35. My Tryst with the GODS- Sriram Sridharan

Sri, all of 16 years was asked by his teacher to write an article on " My Passion" when the rest of his class wrote about the guitar and movies, Sri decided to be more honest and write about the one thing that he is truly passionate about. He is not old enough to get a riding license nor does he ride anything but his humble bicycle but he is still a biker in spirit nevertheless. The following is the article that he wrote and I'm proud to publish it on the blog. Many years from now he would read this with a smile on his face and a superbike between his legs.

- Vijay Thomas



A wise man once said “For some there is therapy, for people like us there are motorcycles”. Although it may not make sense to everyone but to a selected handful amongst this world, including me would regard this to be the most inspirational quote of our lives. Motorcycles, to the common man are cheaper alternatives to cars and other transportation vehicles that do a simple task of taking a person or object from point A to point B. But for enthusiasts, they play an entirely different role. Motorcycles to me are a new way of life. It’s an obsession, a craze, a new adventure to embark upon. Every time I see one, I can feel the adrenaline rushing through my veins.



It was way back in 2000 that for the first time I experienced the feeling that there was something special about these two-wheeled crotch rockets. It was on my neighbour’s terrace, a poster of a silver Aprilia RSV Mille, one of the fastest and most desirable superbikes of its time. Fast, light and from the prestigious stable of an Italian manufacturer. That was the first ever superbike I ever saw in my life and its image keeps appearing in my head very often.



Around 4 years later, my neighbour and by that time good friend, Saurabh gave me the ultimate shocker when he came home on a brand new Bullet Machismo. I saw him from the balcony and instantly ran down the stairs to see if that was actually him or someone else. To my unbelievable good fortune, it was him and I stood there gazing at my reflection over the chrome bits on the bike. Owning a Royal Enfield gives you certain sense superiority. You have a feeling that you’re the king of the road just by sitting on one. This was the bike that was going to fuel my passion for the next couple of years.



In 2006, dad introduced me to the auto expo which was held bi-annually at Pragati Maidan. It was the place to be for all bike and car lovers. I was pretty psyched to go there. The 8th Auto Expo 2006 was a memorable event for it was the first time when I saw a superbike in flesh. That too not any ordinary superbike, it was the world’s fastest production bike, the Suzuki Hayabusa. Its menacing looks and proportions dazed me. When I saw its top speed on the brochure, for a second I thought my eyes are deceiving me. 310kmph is what it said! I picked up brochures of each and every bike or car I saw and went through all them of that day itself.





The Auto Expo was really invaluable to me as it had also promoted my liking for cars as well although not to the extent of my existing craze of bikes, I took an interest in knowing about cars too. Since then I have visited every succeeding Auto Expo without fail.







After the Auto Expo I took it upon myself that I will learn everything about bikes. It was tough trying to understand college level mechanics when you are in the sixth grade and well I did completely fail to understand what goes on the inside, but I did however manage to learn the physical attributes of bikes. I was able to differentiate between the functionality of various bikes, how to classify them by their body designs. That is when I understood the difference between cruisers, super sports, tourers and street bikes. I also became perplexed when the question hit my mind that “Why there are so many bikes between a short displacement range of 100cc-225cc in India?”

The answer to this question was understood much later.



By the time I was in 9th, my knowledge on two wheelers was immense but it was still just a cup of water from the vast ocean that existed. There was much to be learned and most of that would only happen when I could interact with someone who owned a superbike. But what were the odds? Looking for a superbiker in India would be like finding a needle in a haystack at that time! A massive import duty of 140% on every superbike kept the number of buyers extremely low. I would just have to wait for my luck to shine some day.



One of the most important days of my life was 25th of July 2010. It was a usual eventless sunny morning. I had absolutely no hint or expectation that it would turn out be one of the most memorable days of my life. I was going to a nearby park with my friends for an early morning cricket match. The park was situated on the main road that leads to Shanti Path. The roads were wide and empty at 6 o’clock in the morning. Once I reached the main road, I kept walking and was hardly expecting any surprising event to occur. Suddenly I hear a sound. It was sounding similar to a Formula 1 race in progress. Sensing the peculiarity, I turn around and again the famous,” Is this really happening” felling hits me. In front of me I see two roaring superbikes moving towards me. They pass right ahead of me and move into a petrol pump which was about 50 metres in front of me. In a reflex, I just started running towards the bunk, ignoring my friends’ shouting and there they were, a beautiful blue R1 and an Orange Busa . Two of the world’s best superbikes were standing right in front of me I went close and had a close inspection at both bikes. It felt like a dream come true. The riders were none other than Rishab and UV bhaiya (who would later become my really good friends) . They filled their bikes, started their engines and give it a nice whisk of throttle which sent a roar through the exhaust. That sound instantly made my face grin. And then they leave. Hence the 25th of July 2010 becomes one of the most important days of life, the day I saw a superbike in action for the first time.



