It had become a routine for me to call up the Honda showroom twice week to enquire if the bike has arrived. I had initially booked a black one since I was told that the silver would take longer to deliver. One of the days, I called up the Honda guy, and he asked me if Silver would be okay.
“OKAY?! It would be perfect!”
“Ok sir, then please come and make the payment by tomorrow morning, I will give you the bike in two days time.”
A sudden rush to draw out the money, and I made the payment the next day. I asked if I could see the bike, and they obliged. Heart beating frantically, I was taken to see the bike. I walked down the stairs, and as I turned the corner, there it stood. There was another black bike parked next to it, but the minute I laid my eyes on the silver, I knew my name was written in the fate of this bike when it was made. It was covered in a little dust, but you could make out how beautiful the bike was.
I couldn’t sleep that night! The few hours of sleep that I did get was filled with me riding the bike!
And then, finally, the day arrived. I made it to the showroom with Vatsa on his RE Bullet Classic 500. The CBR now looked superb. Washed and polished, it looked brilliant; the body looked like a soldier’s silver armor. After completing the formalities, I put in the key and pressed the ignition. The bike came to life. I zoned out for a few seconds as Vatsa was capturing the first few moments on camera. I could feel the engine talking to me.
I rode the bike straight to the Cramster store and purchased riding jacket and gloves. In the evening, I met Harish, and headed for a short ride with him on his Yamaha FZ1. We turned right from Mysore road on to the Outer Ring Road, towards Peenya. As I clicked through the gears, I moved back on the spacious seat and crouched behind the wind shield. That is when I realized how amazing this bike was. It was like a horse that could read my mind. To make a turn, it seemed like I just had to think it! Right then, I decided to christen the bike “The Silver Stallion”.
I did a few highway rides after that, mostly restricting myself to below 6K RPM. 12 days after I first saw the bike, with 825kms done, it was already time for the first service! I got a few minor tweaks to help me ride better. The day I left the bike for service, I wasn’t willing to go away from the place! I guess this how a parent feels like when dropping off his kid on the first day of school! When I got the bike in the evening, I realized how well the engine had opened up.
After what seemed to a looong time of waiting for the right opportunity, I finally took out my bike with intent to use it till it’s limits. I decided to head to Tumkur, to my granny. I left on a Sunday morning, at about 7:45am. The traffic had built up a little, but I could still manage to consistently stay in the 120kph range. And then, I started raining. Though the bike was handling very well, I slowed down. 50 minutes later, I was sitting in my granny’s house, sipping coffee. I then visited my cousins in Gubbi, a further 20 kms of average road away. I headed back at normal city speeds till Tumkur. I time on the bike read 11:48am. The wind was low, the roads were now dry, and it was cloudy. “Perfect”, I said to myself.
I cruised at around 100kph till the toll gate. A few meters after I crossed the toll booth, I ducked down, and speeded up the bike. Such an awesome feeling! A few seconds later, I noticed the speedo indicating 138kph. There was a bit of wind drag on to my chest. I ducked further till I was practically lying on the tank and squeezed the accelerator to the max. A flat empty road ahead of me with clear visibility. The number of the speedo was increasing. 143…144..145..146….147….The wind was pressing the helmet against my face, but I didn’t want to give up!
And then I saw some traffic ahead, so I reluctantly slowed down (I knew the bike could go a few more marks on the speedo!), and accelerated once I’d gone past the pocket of traffic. The next stretch was more awesome, simply because I was able to stay above 145kph for longer. After what seemed like a heart’s beat, I was at the Peenya signal, among traffic. As I parked The Stallion in front of my home, the clock read 12:28.
70 kms in 39 minutes. An average of nearly 108kph. What an awesome animal I own!
And the efficiency’s pretty good too! It gracefully prances about 35km for every liter of petrol in the city, and about 30km when I rev it up on the highways.
I ride it daily to office, the good low end torque ensures that I don’t have to keep shifting gears. If there’s a gap in between vehicles, and another bike’s competing with you for it, he will have to choice but to follow you. I wake up more excited everyday now, because I get to hop on the The Silver Stallion again!
There are many instances when people enquired about the bike on the road, and quite a few when I kicked the behinds of some of the arrogant incompetent riders on famed bikes. More on that in future posts.
After what seemed to a looong time of waiting for the right opportunity, I finally took out my bike with intent to use it till it’s limits. I decided to head to Tumkur, to my granny. I left on a Sunday morning, at about 7:45am. The traffic had built up a little, but I could still manage to consistently stay in the 120kph range. And then, I started raining. Though the bike was handling very well, I slowed down. 50 minutes later, I was sitting in my granny’s house, sipping coffee. I then visited my cousins in Gubbi, a further 20 kms of average road away. I headed back at normal city speeds till Tumkur. I time on the bike read 11:48am. The wind was low, the roads were now dry, and it was cloudy. “Perfect”, I said to myself.
I cruised at around 100kph till the toll gate. A few meters after I crossed the toll booth, I ducked down, and speeded up the bike. Such an awesome feeling! A few seconds later, I noticed the speedo indicating 138kph. There was a bit of wind drag on to my chest. I ducked further till I was practically lying on the tank and squeezed the accelerator to the max. A flat empty road ahead of me with clear visibility. The number of the speedo was increasing. 143…144..145..146….147….The wind was pressing the helmet against my face, but I didn’t want to give up!
And then I saw some traffic ahead, so I reluctantly slowed down (I knew the bike could go a few more marks on the speedo!), and accelerated once I’d gone past the pocket of traffic. The next stretch was more awesome, simply because I was able to stay above 145kph for longer. After what seemed like a heart’s beat, I was at the Peenya signal, among traffic. As I parked The Stallion in front of my home, the clock read 12:28.
70 kms in 39 minutes. An average of nearly 108kph. What an awesome animal I own!
And the efficiency’s pretty good too! It gracefully prances about 35km for every liter of petrol in the city, and about 30km when I rev it up on the highways.
I ride it daily to office, the good low end torque ensures that I don’t have to keep shifting gears. If there’s a gap in between vehicles, and another bike’s competing with you for it, he will have to choice but to follow you. I wake up more excited everyday now, because I get to hop on the The Silver Stallion again!
There are many instances when people enquired about the bike on the road, and quite a few when I kicked the behinds of some of the arrogant incompetent riders on famed bikes. More on that in future posts.
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