Now that I am on the other side ....

Its been the same ever since Yamaha launched its prohibitively expensive R15. I wait at one of Bangalore's never ending traffic lights, a lucky sod on his R15 happens to be near me & all I can do till the lights turn green is stare at the bike with fond eyes & think that the guy owning it is one super lucky & not to foret rich sod. And so all I could do is wait - wait till my bank balance grew to the levels where I could think of buying one for myself. There's a reason why Im not very fond of being patient ......

Anyways to cut a long story short (truly is one long story, but thats another tale for another day) I picked up my blue R15 today. Which has led me to the current state that I am in - flat broke. I used to & still do keep telling my friend, "dost, money will come today & go tomorrow"; all I can say is I hope tomorrow is the first of the month cause thats when my paycheck lands in my bank ......

Ive made a firm decision not to take the bike above 65 kmph (well I did 65 already today, so thats as far as I will go) for the first 1000 kms. Did around 20 of those patient 1000 kms today. Few thouhts - the bike has a really really sporty seating position. By really really sporty seating position I mean I have to lean forward with all my weight on my wrists, my neck hurts due to my heavy (but wonderful) helmet & my legs ache cause they are too rear set. The back brake is rubbish right now (need to get it bled during my first service) Plus theres a slight (I can barely hear it to be honest) hum from the visor which I need to get tightened. To top that, since the fairing & the mirrors are so wide in comparison to other bikes, wriggling through traffic is a strict no-no. After riding it for 15 minutes my body was in acute pain. Do I think its the biggest wrongest decision I have made ? Oh hell no !

I mean just look at it. The bike is super sexy from all angles (ok so the rear isnt all that smoking but thats nitpicking). The first time I sat on the bike started it up & stopped to admire the lovely sculpted tank & that gorgeous fairing my knees went week. I guess it is akin to the feeling that our Bollywood heroes try to portray when they see the heroine for the first time in the middle of a crowd. I dont even know what gear I ride the bike in, it just pulls and pulls and keeps pulling irrespective of what gear I am in. And as the speeds build my confidence in the bike grows exponentially. Trust me people, this is one value for money bike.

Finally the best part, there I was at a traffic signal when the guy driving a Korean sedan parked next to me looks at the bike with more emotion in his eyes than all the above mentioned Bollywod heroes can muster in all their films combined & turns his gaze to his car (causing the smile to be replaced by a slightly unhappy look) & then turns back to look at the bike like a little child looking at a gift in a toy store which he really really wants but cannot get. That one moment was in a word - Priceless.