Motoroids2 April 2010

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www.motoroids.com VOLUME 1 ISSUE 009 April 2010 MISSION BONNEVILLE A BULLET FOR A LAND SPEED RECORD? YOU BET! MotoGP 2010 Preview Motoroids First Aid And Trauma Workshop for Bikers Throttle Wide Open - Racing School Two friends embark upon a legendary 18,000km road trip spanning across India, China, Nepal and Bhutan World’s best known bike racing school comes to India AN EXCLUSIVE FIRST RIDE OF ROYAL ENFIELD’S LATEST OFFERING Across the country and beyond California Superbike School ELECTRA TWINSPARK

Transcript of Motoroids2 April 2010

Page 1: Motoroids2 April 2010

www.motoroids.com

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9April 2010

MISSION BONNEVILLEA BULLET FOR A LAND SPEED RECORD? YOU BET!

MotoGP 2010 Preview Motoroids First Aid And Trauma Workshop for Bikers Throttle Wide Open - Racing School

Two friends embark upon a legendary 18,000km road trip spanning across India, China, Nepal and Bhutan

World’s best known bike racing

school comes to India

AN EXCLUSIVE FIRST RIDE OF ROYAL ENFIELD’S LATEST OFFERING

Across the country and beyond

California Superbike

School

ELECTRA TWINSPARK

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The first time I went to the racetrack (MMRT), the experience transformed me into not just a more technically correct rider, but also a more responsible and humbler biker. Putting a few

laps around a good racetrack helps you learn more about riding on the limit than an entire lifetime of riding on the streets can. There are no excuses on the racetrack, as there are no obstructions and perils – an honestrider would see his naked self in the mirror after spending as little as half a day around the circuit. Ninety percent of the times the bravado of boastful riders is replied to mercilessly by more seasoned riders who go past them around corners as if the former were stationary. This helps bring a lot of people back to terra firma from their narcissistic sky. The whole experience opens the eyes of a thinking biker to the futility of trying to go fast on the streets. No matter how hard you try, on public roads, you won’t be able to extract more than 60 percent of your bike’s potential without putting your, or other road users’ life in peril.

It’s unfortunate to know that our country has only one proper racetrack and that too is located at one of the father ends of the country, making it extremely difficult for riders from distant locations to visit the place on their steeds and hone their skills. However, it’s heartening to know that even with all the adversities, more and more riders are showing interest in paying a visit to the racetrack to learn the finer nuances of riding and help themselves become a more accomplished, more responsible rider. In that context, the initiative taken by a few individuals and organizations to conduct track days and racing schools is appreciable in every sense of the word. Such events not only educate riders about technically correct riding but also help spot the untapped talent to improve the quality of the country’s motorsport pool. Throttle Wide Open and California Superbike School were two such rare events organized recently at the Chennai race track. Committed to the development and promotion of motorsport in the country, we bring to you a detailed log of both these events through the experiences of two participants. We are sure the features will not only help hundreds of riders in improving their riding techniques, but will also inspire

many bikers to make it to the racetrack and learn the finer nuances of racing.

Apart from the race schools, this month we have Kunal’s ‘Monster Dog’ Bonneville Bullet as our lead story. The man has been preparing his bike for a speed run at the Mecca of speed – the Bonneville Salt Flats. Although it may sounds as a thorough exaggeration to some, but this bike can do a top whack which no other Indian performance bike can dream of. Kunal has put about two years in preparing this bike, and his hard work reflects in the way this bike goes. It’s a crazy, crazy experiment.

This month we also bring to you an exclusive first ride review of the RE Bullet Electra with twin spark unit construction engine. The new engine has brought about a sea change to the character of the bike. Read the detailed review penned by our Chennai based man Joy Sharma. It gives us immense pride to let you know that we organized a one of its kind first aid and trauma workshop for bikers in Mumbai. Many a times accident victims cannot make it to the hospital, not because their injuries are lethal, but because of being manhandled during transport to the hospital. This workshop is a great step forward in equipping the biker fraternity with a better knowledge of administering first aid and handling road accident victims. Read a log of the workshop to become a more useful man in the event of a crisis. All this apart, this month we have a crazy travelogue from a biker duo that travelled across India, Nepal and Bhutan on a humble pair of a Hero Honda Splendor and Unicorn. Their experiences were so rich that they had more than a thousand pictures to make us choose from for this feature – much to the displeasure of Ramakant, our resident design expert. Read all about their crazy exploits in an elaborate travel feature that is also the winner of our Super Trip contest for the month of April.

Happy revving,

Amit [email protected]

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There are no excuses on the racetrack, as there are no obstructions and perils – an honestrider would see his naked self in the mirror after spending as little as half a day around the circuit

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Columns

Regulars

RE Bullet Electra 350

Mission Bonneville

India-Nepal-Bhutan ride

A crazy trip around the subcontinent

on a state-sponsored trip!

RE Bullet Electra 350

California Superbike SchoolThe world renowned superbike racing school comes to India

Biker Trauma WorkshopWe organize a one of its kind first aid workshop for bikers

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BRAKING NEWSNews with a pinch of salt

LETTERSWhat our readers have to say

BIKERSBecause you are important

MOTO CLUBZRenegade Devils from Pune

MEN AT WORKMotoroids behind the scenes...

CRAZY, CRAZY, WORLD!!For the light hearted

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MINDREVVIN’Amit Chhangani

THE FAT BIKERRohit Paradkar

MOTOMUSINGSMihir Gadre

ContentsFeatures

Fast as a BulletYou may choose to not believe, but this

baby’s faster than you can ever imagine!

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The unit construction mill makes an appearance on the Bullet Electra

This one’s gonna thump down Bonnev-ille Speedway

Exclusive review of the UCE Electra

We Go back to school to learn racing from the best teachers in the world

Two motorcyclists ride across the Indian sub continent

A one of its kind racing school organized at Kari Speedway

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Biker Trauma Workshop

Claifornia Superbike School

India-Nepal-Bhutan ride

Throttle Wide Open

We help organize a first aid and trauma workshop for bikers

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News that makes our heart skip a beat

BRAKING NEWS- StoppieApril 2010

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MotoGP is back!

TVS 250cc bike inches

closer to production

TVS Jive and Wego

launched

While we were in the final stages of closing this month’s issue of Motoroids2, we knew we had to stay up late for a few nights as usual. But on the 11th of April, the reason for staying up till late, late night, was something else – the opening round of the MotoGP 2010 season!

We simply love the way Rossi and Lorenzo battled at Catalunya last year and we were waiting for more. But wish was granted earlier than we thought with not just Rossi and Lorenzo, but Dovizioso, Hayden, Spies and Pedrosa too joining in, for what we think was one of the best opening races ever! Like the last three years, Stoner, with his pole position was the favorite yet again to win the Qatar Grand Prix. But within few laps of the race the Australian crashed out, making Rossi’s win eminent. But that wasn’t enough. What his crash opened up, was a battle for the next two podium places.

What followed was an intense battle between Dovizioso and Hayden for the second and third spot of the podium. But while that was happening, a certain rookie called Ben Spies was blistering his way up the opposition and was looking set to take on Lorenzo for the four spot. However the Spaniard upped his pace in the final laps and zoomed past Hayden and Dovizioso out of nowhere to take P2. Hayden used his skill to overtake Dovizioso but the sheer might of the 2010 RC212V saw the Frenchman take back his 3rd place from Hayden on the start finish straight. But hats off to Hayden for the way he raced. We had written in the first issue of Motoroids2 that Hayden should concentrate on bettering his performance at the GPs than signing special edition Ducatis. Well seems like we were not the only ones criticizing him, since he’s working towards silencing most of his critics, us included.

Last month we were worried as to what happened to the Jive and Wego from TVS since we did not see a single one of these brilliant vehicles anywhere in Pune expect the Motoroids parking. We also agreed to the fact that we were a tad too lazy to go to the showrooms and see if the vehicles had come in. However, when we finally went to the TVS Service Centre to get our long-term Wego and Jive serviced, we learnt that the showrooms in Pune have received the stocks and the official launch would happen by the time this issue reaches your computer screen. We are happy to hear that! Since we have loved both the vehicles so much, we would like you readers to go take a test drive if not book one right away!

For our reviews on the Jive and the Wego, click on the respective image (active internet connection required).

There are a lot of rumors floating around regarding the new 200+cc motorcycle from TVS. Well, here’s some more dough on the upcoming bike. As per our sources (who have proved reliable in the past), the new bike from TVS is almost ready for a launch! The bike has finished most of its ARAI procedures and as our sources tell us, the ‘new’ bike has been passed by the ARAI as an ‘upgrade’ of an existing model and not classified as a ‘new vehicle’ altogether.

Expect the new bike to boast a cylinder volume of 220-250 cubic centimeters with enough grunt to put out 20-24 horses. The engine is an evolution of the current mill that powers the Apache RTRs. We are speculating the engine to be peaky – meaning the new bike may give you a one of the fastest top speeds as compared to other bikes in its segment. Considering that the RTR 180 is one of the quickest bikes in the country, we expect the new TVS to be quicker and faster even than the new Pulsar 220!

We are expecting the bike to launch in the next couple of months at a price point that will be under the 1-lakh rupee mark. The initial bikes are said to launch with a carburetor but a fuel injection variant could take birth at a later stage.

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News that’s neither here nor thereBRAKING NEWS- SlideHarley Davidson

dealerships now open

Bullet Electra

Twinspark launched

Hero Honda to enter

South India

After receiving over 100 applications from various parts of the country, Harley Davidson India has finalized five dealers for its selected range of motorcycles.

The dealer listing is as follows:

Capital Harley-Davidson in New Delhi•Himalayan Harley-Davidson in Chandigarh•Seven Islands Harley-Davidson in Mumbai•Tusker Harley-Davidson in Bengaluru•Banjara Harley-Davidson in Hyderabad•

The problem however is, you still can’t buy your dream Harley Davidson motorcycle. It seems that the prospective customers will have to wait till June 2010 since the stocks have still not arrived in India. Lets hope its worth the wait.

Market leader Hero Honda is all set to start work on their fourth manufacturing plant – this time in South India. As per reports, the Karnataka government is in the process of allotting 500 acres of land in Dharwad to Hero Honda for their manufacturing plant. As per initial plans, the new plant will boast of an annual capacity of 1 lakh units. A technical team was recently deployed to Karnataka for evaluation of the government-suggested region. The two-wheeler maker had earlier hinted at their intentions of investing upto Rs. 2,000 crore in South India. With this plant, Hero Honda will try to eat into TVS market share which lies mainly in South India. Our dear friends in the South, please get ready to run into more boring 100cc commuter every time you set out to ride in the city.

We told you a couple of months back that the Royal Enfield Bullet Electra was going to undergo an upgrade. Well, here it is! Last month, Royal Enfield gave the Electra a new powerplant in the form of a twin-spark unit construction engine (UCE) from the new Thunderbird. This launch is a part of Royal Enfield’s strategy to modernise its range of motorcycles fitted with unit-constructed engines. The bike retains the same cycle parts as the earlier Electra with the only change being the engine. The Electra Twin-Spark is priced between Rs. 89,846 to Rs 93,846 (ex-showroom Chennai) and will be available in both the kick start and electric option. Browse through these pages to read our review of the Royal Enfield Electra Twin-Spark.

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News that shouldn’t have been newsBRAKING NEWS- CrashHonda goes

the Hero Honda way! Yamaha launches YBR Scoop! TVS Max-R 4S

During the launch of the Ninja 250R, Rajiv Bajaj said that Bajaj tried to be someone else (Hero Honda) by making hoards of commuter bikes, when the fact of the matter was that the market used to look upon them as a performance bike maker. Hence they shifted focus from making entry level mileage mongers to making more performance oriented bikes. Honda on the other hand, just wants to sell as many units as possible and be the number one overall, no matter what. And in the bid to do so, it seems they are even ready to adopt the market leader (and their sister concern) Hero Honda’s strategies!

And look what we have here! Two ‘brand new’ vehicles, the 2010 Unicorn and the 2010 Shine, which are now called CB Unicorn and CB shine respectively. What HMSI have done here is, adopt the Hero Honda strategy of adding pluses, stars, slashes and minuses to the existing model names and instead replace these mathematical characters with more popular Honda tags like ‘CB’, ‘CBF’ etc. and expect the customers to be fooled into believing that its an upgrade! Along with the new name, the Unicorn and the Shine also get a viscous air filtering element which is now becoming standard on all HMSI vehicles. Do these companies think that their customers are nothing wiser than a bunch of blondes?

As per our sources, TVS has finished with the ARAI procedures for one more vehicle apart from the new 200+cc motorcycle we talked about two pages back. This bike is a supposedly a hardcore commuter unlike the performance bike which ARAI has just finished testing. The new vehicle is most likely to be called ‘Max-R 4S’ as per our sources.

The bike’s engine is an evolution of the mill that powers the ‘Star’ range of TVS motorcycles. But that is not what will set this bike apart. The novel idea behind this bike is the new suspension layout. As per our sources, the bike will have an innovative 4-spring suspension system. How cool is that? While some sources are pointing towards a spring-in-spring mechanism like Bajaj’s motorcycle, others are hinting towards a spring-type suspension upfront instead of the conventional forms. Since TVS has already been a legal ruffle with Bajaj over the twin-spark technology, we doubt if they would get into any more controversial technologies like the ‘spring-in-spring’ mechanism.

We would have to wait for another month or two before we can actually comment on what is the 4-spring technology that provides damping to the new TVS product. Knowing TVS we know its something innovative. But the reason why this news has still made it to the ‘crash’ section is because we believe TVS is spending too much time and money on these hardcore commuters. Gives a hardcore, homegrown 400cc bike instead! You know you can TVS…

No, YBR does not stand Yamaha Bike Rally (or whatever that so called reality show cum rally was called) – what it actually stands for is Yamaha’s dwindling focus from the brand image they tried to create for the last couple of years. Even after enjoying success with the R15 and FZ16 line of bikes – which cements the fact that the Indian market can only look up to Yamaha as a premium bike maker, Yamaha still wishes to taste the waters of the commuter segment – where it has failed times without number in the last two decades.

What they have launched now is a YBR 110, which is essentially a re-badged version of the Alba 106 – a bike that failed miserably in the market. Yamaha for some reason insists that this bike follows the same performance, style and innovation laden DNA that is at the heart of the other Yamaha products. Sure! Failures are the stepping stones to success, only if you learn what your failures taught you. Grow up Yamaha.

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- Shreya Banda

Distinct Identity

Your bouquets and brickbats for the March issue of Motoroids2

- Arav Jalali

Aspiring TourerI have read every single issue of your magazine

since the time you guys came out with the first one! I simply love the fact that every single issue of Motoroids e-magazine turns out to be better than the previous one. I have also observed that in every issue you guys cater to a theme with respect to content and layout. The March issue was filled with a lot of motorcycle touring stories. I read all of them and have updated my world map regarding the places to ride before dying. Owing to finance issues (read in sufficient pocket money) I am unable to realize my touring dreams at this point in life. Thankfully, I at least have the March issue of Motoroids to keep the tourer in me motivated in these tough times. One day I will surely tour the world on a motorcycle. Till that fortunate day comes by, I shall read every touring story published by Motoroids while imagining myself to be the lucky biker!! Please keep on featuring national as well as international motorcycle touring stories.

