The DNA called "Restlessness"

March 17th, 2013

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Its only been 7 days since I covered them up carefully and left town. Hand on heart, I have never missed any particular activity in my life more than "getting back on the saddle” right now.

What is it that makes it so painful? What makes a motorcyclist long for the next ride so much? Its just a machine.. right? I mean it is just a frame with a motor and 2 wheels. A mode of transport. Right?

Wrong!

Motorcycling is a way of life. Its an expression of man and machine in symphony. Its a deep rooted love for the unadulterated sensation of speed. It is a passion that is insatiable. Riding a motorcycle is being a part of the journey. Completely. You are not disjoint from the surroundings. Your sensory perception is not limited by C pillars and recirculated air. You conjoin with the machine to draw a line across space and time and its not a feeling corrupted by power steering and hydraulics. I have been driving a car for the last few days and the sensation is like the being trapped in a parka in the Atacama.

You see, motorcycling is glamourous because of the “devil may care” attitude that you wear on your sleeve when you pull on that leather jacket. Its the spontaneity that makes the journey on 2 wheels exciting. That’s why “Restlessness”  runs in their DNA of every motorcyclist. All conventional wisdom on how to deal with it, probably does not apply to them. In more than 99% of the cases the cure is impulsive and the rewards are directly proportional to the spontaneity of the action.

A few months back, I picked a point on the map on a Saturday morning and started riding. I will admit its very unnerving for me to go on a trip without a plan. But then, it just might have been the best vacation I have had so far. It wasn’t exotic by any standard, but for the price of 3 tanks of gas, a night in a motel and a few pints of beer I felt I had gotten the maximum smiles per $.

Similarly, although the worn clutch made getting off the line exciting and dangerous in the CB1000, I was itching to have it replaced. The choice was between a new carbon kevlar clutch? or grocery for 2 weeks? Its not surprising what I chose. But then, I dare you to tell me, the picture below is not worth foregoing groceries for 2 weeks.

Motorcycling is a matter of the heart. It has very little rationale except to bring a smile on your face and jealousy in the eyes of the onlooker. When it comes to motorcycles all my actions are impulsive and I don’t have an answer to anyone who asks me “why do you need 3 motorcycles?”. But then after everything that you have just read, do I need one?

I am just a few hours away from reaching home and there are no brownie points for guessing the first thing I am going to do, when I get there. ;)

The PERFECT note!

March 16th, 2013

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Lets lay it straight shall we. You don’t actually need a carbon fibre wrapped, titanium infused, snob value raising tail pipe to announce that you have arrived. Your neighbours think you are an obnoxious pig who drives lucifer’s chariot.

Since any motorcycle that makes more than 30 hp is plenty enough for everyday use, “the new custom pipe really lets the engine breathe freely” excuse is just complete BS. Especially since you barely push the bike to its limits stuck between cars and trucks.

Now, unless you are a professional racer who is maximizing every last iota of power and weight savings, after market mufflers and pipes are a waste.

What’s more? the shorter the pipe, the more your ears bleed and for the price of that small hollow piece of spacecraft grade material, you could please your partner with a ½ carat diamond and that might convince her to let you ride the machine a little more. A wise investment for the future of personal and matrimonial harmony. ;)

I will also let you into a secret here. Although light is 837,000 times faster than sound, if you were devoid of the noise a jet fighter makes during a flyby, your sensory perception of its speed is considerably reduced. That is precisely why the crowd only starts cheering when the sonic boom hits the deck.

This hypothesis was further reinforced recently, when I was doing triple digit speeds on my VFR (with stock pipes) and by the time I noticed the copper’s car behind the bush, it was too late. Damn!! Bit my tongue and pulled into the slow lane. But to my surprise the man in blue didn’t flinch and continued with his mc coffee and donut. Lightbulb!!

Fitting a loud exhaust is like communicating through a loudspeaker during a stealth operation. You are going to be gunned down.

Therefore, I was extremely disappointed when Michael told me that he did not have the stock pipe for the CBR and I had to do with the Akrapovic. He even tried to sell me on the idea that it was lighter than the stock pipes by 5 pounds and added 8 more hp. As if that made a difference to a guy who is used to riding 550+pound bikes and wouldn’t probably use more than 50hp on his commute.

It took all of just 30 seconds on the CBR for this belief to change. All my logic went right out the window.

It was a note between 4700-5000 rpm.. and then a crack and burble from the exhaust when you grab the clutch to shift up. It was like the last 4 notes from a distorted guitar before the drums give the grand finale. I was spellbound!! In those few moments, I had enjoyed a complete performance of Bach’s 3rd orchestral suite from the best seat in the house.

Every good song has a piece that you like to hear over and over again, like when Kurt screams “I like you.. I am not gonna crack “ or like when Roger sings “Coming back to life..”. Those few moments transport you to a different world. A world away from mere mortals.

And I had found that piece in this performance.

I never crossed the speed limit for the rest of the journey. I didn’t have to. :)

3rd Gear - The most hardworking of them all!

March 11th, 2013

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It doesn’t matter if its a 5 speed or a 6 speed box, the 3rd gear is the most hardworking gear of them all. Its a no frills, no drama entity. You ask and it delivers, instantly... smoothly. No matter how hard you open the throttle, it is always a surge, without any surprises; like a well co ordinated drum roll.

The 1st gear in any bike is too jittery and nervous. Its as though some one lit up a firework up its rear side. Should you rev it too high and slot second it feels like a huge stack of china came crashing down. God forbid, but should the clutch slip between neutral and 2nd during that maneuver, the noise of grinding nails will haunt you for days.

