Re: Share your 1st-ever Riding & Driving experiences Nice thread!
Learnt to bicycle on - BSA SLR. The name is enough, absolute legend!
First bicycle - Hercules Splash (non-turbodrive). Quite a rare one this was. It was heavy, had a bigger frame than the 'turbodrive' series and it was super durable.
Learnt to ride on - 2006 Bajaj CT100. As light as a bicycle, rear biased weight distribution, used to pop torque-wheelies in first gear every time, electric pickup till 60 kph, dead post 60 and extremely fuel efficient at 85 kmpl!
First motorcycle - 2004 Hero Honda CD Dawn. Very boring and unenthusiastic compared to CT100, but what a workhorse it was! It used to pull heavy loads like it was nothing. And it was durable to the T. It had Ok pickup till 60kph, but was totally dead after that. Handling and braking were really scary and max FE was 65 kpl. Overall, this was a very high quality motorcycle, they don't make these kind of bikes anymore.
College motorcycle - 2010 Hero Honda Passion Pro. Although it shared the basic engine with CD Dawn, Passion Pro was radically different. It was very peppy, used to effortlessly pull till 90 kph, was able to cruise at 70kph and had far better stability, handling & braking. Overall, it was a proper bike despite being just 100cc. FE was 60 kpl max. Although it was no Duke or Pulsar, but it was in huge demand among my batch mates due to it's capacity to accomodate and pull 3 full size guys (triples) : )
First gearless scooter experience - 2012 TVS Wego. The fun quotient of this scooter cannot be explained in words. It was a revelation of sorts. Sports bike like body balance, super short turning radius, electric pickup till 60 kph, motorcycle like ergos, motorcycle like ride quality......Wego was just something else!
First scooter that truly changed my perspective about gearless scooters - Suzuki Access 125 gen 2. As peppy as bikes, this scooter can cruise at 80kph all day with poise.
First 'performance' experience - 2012 Honda Unicorn 150. Unicorn was the bike that introduced me to superior/sporty performance, handling, braking and stability. Later I discovered that it's actually one of the least performing 150cc bikes. But still, Uni 150 is special for me.
Motorcycles that taught me the art of cornering - 2014 Yamaha FZs v1 and 2017 Honda Hornet 160.
First 200cc experience - 2017 TVS Apache RTR200 4v. This one was another revelation from the mad engineers of Hosur. With that big fat midrange powerband, quick revving nature and roaring exhaust note, the Apache 200 was a beast for that time.
First 2 stroke experience - 1995 TVS Suzuki Max 100. It was fun, peppy and extremely reliable.
Bike that got me hooked to 2 strokes - 1988 Yamaha RX100. This bike just oozes character. Easily one of the most satisfying bikes to ride.
Bikes that introduced me to madness - 3 bikes in that order
1. 1999 TVS-Suzuki Shogun - 14 bhp, 110kg, absolutely mad top end pull and top it up with a crazy high pitch exhaust note. This bike was so mad, that it's top end never ends. Stock engine easily revvs above 10k rpm and even at 120kph, it keeps pulling and pulling with the exhaust note just intensifiying. This bike is proof just how mad TVS race engineers are. It is one of the most scary 2 wheeler experiences that I've had.
2. 2002 Yamaha RX135 5 speed - fully ported and fitted with an expansion chamber, it made over 20bhp. It was so crazy, that it used to pop power wheelies even in 5th gear at 110 kph. And it barely weighed 100kgs, so you can imagine just how scary it was to ride it!
3. 2012 bs3 Pulsar 220F - not near anywhere as mad as the above two, but the way bs3 220 delivered performance was quite exhilerating.
In terms, of 4 wheelers, I learnt to drive on a carburetted Maruti 800 and perfected my driving skills on a 2007 Maruti Omni Mpfi and 2006 WagonR 1.1. The WagonR I still own.
I've driven a lot more cars, bikes & scooters, but these are the one's that stand out in my memory.
Last edited by RD410 : 12th February 2024 at 23:49.
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