I am not an avid automobile enthusiast. As a matter of fact I don’t even follow automotive magazines. But being a mass media student, I do a keep myself updated about the various existing magazines. I got to know about your magazine from a friend and I have been continually keeping track of it. I really like the layout and overall styling of your magazine which is way better than even the print magazines. Even the photography in terms of angles and locations, have a set a new benchmark for other magazines. I also did read a few of the articles published in the last month’s issue and a few earlier ones. Well I didn’t understand most of it as I am not technically into bikes and like them at a general level. Nonetheless the writing style followed by your writers appealed to me. Motoroids happens to offer a jovial and lucid reading experience. I hope Motoroids retains its distinct identity and qualities in the future too. Last but not the least, I am following Motoroids!! Cheers!!!

- Sanjay Kadam

Mileage MattersSince childhood I was eagerly waiting for the

day when I would own a motorcycle and ride it to my heart’s content. Growing up I always dreamt of owning and riding big capacity motorcycles. At the time of signing the cheque, reality began sinking in. With a daily commute of around 55km, the mileage given by a motorcycle became a big deciding factor for me. I realized that a low cost of maintenance would not drain me financially. Earlier I used to laugh at my friends who would buy a smaller capacity motorcycle in the interests of mileage when they could easily afford bigger beasts without giving a damn about fuel efficiency.

Buying my first motorcycle made me realize that even motorcycling needs to be affordable for those on a budget. That is the reason why one auto magazines should not ignore the entry-level or commuter bikes. There should be stories revolving around them too. I immensely liked your comparison between the Hero Honda Splendor and Honda’s CB Twister. It was a fantastic read and like always photography and layout was simply awesome.

STAR LETTER

- Nagesh Gulkotwar

Brilliant issueThanks guys for coming out with and uploading

another brilliant issue. It was a great read. At the start I was quite unsure as to how an e-magazine pertaining to automobiles would fare in our country. But with every issue you guys are only endearing yourself to thy readers. I really wish you guys come out with a pint version of Motoroids magazine simply because of the eye pleasing layout and photography. I am in favor of the writing style adopted by you guys which doesn’t dwell much on unnecessary technical jargons. I also agree with the earlier readers who have mailed you stating that this e-magazine only gets better with each issue. I even find it difficult to digest the fact that one of the best automotive magazines in our country is available free of cost to its readers each month. Each month I patiently wait for the next issue for Motoroids instead of spending 100 bucks on other auto magazines. Thanks guys for giving motorcycle enthusiasts like me a reason to cheer about! Ride Safe!!

Send us your letters at [email protected]

If you wish to contribute to the magazine, in any way by

providing content, have a look at the last page for the exact email addresses to send the

mail to.

April 2010

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BIKERSShare with the world your great adventures on your bike. Send us your pictures along with a small description at [email protected]

April 2010

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You’d be lying if you tell me that you’ve never had a fall from a bike. We have all lost some skin as an offering to the holy tar. If you have been riding for long, and are yet to land down on your elbow, knee, face or hip, I would very strongly

recommend you buy a lottery ticket, the most expensive one in town with the biggest prize money. You have to be really lucky to not fall in our country. I’ve had a tumble many times, and like most of us, even I have experienced ‘fall’ in every season. Here’s a log of some of my violent touchdowns, and the respective light-hearted learnings.

Fall # 1 Sensational SlideThis was one of my longest trips yet, at the age of 20. My Fiero was still new, and I was returning from Gorakhpur, a land where 13 year old kids brandish country pistols and actually rob grown-ups all by themselves. I had gone there for a friend’s wedding, a trip that I extended into a ride to Nepal. I was on my way back from Lucknow to Jaipur, had just crossed Kanpur and was doing a steady 90-100 with a pillion who had decided to give me company for the ride back. The road surface was great, absolutely no undulations, and an arrow straight. The next thing I knew was that I was sliding along with the bike over the tar. I slid for a good 20-30 odd metres and managed to lose the entire skin and flesh on my right knee and elbow. As I looked back, I realised that there was this guy on a Bajaj scooter who was re-enacting what I just did. The gentleman was followed by a Maruti Omni whose driver had slammed the brakes and was just about to run this guy over with locked wheels. A patch of the road

The Fall Chronicles...

Columns

Mindrevvin’ AMIT CHHANGANI

April 2010

“My Fiero was still new, and I was returning from Gorakhpur, a land where 13 year old kids brandish country pistols and actually rob grown-ups all by themselves”

was completely smeared in engine oil. Thankfully no one died, but I traded some skin, flesh and denim for coal tar. In a minute, there were about 50 people around us – witnessing us in agony, and enjoying from a distance. I somehow managed to get the bike running, and rode all the way back with an injured knee.

Lessons learnt : A. Make sure that the vehicle following you isn’t faster than you if you decide to slide over a puddle of oil in the middle of a highway – saves you from being run over.B. Knee pads are preposterous if you have enough skin and flesh over your bones.C. Bhaiyyas love live sadistic shows, and won’t ever disrupt one.

Fall # 2 Bovine Intervention1 2 midnight, I decided I was running away from home. Again.

Hopped on my ride and started off for my friend’s place. Dad had just told me to never come back

again, so I didn’t need to, at least for the next three days – bliss! It was a summer evening

– cool wind, and hardly any traffic. I loved the ride, when the cow which was hitherto hiding in the dense bush on the median decided to spoil

the fun for me. She just sprang

out and decided to freeze in the middle. I tried my best to swerve around from the front, as she had decided to not leave any space between her hind legs and the median. I almost managed to dodge her, but the rightmost edge of the handlebar flicked her jaw. I lost balance and landed straight on terra firma. The joy of having run away from home overpowered the pain in my little finger that looked swollen, so I hopped back on the bike and sped away. Later in the night a

surd doctor (the only one available near my friend’s place at that hour), examined my finger by listening to it. You read it right; he listened to it and told me it would be alright in the next three days. An X-ray the day after revealed that the lower bone of the finger had split in three pieces.

Lessons learnt : A. It’s always fun to run away from home, even if there’s a road accident involved.B. Cows are dumb, and so are you, if you don’t stay far enough from the median.C. Listening to a finger doesn’t usually reveal whether it has a fracture. X-rays are better

Fall # 3 In pursuit of soundI had just finished my saddlesore attempt, and in the process had realised that my Pulsar 180 emanated a beautiful note once I took it past the 8000rpm mark. It was late in the night, and there wasn’t a soul in view on this long, wide straight I had ahead of me. I wanted to hear that crazy wail, so I whacked open the throttle to take the red baby past the 8000 mark. The speedo showed 115 and I could hear the lovely sound track, loud and clear. Suddenly, by virtue of this manic Wagon R driver, I realised that there was a very small lane cutting across the highway. He was coming at a blind pace and seemed to be in no mood to look to his left or right and check for any traffic on the highway. My calculation suggested that I

was going to run into the car if I didn’t slow down. I was overwhelmed by the shock development,

and applied pressure on the brake lever more than I should have. Unfortunately there was a patch of dust right the point where I squeezed the lever in, and the inevitable happened. At 100+ kmph, I slid with the bike on the tar like a projectile and lost skin from various joints. For the next 15 days, I was walking

like a robot.

Lessons learntA. Junctions are invisible entities in this part of the world. They get visible only with traffic. Especially in the nightB. It’s better to have a fracture than bruises on your jointsC. Sliding with a bike at 100+ km/h is a short-cut to learn break dance

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Columns

I was introduced to the world of motorcycling by a certain video game called ‘Road Rash’ (probably that is where I picked up my nickname ‘Rash’ from). But that aside, the first

motorcycle I ever sat on was my cousin’s sparkling new Hero Honda Splendor. I instantly developed a liking for its sporty two-pod instrumentation cluster. Within a ten minute ride, I knew this was the bike I wanted to buy (yes, our country wasn’t introduced to the likes of the CBZ yet). As time passed and school got over, I decided to retire my bicycle and pick up a motorcycle. But like most middle-class household stories, my father preferred to give me my mom’s old (yet functional) Bajaj M80 and promised to get me a proper motorcycle when I sign-up for a graduation degree. But since I was already stung by the love for motorcycles, I wanted one desperately. One of my cousin’s friends came in handy as he agreed to let me take his Yamaha RX-100 to college everyday, while he would commute on my fuel efficient Bajaj. I jumped on the offer and that is when true motorcycling started for me. But since our friend shifted out of Pune within a couple of months my stint with the RX-100 ended rather early.

The years passed and finally it was time to buy a

THE FAT BIKER

ROHIT PARADKAR

Yamaha should concentrate on premium offerings, not commuters

April 2010

bike. My initial love for the Splendor had died down. Apart from the fact that there were too many of them on the road, I knew that the Splendor wouldn’t give me the same flamboyant feedback that the RX-100 did. Probably it was the loud, rev-happy nature on the RX-100 that forced it out of the public streets back then, but it was too early for me to understand the BS norms and stuff. I went to the Yamaha showroom, but they would not sell it any more. And while there was a RX-Z still available, my father wouldn’t buy me a two-stroke machine since it was high on maintenance. We finally settled for a Hero Honda Passion. But my heart still wanted a Yamaha.

The crux of the matter is, I’m not the only person who settled for a Hero Honda because there wasn’t a worthy Yamaha available – there are many more like me. While there were a lot of fan-boys out there who went and bought the final remains of the two-strokes when the rest of the country was rapidly shifting to four-strokes, there were many more who were longing for a true 4-stroke successor to the legendary RX-100. But unfortunately Yamaha did not respond. In the desperation of competing with the growing giant called Hero Honda, Yamaha churned out worthless commuters that no one was interested in. The ‘aam-janata’ would prefer a Hero Honda (or even a Bajaj for that matter) as their ‘fill-it, shut-it, forget-it’ kinda bike than a Yamaha. The ‘Yamaha’ brand always was and will remain associated with performance bikes.

When the R15 and the FZ-series came along a couple of years back, we finally thought that Yamaha was back. All those boys who longed for a RX100 successor, had something to cheer about. It felt as if the company had finally understood what people look up to them for. But alas, I can see it all slipping away now. With launches like the YBR110 (and more commuters lined up), Yamaha seem to be getting back into its commuter-competing mode – something which it has never succeeded at. What I would have liked more (and what would have cemented their brand image further) would have been a worthy YZF-R15 upgrade or probably another premium offering. Yamaha was and always be looked upon as a performance marquee. Let’s hope the company’s Indian arm realizes that before their fate runs out, yet again.

Today there isn’t a single 100cc motorcycle in our country that has been styled with the same verve and flourish, as its bigger engined siblings. Why should good looks be reserved only for bikes with

bigger cubic capacities? Elsewhere in the world even 50cc scooters and 125cc learner legal bikes look no less stunning than their 1000cc stable mates. Take the stunning little Derbis or the Aprilia scoots for example.

Why not take a leaf out of the lessons learned by the car industry. If a restyled Fiat Panda can be so successful in its ‘Cinquecento’ (Fiat 500) avatar then why not apply the same logic to something like our own humble 100 commuter bikes. It seems that some of the biggest brands in the world have realized the sheer potential of this idea. The bread-and-butter VW Golf has morphed into the Scirocco. Soon we will see an Audi A1 based on the Polo/Fabia platform. Heck, there’s even going to be an Aston Martin (no less) Cygnet based on the Toyota iQ.

All three of the popular 100cc bikes, Hero Honda’s CD/Splendor/Passion, TVS’s Star Sport and Bajaj’s Discover 100 are mechanically well sorted machines. They have been honed over the decades, they have learnt their lessons along the way and they have become pretty darn fuel efficient and reasonably reliabile along the way. In fact, it is almost impossible to find more fuel efficient bikes anywhere else in the world.

Hero Honda has drawn a lot of flak over the years for having 15 different models on sale, based on essentially the same powertrain and mechanicals with only the plastic moldings and stickers differentiating them from one another. But with almost 5 million bikes sold last fiscal, guess who is having the last laugh. Why not expand the same platform even further? They can easily make a stylish naked like the FZ, a quarter faired one like the Stunner/Twister, a pseudo-tourer like the Fazer, a make-believe cruiser like the Avenger, a retro café racer, a semi off-roader like the EICMA KTMs, and even go all out and come up with full faired version. The people who get their Splendor’s ‘converted’ to Hayabusas will be ecstatic. The possibilities are virtually endless. There are tons of people who rarely cross 60kph, ever, but would be willing to splurge on the stylish looks.

Just look at what the 100cc mill did to the Discover brand. Surely, a Stunner or a Gladiator with smaller 100cc mill would sell like hot cakes.

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MIHIR GADRE

Bargain Beauties

And that is just about the styling part. If Mazda can make a sportscar as good as the Miata with just a 114 bhp, 1.6 litre engine then why can’t our very own Star Sport borrow some lessons. Currently there isn’t a single option for the buyer who wants all the ‘style’ of a ZMR with the ‘average’ of a Splendor and has absolutely no street racing ambitions. Believe me, there are a lot of such folks around us. You won’t find them here reading Motoroids, but they outnumber us enthusiasts by a huge margin.

The enthusiast inside us would certainly steer well clear of any such offerings. People like us are fine with 1980s bare bones styling if the performance and handling are there, but people like us are few and far between. And we can take solace in the fact that once the manufacturers earn a lot of cash selling their fashionable steeds, they will spend some for catering to us enthusiasts.

The CB-Twister is certainly a step in the right direction but we don’t ly see anything following in its footsteps anytime soon. It is baffling that inspite of Hero Honda’s dazzling success in the last decade nobody else has tried their hand at the cunningly effective ‘Platform Engineering’.

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This one’s for The masses After its appearnce on the sexy (and

expensive) Classic, the twin-spark UC engine trickles down to the Bullet Electra. A bike you an I can buy. And ride, without

having to unlearn anything

Words and Photography : Joy Sharma

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Nothing much has changed in the instrument console of the Electra - it’s still the classic, bare-basic setup

With all due respect to Bullet’s old-school styling, we thing that the tail-lamp could have been better integrated in the rear fender

The quality of paint on the Bullets seems to have improved of late. The Electra is no exception

A familiar view

Out of place?

Lovely sheen

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I came to Chennai around two years back. The only thing that appeared hot was the climate here. Back then I didn’t know that this place was home of some of coolest looking bikes. Be

it your grandpa’s Bullet or your sparkling new TBTS, all the legendary REs are manufactured here, in Chennai. The brand enjoys a status that other bike makers can only dream of. Be it the machine’s much

revered thump or its mile munching capabilities, nothing can beat a Royal Enfield, for some at least. There might be better bikes in the market, better handlers, more efficient and cheaper but as they say, nothing can replace a Bullet. Isn’t that cool? I really think nothing else can look better than a group of RE riders passing by, with that deep, intimidating sound of their exhaust notes thumping in unison.