The 2nd gear exists only for 2 reasons. 1. to bear the brunt of all that torque that the first dumped on it and 2. act as bridge between the scared child and the working horse. I call it the abused one.

The 3rd gear doesn’t complain. No matter where you start or where you end in the rev band, it does one thing and one thing only. PULL!! And for that reason, I really love the 3rd gear.

At 5000 rpm in 3rd gear, the dual cams on my CB, let out a high pitch whine like a banshee and I could meditate to that sound for hours. When the VFR switches from 2 to 4 valves in 3rd its as though a turbocharger kicked in without lag and the revs climb like a lizard on a wall.

Top gears is most bikes are the laziest if you ask me. Trying to open the throttle in 5th or 6th when you are cruising, is like trying to roll over a dead seal.

On the other hand, drop a couple of cogs to 3rd and give it the beans and boy does it reward you.

Not just in a straight line, there is something incredibly satisfying about coming out of a 30-40 mph corner in 3rd and opening up the taps. Try doing it in 1st or 2nd, and it feels like it wants to chew you and spit you out.

I think we give too much credit to top speed as a measure of bragging. Truth be told, there aren’t a lot of opportunities to test the top speed of a machine. But over 55% of the time we have an opportunity to push our bikes in 3rd gear.

The next time you have one of those arguments over a pint of beer, ask about the time it takes to go from 40 to 60mph or 50 to 70mph in 3rd gear. It doesn’t matter if you win or lose that argument, because the next time you climb on your bike, you are going to try it and its gonna make you giggle like a 16 year old girl. And the best part; not only can you try it as many time as you want, you are not going to piss off the rozzers.. ;)

So be it straight line acceleration to over take that slow moving moron or coming out of a corner on Hw 35, the 3rd gear is there to answer the call all the time, everytime.

Sleep Well My Beauties!!! Sleep Well!!

March 10th, 2013

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4 days back I fulfilled a childhood dream. I bought me a liter class super bike. A “Crotch Rocket” if you may.


I still remember Sept 17th, 2011 when I pulled up in a brand new CBR 250R at a signal in Hyderabad. I was stuck in traffic between a rust bucket and a dented autorickshaw. At that point, had someone even touched my beautiful red machine, I probably would have redefined road rage for all eternity.

The light came green… I slotted 1st and the next 17 kms were just a blur. That first ride painted a grin on my face that lasted 5 days.  As cliché’d as it may sound, I understood the true meaning of the word “Freedom”.


Exactly 534 days later I am sitting on a machine that makes 156 hp. Built 3 generations ago(read 2002), the CBR 954RR weighed in at a mere 421 pounds fully laden. Barely 55 pounds more than the CBR 250, but 6 times more powerful. With a power to weight ratio, exceeding 770hp per ton I could smoke any Porsche or Ferrari that would have pulled up next to me to the next stop light.


But I had this feeling that I just bought a dragon as a pet. Yes its cool to have a pet dragon, but it can turn you into a pile of charcoal with a single breath.


After Michael (The old german guy who I bought it from) bid a teary farewell to his beauty, I pulled up at the first stop line gingerly. I noticed the tacho didn’t cross 1500 rpm and felt like a complete coward. “Have I made a mistake?”


This bike can pull upto 12,000 rpm and with gear ratios so close that you would think Honda didn’t bother putting different cogs in the box. Now it idles at 1000 rpm and I am at only 1500 rpm, using a mere 15 hp, I wonder what 156 hp would feel like?
 
I roll the bike in 1st and I open the throttle and bike seems like its going to stall. I give it a little more and still.. no reaction.. a little more.. nope.. nothing.. zilch..


And suddenly… Wham …. wham wham… clink.. Engine explodes…. tacho reads 2400 rpm.. .. my brain screams.. CUT THE CLUTCH .. CUT THE CLUTCH.. TOO MUCH POWER..  and I do exactly that…  and in the overrun, the Akrapovic exhaust sounded like a kalashnikov going full auto


BREATHE
BREATHE…


I dunno about the bike doing 170mph, but my heart was definitely racing at 170 now..


To give you some perspective, at 2400 rpm on my 107 hp VFR 800, feels like a playful fluffy dog.

I had barely made 500 yards and this bike had already tested the size of my man parts. I am pretty sure it even had a bit of a laugh for being such a #!@$#!.


Right!!  Enough is Enough!! Time to grow a bigger pair and take the bull by the horns.

1. Shut your brain
2. Tighten your core – (Note to self - Need to do a few more sit ups)
3. Check mirror
4. Say a prayer

Pulled the clutch slotted 1st and let all hell break loose. 1st gear 4000 rpm 60 mph. Clutch….. clink.. 2nd.. 6000 rpm 100 mph.. WOAAHHH!!!!! YEAH BABY!! That's what I am talking about.


The smell of burning gasoline, the racket from the exhaust and the blur was so intoxicating. Call it bragging or whatever, I let the engine go on “over run” once or twice, just to hear that exhaust pop a few shots. Who needs rock music when you have a sound track like this.


The next 20 miles were hypnotic. Its only when the gas light came on, was the spell broken. While watching the bike down the gas, on one side I saw decades of technological achievement manifested as a machine and on the other, I saw a beast tearing apart of huge chunks of meat and chewing them slowly.

After burning through almost a tank of gas I pulled into my garage that night and stared at the 3 machines parked side by side. I knew I had achieved a milestone. By no means have I tamed them all, but I definitely have them in a leash now.

I slowly close the shutter and walk back tired…. famished …… but…. with a grin as wide as the one I had 534 days back.  ;)