It didn’t end here, the quest to find a superbike owner. It became clear to me that they would be coming here again as I knew that their bikes required higher quality 97 RON fuel, which was available at only selected petrol bunks throughout Delhi. The Moti Bagh pump was one one of them to my epic luck. So I decided that I would be back next Sunday at the same time. For 5 weeks I woke up at 6 a.m. every Sunday and came to the bunk and waited for 2 hours over there but they never came. I was pretty dishearted but I never gave up hope. The following Sunday, I reached the pump at 5:30 a.m. and waited, hoping that I would be able to see them this time. I looked at my watch every 5 minutes and at 5:45, I see around 5-6 bright lights approach me at a very fast velocity. A few seconds later I hear the nostalgic sounds and the adrenaline starts to flow. Last time I saw two but this time it was 4. The excitement was something that can’t be explained in plain text. A Fireblade, a Fazer along with the previously spotted R1 and Busa. I spent the previous night thinking of how should I get myself introduced. 11pm-12am was spent thinking and finally the solution was found, ask an extremely noob question about superbikes – “Is the Busa as good as the R1 in terms of handling?”. Although I knew the answer, I didn’t know why. So went to the man standing next to his Blade, Captain Anik Chowbey, the first ever superbiker I spoke to. He was very polite and referred me to Rishab bhaiya who gave me the answer. Then spoke to another person, Captain Nishant Singh. Perhaps the only man in India with a Fazer. Very friendly guy, we had a brief about his biking history. So after a few minutes, they filled up and left. While walking back home, the anxiety for next Sunday was setting into me.





The following week I met the man, Vijay Thomas whom I regard as one of my closest friends . That I day got to know the name of the group, G.O.D.S. That was also the day when I set up my most important ambition…become a part of G.O.D.S. So, I reached home and decided what my dream bike will be. Being under the influence of machismo for a long time, the dream bike had to be a cruiser and a cruiser had to be a Harley. But the important Question was which one. I browsed through their catalogue and based on pure looks (I know, very dumb of me) the decision made was the V-Rod.



For the next 5 months Sunday mornings were the most delightful times of the week and 2011 had arrived in no time. 2011 is arguably the most bikingnessfull year of my life so far and this was also the year when my passion for bikes reached a new high! In January I was introduced to xbhp.com by google. Just a random search for superbikes in India, led me to the superbikes and imports thread on xbhp. A majority part of my knowledge was from the epic community known as xbhp and I am extremely greatful and indebted to this community for teaching me so much, knowingly or un-knowingly. Xbhp had taught me the most important lesson in biking, Always be geared! Put this message into my head and went on a research over what constitutes a good set of riding gears. Even researched about the good companies and memorized each and every product they sold and what’s special about it.



As the Sundays increased my popularity on the GODS facebook page also increased, though that was not my intention. Friend requests started to pour and I was overwhelmed. Also with the help of facebook, attended every event GODS had organized, the G2G’s being the special one’s. So many superbikes parked parallel to each other harldy made it feel India any more  . At the G2G’s had the privilege to meet and have a chat with the one and only Dr. Arun Thareja. He is a true gem of a person. Interactions with him were one of the essential parts of G2G and I thoroughly enjoyed talking to him about bikes and stuff.



So this is basically it. A summary of how bikes have been an essential part of my life. Desperately waiting to get my hands on my first bike which currently as planned should turn out to be a Kawasaki Ninja 250r. At the end of this I would like to say that I am a bike fanatic and I am proud of it. Wishing everyone with a superbike dream all the very best and looking forward to ride with them some day.



And a very special mention to the following people – Vijay Thomas, Rishab Gulshan, Yuvraj Singh, Himanshu Sharma, Alex John, Sanjay Tripathi, Anik Chowbey, Col. Satya and Monty Sen. A million thanks to all of you for giving me a chance to see your amazing machines every week .