If you are reading this, then you are in all likelihood an automobile enthusiast who is rather passionate about cars, and as is more likely to be the case, bikes. And a large part of being passionate about automobiles is finding and then falling for those vehicles that captivate you. Not just fascinate you but captivate. The ones that we dream about for years.
2004 Kawasaki ZX10R
And this happens in different ways. Earlier it used to be from hearing stories told to you by an enthusiast bloke in the family or neighbourhood. Then came the times where automobile magazines were the only source of hopes and dreams for a generation of us Indian enthusiasts. Now we cant think of not being able to read a review on our smartphones or watch YouTube videos on our smart TVs at a moment's notice. And the beauty of it all is that falling for these captivating vehicles manifests itself in infinite ways.
2007 Kawasaki ZX10R
When it came to motorcycles, I've always had a one way love affair with the magnificent Japanese litre class quartet. But among the four, over the years it was always the Kawasaki ZX10R that drew the heart strings the strongest. And when the original CBZ and Pulsar twins were the biggest motorcycles that I knew while growing up in a small town with a middle class upbringing, the dreams of owning a litre class motorcycle were just that. Dreams. And all you could do was go back to the magazines with reviews and comparison tests of the best of what Japan had to offer two wheeled enthusiasts and read those articles all over again. And then you dreamed again.
2008 Kawasaki ZX10R
Through the years, Ive been blessed to own a few motorcycles but even 5 years ago, I never really thought we would get litre class motorcycles that would be within reach of regular folks like you and me. But things changed. Some of the Japanese giants were more aggressive than the others and the prices of these monsters started coming down slowly. And through abundant blessings and a lot of hard work, the litre class dream started looking like it might become a reality. Finally test rides for these litre class motorcycles started becoming available (
how much our market has matured in such a short time!) and you could actually be sure about putting down a big portion of your life's earnings to achieve a boyhood dream.
2011 Kawasaki ZX10R
The problem is, as you start getting older you, you cannot avoid getting wiser. And the more you think about it, the more you realize that these litre class masterclasses are just too much for most Indian roads. Just the first gear itself gets you into speeds that are illegal. The aggressive seating posture will make you discover new muscles and shop for a new spring foam mattress to sleep on. The abysmal mileage would make you wonder if taking your car would be more economical than taking your litre class bike out. But all of this sense and sensibilities would crumble when you picked up your old automobile magazines and read through the old reviews that you probably knew by heart. Or when I watched Ari and Zack's lovely review of the then new ZX10R for the n-th time.
2014 Kawasaki ZX10R
And so it came to be that that everything was almost in place in 2018. The test ride of the Kawasaki ZX10R was done. The friendly sales guys were excited to find a genuine enthusiast in me who shared the same passion for two wheels that they did. Kawasaki did its part by announcing a magnificent drop dead pricing that stole the show. And they almost had a big portion of my life's earnings in their hands as well until I realized that the local dealership was using underhanded tricks to inflate the pricing illegally by a very substantial amount. And that was it. Dream over.
2017 Kawasaki ZX10R Pearl Blizzard White
No other litre class motorcycle was close to being this affordable. But there was no way I was getting cheated out of my hard earned money due to a crooked dealer. And so I had to let go of the one dream that I had for the last twenty plus years. The Kawasaki had gotten away.
2018 Kawasaki ZX10R KRT Edition
A few months later, a fellow TBHPian and close friend shared details of a middleweight motorcycle that was perfect for me and had come up for sale. It had almost every required accessory already installed on it. The price was right. The seating position was comfortable. The owner was a thorough gentleman. And the deal was sealed. I've had no regrets since then. Being a preowned motorcycle, I saved a big amount as compared to buying the new ZX10R but it wasn't the bike that I had dreamt of for so many years.
2019 Kawasaki ZX10RR
But a couple of Sundays ago, I will confess my heart skipped a few beats when I realized that a fellow rider had come on the 2019 Kawasaki ZX10R. Yes, it had changed over the years and with its new KRT edition paint scheme it looked like it was trying hard to match the better looking litre class motorcycles of today. The old dash gives away its age in a time of digital TFTs and modern electronics. But the heart still skipped a few beats the same way that your grizzly, weathered and by now cynical heart does when you unexpectedly meet an old college sweetheart. And as I watched the rider pilot the ZX10R gracefully and without drama, I couldn't help myself but think what if.
But that is the life of an automobile enthusiast. For most of us, ours dream remains forever out of our reach and we are fine with it. We love the dream for being the dream. I will never be able to own the wonderful Ford Mustang but that I still love every generation of it nonetheless. Sometimes, a very few achieve these automotive dreams and enjoy them to the fullest. And very rarely, our dreams are within our grasp but they get snatched away. But I wouldn't despair at this for it is better to have dreamt and lost than never to have dreamt at all.
And thus fate has destined that I will never own the Kawasaki ZX10R in this lifetime. Maybe it is for the better. Who knows. You realize that times have changed and you have also changed. You move on. A fellow TBHPian and wonderful buddy told me that my patience with the Royal Enfield Continental GT was unwavering and it was almost like a spoilt child whose mistakes the parent keeps overlooking. And I guess that is true. So here is to the two motorcycles in my garage, one of which the amazingly engineered and built to perfection while the other, well the other is the Royal Enfield Continental GT 535. Unlike the Kawasaki that got away, Ive had thousands of kilometers and years of fun with the two motorcycles in my garage and I look forward to having many more. Sometimes, even the most captivating of dreams, will have to remain just dreams.