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Monday 18 July 2011

27.Sanjay Tripathi- 25 years of Biking

India has some famous names as far as biking in concerned; they involve illustrious journalists, A few professional racers, one or two celebrities and certain other distinguished gents who’ve left a mark. The one thing common about all of the above is that they have influenced the lives of many riders through their articles, blogs, talks and general attitude towards biking. They have always been in the spotlight. If you dissect their work, you’ll realize that they were messengers, each unique in their way of letting their followers know what was on their mind. For this we were blessed to have them in our midst.

However there exist some not so famous names in the Indian biking world. Unsung heroes who create the experience of biking that we sometimes take for granted. They quietly go about their job ensuring we get a far more refined product every year and the joy of biking improves with every ride . One such person is Sanjay Tripathi AKA Ringo Piston. He has played a part in almost all important biking catharsis India has been through. Undoubtedly the most important one being the introduction of the official R1 into the Indian market. A step that paved the way for legal superbiking in India.



Not too many years ago, there were two kinds of bikes on the road. Sub 350 CC legal bikes and 600+ CC grey market superbikes. The grey market was thriving. Not one of the bike companies took notice of the fact that there was indeed a market for premium bikes in India. The reasons for the same are many. High entry barrier, Poor infrastructure, Expensive and Time consuming homologation. There was however one more very important reason for India not seeing legal superbikes earlier, there were hardly any true bikers working in these companies. It takes a biker to understand the nuances behind the philosophy of superbiking. There simply was no one to understand that

Sanjay always knew India had great potential. He just knew it in his gut. Of course, in everyday business nothing moves purely on gut, especially not in a Japanese company. He had to present his case over to the head honchos at Yamaha. They were not easily convinced. This is when Sanjay decided to make them see India’s potential with their own eyes. He arranged for the folks at Yamaha to meet the Group of Delhi Superbikers. Dr Thareja and the rest of the bikers turned up their full riding gear and their exotic bikes. A long fruitful interaction opened Yamaha’s eyes and they indeed saw that there existed a small but potential market in India. It was this meeting that made Yamaha bring in the Mighty R1 and the MT 01. The first superbikes to be officially launched in India. In no time the other companies followed suit and the rest as they say is History.



Sanjay’s love for biking goes back a long way. His father was placed in Holland on work in the late seventies and a young, curious Sanjay loved to look under the engines of European bikes. He was curious about two attributes. One, the number of exhaust pipes that came out from the cylinder head and two, the printed top speed on the speedo. It was during this period that the biker in him was born. However it was in 1987 though that the maniac in him came out. His first bike was the brilliant RX 100. Perhaps the ideal first bike for any petrol junkie. Sanjay believes that all bikes are uncut diamonds. Unless you chip off the rough edges the true beauty in them is never seen. Thus began his tryst with experimenting on bikes.



The most important ingredient to extract the most out of your bike is a thinking mechanic. Sanjay says he is incredibly lucky to have found an equally maniac mechanic to tinker with the bike. Pappu from Johns Garage was the perfect man for the job. Together they began work on making the RX 100 into the diamond that it truly deserved to be. They took the bike apart, ported it, put a slightly oversized piston, tweaked the carb and believe it or not, forged a 5th cog into it.

All this in ’87.There was no Dyno those days but Sanjay believes that the RX now belted out a staggering 14 Bhp from the 11Bhp that it had originally. The tweaking did not end there. His experience in Europe kindled a desire to have a fully faired bike along with a tachometer. Again the two of them got to work and an entirely new fairing was molded from fiber glass. A tacho was imported from Singapore. The monster RX100 that they finally created could touch a genuine 130 kmph.



In a few years the RX felt lacking and there was a new toy in town that every young man was desperate to have. The mighty Race Developed RD350. In no time the RX100 made way for the RD 350 and as before the two of them got to work on making this machine the fastest one on the street. They began with porting the inlet and exhaust until it was a mirror finish. Over size reed valves were installed, the point timing unit made way for the more reliable CDI unit. Carb equalizers were put in and a 2 into 2 compression chamber was installed to milk all the possible BHP out of the bike. From the cosmetic angle everything was left as is but for a neater two piece clip on handle bar.

Sanjay says the bike used to genuinely touch 160 Kmph. No mean feat that considering the closest other bikes came were a good 30Kmph slower.



He was certain that he wanted to make a career in the biking industry. In the middle of the nineties there were not too many bikes nor biking companies to choose from. In the second year of his MBA he shot off a letter to Royal Enfield expressing his desire to work with them. Royal Enfield obliged and thus in 1997 Sanjay rode to office to report for his first day of work on the RD 350. Not a very wise thing to do. His boss had the parallel twin RD350 immediately replaced by a single cylinder push road RE standard 350.

He still regrets having to let go of the RD 350.

Today Royal Enfield in synonymous with camaraderie, long rides, Leh-Ladak and of course the innumerable biking clubs. Little does one know that Sanjay’s first project over at RE was to set up the first Bullet Club in India. He along with his mechanic buddy got to work again. They build up John’s garage into an uber cool, very western looking biking joint. Regulars began trickling in and the first of the bullet clubs in India took shape. The picture below is from one of the first club meetings. This sparked off a craze and no one needs to be told what has happened after that.



