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Here, Adamya Manshiva, expresses his love for his bike in response to our invite.(Share YOURS too!)
Photographs: Adamya Manshiva
Some people say I treat it as my wife, others ask why care so much, it is a machine it has no feeling, it has no life, but hell I say, once I hear it roar it does make me feel alive, is how Get Ahead reader Adamya Manshiva expresses his love for his favourite Royal Enfield Bullet.
Almost two years into riding bullet and I have realised one thing. Enfield Bullet is a temperamental machine.
My first riding experience on a bullet is of the test ride I took on it. The very first kick when it roared to life, I knew I had to have it. After that for the next few weeks until I finally got it, the only thing I dreamt of was to kickstart my very own bullet.
The first experience with the Bullet, though was an anti-climax. After a series of heroic knee fracturing kicks it failed to start. The attendant looking at my distraught condition politely suggested that I should wait till it is topped up with fuel. My monomaniacal plans thus crushed and my ego lying very much below the bullet wheels, I watched patiently as he fueled up the tank. The next ride lasted about 20 meters after which the Bullet coughed, sputtered and died (quite ironic since the Bullet is supposed to kill with its looks).
This time I met up with a philosophical Enfield staff who told me that the bullet is a mechanical bike and these issues iron out over time (time being anywhere from a few months to a lifetime).
It is all about the man and machine reaching an understanding. The understanding it seems was not to be reached on that day. The bike stopped five times on my way home, twice on my way to the temple and seven times while taking it back to the showroom. Thrice I kicked the bike in frustration and once it kicked back.
It was enough.
At the end of our tryst I lay writhing in pain while the bullet stood undefeated, unfazed and unmoving (both in literal and figurative sense).
Another gruelling session in the workshop ensued and I got enlightened about spark plug cleaning, carburetor tuning and of course bolts tightening. I had never needed to learn any of it with pulsar. Hell I never even knew what motorcycle maintenance was before getting the Bullet.
I religiously spent my next few weekends in the Bullet Workshop. Always taking a new problem for them to resolve and always coming up with a new problem the following week. I was always patient with the Enfield staff and they in turn were surprisingly patient about my chronic problems. Bit by bit, I started learning about the mechanics of motorcycle maintenance. Clutch replacement, chain cleaning and engine oil replacement all uncharted areas, started making sense. Some I learnt from my weekend sermons at the bullet workshop and some I googled online.
Finally I was ready for my big trip. As this was my first I planned a trip to Nainital a mere 350 odd kms from Gurgaon. I googled up and found the shortest route on the map. That was my longest mistake. The route ran through a place called Tanda. Which is essentially a twenty kilometer stretch of pure mud. Once I reached there I realised why the stretch was showing empty even in the busy evening hours. To say that the potholes had road between them would be an understatement.
And then the bullet showed me what it was made of. Pothole after pothole it went on steadily without losing ground or losing its grip on the road even once. I kept seeing other motorcyclists stranded beside because their motorbikes gave up. Even at some places where knee-deep mud made it difficult to stand my Enfield just roared through. As I cleared the stretch and reached the foothills of the mountains, I had found renewed respect for my Royal ride.
Then I started my winding route up the mountains and my respect turned to reverence.
Even with a pillion passenger it went up the hills so smoothly that it was almost like gliding. I finally understood why Indians rush to Bullet for mountain roads.
Once I came back I decided to do two things:
1. To take good care of my bullet
2. To take good care of my bullet myself
Since then I have changed a few parts on it. I replaced Bosch spark plugs with NGK iridium spark plugs, which has considerably increased its fuel efficiency and stopped the starting problems. I have replaced the factory silencer with short bottle exhaust reducing its vibrations and giving the bike a more retro thump. I added roots megasonic horns for highway presence. I also invested in good waxes, chain lubricants, a toolbox with allen wrench keys and ratchet for bike maintenance.
Every day I clean and buff my bullet. Every alternate week I wash it with soap and water. Every couple of months I wax and shine it and every 3000 kms I give it a full inspection and servicing.
Quite surprisingly I almost find it therapeutic. Some people say I treat it as my wife, others ask why care so much, it is a machine it has no feeling, it has no life, but hell I say, once I hear it roar it does make me feel alive.
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