick up the super meteor 650 – a beautiful cruiser from RE, went right to the showroom, booked it for a 2 months wait period, set it up on my phone wallpaper, laptop wallpaper, started scouting for and admiring ones I saw on the road – to reaffirm my faith in that bike. Royal Enfield – the ones that never die, but hey, you never know with newer experiments.
So if I picked up the 650, I would now have 2 bikes, both royal enfields – classic 500 and super meteor 650. Makes sense to sell the 500 one with zero guilt now (to understand this torturous guilt dilemma better, speak to a royal enfield owner who is thinking of selling their bike).
And then, after selling the 500, it would be back to 1 bike again – a royal Enfield 650 as the “to-be” state of my garage.
But hey… A visit to the kawasaki center doesn’t hurt. They have just about all ranges .. off roader bikes, scramblers, street-illegal bikes, cruisers, tourers, and of course the Ninjas, and Z series.
Was an easy Excel shortlist. No Ninjas or z900s unless I go back to college days (and age) again, with a spinal cord to spare. The tourers are way too much height, and I prefer that I be in command of my bike even at 5ft 8, and not the other way round.
Sitting on the side quietly, and not screaming flourescent green like the Ninjas, was the cruiser/cross breed of sorts – the Vulcan S 650. Same engine as the ninjas and Zs, just differently tuned. Test drove it, booked the bike, this time on a non refundable booking amount, and headed back home, happy on 2 counts…
– Got what I wanted, and dont have to sell the good old 500 anymore. My excuse ? 2 bikes in the garage is better than 1 – And as my 5 year old puts it, “when (not if) the new bike breaks, we will need the RE classic 500 again, so let’s not sell it”, so hey, I need a backup bike now.
The kill bill doesn’t end there. I had to go back to the RE showroom, this time actually guilty, cancel my booking and write the reason on the cancellation and refund form. It was pure and unforgiveable betrayal in my head to write “booked a Kawasaki, so cancelling the super meteor” – are you listening to yourself ?? – may that form be forever buried with my guilt in their documents warehouse. Ok so job done somehow, got the refund, we move on.
The wall papers change now! The accessories shopping starts, the plans start, the horrendous breaking in period starts – where you grudgingly limit your revs to a ridiculous 4000 rpm on a 12000 rpm dial – and patiently wait for those 1000 kms, until your 650 parallel twin engine, piston, piston rings, cylinder and a hundred other alloys do a symphony, learn the tricks of the world, how to expand and contract under heat, on various RPMs and gears, how to become more flexible, grind the rough insides of metal into metal powder, shining out the cylinder, leverage oil adhesion, and eventually pump 61 horses of power and a whole bunch of torque into the 6 speed transmission that whizzes you along. It’s the baby feeding for that 1st 1000 kms that sets you thinking whether it was even a good idea to get a new damn bike.
Throughout this trip, I’m pretty sure I’ll be comparing the riding pleasure of the 500 and 650, this 3000 kms on the 650 vs the 4000 kms I did on the RE classic 500, 7 years ago, Will bash them both up a bit – metaphorically of course.
The classic 500 is still my first love though, so we need to keep that inherent bias in mind when documenting all this…
Ready to burn some rubber day after morning, some anxiety setting in already. The shiny bike waiting in the garage, tanked up with Shell V-power, chains lubed up, first oils changed, engine tuned up, bike ready for 7k rpm and up, wireless charger mount setup, the bike now waiting for saddlebags and my infamous military backpack to be mounted…
Tomorrow is a mock test – with all luggage mounts, a short 10k ride to see balancing with luggage and bungees, will see how that goes…
My route ? Unknown so far.
Directions ? Westward towards the coast, down the coastline, to the southernmost tip of India, up the east coast, and then back inland again from somewhere. Stay tuned..