I found myself getting increasingly attracted towards the Bullets as I saw those Buleteers riding in a formation and attracting attention of one and all. Even I wanted to be one of them but was afraid of riding one owing to the negative traits of the bikes that I had heard about. Eventually when I started riding the Bullets, I liked the whole macho feel, but deep down my heart I wanted a hassle free bike and not

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UCE, or the unit construction engine, means that the clutch and the gearbox are now placed within the crankcase - as a Unit, unlike the earlier version of the bike

The new engine is better than the older cast iron unit in almost all the areas

We are one, finally

Heart transplant

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one for which I needed to be a mechanic. God listened to my prayers and a miracle called UCE happened. U.C.E in RE lingo stands for Unit Construction Engine. The new engine is a huge aberration from the older RE engine features a single unit construction for the engine and the crankcase – hence the name. The engine has made an appearance in most new RE bikes and now the Chennai based company has launched the unit in their new Electra too.

The new Electra about which you might have read earlier on the Motoroids website is called Royal Enfield Bullet Electra Twinspark (like its 500 TBTS sibling). The new twin spark engine is what every Bullet is getting and unlike its forbears, it’s doesn’t spill much oil. UCE is a relatively modern engine that replaces the old cast iron unit which was heavy, less efficient, more space consuming and wasn’t very efficient either.

The new engine produces close to 20bhp of power at 5250 rpm and 28Nm of torque at just 4000rpm. The lazy nature and the lowly rpm at which the peak rpm is delivered makes for a very commuter friendly experience through slow moving traffic, with the bike pulling with aplomb in low revs and high gears. The powerplant is mated to a 5 speed ‘box, and the gearshifts are surprisingly smooth and trouble free for an RE. Though one could take some time getting used to the power delivery of the bike and the gearshifts but once familiarized, the bike won’t let you down. The engine feels substantially refined when compared with its ancestors and doesn’t transmit too may vibes at the handles anymore. The pulsations at the handlebar are well within control now and all you need to reach a three-digit speedo figure is just a gentle twist of the throttle. The bike is as good a tourer as the old bikes, with even better load lugging capabilities.

However, even with so many appreciable qualities at its heart, many die-hard Bullet fans are not going to like

the new Electra. The simple reason behind the fact is that in its new avatar, the exhaust bereaves this Bullet from its most prominent characteristic – the thump! The new bike gets a new exhaust unit which makes the exhaust note sound subtler. The thump is there for sure, it isn’t as loud as it used to

be though, and doesn’t announce its arrival from a mile anymore. Fret not though, there are a few after market exhaust options available which can be used instead of the stock silencer if one loves the original RE exhaust note. But the U.C.E has made the bike a lot more economical to run, if

the RE claims are to be believed. We didn’t get the bike for long enough to test it for its fuel efficiency, but the company claims a figure of 51kmpl, which is great by any standards.

The idea of making long trips is the first thing that comes to mind when a genuine biker thinks of buying

April 2010

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In its new avatar, the Electra now

features a multi-focal headlamp

that ensures better illumnation in

the dark. 280mm front disc brakes

enhance stopping power, but the soft

suspension lets you down under harsh

braking

The Electra also features the newly incorporated gas charged shock absorbers. The ride is a lot smoother now, although the handling hasn’t improved much

Into the light

More cushion

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The emblem you see there represents the oldest bike manufacturing company is the world - that’s the legent of RE.

No more looking perennially at that ampere metere to kick you Bull to life. A dab of that button is all you need

Old is gold

Push me, don’t kick

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an RE. And who understands this better than Royal Enfield guys. The seating position is spot on both for long hauls as well as for the short commutes to a trip to the nearby grocery store. Yeah you read that right. The new Bullets are more practical and friendlier than ever. That makes them even more eligible for being your everyday bike. Also, unlike the people’s perception of the Bullet being a very heavy bike to manage, it’s as easy as

your 150 to ride now unless you manage to drop it. It was time to take the baby out for a spin. I pressed the starter button and the engine came to life in a couple of tries. I quite liked the sound note of the new bike, though I can understand if the old timers still don’t appreciate it too much. The exhaust note is still deep enough to entice a new rider. The bike surges forward with a newfound confidence and urgency, in

its newest avatar, the Electra is more rider friendly than ever – managing to bring a smile on the face of a sceptic like me. The more time I spent riding the better I felt. The city traffic made me worry at the outset but the bike felt perfectly at home in the stop-start conditions with its low-end grunt and smooth operation of gears. The new Electra won’t make its 180kg load evident as long as you keep it erect. Quick direction changes, however

isn’t the machine’s forte even today. It doesn’t like being dipped and lifted back, or getting flicked at the handle too much – you’d be happier keeping it straight than trying to cut through the traffic. RE may have introduced a pair of brand new gas charged shock observers, which really do improve the ride a lot, but don’t add to the nimbleness in any way. The areas where REs lag behind the smaller bikes are still shaded in grey.

Braking isn’t taut and the jelly-like feeling during hard braking is still very clearly perceptible. The Electra may have improved a little over the earlier version as regards handling, but it’s still a far cry from the quick 150’s and the 200s. Not that the newly incorporated 280mm disc up front and the drum brake at the rear isn’t enough to stop the bike but the bike’s weight and the soft suspension setup doesn’t make for a very dynamically

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There might be better bikes in the market, better handlers, more efficient and cheaper but as they say, nothing can replace a Bullet

enticing braking experience. RE have done the right thing by not tempering

with the design of the bike. The classic look has been maintained, while incorporating a few subtle functional changes like the multi focal headlamp, the front disc, the gas charged shock absorbers and a paint quality which is much, much superior to the earlier versions of the bike. The welds are still visible though, making sure that the old-world essence of the bike has not been entirely taken away.

The new RE Bullet Electra bike is on sale now and you can get yours in a period of just 2 months. The kick start version is available for 88k while you will have to pay 93k for the electric start version – that should bring a smile on the faces of those who found the recently launched RE Classics too expensive to afford. The modernised Electra will set the new standard for Bullets. It doesn’t have any competition as of now, and we are sure in its new avatar it will do a lot of good to the Bullet’s brand image for reliability as well.

April 2010

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Born on the 21st of September 1968 as the only child of his parents, Venkat had

his share of largely good, and very few bad things in life. Venkat grew up in the most notorious of neighbourhoods in Bangalore. Even today, the notoriety of the area is so high that Autorickshaws hesitate to enter the area after 9.00pm.

Venkat made many friends, and from every stratum of the society around him. From the most notorious anti social element in the area to the a current day Circle Inspector, from a senior management professional to the security guard – Venkat made friends with everyone.

Nursery onwards, Venkat’s schooling was done at Nivedita School at Gavipuram. He was a famous kid for two reasons, his family background, and his hopelessness as a student. His hall mark of school days was his awful handwriting. Venkat lost marks due to the problem, and wasn’t very popular amongst his teachers for the reason. His parents were summoned on many occasions for him being dreamy and not attentive in the class, for his bad handwriting, for him not being active in the class, for scoring poor marks in

exams and for various other reasons. But somehow Venkat managed to scrape through without flunking even once.

Once, Venkat’s PT/ Drill teacher Mr.Sridhar hit him on the back with a bass drumstick, causing a blood clot. The pain was unbearable and the shock from this hit was so severe that he couldn’t even cry. When he reached home and showed it to his mother and grandfather, the latter sprung into action and drove Venkat back to school. He fired the headmistress for the wrong doing of the PT/Drill teacher. He went to the extent of threatening the school authorities of legal consequences. The PT master always pretended to be overly friendly with Venkat thereon.

Child’s playVenkat loved playing with his childhood pals on the streets. On one occasion, some of his pals were put behind lock-up as the neighbours complained to the police about these kids creating a nuisance. They were not entirely wrong and Venkat and his friends had broken innumerable glass window panes while playing cricket in the streets.

Venkat’s home had a small shop (which still Exists). This

used to be the Sunday garage of his father. I usually used to be there when he worked either on our car or friend/Relative’s vehicle. Venkat still recalls his father working on BSA Motorcycles, Bullets, Jawas, and a wide array of other cars. At times, Venkat too would be allowed to work along with him as his part time unreliable helper. Venkat still cherishes those moments.

Venkat’s grandfather loved imported cars, and since finding spares were a problem, there was a sizeable stock of spares on his roof top. Whenever he was restricted from playing on the streets, Venkat would steal a few tools from under grandfather’s cot and experiment on these recyclable parts on the roof top. At times he managed to render the parts he played with completely useless too.

He once used a screw driver to punch a hole into the crank case of a spare Renault engine. The engine oil gushed out of the crankcase and not understanding what he had done, Venkat panicked. His grandfather took the whole incident lightly though and laughed it off.

Not only did Venkat spoil some of the spares, he also used hurt himself often with

April 2010

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Promotional FeatureContinued from the previous issue:

Venkat as a kid, alongside his family’s Renault truck

Revolutionising automotive seRvicing

Page 18: Motoroids2 April 2010

Promotional FeatureContinued from the previous issue:

the tools. Once he managed to drill a hole in his left toe nail. His toe nail is still partiallt deformed due to the same. Cuts and bruises became a regular feature on Venkat’s body. He kept doing experiments, and would take his father’s help in finding solutions whenever he got stuck.

Old habits die hardVenkat was also famous for carrying tools like screw driver, cutting pliers and nose pliers. This provided him the freedom to dismantle anything that he found interesting. Dismantling was the easy part, Venkat then had to wait till his father came back to guide him to put things back into their normal state. Radios, table fans, LP record players, bicycles and at times even Scooters or were Venkat’s favourite objects to experiment on.

Old habits die hard. And it holds true in Venkat’s case. He still keeps a forty eight function Swiss army knife handy. Relatives and friends who take notice of this knife set, go back in time, recollecting the nostalgic incidents they were involved in ending up bursting into a loud laughter.

The most unforgettable Incident of childhood:The Most important incident of Venkat’s younger days is tearing up of the Chamber’s Twentieth Century Dictionary. Venkat asked for an ice cream at MTR, which he was not given for health reasons, (which he did not understand). He came home and threw a fit. When this didn’t evoke any response, he pulled his grandfathers dictionary and tore a few pages. His father and grandfather just pulled him aside and wrote a note.

Venkat thinks that he’s got everything he wanted from his childhood. He says he’s been blessed with a very good childhood and he thanks his stars and god for the same.

To be continued in the next issue: Venkat with his cousin Shankar on his father’s Sherpa

Venkat as a toddler with his mother

Horrble handwriting Venkat was notorious for

April 2010

18

Notes on the pages of the dictionary Venkat tore

Page 19: Motoroids2 April 2010

The Special oneSince the past year and a

half, Kunal Bhaskaran has been secretly modifying his Bullet 500 Standard

while aiming for a quick run at the Bonneville Speedway! Here’s a

sneak preview of his progress so far

Words Pradeb Biswas Pics Eshan Shetty

It was just another routine ‘first Friday post magazine issue launch party’

that was unfolding at the Motoroids Headquarters. Everyone was chilling out and sipping away to glory on the free flowing Fuel flavored rose water (wink) and Bacardi Lassi (wink) sponsored by the Editor. Like usual, the lassi along with the rose water worked their magic on us and immersed us under the illusion of the party having started just a few minutes back at 9pm. A couple of looks at the clock made us realize that the actual time was 3am. Unable to bear the harsh reality we decide to quench our pain by slurping on some more Bacardi Lassi. Well, adversity also kind of enhances a man’s memory.

Our boss, Amit casually happened to recall that a motorcycle photo shoot was scheduled at 6am. He also revealed that the shoot was about a Royal Enfield motorcycle

that was being modified

by a guy with the goal of achieving a speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Rohit immediately told me not to worry for he would be voluntarily

setting the alarm and waking me up at 5.20am. Amit looked at me and spoke in a brotherly fashion that he is setting an alarm at 5.30am and would take the responsibility of waking

Page 20: Motoroids2 April 2010

me up incase Rohit failed to do so! They then wished me good night and

went off to their respective rooms to retire for the time being.. I didn’t know whether my bosses were serious about what they had just said or the lassi and rose water had got the better of them! I was in a dilemma for the chances of a 6am shoot were credible enough but the possibility of a Bullet attempting to set a speed record at Bonneville was a bit too much too digest. I decided that they were pulling my leg and decided to sleep off instead of contemplating about what they said for it would be a waste of time.

I had barely closed my eyes when Amit and Rohit told me to get ready and reach the Symbiosis College in Viman Nagar where Eshan would be waiting for me. After reaching the above spot, Eshan informed me that some guy named Kunal Bhaskaran would be meeting us shortly with his specially souped up Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle. We yawned collectively and decided to use our free time effectively by checking out the PYT’s strolling around.

Like all performance prepped motorcycles, we first heard this one heading our way before we could see it. The exhaust note of this Bullet is orgasmic enough to make any testosterone charged biker feel weak in the knees. It still emits the characteristic thump but at thrice the rate of frequency within a given frame compared to that of a stock exhaust. Inspite of not being Bulleteers, Eshan and I went ballistic over the appeal of this motorcycle and requested Kunal to provide us all with all the details pertaining to his special Royal Enfield Bullet.

One by one Kunal stared revealing the parts and upgrades that motorcycle has received since the day he started working on it. Christened ‘Monster Dog’ it is powered by a standard Bullet’s 500cc engine and he will be attempting to set a speed record with it under the MVBF category at the historic Bonneville Salt Flats. The abbreviation denotes that motorcycles competing under this category comprise of a Modified frame, Vintage class engine which is Blown or supercharged and the Fuel used is petrol. This motorcycle has been subjected to a lot of weight saving measures apart from the visible mechanical modifications.

The stock cast iron block of the engine has been replaced by an aluminum one which not only weighs 3 kilos lighter but also dissipates heat much faster. . The engine also features a dry clutch, twin spark ignition and specially designed valves.

Christened ‘Monster Dog’

this motorcycle is powered by a standard Bullet’s

500cc engine and he will be

attempting to set a speed record with it under the MVBF

category at the historic Bonneville

Salt Flats

Kunal Bhaskartan

strikes a pose with his ‘Monster Dog’ that he has been working on for the past year

and a half

Kunal intends to thump down the Bonneville Speedway by the end of 2011. He is currently seeking sponsoprship to remove the financial hurdle which is preventing him from creating history and giving Indian bikers a solid reason to cheer about.

The Man & his motorrcycle

‘Monster Dog’

Page 21: Motoroids2 April 2010

Success at the mecca for top speed record runs would mean earning the respect of every bike enthusiast apart from giving Buleteers a

good reason to cheer about the greatness of their motorcycle!

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For attaining higher speeds, the right aerodynamics are of a bigger help than outright power

It is a 5-speed one and has been sourced from a Royal Enfield Thunderbird

Aerdynamic Shape

Gearbox

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It even breathes much better owing to a bigger after market 32mm carburetor. The compression ratio too has been increased to 10:1 from the 7:1 on the stock engine. It has also received a high lift camshaft and an ultra low weight piston along with a re-worked head. Transferring the power produced by the engine to the rear wheel is 5-speed gearbox sourced from a Thunderbird.

