From: ravi@maxine.wpi.edu (Ravi Narayan)
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles,rec.motorcycles.harley,soc.culture.indian,wpi.students.desis
Subject: India by Bullet
Date: 13 Oct 92 20:12:38 GMT
Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
NNTP-Posting-Host: maxine.wpi.edu


	NOTE: this article has been widely cross-posted. You may want to
	edit the Newsgroups line if you followup.

	i was looking through the october issue of "rider" magazine and
	some familiar pictures jump out at me, from an article entitled
	"india by bullet" (by roger hicks). of course, india being my
	homeland, i found the article extremely interesting ;) but it
	had some other interesting pieces of info too. the author was
	loaned a royal enfield (350cc) by enfield india ltd., to ride
	around the country, and he enchantingly describes his journey
	through south india on this technologically outdated single that
	is almost a status symbol in my homeland. the author had some very
	nice things to say about the bike and the place (and hence you
	are requested to ignore any airs of pompousness in this article
	;)). here are some excerpts, reproduced without permission:


	------------------------------------------------------------------

	Forget Harley Davidson. Forget Honda GoldWings. Forget BMW K1s.
	Forget the Alps, forget the Alaska highway. Forget everything
	you have ever learnt about motorcycling, unless you are over 50
	with a very good memory. You are about to rediscover two wheels.
	.....
	... Enfield India turns out 2000 Bullets a month, mostly 350cc
	models with an increasing number of 500cc versions. The 500s are
	a relatively new introduction.... we got a 350cc that had been
	knocking around the research and development shop for a couple
	of years.... It was "state of the art", with 12-volt electrics,
	seven-inch full-width front brake (still single leading shoe), a
	folding kick-start, and a few other mods that distinguished the
	export model.
	....
	The Madras rush hour is better imagined than described,
	especially in the rapidly falling tropical dusk, but when we got
	back to our hotel, we were received like royalty. In India,
	riding a motorcycle doesn't mean you are a brain-damaged
	hooligan rapist, it means you are a person of wealth, taste,
	intelligence and discrimination....
	....
	Enfield has a lot in common with Harley as a design that is
	either "classic" or "hopelessly old-fashioned" depending upon
	your point of view. Me, I'd rather have an Enfield.

	----------------------------------------------------------------

	the article isnt very technical, but describes india and riding
	in india very beautifully (the part about what a biker in india
	is considered to be is a slight exaggeration ;). just brought on
	a touch of nostalgia... memories of the first 6 years of my bike
	riding days!!!

	this is not meant as an insult or flame directed towards harley
	davidson riders... the first thing i thought of when i landed in
	the united states, and saw the harley davidson, was the royal
	enfield "bullet" back home, and the similarity between the bikes
	and the kind of riding they are associated with, a kind of touch
	of "royalty"!

	peace,

	- ravi


-- 
'''---```---^^^^^^-----#-----~~~~~----'''------~~~~-----````~~~---------$$-----
sig (n): a piece of mail with a fool at one : Ravi Narayan - ravi@cs.wpi.edu
          end and flames at the other. (C).  :       Suzuki GS500E
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles