Introduction | A middle-aged bike lover Hello all,
I am a mechanical engineer by profession and a creative artist by passion. I am in my 45th year now.
My very first experience with a two-wheeler was my dad's Suvega. Nice little moped. And then Luna, Kinetic Honda, and Activa. All were my dad owned. Among them, I still love the rides on Suvega, Luna, and Kinetic.
When I passed my engineering with good grades, my dad gave me Rs.19000 to buy a bike. And by that time I had already decided which bike I would be buying. None other than 86 make RX100. I purchased my (can say my dad's) first bike in 2004. It was a bit modified when I bought it. After a few months of working and saving some money, I gave it to a reliable mechanic in Mysore to bring it back to the stock version. Luckily the bike was previously owned by a doctor and was in good condition. Did not have much work to do though, it cost me around Rs.6000 then. Those times were difficult even for shelling out Rs.1000 extra.
In 2004, I moved to Bangalore from Mysore for work and along with me came my RX100. That was my first long ride. Loaded the truck with bare essentials to live in Bangalore and rode my bike to Bangalore. And that was when I came to know about TeamBHP from a colleague when I asked him about a reliable mechanic in Bangalore for my bike. From then I am visiting TeamBHP to learn various topics.
I took my RX on road trips (not so long) to Waynad, Ooty, and Coorg and of course every weekend trip to Mysore to see my parents.
I got married and became father to a boy in 2007. By that time my RX100 had reached its 4th bore. And I wanted to have an alternate bike and bought a new Apache 160. In 2008 I had to move to England. Sold both bikes. The depreciation of Apache was encashed in the RX100 sale!
Upon returning from the UK, again I started to look for a good RX100 and bought one from Mysore. Fortunately got a stock version this time and was a bit unhappy as I was the third owner. However, the bike was good and at the second bore. I had this bike for a good 8 years and thought of going for a higher capacity machine. Sold RX for a very good price, and bought FZ25. Made several road trips on FZ25 (Mangalore, Ooty, Chikkamagalore, Sakaleshapura, Shivamogga, Coorg, Kerala, Coimbatore, Chennai, and a few more places). Though I did not enjoy its top end, I had quite fun.
Again I had to move to Sweden and sold my FZ25. Now coming back to India and looking for a better and more reliable bike. I am not the same rider I used to be 15-20 years ago. And now I am not a speed guy. On the highway, I enjoy cruising at 90-100kmph so that I can enjoy both the ride and nature. I take breaks every 2 hours. You can say I am a middle-aged biker with not-so-good knowledge of technicalities. I always had the skill of engine breaking/rpm matching but never knew that word. That dumb I am.
On four wheeler front, I owned Alto and Estilo in the past and now have an i20. I am not a car guy but love my i20 and my dream car is Volvo XC40.
Apart from bikes, I have a special interest in watch collection, hiking, creative designs, philosophy, cooking and "creative thinking" is my stress-buster.
I am sorry for such a long introduction post. I just revved my thought flow.
A sincere "Thank You" to all of you here. The whole community is awesome and helpful. I may not contribute much with technicals and would be a better participant with my two cents wherever possible and within my knowledge.
Before saying bye, I would love to have some suggestions/leads on the bike to buy. I prefer an upright or slightly committed riding position. I am 5'7" tall. And the budget is 3.5 lakhs maximum. As of now, I have made some research and these are my thoughts.
Kawasaki Ninja : Very narrow ground clearance. I loved this bike but as I have to travel to my farm near Mysore where roads are not good, the low ground clearance would be an issue. So I have kept this out of the list as of now.
FZ25 : I had owned and experienced. Good for the city and decent on the highway, but want to go for a change. (If nothing comes up, this is my final call)
Honda CB300R : Loved the compact machine. Promisingly agile and nimble. Not very good with features for the price. But probably a good buy.
Yamaha R3 : I do not have much data from reviews.
Storm 250x : Assist and slipper clutch is missing which would have been great. Also, the power is not that great for that price.
BMP 310R : Found it interesting and exicting. But worried about the service network as I am planning to go for long road trips once a month.
KTM bikes : I do not think KTM's non-linear power delivery is for my liking.
Thanks again, Good day!
J |