Kunal says that he decided to borrow the gearbox from a Thunderbird for it offers a better

shaft design, an extra fifth cog which will allow him to reach higher speeds and shift quality is much better in comparison to that of other Royal Enfield motorcycles. The gear ratios have been made taller in order to achieve higher speeds in each gear. The tyre and rim sizes have not been changed. The tyres have been upgraded to V rated ones which

are safe till speeds of 240kmph. The motorcycle also sports rear sets along with an altered rake and steering geometry. The wheelbase has also been lengthened.

As of now the ‘Monster Dog’ comfortably reaches a max speed of 82kmph in 1st gear and 117kmph in 2nd gear. It comfortably breaks through the 100 mile barrier in fourth gear! Kunal has not been able to open up the throttle in 3rd, 4th and 5th gears for he has not been able to find a secure, open and

long road where it would safe to do so. He reckons that a two kilometer stretch would be required to go flat out on this motorcycle and see its potential. The numbers will further improve once the engine gets the much awaited supercharger and wet NOS kit fitted to it.

Kunal recently purchased an Eaton M62 supercharger off e-bay after researching about them for some time. The order for a wet NOS kit has also been placed and its delivery is awaited. Kunal has

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As the picture shows, this unit includes a tachometer, speedometer, gear and g-force indicator.

The engine breathes through a bigger after market 32mm carburettor for a richer air/fuel mixture in the interests of improved performance

Veypor Digital Instrumentation

Carburettor

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earlier dragged this bike with a dry NOS kit when he participated in the 2006, 07 and 08 Speed Run which he also won in the bullet class. So he has experienced the benefits of releasing some laughing gas into the combustion chamber of the motorcycle. According to his calculations, the engine currently revs upto a maximum of 6300rpm. He is confident that with the help of NOS it should rev up till around 7500rpm!

Once the above two parts arrive, Kunal plans to fit them

individually first to gauge their contribution towards the engine’s performance. They will then be used together to see if they both the supercharger and NOS kit can work in sync towards delivering a much higher top speed. Extracting the best performance from an engine definitely won’t happen overnight. It is continuous trial and error process with a steep learning curve. Also, these pictures show how the motorcycle looks currently. Once it gets Bonneville ready, its look will further change owing to a smaller

tank and paint job. Don’t be fooled into thinking

that the mechanical work carried out on this motorcycle merely involves the most popular means undertaken to increase the performance of an engine. Kunal has been running a workshop for servicing Royal Enfield motorcycles since the past 6 years and understandably knows a thing or two about the best ways to extract performance from them! Ever since he started working on the ‘Monster Dog’ Kunal has spent a hell

lot of hours on Research and Development. He too suffered from initial setbacks like melted pistons and blown off spark plugs.

After getting all the theoretical explanations pertaining to the ‘Monster Dog’ we requested for a practical demonstration. Kunal still doesn’t disappoint us. He waited the traffic flow on the road to thin out, brought the beast to life and whacked open the throttle in first gear. It was sight to be witnessed. Even with a tall

Page 24: Motoroids2 April 2010

The ‘Monster Dog’ is powered by a 500cc engine borrowed from a Bullet Standard

The Supercharger and the NOS cylinder will be fitted inside this void under the seat which exists owing to the lengthened wheelbase

Engine

Wheelbase Increased

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gearing the motorcycle shot off towards the horizon and within seconds was out of our sight! Rubbing my eyes in disbelief, I murmured to myself that a supercharger and NOS kit are yet to unleash their magic!

Once Kunal revealed every single detail pertaining to his bike, we quizzed him about his motive behind spending copious amounts of time on making a Royal Enfield bike Bonneville worthy. Kunal humbly replied that ever since he started servicing these bikes the urge was there

to something different with them. He started modifying this bike for taking part in the Mumbai Speed Run events. After three consecutive wins his hunger increased. He got sucked into the addiction of extracting more performance from his motorcycle to clock faster speeds.

He soon realized that there is no scope or safe environment for top speed enthusiast to attempt a record run in India. It would be totally pointless if not impossible to attempt something of that sort here. The only

place where one can attempt to set a credible top speed record is at the Bonneville salt flats. Also, at Bonneville the basic idea is to have fun and people appreciate the effort undertaken by a wannabe land speed record setter. Kunal has been working on his Mission Bonneville dream for the past one and a half ears.

He intends to be Bonneville ready and present at the salt flats to attempt a record run by the end of 2011. Inspite of having overcome many mechanical hurdles in inching towards his goal, the

financial one still remains. Kunal is currently seeking sponsorship to remove the main hurdle between him and his goal. No Indian has never ever attempted to set a speed record run on any motorcycle at the Bonneville salt flats. Success at the mecca for top speed record runs would mean earning the respect of every bike enthusiast apart from giving Buleteers a good reason to cheer about the greatness of their motorcycle!

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Even with a tall gearing the motorcycle shot off towards the

horizon and within seconds was out of our

sight!

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I remember when I was in school; we used to have these interactive sessions with professional doctors telling us about basic first aid. But frankly speaking during those times

I used to literally yawn. No offence meant to the doctors though. It was just the lack of interest and understanding of such things. However, a similar session with a bunch of jovial bikers turned ouy to be so interesting, I happily spent my Sunday holiday, learning first aid lessons from two accomplished medical practitioners. Now, a first aid session to most is like a slice of bread, indispensable, but not

very interesting and tasty. Now let’s add a generous dollop of butter and mix fruit jam to it. And here we have yummy propostion. Yes! You got it right, if the first aid session was the bread, and we bikers were the additive for fun.

Let’s travel back in time a bit. No! Not too much to the black and white times, just a little more than a month ago when we had our first ever Mumbai-Pune MotoMeet at Lonavala. With around 50 bikers sweating it out in the sweltering heat for a productive discussion, organizing a first-aid workshop for bikers was one of the top points

in the agenda. Quite a few participants brought up the topic and Dr. Arnob Gupta emphasized upon a training sessions to make us bikers know what to do in case a biker buddy turns into an accident victim. Arnob, as always kept his word and introduced the Motoroids Community to Dr. Sanket Kawli who is a very experienced doctor practicing at Hinduja Hospital. Dr. Sanket himself is an avid biker and has seen various emergency cases where damage has been caused due to improper administration of first aid. Hence, he was looking at an opportunity to be able to train avid bikers in administering

effective first aid. Thus, a one-day basic first aid and trauma workshop for bikers was organized on the 4th of April, 2010. The venue decided was on NH 17 just a few minutes after the Karnala Bird Sanctuary. The venue itself wasn’t any hotel or a hall. It was a rather spooky abandoned house just across the road sheltered by a cluster of huge trees. The participants were provided course material, which they had to stufy and come. The workshop would include also include a written test and a theory session in the first half and a practical session in the second half where Dr. Sanket would

Motoroids, along with Dr. Sanket Kawli and Dr. Arnob Gupta organized a one of its kind workshop on first-aid and trauma for bikers. Read on to know how you can help your biker buddies in case of an emergency

To the rescue!

Words Photography Shrey Sunil Eshan Shetty

Page 27: Motoroids2 April 2010

demonstrate how to handle accident and trauma victims and later on, members would also get to practice the same with their partners.

PreParation:On the 4th of April, Amit and I reached the location along with Dr. Sanket and his cousin Salil. First of all, we were very much disappointed with the news of a few cancellations since the seats were limited and many interested members were denied participation as we wanted to limit the participants’ number to 20. Then came another call. It was Dr. Arnob. Arnob informing us that he and other riders from Mumbai would be a little late due to a broken down Bullet. However, it proved to be a boon for Amit and me as we got a little extra time to prepare for the quiz (Yes! we did not study. Ahem! Well, he did, I didn’t). Soon we were joined by Chaitanya and our very own shutterbug Eshan from Pune. Not much time later, arrived the entire team of Mumbai riders with Arnob. We had a member all the way from Mangalore too (Mangalore Motorep Meghan Naik) who was still on his way trying to ride the TVS Jive like a Yamaha R1 Rossi Edition and make it in time.

the test:The session started with a written test. It was a combination of objective-type and essay-type questions. I tried my luck for all the questions (Yes, luck! Not brains!). “Time’s up!” said Dr. Arnob in fifteen minutes. We were made to swap our test papers and mark participants based on the answers announced by Dr Kawli. We did have a good laugh at the variety of answers we got. The most remarkable one was the last question. The question was “You are alone on a small isolated (non highway) road, and see what seems to be an accident ahead. Bike down in the middle of the road, one person lying down and covered in

The place may look like a haunted house in the pics, but the participants thoroughly enjoyed the rustic setting

It took some time before all the participants gathered and the workshop started. Thanks to a leakage in one of the participants’ Bullet, we were two hours behind schedule

Trees all around and some wind made sure that no was uncomfortable even in the middle of the afternoon

Dr. Arnob shows and explains the use of various components of a model first-aid kit for bikers

Dr. Sanket asking participants to mark the answers after exchaning papers

Page 28: Motoroids2 April 2010

blood, other flagging you down. How do you administer first aid with your limited resources?” There were many answers to this question. Some of the members wrote as much as an English essay. But the answer was quite simple. It did not have any connection with first aid. It was just common sense. The answer was “ First go ahead of the scene (at least 50 feet) then call the person flagging you down towards yourself after keeping the bike parked with its engine still running.” The simple reason behind this was to avoid ourselves from being in the similar situation in which the victim was. Who knows, it could be a case of murder too, and YOU don’t want to end up being a victim.

the theory session:After this, Dr. Sanket carried on with explaining the course material which was supplied through the Motoroids website. The course material had some important Do’s and Don’ts for such situations. It also included information regarding some general symptoms and indications of trauma. The golden rule in attending a victim was described here. It wasn’t something that tough to remember, however, in case you forget, you may ask your kindergarten kids to remind you, since the short forms are the starting four letters of the alphabet A,B,C and D. A stands for Airway and Cervical Spine, B stands for Breathing, C stands for Circulation and Bleeding control while D stands for Disability. A victim is supposed to be assessed in this order, always. And if the victim is diagnosed for any problems in the above order, the problem should be rectified and the patient should be checked again from the beginning (A) in the same order. Dr. Sanket also explained various symptoms of head injuries and chest injuries. Followed by this was the session where Dr. Arnob and Dr. Sanket explained the use of the various items listed in the standard first aid kit for riders. Soon the theory session was over and we left for the nearby Karnala Hotel for a well deserved lunch. Lunch was fabulous, and refreshed the participants to get ready to act like patients all over again.

the Practical session:We got back to our location after lunch. Now it was time for the practical session. At first, all of us were a bit hesitant to be the victim for the practical session, but then we ended up fighting to be the victim (Of course all of us wanted to sleep in the mid afternoon time). The practical session included how to move a victim to the lateral position without harming him (the right way to handle the neck), how to attend a fracture, how to transfer a victim to a stretcher and how to perform a CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) using nothing but a pair of gloves and some tools from your tool kit. After Dr. Arnob and Dr. Sanket demonstrated a few examples, we were made to practice the same with our partners.

After the practical session, we all headed back to the Karnala

Don’t try to remove the victim’s helmet. You can unstrap it and lift it a bit for access to mouth though. Helmet also helps support the neck

In case of intense bleeding, a sterile, non-stick gauze should be applied to the wound and be tightly wrapped

Dr. Sanket Kawli has years of experience in handling trauma and emergency cases

With bikers around, there wasn’t a moment without laughters

Page 29: Motoroids2 April 2010

Hotel where we drank till we wanted no more (of course not liquor). Soon we exchanged words of thanks especially with Dr. Sanket for giving us his precious time for educating us and Dr. Arnob for arranging everythng so meticulously. The course was not at all like what it used to be during school times. It was a perfect event with proper amount of seriousness, dedication and a little additive of the Bikers’ humorous attitude.

There isn’t much point in depicting the procedures taught at the workshop in text, as it won’t do anyone any good. However, if the subject sounds interesting and productive to you, stay tuned to Motoroids, and you’ll soon get your chance to attend a similar workshop!Same applies to bone injuries for arms

If the victim is gurgling, or seems to have liquid in his mouth that’s blocking airway, you have to tilt him

In case of a leg-fracture using a stick for support, and wrapping it with bandage helps provide support which can be critical in some cases

There is a proper technique to hold the shoulders and support the neck while tilting the patient to let the liquid in his mouth out

Chin lift and Jaw thrust are actions performed to bring a lumpy tongue blocking airway back in place

Page 30: Motoroids2 April 2010

Words: Rohan Albal Pics: Aditya Bedre

Ph

oto

gra

ph

: G

ary

Bai

ley

School chale hum No, we are not talking about our Government’s literacy campaign, but the state of the art California Superbike School brought to India by Preethi’s T. T. Varadarajan with technical support from Red Rooster Racing.

How would you feel if sitting at your home, you stumble across an opportunity to learn

high performance motorcycling from people who taught Eric Bostrom, Doug Chandler, Tommy Hayden and James Toseland?

I don’t think you would have much to complain. And if you are a motorcycling junkie like I am then you would be pulling your hair out in ecstasy and begin fantasizing yourself at the pole position of the grid.

I shot out of my home and indulged myself into some shopping. Now I’ve got to tell you here, I just can’t get enough of motorcycling safety gear. I am always looking out for a reason and an opportunity to buy new gear and California Superbike School coming to India was as good an excuse as any other. Money was splurged onto a Marushin crash helmet, Alpinestars MX-1 one-piece full leather suit and full length Alpinestars SMX boots. With almost no money left to even buy myself breakfast I spent whatever last dimes and nickels that I could find in my pocket on DSG Riding Gloves.

Yes! California Superbike School was coming to India. For the first time EVER! And I was going to be a part of it, for the first time EVER! My Ninja 250R was set to serve me at the track, and you guessed it right, for the first time EVER!

With so many ‘first time ever(s) ‘, nervousness and curiosity was very high. Firstly to be able to attend the California Superbike School sessions I had to get myself teleported to Chennai, a city more than 1,300 kms away from the place where I was hatching my pole position dreams - namely Pune. I had to show up at the Madras Motor Sports Club race track at Irrungattukottai, Chennai on

the 16th of February on time and in good health. With an extra load of enthusiasm and adrenaline already pumping into my veins an esoteric decision of riding down to Chennai was considered.

‘That would be the icing on the cake - you would get to tour to Chennai and

when there you will get to hit the track...’ Little did I realise, that my decision of riding down to Chennai was nowhere an experience anywhere close to the icing on the cake. It was like rubbing my buttocks and my back against a huge-arse Texan Cactus plant. When you are wearing 1.4mm

think leathers at temperatures wonted of a typical American barbeque you do feel like dead meat. Having to wear leather gear in sun, rain and snow (well it will never snow in this part of the world) is one of those downsides of riding a motorcycle.

