“Royal Enfield” – thy name roars! Dream History & Reality!

A post that was long due to my lovely family & friends...

Childhood: I was in primary school & my evenings after completing my homework would be to play marbles with my friends in the small playground opposite to my home. Thanks to the wonderful fields, open country, the cemetery, big open well, chirping birds that surrounded our small little home with strange reptiles that would often pay visit & the silent night that woke up to the cries of the big owl family & the fierce & sharp howling of the nearby stray dogs. I would, every now & then be distracted with my game & studies with the beat of the Bullet of uncle Ramu. I would listen to the beat of the Bullet & the sound would continue to reverberate in my ears. I wondered at the robust machine & at a young age compared Bullet with other bikes. Though my knowledge was limited to the knowledge of the friends around me, whenever I got someone who could tell me about Bullet, I would be all ears paying attention to the details of the description. The sound would last though the Bullet had gone beyond sight.

Thus began my curiosity of the Bullet which, one day I wanted to own.

"Master & the Beast"

Childhood through 17 Yrs age: I remember the conversations with my friends about Royal Enfield and I should say – it was a registered dream. When I was in MICO, I got more exposure on the mechanical aspects of my dream bike & the judgment in the mind & heart was made “Royal Enfield was engineered” while others were manufactured. My dear sister Ramya, friends Sridhar & Naveen would vouch for the passion.

17 through 30: My Father gifted me a Hero Honda CD100ss in 1997 & I rode it for a good 13 years. Though my craving for the thud stayed on, hidden & waiting to take over – Dream is indeed an opportunist & who am I to deny?

Not every hunt ends in a kill: Back in 2003, when I was an Assistant Driver with South Western Railways located at Hubli, I paid several visits to the Bullet garage but fate had it that I could never meet the owner to discuss on buying a second hand Bullet. In 2007, I visited the Royal Enfield showroom in Bangalore, got the quotation & thought I had made it when my Parents succeeded in convincing me that the time has not yet come.

Small Turns: Oh! A wonderful thing happened en-route life – My wedding with Srividya. Though the love story began on my Hero Honda which by now had taken the look of a Nazi with a swastika on the tank & the sides, I had slowly but effectively set the frequency of my love on the one that I have always loved. She would tell me of the glow in my eyes when I spoke of RE & after 6 months into marriage, was crazy as me but being a pillion is what she chose. 

Now that I had sold my Hero Honda & everyone convinced or confused, I’m not sure, I had to book my Dream Bike. The plan took a back seat for a while since my cousin flew to Germany on work & I had to keep his bike in the interim.

"Made like a Gun"

Thanks to Google: Productive hours at work went into research, analysis & making up my mind on which one? There was the 350 Standard, Machismo, Thunderbird, Electra, and Classic 350 & 500. If looks could kill it was Classic 350 that did the honors. Moreover, the new classic model inspired by World War II had to inspire me – a war freak! Specification read, re-read & re-read over a hundred times because “you don’t buy a Bull, you own a Bull”

Colour: Though a firm believer in black & white initially chose red as it represented passion, anger & blood. My wallpaper was an elegant picture of the beauty in red. 

Beauty in Red

Final verdict of all those who cared: Dad was convinced that I wouldn’t agree for anything lesser than Bullet, Mom tried but failed in convincing me that 1.25 lakh can be better utilized, my wife was happy that it’s happening & so was my dearest sister & brother in law was as excited as me in the classic 350. I knew my nephew Skanda would love the rides on my dream bike.

Booked & the wait that was shocking: After a couple of visits to the Royal Enfield showroom along with Dad & Vidya, on September 18^th 2010 Red Classic 350 was booked. The wait time was a little under 9months was what the showroom mentioned. Did I have a choice? Hell no! I had to wait – I have waited since childhood & I was happy, excited, thrilled, amazed & what not about the bike that I shall OWN.

Majesty!

Change in colour: Red definitely looked stunning but black was evergreen. Having contemplated many times, during the 6^th month of the waiting period changed the colour from Red to Black. May be the book Black Beauty had its impact unknown.

What’s in a number: Though not a believer in Astrology & Numerology, since my last number plate added to the number 9 & the rides were pleasant with no obstacles, I wanted the number to add upto 9 for which I had to pay 3000 rupees more.

Sum to "9"

Co-incidence of events & belief’s: My parents always buy things on a Thursday & so it happened. On Thursday the June 2^nd 2011 my Black Classic 350 was delivered adding to the celebration of my Sister & brother in law’s 6^th year wedding anniversary.

Looking forward to the long joyous rides ahead & the tag line of this blog “Where Dreams meet the conspiracies of Life”