Last Updated: Jan 07 2009
Hello there!
A big hearty welcome to my number plate and thanks for looking. Since you are here and must be a little curious(i hope), I have made a small effort to pen down a few words about myself and my motorcycle related experiences. I really hope you enjoy reading it.
So here we go, a little bit about myself first then.. By qualification I am a mechanical engineer, but moved on to Software after spending a very short time in the Mechanical Industry. That brought me to Bombay where my motorcycling days began truly.
I have been hooked on to REs since i first rode on my uncles old Deluxe Blue bullet in Punjab. My folks however were not too enthused by the idea of a RE for me.. so i had to wait for quite a few years till i could earn well enough on my own to buy the bike of my dreams
So finally on a monsoon day in 2001 I had to myself a brand new Black and Chrome Machismo 350cc. Oh the smell and feeling of a spanking new bike, nothing beats it. From there on started my motorcycling adventures. After riding around on it in and around mumbai, I yearned for more. I met up with 2 fellow bulleteers through a dormant internet site we came up with the idea of starting a motorcycle club for Enfields in Bombay. After much going back and forth, we named the club Inddiethumpers and Inddiethumpers still stands proud today after 7 years of rocking the roads. But that is another story.
WITH MY RE 350: JUGGERNAUT
Coming back to my bikes, I love naming my machines. So I christened my first bike, the machismo as Juggernaut. Ive had some really fantastic trips on the bike with the club that will forever remain ethched in the memory as fond recollections.
During a short stint of work in bangalore I managed to lay my hands on a very nice 500cc with the help of a dear friend Prashanth from RTMC(the bangalore bullet mc). After redoing it mechanically and cosmetically I had a Silver Chrome 500cc and called Blitzkrieg. The bike was a must because my 350 was now im complete control of Shweta(who is my wife now) and she used to ride the bike daily back in Mumbai and go with the club on rides as well. The 500 was lot of fun and we had some great times and big and long rides on it.
MY 500(On Right) AT GANPATIPULE
The next bike after this one was a fantastic Yamaha RD350. So with a little persuasion of my wife we did buy it and restored the engine to pristine health. It was called Diablo and was a totally different beast to the REs.
I then had to come to US on a work assignment in Oct 2003. I had to sadly part from my brothers back in bombay and cribbed day in and out since i came here about how much i miss my bikes and friends back home. But I had some respite once we managed to save enough to buy a bike here.
And what better than another British Iron, one with legendary status on top of that. So the bike which used to be my wallpaper on my computer back home was standing in my backyard here. Imagine the smile on my face :) I could not stop grinning for days! I was a proud owner of a Triumph Thunderbird, 3 cylinder liquid cooled 900cc motor with 87 horses and 70Nm torque. I rode it all summer of 04 and had fun on some short rides with it. The Triple was a really different experience from what i was used to riding- it was a fast and nimble machine, though like all British irons was not without its quirks. I had to brush up my skills and improve them quite a bit to accomodate for the higher speeds of riding here.
Come spring 05 i was getting the itch to start riding the bird again so i went to the dealership on a very cold morning to get the bike serviced for approaching summer. As fate would have it, right on entrance of the dealer stood a huge overpowering Triumph Rocket III. So again with the help of a very understanding wife and juggling of finances, we bought a Graphite Rocket III on march 30th 2005:)
MY ROCKET III ON THE ROAD TO AMERICADE
USA is a very beautiful country with the largest biking culture in the world and I have been experiencing my share of it. We managed to put lot of miles on the bike for the few year or two after buying it and explored the whole east coast of US from the bike. But ever since we had our 2 kids riding has been put on a back burner. I am sure it will come to forefront again once the kids grow up enough to be able to sit on the back seat of the bike on their own.
I have also become a part of a Triumph Rocket Owners group here and have made some fantastic friends as a result. There is something with motorcycles which transcends all cultures and boundaries. Its a universal language which everyone understands and appreciates.
I did manage to go back to India in 2007 and meet up with my fellow brothers at Inddiethumpers as well as new friends at Wanderers that is the Nagpur Bullet MC. I hope i can make it back to India again sometime in 2009 and show my kids their father and mothers wilder side ;)
I thank the Almighty One for the good things in my life with a humble head and would always cherish these moments in my life.
I do have a few other hobbies which keep me busy apart from bikes. I am as passionate about photography and hi-fi as motorcycling.
2007- WITH ANUKARAN
2007 - WITH THE CLUB
If you have made it this far,let me thank you for going through such a long writeup :) I hope you had fun reading through and now its time to get back to your work;) Please feel free to get in touch with me at my email id.
Cheers!!
Daman
My Links
Motorcycles:
Inddiethumpers website
My Photography:
Through My Lens
My Blog:
My Ramblings
Video: Inddiethumpers featured on Channel [V] and BBC World:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K8AhDT4_lI