‘It’s a very risky thing that you are

endeavouring to undertake - you have no long distance experience and have never toured more than 250kms at one go.’ The sound advice made sense, except that it made no sense at all. When you ride a motorcycle you assume and accept the associated risks that come along with it. If

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“Your practice session is done when you see this flag” - Gary Bailey

‘Hope these guys can take it...’ - Glenn

“4th Gear .....No brakes...” - Andy Ibbott

2

3

1

you wish to tip toe through life only to arrive at death safely, then STAY HOME!

Soon I was in the saddle and the Ninja 250R was on the road (NH4) and within no time was munching miles and drinking fuel at a rate comparable to that of a Space Shuttle…

California Superbike School has one day classes and a two day camp. I was blessed with two, two day camps! That meant four days at the track with coaches who did nothing but ride bikes all over the world all

throughout the year. It turned out that four English blokes from the UK staff of California Superbike School (will be addressed as CSS henceforth) were to be our Gurus for both the two day camps. Amongst those four blokes was Andy Ibbott - the guy who coached Thomas Luethi at MotoGP 250cc class and saw him through as the winner.

“Discover the art of cornering” that is the motto for CSS. Hell yeah! Many of you readers would agree that the true essence of motorcycling lies in cornering.

Your right wrist bravado will not save your bacon for long; neither on the streets nor on the track. The way I see it the roads are full of corners; sure there are a few straights but they only lead you to the next corner. All braced then at 7am on the 16th of February I was excited to discover the art of cornering from none other than

1.Andy Ibbott2. Gary Bailey3. Jet

Keep the bike stable! Andy Ibbott breaking it in to us what we had really signed ourselves in for 4 days!

April 2010

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4. Adam5. GlennThe customary Kit check was

conducted by Glenn. The leathers, boots, helmets and just about the entire riding gear was checked for to make sure that the gear as a whole was fit to be used at the track.

I’ve heard you can learn a lot about traction management by training in rain with the CSS, but I had no desire to do so! The Ninja 250R was my ride back home to Pune and at no cost did I want to total it. Fortunately for me, it doesn’t rain in Chennai in February. In fact, to be honest it didn’t look like Chennai had any changes in weather anytime during the year. It looked as if the only thing that happened in Chennai was that the Sun shone every single day and turned the entire city into a big ass Sauna Bath, for free.

Breakfast was consumed, indemnity forms were signed and we head towards the classroom. 24 riders were divided

into two colour coded groups: the white group and the green group. Flags and their significance were explained to us and with these basic things out of the way we were ready to actually start discovering the art of cornering. True motorcycling discussion began with Andy asking us what we thought was our job for the day.

‘To keep the bike stable’ your job is to keep the bike stable at all costs and with all means. Your job for all the 4 days is to keep the bike stable. Mind you many of the attendees were hardcore racers themselves, so by ‘keeping it stable’ he didn’t mean learning how to balance. Keeping the bike stable in a corner at lean angles and at high speeds is what we are talking of here. There are four levels of training and everyone starts at level one. Through a series of interactive discussions with the class the foundation was laid and we were prepared for our very first lesson: throttle control.

That was our first lesson, our very

first drill. And I can safely conclude today that it was the most important drill. The thing about the lessons at CSS is that each lesson builds on the one before. So if you haven’t got the very first lesson right your chances of even understanding the second lesson are meek. Nevertheless the coaches hound you on the track and make sure you get this drill right.

Throttle control started us off in a single file using 4th gear only, with no brakes to get a feel for the amount of engine braking and control available and develop our sense of speed. Prior to the class I was concerned about having riders passing and riding next to me. But the coaches and the course conductor Mr Gary Bailey made sure every that everybody

Glenn getting ready for the day’s onslaught

Gary making sure

everybody knew what they had to

do on the track one final time

before they started their

practice session

The Coaches await untill Gary the course conductor made sure we all knew what was to be done

Hows your lot of students faring up ?

Page 33: Motoroids2 April 2010

had understood that the track was a learning environment for the 4 days to come and that if anyone were found close passing or racing they would have to forfeit their place at CSS. It was a threat, and it worked wonderfully well.

I learnt an important aspect about speed that day. Speed is relative. You may think you’re riding fast until someone smokes past you. It was common to have a coach pull in front of you and motion for you to follow his/her lead. (You’re doing your best while the coach is glancing back over his/her shoulder at you while cornering. Rather humbling!)

The coach also communicated with you on the track with live hand signals when on the motorcycle. These hand signals were discussed at length in the classroom sessions before so all knew what it meant when the coach was pantomiming with his hands. Occasionally the coaches even pull you back into the pits or onto the side of the track to discuss something which they see you doing wrong. The track session lasts for about 20-30 mins and once done with the session every student had to get back to his Coach for a detailed discussion of what you thought you were doing wrong and what the coach observed you to be doing wrong. This was the best part of CSS. It was like having personalized coaching. This is also perhaps the most interactive part of CSS with a lot of questions being shot at you and a lot of feedback flowing to the coach. If your feedback to the drills and lessons and its execution on the track is good, the coach can really help you analyse your riding.

After the session with your coach it was back into the classroom to talk about “Turn Points”. This time, when we went onto the track the coaches had placed a large X where they wanted us to turn in for a given turn. They were “spoon feeding” us, but the idea was to experience turn points which might be placed at a spot differently than you would normally use. We were allowed to use 3rd & 4th gears, but still no brakes.

The first day was Level 1 and included other drills dealing with turning quickly, minimizing negative rider input and their “two-step turn” process, an introduction to

We have a problem mate! If Gary had a word with you during the practice session you could be sure you were doing something fundamentally wrong.

On Track corrections and feedback from the coaches. Do it right Mate!

Black flagged! time to pull out and get an earful

Time To execute on

the track what you

learnt in the classroom.

Not exactly an easy task

2

3

1

Page 34: Motoroids2 April 2010

Level 2. As the exercises progressed, we were allowed to use more gears and braking. Generally by the end of the day there were no restrictions. It was as fast or slow as you dared to go, but under control. If observed riding unsafely, you could be “black-flagged” and pulled from the track.

With second day we were all at level 2. The drills got harder and the sun got merciless. I have never drunk so much water in my life without having to piss even once! I was sweating profoundly and was trying to make sense of whatever was being taught to me. I was keeping up with riders at the track and it demanded sheer focus and concentration. Executing everything that you have learnt in the classrooms while not forgetting the lessons of day 1 was quite a considerable task, I tell you. By the end of the day I already had a fever. They called it ‘track fever’. It was normal and it’s mainly due to exhaustion. At the end of the day I had fever for all the 4 days. Mornings were fresh and I was always raring to learn more. Riding at the track is really a lot about endurance. It simply isn’t an easy thing to do to be doing from 0700 hrs to 1800 hrs. I think the only reason I survived it was the euphoria and the adrenaline in me.

How to describe a lap? Accelerate out of the pits, slow, down shift, listen and look for other bikes approaching. Snap it to the right for turn two - the one which is a 90 degree right hander and has no space, hanging off to the left (a good place to drag a knee) and roll on the throttle to take the next left hander.

Shift body left and right quickly for the follow through, engine beginning to snarl. Gas it up on the straight, brake, snap it over for a quick left hook, and quickly shift the body to the right for the immediately following long never ending right turn. Tuck in the knees, start pouring in the gasoline, onto a short straight where you pin the throttle,

Coach signalling to a rider following him to open the throttle constantly and smoothly for the remainder of the turn.

The coach firing away this cylinder to catch up with a student he thinks needs correction. You had to marvel at them if you caught them doing that Impeccable cornering.

Body Positioning

on a static bike. Show

me what you do

when out there in a

corner.

Look through the

turns. The two step

method was perhaps

the most instrumental

drills of CSS

April 2010

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(R-L)Red Rooster Racing’s

Mr. Amit Sandill, Mr. Navroze Contractor, Krishnan Rajni (RRR’s lead racer) and Joe (the

tuner) with some of their associates

Rohit Giri (Right) who won the ‘Star Student of the CSS’ award, with Siddarth, Mr. T. T. Varadarajan’s son

Our associates, Ten10 Racing, sharpen their skills with the CSS training

Even in the sweltering heat of Chennai, Gary affords to flaunt a smile

Andy shares a brief chat with K. Rajni

April 2010

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engine starting to scream, for just a few moments to get past that rider in your way.

Shift body left, knee out for turn 6, scrub off some speed, turn right quickly, tracks second never ending right hander...keep rolling on the gas here, keep tight on the apex here as you need to get a good drive out of this onto a long straight. Approach the dreaded corner C8, body way right, knee out, brake, snap it tight for the right, relax arms and body for bumps in the pavement, quickly shift body to the left for the soon to come left hander. Straight again, pin that throttle, approach the slowest part of the track the c10 and c11 ‘S’ which ends in an uphill gradient, don’t miss your apex at C10 or you are done for! Take the C11 and downhill towards a ling fast right hander. The last corner of the track - accelerating, sweeping right hander. The straight at start finish line in sight, gun the throttle, approach C1 at speeds in excess of 200 kmph, suspension being compressed, stay relaxed, ripples in pavement, don’t want to upset bike. All this in just over 2 minutes! Ok I could never do it in 2 minutes but there were racers doing all the above 3.17 kms in 1.46 minutes. Amazing, if u ask me.

Was it worth the cost? You bet! It was several weeks before the perpetual smile started to wear off. Any time I reflect on the class a big grin spreads across my face.

Did I learn anything that I can use on the street? Most definitely and the classes revealed weaknesses I need to work on.

I also noticed on the way home a reduced need to twist the throttle up. It seemed the “Need for Speed” had been quenched, at least for the time being.

California Superbike School is a first class operation with top notch personnel. Everyone was great and it was obvious they really enjoy what they do, but at the same time are serious about it. They run a tight operation, yet in an un-stressful way. I can’t say enough good things about them. You will come away an improved rider.

At the end of it all I was ‘Level 4’ certified from CSS and there was a small but splendid certificate distribution ceremony kinda thing in the late evening of 4th day.

With the certificate safely tucked in my tank-bag I got up the next day and started riding towards Pune. To this date the ‘Level 4’ certificate from CSS is the most prized possession for the humble biker in me!

Classroom Sessions got the basics out of our way. Without them we couldn’t be doing what we did on the track

Feedback time. The coach discuses your weakneses with you after a practice session. This saw the most improvement in all riders.

The CSS team often had discussion as to how the progress was being made throughtout the course of the day. Utter professionalism and dedication

Our friend Rohan Albal who was one of the lucky few to have made it to the CSS

Andy starts off with the final

theory sessions

April 2010

36

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1. When did biking happen in your life?

To say the least, a long, long time ago ! To be a little more precise, when i was 7 years old. I remember that summer vacation when my dad’s friend took me along to see a couple of riders (cant remember their names now) who had come down from Germany. I don’t recall the exact occasion, but the venue was an old, unused T-shaped air-strip on the outskirts of Kolar town, around 70 kms from Bangalore. The very moment I saw these guys ride their 250cc, two-stroke TZs, it was love at first sight !

2. We journalists keep on saying that this decade has been the rebirth of motorcycling in India with better machinery coming in and the biking brotherhood spreading. What was the biking scene in India like when u began?

When we began riding, everything was an issue. Right from non-availability of bikes, to poor infrastructure, to lack of exposure. We didnt have as much as a clue of a ‘ true ‘ motorcycling experience, that is very possible today, due to availability of the above mentioned and the television, thanks to which, the knowledge and exposure of the latest developments World over are no more privy to the elite.

3. When and what urged you to start Red Rooster the biking group and why the name ‘Red Rooster’?

When a bunch of us BABs (Born Again Bikers) started riding long distances (between 200 & 400 kms) every Sunday, we soon got noticed and aroused people’s curiosity of what our hobby was all about. As papers and magazines started writing articles about our group of riders, it soon became eminent we had to call ourselves something that readers would clearly relate to. It was then that I coined the name “Red Rooster” for our group. I came up with the name “Red Rooster” simply because i believed it was a very unique name that offered numerous exciting options to promote it as a brand.

4. How did the group transform into Red Rooster Racing?

After about two years of many exciting and wonderful rides together, the core group slowly began to dissipate due to personal commitments. It was around this time that some of us decided to go and test our riding skills at the track in Sriperambatur. And when we did get there, to my utter dismay and surprise, I was exposed first hand to just how many young, enthusiastic, talented riders and drivers were lamenting due to the lack of proper support and encouragement. It didn’t take much longer from that moment to decide that i should try and extend the much needed support these youngsters deserved. And quite simply, what better name for such an initiative than “Red Rooster Racing” !!

5. What is the ideology behind RRR?

It’s no rocket science !! To try and find that elusive Indian Alonso or Stoner !! Of course we know it’s a lot easier said than done. But we’re a lot happier trying than just saying !!

6. Apart from being the person responsible for Red Rooster Racing, what other roles do you play within the team? Who are the other faces behind Red Rooster Racing?

Perhaps the question should be, ‘What are the roles that I don’t play?’ It would almost be a never-ending list, but to cut a long story

Photos: Aditya Bedre & Red Rooster Racing

mr. DineSh reDDyIn conversation with

In recent times, Red Rooster Racing has been one team that shows the promise of taking Indian Motorsports to a global level and making a long lasting mark in the times to come. From nurturing upcoming talent to being a part of noteworthy initiatives like the Indian leg of the California Superbike School, RRR is all set to make a difference in the true sense of the word. We recently got in conversation with Mr. Dinesh Reddy, the person who is at the helm of the Red Rooster outfit. A gem of a person and a humble, down-to-earth biker at heart, Mr. Reddy is one personality that ever aficionado of Indian Motorsports needs to meet and interact with. But till that happens for you, here are a few words of wisdom from the man himself:

Managing Director, Red Rooster Racing

Page 38: Motoroids2 April 2010

short, I try to involve in all aspects of the teams. Needless to say, this is not and cannot be a one man operation. On the technical side and a director on the board, we have Mr. N. Leelakrishnan, arguably one of the top five most recognizable names in the Indian Motor-sport fraternity. On the management side, there is Mr. Kumar Nadig and Mr. Deepak Mathew, who in their own right are successful businessmen bringing years of valuable management expertise, besides a burning passion for Motor-sports. Then there is Mr. Amit Sandil who is spear-heading the two wheeler initiative, along with Mr. Andrew Morrice, based out of Singapore. Besides these few names, there are a whole bunch of drivers, riders, mechanics and administrative staff that have enabled Red Rooster to come as far as it has.

7. Apart from Motorcycle Racing, what other forms of racing does RRR participate in?

RRR is involved in Rallying, Circuit Racing and Karting as well. We are also trying to promote cycling.

8. RRR and Preethi recently brought the CSS to India. What was their take on Indian Motorsports? The team from California Superbike School were indeed pleasantly surprised at the entire package, consisting of the track facility in Chennai, the quality of talent and the level of interest amongst the participants, and the standard of hardware (read bikes) used by the participants and what was provided for the trainers. It was rather evident, even to them, the only area sadly lacking in our country is infrastructure related to Motor-sport.

9. Is it the ideology of your team that sets you apart from the rest of the motorsports outfits in India or is it that other teams have a lack of focus or lack of funds?