Sanjay knew that the design on the Bullet was amenable to customization. He looked up pictures of Harleys and discovered that by making minor changes to the tank ,seats and head assembly the entire character of the bike could be changed. Thus began the work on the lightning 535, a bike which was far ahead of its time. The true harbinger to the thunderbird, the bike that put Enfield back in the game.

Five years at Enfield came to an end when he was offered by Piagio to take up an offer in Italy. It was too tempting to let go off. The next couple of years were perhaps the most important time in Sanjay’s life. These two years in Italy made him a connoisseur of biking. Every weekend he used to ride the streets of Florence on a rented bike. The Ducati 916 being his favorite. This is when he realized how behind India was as far as biking was concerned. He vowed to do something about it.



He spent less than two years with Piagio when an offer from Honda India came his way. He was to be a part of the R&D team. Sanjay says that the two years in Honda made him appreciate the roles of the engineers more. The years with Honda were enriched with learning. His project was to launch the unicorn. This took him to Germany to master clay modeling and other design tools. It was in Germany that he experienced automotive nirvana. Several laps around the famed twisties of the Nurburgring on a race prepped fireblade was the ultimate experience of his biking life. He has had the opportunity to ride in many other circuits but the Ring will always remain the most special one.




While at a visit to Intermot, Sanjay had a chance meeting with Yamahas head of design, Ishiyama San. He was impressed with Sanjay’s vision for India and convinced him that Yamaha was indeed the place for a person like him. Yamaha however was stuck in the doldrums those days designing horrible bikes such as the gladiator and the likes. Sanjay took over as head of product planning. In less than two years three bikes rolled out from the Yamaha Stables. The R15, The FZ 16 and the Fazer. Bikes that were instrumental in the legendary turnaround of fortunes for Yamaha. It goes without saying that all three went on to win bike of the year awards.








He knew that a brand ambassador should be someone who understood bikes. Thus began the long and fruitful relationship with John Abraham







Yamaha had brought down a few bikes from Japan to show case at the Auto Expo. Once the expo was over the bikes we lying unused. Sanjay could not digest the fact that they were lying like that and he took matters into his own hands. He got KRP to get the bikes back on the road.He used this as a opportunity to ride more. The R6 and the R1 got special treament during those days.On the R1 he nearly clocked 30,000 Kms






It was during this period that Sanjay became very serious about Moto GP. He has travelled around the world with the Yamaha team. He has had the rare priviledge of having lunch with Valentino Rossi himself. Regrettably that picture has been lost, but he dug out the one with Rossi's team mate Colin Edwards



During his Yamaha days he connected with certain people over at Harley- Davidson. They wanted to visit India and Sanjay obliged. In less than a year Harley- Davidson set up shop in India and Sanjay took over as the Head of Marketing.



Thus began a series of Boot Camps where anyone who wanted to experience the bikes and the Harley Rock Riders where Rock Music and Bikes are combined so perfectly.
Sanjay has extensively ridden Harleys across the USA and has proudly displayed our flag on the Sturgis Ride.The prized picture in his kitty is the one along side Willie G Davidson. A legend in himself








Sanjay sees beauty in every bike he rides. A true rider will never speak ill of any bike. Every manufacturer makes a bike hoping it becomes the best bike in the world. Hence there is always a lot of joy in every bike, one should just have an open mind to find that joy. Its been 25 years since Sanjay has been on bikes. Here’s wishing him another fruitful 25 more years…

Sanjay can be contacted on tripathi.sanjay@gmail.com

39 comments:

  1. truly inspiring, maan! makes me wanna stride out of office, get onto my bike, kick it to life and just take off! :D

    hats off to the man! wishing him many more years of riding, and many such milestones...he seems to have the motorcycling equivalent of the Midas touch.

    Good article, bro!

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  2. Thank you for bringing out an article on Sanjay. Awesome to know what he has done. Incredible stuff really. thank you Sanjay

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  3. awesome article..

    nd hats off to sanjay..

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  4. Awesome Read! Thanks for sharing with the world. :)

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  5. how can i contact mr sanjay..can ny 1 giv me his mail id

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  6. Yes, ofcourse a very inspiring life experiences. Most inspiring part is the last para. Usually all of us speak ill about the Bikes we don't own, or we can't own, or just if we don't like them. But yes, every RIDE has its own importance, its own joy, its own satisfaction given to the Rider. I've had been satisfied by my first RIDE which was Bajaj CT100, cosmetic changes made it look much better than stock. I did wonders on it which I think rarely anyone would believe. Now, I proudly own R15 v2. Amazed. Straight jump from 100CC commuter to 150CC sports. I love my new RIDE, by still miss few things of my OLD one... Both remains very excellent in their classes.
    Hats off the Sanjay Tripathi to initiate and make a bright future of Sportsbikes possible in INDIA.

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  7. till date im not able to describe the feeling.Meeting the Man himself on his blue R1 at pappu bhayia's garage... listening him....sharing samosa and chai...talking about bikes...a very very humble, honest ...a passionate biker but a lot better human...you are a true delight sir and a keeper..keep smiling!!!

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