For these youngsters, owning a vintage bike is a matter of great pride as they travel the length and breadth of the country to scour these beauties
Yezdi lovers’ says a patch of graffiti on a lamppost outside Vikram Kumar’s house at Dairy Circle. “It’s been there almost 10 years,” he says, laughing. Clearly, like his 10-month-old daughter Lakshita, who sleeps soundly through everything except the hum of her father’s Yezdi, Kumar’s neighbourhood is well aware of his love of vintage bikes.
Parked at the entrance of the 33-year-old software engineer’s house are two shiny Jawas — one green and the other red. Next to them stands a Yezdi Roadking. “The red and green Jawas have shin covers, which protect you from snow. These bikes are originally from Czechoslovakia and are designed to protect riders from extreme weather conditions,” he says, with pride.
Dressed in a casual pair of jeans, a T-shirt with a bike print and a Jawa cap, Kumar’s passion took root when he saw his father ride a Jawa at the age of 10. “I fell in love with the sound of the engine,” he recalls. He began collecting bikes in 1999 and today boasts Lambrettas, a Vespa, Enfield Mofa and a couple of mopeds in his 35-strong collection. He even has a 1957 Fiat 1100 —”as old as my father”. They are stored in his garage in Kalasipalayam.
Kumar isn’t the only one. Owning a vintage bike (least over 30 years old) is a matter of pride for young Bangaloreans who are splurging on restoring and maintaining them.
Twenty-four-year-old gym owner Bhuvan Narayan first bought a Yezdi Classic for Rs 4,500 three years ago and decided to restore it. “Ever since, I began collecting bikes. Today, I own a 1979 Classic Yezdi, a 1976 Standard Bullet which is a 350 cc twin engine, a 1964 Bullet, a 1962 Jawa, and 1990 Yezdi Deluxe. I just purchased four Yezdi Roadkings in bulk,” he says. Narayan even owns rare bikes like the France-made Suvega- a moped that he picked up in Tirupati; a Czech imported 1952 Jawa Parack and a Lambretta scooter.
Tracing the classics Sourcing the bikes is a task. Mudasir Ahmed, (33) who works for a construction company, owns three vintage bikes and says, “Networking is the best way. Social media has made it easier to find bike owners, who may want to sell since they fetch a good price.”
A host of Facebook pages such as Royal Knights Motorcycle Club, Bangalore Jawa Yezdi Motorcycle Club and Bangalore Vintage Group provide useful information about where to find these vehicles, cost, availability of spare parts and more. “I have made friends through these clubs, and we network online to service our bikes and find spare parts too, which is otherwise very tough,” says Kumar.
Some good leads are also found when they set off on weekly rides to nearby districts such as Kolar, Mysore, Ramanagaram, Shimoga and Ooty. They track down old mechanics who supply them with information about bikes and the whereabouts. Twenty-eight-year-old Alwin Lawrence found his 1955 AJ Stevens just like that. “My uncle is a vintage motorcycle mechanic in Coimbatore and when I enquired about a British bike, he tracked one down in Kanyakumari for me. I went to Kanyakumari to pick up the bike and brought it back in a bus to Bangalore,” he says.
Maintenance Looking after these beauties is a tall order too. “I used to own around 12 bikes but sold most of them because finding a good mechanic and getting spare parts is a challenge. Since most of them are not of Indian origin, it’s not easy to understand the mechanism,” admits Ahmed.
Trial and error Kumar and his father say they are fairly aware of how these bikes function, as they have spent years tinkering away on these classic beauties; their learning has been largely trial-and-error. “My father can put together a bike with ease, and I’m slowly getting there. I have all the spares in my factory for most of my bikes,” he says. Narayan and Lawrence are learning too. “I get manuals online or from showrooms. Unless they need serious repair, it’s not impossible to fix the bikes. Jawas and Yezdis usually don’t need much maintenance, but the older ones need to be taken care of,” explains Kumar.
Money matters At Rs 50,000 for a Jawa and almost 2 lakh for older bikes like Paracks, it’s an expensive hobby. Lawrence has spent close to Rs 5 lakhs on his bikes, some of which were given to him by parents and the rest were paid for from his savings. Vikram approximated his collection to be priced at about Rs 20 lakh.
Passion play While these biker boys are the object of envy for many collectors, their hobby is perceived differently by their family. Nitu, Kumar’s wife says, “The entrance to our house looks incomplete without these bikes. My son has to take a ride on his father’s bike every weekend or he won’t eat, and my daughter gets excited when she hears the sound of a Yezdi. These bikes are a part of my life now.” Alwin Lawrence’s mother Julie says, “At first, the sight of the bikes would annoy me and I always find my son cleaning the bikes in his spare time. But I also think its these bikes that have given my husband and son a chance to bond. It’s great to see that, and I cannot put a price on it.”
The envious glances, curious questions and approving stares from the onlookers make all the trouble worthwhile. Kumar cannots even dream of selling any of his prized possessions, and says, “The joy of taking a bike out and riding it around town is unparallelled. My grandfather rode a 1941 Triumph which is one of the most special bikes we own. It’s a way of honouring the style and poise of the men of that age,” concludes Kumar.
source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Columns> Sunday Read / by Sindhuja Balaji, Bangalore Mirror Bureau / November 10th, 2013