While I certainly cannot comment on the ideology or focus of other teams in our country, I can categorically say, without appropriate funding, there is sweet little any Motor-sports team in the world can do or achieve. For any Motor-sport initiative to fulfill it’s true potential, proper financial planning and support is elementary. Needless to say our ideology is clearly thought through and our goals are practical.

10. RRR is one of the most desirable teams in Indian motorsports. So what is it that an aspiring racer needs in order to qualify for wearing the RR uniform?

Heaps of talent and a passion that will scorch the track !!!

11. How do you indentify talent?

As we are involved in most disciplines of Motor-sport in India, we are constantly present at most of the events. The team certainly keeps it’s eyes and ears wide open to scan for any new up coming talent. Once such talent is identified, we put them through an evaluation program, consisting of various parameters to determine whether the individual has the required potential to be taken on board or not.

12. After participating in International events and doing a commendable job, what are the key differences you have cited between the racing culture in the other Asian countries and the racing culture here.

I’ve always believed “culture” is an outcome or result of numerous inputs. By this I mean, proper opportunities given to appropriate talent at the appropriate time in an appropriate manner is what will influence and dictate a sound culture. This in turn creates an atmosphere for champions to evolve, who in turn influence the culture.

13. What has been the biggest achievement for RRR till date?

In my opinion, I think it is K Rajni’s podium finish at the Chennai round of the FIM Asian Motor-cycle championship last year. (Could it be because I’m a biker at heart ?!?!?!)

14. What are your plans for the future and where does RRR eventually want to be?

Where would an avid mountaineer want to end up ?!! At the peak of Mt. Everest, right ?!! Similarly, God-willing, we would like to scale the pinnacle of Motor-sport by reaching Formula 1 for cars, MotoGP for bikes and WRC for Rallying in the years to come.

15. Preetham came very close to racing in the 250cc category at the MotoGP but as per our knowledge, the lack of finances curbed those plans. Is the situation any better now? Is Moto2 an option? If not with Preetham, any other racer from your team?

As you know, there are a number of factors that have to come together for a rider or a driver to be able to participate at world level. Undoubtedly, while talent and finances are amongst the most important elements needed to participate at world level, there are a whole bunch of other critical requirements such as top-class equipment, proper technical back up, proper training

/ coaching / mentoring etc. that have to be available and have to fall into place for the individual to be successful at a world level. For now, fielding an Indian rider in Moto2 isn’t an option for RRR.

16. Is there any support (technical, mechanical, financial etc.) whatsoever from any of the Indian bike manufacturers for your team? If no, what do you the think are their reasons of shying away from such an opportunity, considering the fact that most of the litre class icons are either here already or coming here soon?

Unfortunately there has been no support what-so-ever from any of the Indian bike manufacturers towards Red Rooster Racing. I suppose they would be best equipped to justify their stand in spite of the team’s strong commitment towards two wheeler racing.

17. Do you think the exorbitant import duties on high capacity bikes are one of the primary reasons for preventing youngsters from getting into super sport/ superbike racing? Is there any official way out to tackle this problem?

For sure, exorbitant import duties will neither help man nor machine nor what they can do together !! Numerous representations have been made to relevant authorities, but as evident, have fallen on deaf ears. I suppose the sales of these bigger bikes is so tiny and therefore irrelevant, I reckon that it is going to take a couple more decades for these shackles to be removed for us poor Supersport / Superbike bikers !!

18. After a break of almost two years from motorcycling (correct me if I’m wrong), how does Mr. Dinesh Reddy feel to share track time with the world-class racers that the RRR team

is honing?

Very humble for sure. Besides being as excited as a kid with cotton candy every single time !!

19. Like most other sports in India, is Indian Motorsports plagued by politics too?

Which part of society can ever escape this inherent quality ? Politics or not, we have “ miles to go and promises to keep “.

20. What according to you is the reason for Indian Motorsports or Indian racers not finding sponsorships as easily as the motorsports abroad?

Quite simply due to the exposure levels the sport currently enjoys with the print and electronic media. And this is also partly due to the fact that we do not have the kind of Motor-sport infrastructure like the countries where Motor-sports has evolved. This automatically restricts the variation that is needed to make any Championship sufficiently exciting for sponsors to come forward, which in turn affects the exposure. Indeed a Catch-22 !!

21.If there was one thing that could change in Indian motorsports, what would that be?

For both, Central and State governments to realize that Motor-sports is a very successful world wide phenomena, with an immense revenue generating potential and being inherently a very exciting sport, is close to the hearts of millions of people. This would certainly encourage them to look at their contribution to promoting Motor-sports differently.

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You don’t necessarily need a BMW 1150 GS to tour long distance. Niranjan B. B. and Nagaraj T. S. from Bangalore taverse India, Nepal and Bangladesh on a

Hero Honda Splendor and a Honda Unicorn. Relish the captivating log of their crazy adventure

Words & Pics Niranjan B. B.

Scaling the Subcontinent

My buddy Nagaraj and I embarked upon one of

the most exciting motorcycle adventure of our lives, which took us on a 64-day trip across India, Nepal and Bhutan covering ground of almost 18,612 kms. Astride a Honda Unicorn and a Hero Honda Splendor, we started this ride on 23rd of January, which lasted till 27th of March 2010.

We were short on funds required for such a long trip, but thanks to the Government of Karnataka, we managed

to get sponsorship from Gethnaa Sports Department and few corporate companies

in Bangalore. We also had a social motive for this ride, which was to create awareness about adventure sports and global warming to school children along our way across India.

With the ride plan chalked out, the Sports Minister Gooli Hatti D Shekar finally flagged us off on 23rd January from Bangalore and we were off on this fabulous journey.

In the first two days we covered about 550 kms covering the Chitradurga Fort and the Belgaum Fort on the way. Then we

Feature Story-Winner of Motoroids2 Super Trip Contest

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April 2010

40

entered the state of Maharashtra to make our way through Pune - the biker’s capital and visited few holy places such as the Mahalaxmi Temple in Kolhapur and Sri Sia Baba Temple near Nashik. Soon we were in Gujarat - the land of chemical factories and

crossed Gandhinagar and Ahemdabad. On the 8th day, we entered the majestic

and heritage state of Rajhasthan. Here we visited the Udaipur Palace and experienced living in a five star hotel located in the middle of a lake. Next on the list was the

popular hill station of West India, Mount Abu.

Making our way through Jodhpur we reached Jaisalmer where we embarked on a two day camel safari in sand dunes, which was a superb experience. After the safari,

Watching the sunset at the beautiful lake in Udaipur

From horsepower to camel-power!

Visiting the Mahalaxmi Temple at Kolhapur in Maharastra

Mera number kab ayega? Waiting for a ride on the ropewayThe Udaipur palace provides an insight into the rich heritage of India

Spreading awareness about ‘Global Warming’

in Belgaum, Karnataka

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we were back on our bikes and rode towards Bikaner and then to Jaipur. The next day was spent in sight- seeing places of tourist interest such as the Hawa Mahal and other architectural structures

On the 14th day of our journey we got to see one of the Seven Wonders of the World in

blood and flesh - The Taj Mahal! It was extremely beautiful!

We entered the capital of the country, New Delhi on the 16th day of our ride and visited the world famous India Gate, Red Fort, Jantar Mantar, Raj Bhawan, Qutub Minar and the Lotus Temple.

From New Delhi we rode towards the land of evergreen fields, Harayana and covering Kurukshetra and Panipat, we rode towards Punjab, the land of wheat fields. Next on our itneary was the Golden Temple in Amritsar. It was a magnificent sight! Once we were inside the Temple, pure silence and serene ambience

Shoe-makers in Rajasthan are getting ready for

the Himalayan Yeti

and the two pose

again, in front of

the India Gate. Are they honey

mooners? Nah…

kidding!

We try trick photography to show that we are lifting the sun. But wrong settings on the cam don’t show the sun at all – making us look like tribal dancers!

and Niranjan poses before the Red FortThe two riders pose in front of the Taj Mahal

Camping in the desert after the camel ride

Page 42: Motoroids2 April 2010

engulfed us and we spent two good hours inside the temple submerged in tranquility and peace. After the temple and refueling of our tummies we made our way to the Wagah Border.

After Amrtisar, we keep riding upwards to reach Jammu and paid our respect to Vaishno Devi after trekking for two days. Next day, we

reached Kashmir, the land of gorgeous valleys and breathtaking snow - capped mountains. Here valleys were as deep as 5000 to 7000 feet and we had to be extremely alert while riding. On our way we crossed Patnitop and reached Srinagar where we spent our evening around the famous Dal Lake and the beautiful

gardens nearby. The next day, we made our way towards Gulmarg where we were greeted by 4 feet snowfall. The view was extra ordinary no matter where you looked. After Gulmarg, we rode towards Pahalgam and crossed the Jawahar tunnel which was a wonderful experience.

Soon, we entered the state of Himachal

A Tea ‘n’ a bite to escape cold bite near Patnitop in Kashmir

Niranjan quickly poses for a snap at the Buddhist Monastery

Took blessings at the Golden temple

Buddhist monks at Dalhousie, Himachal

Enjoying the snow laden roads in Gulmarg

The Qutub Minar did not fit in the frame

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Pradesh and made our way through Dalhousie, Dharamshala, Shimla, Kulu, Manali and also engaged in white water rafting adventure in

River Beas.After the rafting adventure, we reached

Uttarkhand, the land of Gods - Dev Bhumi and

the mighty Nanda Devi mountain range. Here we visited the shrine of Lord Kashi Viswanathan, Yamunotri, Gangotri and immered ourselves in

On the steps of the Sun temple in Konark

Manali gives you a real high

Camping beside the Yamunotri in UttarkhandAt Poorna Kumba Mela in Haridwar

If only our bikes could do the same!

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the holy waters in Haridwar at the world famous Kumbh Mela.

After the holy dip and witnessing the largest gathering of people at one place at the Kumbh Mela we rode towards Pitoragargh and Tanakpur to connect to Mahendra Nagar Rajmarg and entered Nepal - the country which houses the

famous Mount Everest and Mount K2. In Nepal, we spent almost seven days,

conquering the mighty K2 and visiting National Parks, World Peace Centers, Pagodas, Swayambu Temple and Lumbini. We also went to the China border and entered the land of dragons to engage in a round of shopping. Once back from China,

we made our way into India once again to reach Siligui through the border town of Kakarvitta in Nepal.

From Siliguri, we rode towards Darjeeling where the climate was superb. We entered the clean city of Gangtok in Sikkim and passed Lake Chongu and Lake Gurdongmar at an altitude

Kali river bridge in Nepal

World Peace Pagoda in Phokara ,Nepal

The sacred waters of Ganga in Haridwar

Those are some of tallest trees we have ever seen!Yet another Monastery, in Darjeeling

Mahendra Rajmarg – our entry into Nepal

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of 14,500- 17,200 feet. The landscpe here is surreal and one had to see it to believe it.

Next we entered the state of Assam and managed to enter Bhutan. We spent almost five days in Bhutan crossing the capital, Thimpu which is known for its beautiful architecture and also crossed another city known as Paro

which again scores high on beauty and also has an airport.

After five blissful days in Bhutan, we rode back towards home country and entered Assam. The next day was spent in visiting few places of tourist interest such as the Mans National Park, Kaziranga National Park, Assam Zoo and

Kamakya Temple. Next on the cards was the land of lush

green valleys and cool climate- Meghalaya. We headed towards the Cheerapunji, locally known as Sohra, which is known to be the wettest place in the world owing to heavy rainfall. We reached here by noon when the sun was shining

Swayambu temple in Kathmandu There is a ‘M.G. marg’ everywhere; but few are as beautiful as the one in Sikkim

World Peace Pagoda in Phokara ,Nepal

Tasty Nepali food in Kathmandu

Pine tree road in DarjeelinWorld Heritage Toy train in Darjeeling

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bright but suddenly there was a change in the mood of Weather Gods and we witnessed heavy torrential rainfall.

Next we started riding towards West Bengal, the land of dense population and known for its extreme humid weather conditions. After

two days in West Bengal, we headed towards Kolkatta and visited many temples and tourist spots such as the Victoria Memorial, Jadughar, Howrah Bridge and also engaged in blissful rounds of tasting sweets and street grub.

The following day, we made our way into

Orissa, where once again humid weather welcomed us. We visited the holy shrine of Lord Jagganth Puri, Sun Temple at Konark and also visited the Chilka Lagoon to spend time with some friendly dolphins.

After Orissa, we entered the state of Andra

Insects attack us in West BengalCamping at Tiger Hill was fun!

Slurp! Wai-wai noodles and a big glass of ‘chai’ greets us in Bhutan

Misty foggy Tiger hill road near Darjeeling

Gate way to Thimpu city, Bhutan

The ‘Indian Oil’ fuel station in Bhutan makes us feel at home

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Pradesh, the land of Lord Vishnu and the rice bowl of India. We made our way towards the state capital, Hyderabad where we visited the Ramoji Film City, Salar Jung Mueseum and Char Minar. Also, on our way we crossed the Vizag Port, Vijayawada Prakasam Barrage and reached Tirupati to pay homage to Lord Balaji.

Next we rode towards Tamilnadu, the land of Temples and Oscar winners. We reached the state capital of Chennai and visited the famous Marina Beach, Rajiv Gandhi Memorial and few other architectural structures and made our way towards Kachipuram Temple in Vellore.

Finally, after 64 longs days of hard riding,

covering almost 18,612 kms on our superb steeds- Honda Unicorn and Splendor, we reached back in our hometown of Bangalore on March 27th, 2010 bringing back with us wonderful memories and a changed perspective towards life, people and oneself.

Fortunately, no rainfall massacre in Cherrapunji

Bungee jumping in Tatopani, Nepal

Ramoji Film city in Hyderabad

Nagaraj makes a Bhutanese baby smileToy train railway station in Darjeeling

Riding on Tirumala mountain

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Throttle Wide Open? Hell Yeah!Being fed up of buying a new pair of shoes every six months, Navendu Singh goes to a race school to learn how prevent toe-scraping, and return back a much more accomplished rider …

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Oh shit, I’m still too fast and the corner is getting closer. Can’t touch the brakes,

can’t use engine-braking and I forgot to install a parachute. Hands virtually go up praying to the almighty and I lean the bike into the corner. Prayer works and I’m able to get out of the corner without an issue. Lesson learned? So far, I was going much slower than what I could in that corner. Welcome to the school, the Throttle Wide Open (T.W.O.) Motorcycle Track Riding School. That was just one corner during one of the laps during one of the practical session of the school. Having missed the very first classroom of T.W.O Motorcycle Track Riding School by IndiMotards, I had told myself,

that come what may I had to attend the next one. And here I was, slogging it out 1,200+ kms away from home, on a really hot afternoon sweating like a pig but with no complains whatsoever.

The school is about teaching how to ride on a racetrack, in a correct manner that is. Remember your childhood? We were first taught alphabet and then came words and then full sentences. On the same lines, this school too aims at teaching one the ABCD of riding on the race track before we can learn how to form words and in the end sentences (a perfect lap around the track).

