The Big Bong Theory

To most of my friends, if they're reading this, this will seem like a joke. For most of my life, I have been a 4 wheeler person, through and through. From the first 800 my dad brought to his current Chevy, I love driving cars. They have speed, comfort, and most importantly, an AC.

All this was, however before I started riding. Now, I know next to nothing about bikes. Except as a driving medium which has a jiggly leg operated gear shift on the left, and require both hands and legs to drive, it seemed remarkably tough, and I respected all those people who actually had the temerity to go racing on them. It was thus only necessity which drove me towards getting one. Auto fares in Mysore are notoriously bad, and the amount of money they got from me on a monthly basis would have kept quite a number of families happily fed with 3 square meals a day. Hari, who professed to be something of a bike expert came along (incidentally, he was a bug help, and actually taught me how to drive the bike). Initially I was thinking of getting a splendor, it being the only bike I’d ever driven before, but then I saw a pulsar, and that was that.

Now, Praharsh, who along with Hari shares a flat with me, owns a Yamaha 135, and has kept it in immaculate condition. I’d never driven a Yamaha before, so ignoring Hari's fervent urges to go for one, I had decided on the pulsar. But then one day I did drive it, and it absolutely floored me. Now the bike has a lot of problems - weak brakes, weaker headlights, and a nonexistent suspension (anyone who's been on an auto-rickshaw will get what I mean), but what it's going for it is that Awesome sound, and a pickup which just goes on and on, and on. It's a very small bike, parked next to my bike, it looks like a featherweight, and can be confidently handled by pretty much anyone. In fact, Pradheepa, who works in my office and is around 5"1" drove one recently on a bet.

But what the bike has Really got going for it is that beautiful sound. When the Motogp decided to switch from 2-strokes to 4-strokes, to account for pollution standards, the day was universally mourned as "the day the music died". You only have to drive a Honda Unicorn to understand the difference. Without any disrespect to what is one of the best commuter bikes in India today, the unicorn has about as much personality as a wet rag. It makes an indistinct whirr sound, like somebody forgot to put in the engine, and the driving experience, does not, to put it mildly, leave one hankering for more. The Yamaha, on the other hand, sounds and behaves like its on speed. The engine makes a throaty roar in neutral, after which it just gets better. And it’s an absolute pleasure to drive. And the bike seems to last forever. For something which stopped production a few years back, you will see a LOT of them around.

I love my bike, don't get me wrong. It has an awesome presence, has a powerful engine and can (and does) outgun the Yamaha regularly on a straight. But sometimes, when I do get to drive the 135, I wish that Hari had tried a little bit harder.