So, as I was to learn the ABCD I was slotted into Level 1, with some guys undergoing Level 2 training separately. The first session was the longest

theory session in which Anand (one of the trainers and one of the masterminds behind this initiative) talked about the vision, counter steering, braking, throttle, types of corners, etc. While the theory session was going on, Prashant (better known as ‘Nomad’) was busy checking the bikes and making sure they all were fit to be taken out on the track. Then came the moment all of us were waiting for, theory was over and we were asked to go around the track for a few laps and then come back in. Engines were revved, brakes were put on test and tyres were heated to such an extent that they could roast a few chicken strips and offer them on a platter to the sticky tarmac.

After a few laps we came in for the next theoretical lesson.

The instructors at T.W.O. used circuit diagrams to teach us the basics as per the corners and their layout

Be it a litre-class bike like this one or a puny Apache lke mine, the basics of track riding remain same for everyone

Poncho talks to one of the riders before setting out for the practical sessions

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We were asked to go out again along with the instructors, but were instructed to ride without using any sort of brakes and riding in one single gear (any gear of our choice). All of a sudden, everyone who was gunning hard not so long back was now approaching the corner and going at a crawling pace. Well, the ABCD had started. To go fast, first learn how to go slow.

By the time we all came back into the pit

lane we all had done a good amount of laps going around the track without using the brakes. It was time to get out of the riding gear and head out to pick some refreshment (we had a counter full of chilled water bottles, various energy drinks and some chocolates, from where one could buy anything at not much of a premium.) and time for another short theory session. That was the routine for the two days on track. In Level

1 we started with the ‘no brakes’ and ‘single gear’ drill and then one by one we were asked to work on the exit from a corner; followed by the entry into a corner; combining the entry and exit together; adding the apex into the entry and exit maneuvers, etc. To help the newbies, entry and exit points were marked on the track.

We were going out in groups of 5-6 riders with one trainer leading each pack. He would be

A Honda CBR600RR and a Yamaha YZF-R6 do their bit during the practical sessions

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The ‘no brakes’ drill made some riders go real slow, only to help them go way faster as the schooling progressed

After a dose of refreshments, the bikers line up to resume the practical sessions

One of the instructors shows us the hand signals during the practice session

keeping an eye on everyone to later share his views and answer the queries of various students. Anand, Bhaskar, Joshua and Poncho who brought in a lot of track riding experience with them, did a wonderful job in helping each student solve their queries.

With each drill, we were learning things one at a time. That’s the right way to learn I say, as this way you have just one new thing being introduced, on which you can concentrate better. By the end of the first day we were able to ride on the track without worrying about braking and gear shifting and hence, concentrating only on getting in and out of corners

correctly.Later on Day 2 it was time

to get introduced to braking (which we had totally forgotten by now since we did one and a half days of riding around the track without using them!). Most of us had slowly but surely picked up pace. Poncho guided us in the brake drill where we were to accelerate hard and then use only front brake (yes, no touching the rear brake pedal). A few rounds with him on the braking drill and my rock bottom confidence grew close to sky level on using only the front brakes. With the drill over, we were allowed to use small amount of brakes but still no gear changes. Out went all of

us, again in groups headed out by our instructors. Suddenly the long straight was witnessing some good speeds being clocked by the motorcycles as people were not worried of how to stop at the end of it.

With each lap passing by, I knew I was improving slowly but surely. By the end of Day 2, I wasn’t going faster than before but I was able to clock consistent times, lap after lap. My body position on the bike had improved tremendously.

By the end of the school, I was not scraping my toes on the tar, which used to be a big bother to me at the outset. I came back a much better rider from the scool - thanks, TWO!

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Yamaha Racing team, the official factory racing team of Yamaha in MotoGP presently runs under the name Fiat Yamaha. The team was founded in the year 1999 when it was based in Netherlands. Presently, the team is based in Italy (since 2002). From the year 1999 to 2002, Max Biaggi and Carlos Checa raced for the team. Max was replaced by Marco Melandri in the year 2003 who was again replaced by present World Champion Valentino Rossi in the year 2004. The team was set on fire in the year 2008 with the entry of Jorge Lorenzo after which the fight for the title started to ignite within the team itself. The team mates of this team will ride a Yamaha YZR-M1 each.

Ducati entered into the MotoGP racing frenzy after the changes in the MotoGP technical rules which gave priority to four-stroke machinery. Taking part in their first season in 2003, the team won its first championship within five years in the 2007 season. Marlboro has been the sponsor of the Ducati team since early 2003. The 2003 season had Ducati Marlboro team including Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss. However, the 2010 season will have the same rid-ers as in the 2009 season i.e. Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden. The riders will be riding a Desmosedici GP10 each.

The Italian National is supposedly the most successful motorcycle racer ever. With 9 Grand Prix World Championships in his name, he started his racing career in Grand Prix in the year 1996 by racing for Aprillia in the 125cc category. Popularly known as The Doctor, he initially raced with Repsol Honda. After his venture into Yamaha, people did not believe he could keep up his championship titles with the Yamaha YZR-M1. However, the believers were proved wrong. Rossi was in the 1st place with a total score of 306 points.

Since his childhood times, he had a unique passion and talent towards motorcycle rid-ing. This was proved since the time he was just 3 years old when he used to move his elder sister’s 50cc Peewee around the yard. Born and brought up in Southport, Queen-sland, he made his debut in the international racing scenario in the year 2002. Stoner won the title of 2007 MotoGP World Champion after beating Nicky Hayden. Casey Stoner found himself on the 4th position with a total score of 220 points in the 2009 MotoGP season.

Born in Spain, Jorge Lorenzo raced first for the Yamaha team in 2008. Since the 2008 season, till today, he has been the team mate of present World Champion Valentino Rossi. He has been facing a tough competition with his team mate for the World Championship title. Lorenzo was with Yamaha in the 2009 season as well, however there have been speculations about the possibility of Jorge joining Honda or Ducati. Lorenzo will remain in the Fiat Yamaha for the 2010 season though, to try and claim the World Championship title.

Nicholas ‘Nicky’ Patrick Hayden popularly known as The Kentucky Kid made his de-but in International Grand Prix Motorcycle racing from the 2003 season where he initially was the team mate of present World Champion Valentino Rossi, with the then Repsol Honda team. Hayden left the Repsol Honda team to join Ducati Marlboro and race alongside Casey Stoner from the 2009 MotoGP season. Hayden was in the 13th place with a total score of 104 in the 2009 MotoGP season.

Fiat Yamaha Ducati Marlboro

MOTO GP 2010 PREVIEW

Valentino Rossi Casey Stoner

Jorge Lorenzo Nicky Hayden

An overview of all the teams and the riders for the MotoGp 2010 season. Compiled by : Shrey Sunil

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Repsol Honda is the official factory team of the Honda Racing Corporation and Repsol YPF. The team had a 3 rider line up in the year 1995 including Mick Doohan, Àlex Crivillé and Shinichi Itoh who raced on a Honda NSR500. In the 2002 MotoGP season which was the debut of the new MotoGP class, Velintino Rossi who is the present World Champion joined the team with Tohru Ukawa as team mate, with the new Honda RC211V. The new 800cc Honda RC212V was introduced to the team in the year 2007 due to changes in the technical rules. At that time, the team included Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa. However, in the 2009 season, Nicky Hayden was replaced by Andrea Dovizioso. The team will feature the same line up for the 2010 season.

The Pramac Racing team which competes in the MotoGP World Championship was created early in the year 2000 by an Italian company by the name Pramac. The team entered the MotoGP World Championship from the 2002 season with Tetsuya Harada as a racer racing on a Honda NSR500. In the 2003 season, the team used a Honda RC211V with Makoto Tamada as the racer. In the 2009 season, the team used a Ducati Desmosedici GP9 with Mika Kallio and Niccolò Canepa as their riders. However, in the 2010 season, Canepa will be replaced by Aleix Espargaro.

Dani Pedrosa is a Spanish racer presently racing for the Repsol Honda team. He is the youngest world champion in the 250cc class Grand Prix. He made his entry into MotoGP in the year 2006. Critics appealed that the short heighted Dani wouldn’t be able to handle the heavy MotoGP bikes for the World Championship. However, Dani proved to them that “size doesn’t matter”. In the 2009 season, Pedrosa ended up in the 3rd place with a total score of 234 points.

Mika Kallio is a Finnish GP motorcycle racer who was awarded the “Rookie of the Year” in 2002. In 2001, he made his debut in the 125cc World Championship, racing with the Finnish rookie team by the name Ajo Motorsport. Mika made his debut in MotoGP World Championship in the 2009 season with the Pramac rac-ing team. The Finnish racer will be racing with the same team in the 2010 season as well. Mika will race on the latest spec Ducati Desmosedici GP9. He finished in the 15th place with a total score of 71 points in the 2009 MotoGP World Cham-pionship season.

The Italian racer won the 125cc World Championship in the year 2004. He made his debut in the MotoGP World Championship in the 2008 season racing for the Team Scot Honda. Being one of Honda’s most consistent and talented racers, he replaced Nicky Hayden and became an official racer of the Repsol Honda team for the 2009 season. Andrea was in the 6th position in the 2009 season with a total score of 160 points.

The Pramac team racer Aleix Espargaro is a Spanish racer competing in the Mo-toGP World Championship. The 2010 MotoGP season will be his debut in the MotoGP class. Prior to this, Aleix has also competed in the 125cc and 250cc class of the Grand Prix Motorcycle racing World Championship. He is the replacement for Niccolò Canepa in the Pramac racing team. Aleix has also replaced Canepa owing to his injuries during the last two races of the 2009 season in Sepang and Valencia.

Repsol Honda Pramac Racing MOTO GP

Dani Pedrosa Mika Kallio

Andrea Dovizioso Aleix Espargaro

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The Rizla Suzuki MotoGP team is the official factory backed team competing in the MotoGP World Cham-pionship. Kenny Roberts Jr. and Sete Gibernau were the racers of the team in the 2002 season which was the debutant season of the new MotoGP class. At that time, the team racers raced on the Suzuki GSV-R four-stroke motorcycle. The team which included Chris Vermeulen and John Hopkins for the 2007 season raced on the new 800cc Suzuki GSV-R. For the next season, John Hopkins was replaced by Loris Capirossi. The 2010 line up for the team includes Loris Capirossi and Alvaro Bautista.

Gresini racing is the motorcycle racing team competing in the MotoGP World Championship under the name San Carlo Honda Gresini. The team was founded in 1997 by Fausto Gresini, a 125cc class racer who has two World Championship titles. At the end of the 2002 season, the team was given the new Honda RC211Vwith Daijiro Kato as the team racer (joined in 2000). The team’s logo bears Kato’s number 74 as a memory and a sym-bol of respect after his death in the start of the 2003 season. The 2010 season lineup includes Marco Melandri and Marco Simoncelli.

The Italian motorcycle racer currently races for the factory backed Suzuki team called Rizla Suzuki. He is the most experienced rider in the 250cc World Cham-pionship class and has been a former World Champion for Aprilia too. The 2010 season opening at Qatar, will mark Capirossi’s 300th start. Loris had finished 3rd in the 2006 MotoGP season. With 110 points in hand, he finished 9th in the 2009 season.

Melandri is an Italian racer who is a former 250cc World Champion of the 2002 season. As a matter of fact, he resides just about 2 miles away from the Donington Park race track in England. He made his debut in the MotoGP World Champion-ship in the 2003 season, racing for Yamaha’s factory backed team with team mate Carlos Checa. He joined the Gresini racing team in the 2006 season alongside Toni Elías. Melandri shifted to the factory team for the 2009 season where he was ranked 10th with a total score of 108 points. The 2010 season will however see Melandri back in the Gresini racing team.

The Spanish racer is racing for the Suzuki team in the MotoGP World Champi-onship. He made his debut in International Grand Prix Motorcycle racing in the 2002 season of the 125cc World Championship. Alvaro will be making his debut in the MotoGP World Championship in the 2010 season starting this April. The racer has claimed the 2006 season World Champion title in the 125cc class while racing for Aprilia and also was ranked 2nd in the 250cc class in the 2008 season.

Marco Simoncelli is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. The Italian racer competes in the 125cc and 250cc World Championship. He has won the 2008 season World Championship for the 250cc class and finished in the 3rd position during the next season. Semoncelli will make his debut in the 2010 season Mo-toGP World Championship.

Rizla Suzuki San Carlo Honda GresiniMOTO GP

Loris Capirossi Marco Melandri

Alvaro BautistaMarco Simoncelli

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The Tech team is competing in the MotoGP World Championship under the name Monster Yamaha Tech 3. Like the Fiat Yamaha team, the Monster Yamaha too uses the YZR M1. Herve Poncharal, engineer Guy Coulon and Bernard Martignac were the founders of the team which started racing in the year 1990, competing in the 250cc class. Initially the team used Honda and Suzuki motorcycles which are now replaced by Yamaha M1s (from the end of 2002 season) after the team joined hands with Yamaha in 1999. Ben Spies and Colin Edwards will be the Monster Yamaha racers for the 2010 MotoGP season.

The Aspar racing team traces its origin from Spain. Along with MotoGP, the team also competes in the Moto2 and 125cc World Championship. The former world champion Jorge Martínez is the founder of this team. The team is all set to make its debut in the MotoGP World Championship in the 2010 season starting this April. The team will compete in the MotoGP class as a self-contained entity for the first time. The team features the Spanish rider Hector Barbera who will be riding the Ducati Desmosedici GP10.

Popularly known as “Elbowz” owing to his riding style with protruding elbows, Ben Spies started as a wild card entry into the MotoGP World Championship after Loris Capirossi’s injuries at the British GP on 22 June 2008. After this, Spies again made a wild card entry for Yamaha Tech 3 in the 2009 season in Valencia where he managed to finish in the 7th place. He signed a contract to race for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team for the 2010 MotoGP World Championship season. Ben Spies was in the 20th position with 9 points in the 2009 MotoGP season. Hector Barbera is the Spanish racer racing for the Aspar team in

the MotoGP World Championship. He started his World Cham-pionship career early in 2002 when he was 15 years old under the supervision of the Aspar team founder, Jorge Martínez. Barbera will make his MotoGP debut this year in the 2010 season which is bound to begin in April, as per the announcement made on the 20th of August, 2009.

Born in Texas, Colin Edwards was nick named as Texas Tornado. The two time World Superbike Champion started his MotoGP career in the year 2003 riding for the Aprillia team on the RS3 Cube. In the year 2005 Colin raced as a team mate of World Champion Valentino Rossi with the Gauloises Yamaha factory team. Edwards joined the Yamaha Tech 3 team in the 2008 season, then racing as team mate with James Toseland who was a fellow Superbike World Champion. Edward signed a 1 year extension contract with the team and will now race with Ben Spies as team mate in the 2010 MotoGP season. In the 2009 season, he completed in the 5th place with a total score of 161 points.

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Paginas Amarillas AsparMOTO GP

Ben Spies

Hector Barbera

Colin Edwards

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The Interwetten Honda is a racing team which is originally based in Switzerland. The 2010 MotoGP season will be the first season where the team will race as a self-contained entity or a complete team. The team also competes in the Moto2 and the 125cc class. The team has only one rider by the name Hiroshi Aoyama. In this season, the team will feature the Honda RC212V.

The LCR Honda is a team founded by former Italian rider Lucio Cecchinello. The team was set up in the year 1996 initially competing in the 125cc World Championship. During the championship, the team won several top ten positions which continued in the year 1997 too. The team moved on to MotoGP in the year 2006 with Casey Stoner as their racer. Randy de Puniet initially raced for the team in the year 2003 for the 250cc World Championship. In the 2008 session, Randy joined the team again to compete in the MotoGP World Champi-onship and the team has remained unchanged since then.

Hiroshi Aoyama is the elder brother of former 250cc and World Super-bike rider, Shuhei Aoyama. The Japanese racer will race for the Interwetten Honda team. The 2010 season marks his debut in MotoGP. Prior to this, he has raced in the 250cc class as well. Riding in the 250cc class with Honda, Hiroshi finished 2nd in the 2003 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. In the 2009 season, Aoyama finished 1st in the 250cc class with a total score of 261 points.

Randy de Puniet is a French racer who first raced for the MotoGP championship in the year 2006 for the Kawasaki Factory team. The French 125cc champion raced for the LCR Honda team in the year 2003 for the 250cc World Championship and then again joined the team in the year 2008 for the MotoGP World Cham-pionship. Riding the Honda RC212V, he was in the 9th position with 88 points in the 2009 MotoGP season.

Interwetten Honda LCR HondaMOTO GP

Hiroshi Aoyama Randy de Puniet

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The first ever Ahmedabad MotoMeet took place on the 28th of March, 2010. The location which was decided for the first MotoMeet was Ahmedad

Motorep Nishant Desai’s farm house which is about a 16 km ride in the out skirts of the city. The MotoMeet was more of a ‘Bulleteers’ Meet. Even though there were only four Royal Enfields, their royal thump with the Motoroids passion did make heads turn. Parthsarthi Medh, a lawyer cum hardcore motor-head and Vivek Shah, a CA and an avid biker joined the Ahmedabad Motoreps Nishant, Swaroop and Nikhil for the MotoMeet.

At the MotoMeet, the concept of Motoroids was discussed and the necessity and important duties of a Motorep too was emphasized. The members discussed how the concept of Motoroids could be spread across not only Ahmedabad, but the entire state of Gujarat via the means of various forums and Bikers and Car enthusiast meets. The point of distributing Motoroids Merchandise too was given stress on the meet. At the MotoMeet, the Motoroids made it a point to share knowledge about Auto Enthusiasts in and around the city of Ahmedabad.

AHMEDABADA log of Motoroids’ get togethers across the country!MOTOMEETs

Words & Pics Nishant Desai

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I was stuck in a big dilemma about whether to or not to go for the first ever Goa MotoMeet. It was an Easter eve the previous night and I went to bed at 4

a.m. after coming home from mid-night mass, so making it for the meet in the morning at 10 a.m. was a worry for me. But I had the responsibility of being a Motorep of my state and I wasn’t going to miss it for anything.

Akshay Tendulkar, Goa’s other Motorep called me and had informed me through chat as well about Sunday’s meet. There were many who had exams coming up. I salute these guys who still made it to the Motomeet – it was really inspiring (Now by that I don’t want all of you to put your studies on the backburner). Akshay told me that the participants were not keen on leaving soon for studies either. Nice!

At first I was apprehensive about whether people would turn up, as from a group of 35 the best ever G2G that we had was of 22 members. In contrast here we had the “First-Ever” Motoroid meet and we had around 15 bikers attending it. Definitely the number will

GOA increase.The introductions proved to be a lovely

ice-breaker. Old time pal and biker buddy Utkarsh Aldonkar and Ashish Bhopal were a pleasant surprise at the meet. After that we took some time explaining the rules of Motomeets to the members. Some members shared their experiences on how at times a lid and a simple (even rain) jacket saved them from grave injuries. We explained that eventually we should all go in for kits.

The most heartening sight was when all of them raised their hands to the question, “How many of you want official Motoroids stickers?”

Remember I mentioned elsewhere that more members will join such meets? Well, a blue R-15 blazed out of the main gates of the Raj Bhavan when our shutter bug was taking pictures. He stared at all the rides lined up as he went past. Two minutes later he was back, our mystery man took off his lid and started inquiring about the congregation, and the rest is history. We heartily welcomed Vikas to the Motoroids family.

There were 6 R-15’s, a Pulsar 220 FI, 200, 180 & 150 each. From the Honda Satbles, we had a Unicorn and a Stunner and the Mama of ‘em all and one

of the easiest to ride Superbikes the Honda CBR-1000RR. Akshay still can’t get over his dream of taking the 1000 for a short spin. “He’d sleep well tonight” we all said.

We have tried to make one thing very clear in the inaugural Meet itself. We are not out to look for quantity of bikers but quality. We’d rather prefer 10 pukka bikers than 30 posers; I hope we are on the right lines of thinking here, Amit.

All in all we had a chilled out relaxed outing and enjoyed meeting up with total strangers and old pals alike. A special mention for a couple of more things, Ravi came on what was one of the only complete, officially kitted Yamaha R-15. Although the silencer note wasn’t that intoxicating the performance sure was amazing.

As we were winding up a Toyota came and stopped near us, the driver asked us what we were doing, and immediately on hearing our motive, threw his hat in with us and told us that he would love to join us on our next meet. Phone numbers we exchanged immediately. Turned out, our friend was a super biker. So that brought to an end our first meet as Motoroids. Motoroids Goa is born and sure is alive with excitement. Until the next meet, Ride Safe!

Words Nikhil a.k.a. Nik2kil Pics Aga, Nikhil and Akshay Prabhu Tendulkar

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One MotoMeet after another was happening in the upper part of India. It was time for the riders of

South India to organize a MotoMeet and create awareness about the concept and philosophy of Motoroids. So, after a long planning session, we finally met up at our usual location, the District Municipal Stadium’s parking lot. This was a neat chance to attract more outsiders towards the concept of Motoroids and spread the message of the fast growing community.

On the scheduled day I set off for the 30 km ride to the Meet on my Honda. The fact that the meet was in the afternoon (especially in a part of the country which is so close to the equator) wasn’t very good for comfort. I left earlier than others, rode through the sweltering heat and managed to reach the location before everyone

else. I waited a while till I was joined by Ghost Ryder performer ABU on his Honda Unicorn. Later on, the list grew longer with two more riders Safaf and Jamshi on their RX135 5-Speeders showed up.

We waited for some time, discussing possible upgrades for our bikes. Gururaj was the next to show up in his space ship, the humble Alto, which has undergone a hell lot of modifications with cool halogens. Along with Gururaj were Rittaz and Thabiz. These guys are modification maniacs whose minds are constantly cluttered with thousands of visions and thoughts like “free flow on Ford Ikon, alloys for Innova etc.”

The meet got underway finally and we started to discuss local motorsports and future opportunities to promote the same through Motoroids. While I was busy

explaining the concept of Motoroids and how to utilize most out of it for the benefit of Motor-heads like us, Mujib showed up in his Gypsy, the current local motorsport star, after whom arrived some more enthusiasts in an Indica and another Ford Ikon and some more guys with a modified TVS Scooty Pep and Splendor. Then it was time for a brief photo session.

After the photo session, we moved to a new location near an under construction bridge where ABU along with his fellow riders usually practices.

After spending some time at the spot, we decided to have one more MotoMeet very soon and resolved that the next meet will be bigger and even better, after which

RX’s with their blue smoke and Fords with their free-flows disappeared into the highway.

KERALAWords & Pics Sheik Rehan

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The last time I wrote a long term report for the Hunk, I hadn’t taken the

bike up the winding ghats of the Sahyadris. But now I had got a few opportunities to take the beast up the winding tarmac. For those who haven’t read my previous long term report (November 2009), let me mention that my bike runs on a Pulsar 200 chain and rear sprocket along with a Karizma front sprocket. The modification did kill a little bit of the initial pickup but gave a boost after 4k rpm. However, this was in the case of normal city conditions. Climbing up winding ghats now forces me to kick the gear pedal down till it goes no further. Yes, you heard right! I have to climb on the first gear.

As far as the looks go, the bike is spic and span thanks to my habit of putting the bike regularly under the shower and polishing it later on. Just that being a bit too busy with the college these days, now I pay for getting the bike washed. Amongst a few other changes made by me are the restructured seat and seat cover (God punish who ever tore the old one). The seat has been treated with a tad more of foam to make it flatter and

New gear, more often than not will work perfectly. We tell you what state it’ll be in after it undergoes some hammering ACID TEST

ShrEy’S hEro honDA hunk

wider in the front. This ensures that I don’t travel back to the front of the saddle in case I lean back comfortably and commute.

The locally manufactured rear brake shoes are still doing wonders unlike any pair of original Hero Honda brake shoes I have ever used. The story in case of the front disc pads is even more interesting. The disc seems to cry for new disc pads after every 4-5k kilometers. Is this the deteriorating quality of Hero Honda spares or is it just the deteriorating quality of my good luck which just seems to be very bad in these cases? To add to the misery, I had to replace my clutch plates too when the clock read about 14,500 km. After the replacement, the engine suffered from a faulty gasket and thus, oil leaks from the engine head which has now stopped after gasket replacement. There also seems to be some kind of issue with the rear wheel which has eaten up my second MRF Zapper from one side.

Another striking issue with regard to Hero Honda after sales service

just recently happened when I decided to get my timing chain replaced at the same time I replaced my clutch plates (as the chain is a bit too noisy). The service people opened the crank case and it was then that they discovered that they didn’t have a tool with them to remove the magnet out. The tool is called a puller. They promised to get the tool in a month’s time. However, a month later, when they again opened the crank case realized the same even though I had informed them well in advance. It was then that they stated that the puller was unavailable in almost all Hero Honda service centers they could contact and the company had not provided them with the particular tool. It has been more than two years and six months since the bike was launched and surprisingly, the company hasn’t provided appropriate tools for the particular model. I intend to bring this issue to the company’s concern. If there is anyone else who has suffered the same fate, do drop me a mail at [email protected].

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The last long term report of the Pulsar 200 didn’t have anything great to be written about the bike. But after the whole incident where the engine conked off, the bike is running

really well. With 23000 km on the odo with just the change of jaded parts like brake pads and chain and sprocket during the previous few servicings, the bike is running phenomenally well! Putting 1000km on the clock in the last week alone while running to and fro from Mumbai a couple of times for office work has induced a few vibrations in the front fairing but there is no noise. The bike has been running just the way I always wanted it to. There’s nothing to complain apart from a small glitch in the fuel gauge, which now cannot be trusted to decide the quantity of fuel left in the tank. The fact that the bike has done 23K kilomters without requiring a tyre change has begun bothering me now. The hardened compound is a worrisome proposition on wet patches of road. Hope MRF is back with the Zapper Q’s soon enough. The last time I inquired, there was a shortage due to a strike at the company! Riding the bike in the city at 4000rpm rewards you with great mileage. Staying on the suburbs I hardly have to face the stop and go Pune traffic and hence I get an astonishing mileage of 42-46 to the litre consistently.

Fuel efficiency drops a bit during fast stints on the highway though. While anything close to 4500 rpm is good for zooming in the city, on the higway you are at a constant 7000-8000rpm to keep an average speed of 100-120kays. The bike feels at home at the speed though, and doesn’t make me feel like things will fall off.

Right now I have my eyes on the clip on handles bars of the newer range of the pulsars. I might get one of those on my 200.They give a better stance compared to the retro handle bars the bike already sports.

Pillions as always hate the bike, thanks to the rear grab rail which vibrates a lot, numbing the hands if you are doing speed over 80kmph for longer durations. So the next time we hit the highway, just the thought of riding as a pillion scares the living poop out of Rohit and Pradeb.

New gear, more often than not will work perfectly. We tell you what state it’ll be in after it undergoes some hammering ACID TEST

EShAn’S PulSAr 200

Page 62: Motoroids2 April 2010

If you are interested in joining this group, drop in an email to [email protected]

If you want your biking group to be featured on this page, drop in a mail to [email protected] with your group’s pictures and answers to all the questions above

This month Motoroids caught up with ‘Renegade Devilz’ - a motorcycle group from Pune. Here’s all the important information about this club.

1. When and where was the club formed? A. The club was formed on 4th July 2007 in Pune, with 5 members.

2. How often do members meet up? A. The members have a compulsory grand meet atleast once a month, but there are various practice sessions which members attend as and when possible.

3. Which aspect of riding is the group more into?A. Initially the club was only into stunting, but now Renegade Devilz has a mix of progressive stunters and tourers.

4. What distinguishes this biking group from others?A. The main aspect that distinguishes Renegade Devilz is that it is open for anyone and everyone who wants to become a part of the biking world, regardless of what they ride or whether they know how to stunt, race, knee-scraping etc or no. Renegade Devilz has accepted members that had no knowledge about biking and has turned them into stunters/tour-ers with a respect for the sport.

5. How many riders are currently associated with the group?A. Currently Renegade Devilz has 11 members.

6. Where is one most likely to see the group in action?A. Our usual practice sessions take place in and around Pune.

7. Is there any biking hierarchy within the group?A. No, the club has no hierarchy. Everyone is treated the same and as a brother, but there is a moderator to look after important things.

8. Are there any requisites to joining the group?A. A bike is a must. Any make or model will do. A valid drivers’ license and a helmet is a must. We also stress on investing in proper safety gear as a member starts progressing. Dedication towards the sport and the club is also a must.

Page 63: Motoroids2 April 2010

Just in case you thought we ever work....

Ramakant went down to buy some detergent and came back thoroughly washed

Now that’s definitely not the way to administer first-aid to a victim, Shrey! Pradeb found the boot of the Figo comfy enough to catch a nap

Dude, are you OK? ‘Not with your smelly armpits all around me!’

Pradeb discusses the technical aspects of the bike with Kunal, as Eshan tries to show off his anorexic ass

Rash got drenched in a moment - such was the inten-sity of the sudden hailstorm that hit Pune a month back

Page 64: Motoroids2 April 2010

Shit, not again! Waiter, get me another large one, On the rocks!

Ahem! The owner of this bicycle sure has a tough behind

I’m not going to leave you till the end of this world, sexy!

For all those who have booked a property on the moon, here a car too, with specially engineered clearance for craters

April 2010

64

...and he wonders why they call him gay

With space management, we didn’t mean ‘outer space’

Page 65: Motoroids2 April 2010

Disclaimer : The pictures in this feature have been procured from the Internet and are not owned by Motoroids

Think you can get crazier than this? Send us your crazy pictures at

[email protected] and we’ll feature them here along with your

name.

Come, my precious. Let me show you what heavens look like

Erm, first tell me why rhyme so dirty?

I told you not to hire an American car for the wedding!

Now that’s what you call a high-contrast pictureThe world sure is not a fair place Yipee! I finally managed to wash my a**!

April 2010

65

Page 66: Motoroids2 April 2010

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