She is pretty

Darn, i get high just looking at her... Wonder if every other biker would be this obsessed?

Clutter...Colors

PENS IN A COFFEE MUG...

My Red-Eye

on Sunday i rode with RTMC (a bullet club in Bangalore) well, half-way i had to turn back with Rocky and on the way i clicked a pic of my red-eye with the fone cam...

The beast the bullet

Pretty decent pic! :)

BIKER SLOGANS - borrowed stuff

• Never confuse the map with the journey.
• Its the attitude, not the altitude
• My Life is a blur...
• Some people measure their adventures in miles or days. I prefer "horizons crossed".
• While some people are choosing between chicken and fish, my choice is between dust and mud (with rocks on the side).
• Getting there isn't easy. And that's the best part.
• When someone says, "let's go" , you shouldn't have to ask, "where?"
• On my way to nowhere ... and proud of it".
• Sometimes the morning commute can get a little bumpy.
• Every lane is a passing lane.
• I do my flying on the ground.
• Addicted ? Possesed is a better word.
• Who needs a stereo when you've got a throttle ? ( Time to turn up the volume.)
• Its out there somewhere. And we're going to find it.
• Where does this road end ? Never.
• We can stop anytime. But who wants to ?
• Hobbies : Riding... Interests : Riding... What I do for fun : Riding... You get the point.
• Been there. Doing this.
• My job? Just something I do between rides.
• So many rides. So little time.
• Most people take the subway. Have fun most people.
• If you need a reason to ride,You are not on the right bike.
• The destination is one thing.Getting there is everything.
• Grasp life by the handlebars.
• Years ago someone told me that life is a journey.Obviously I took it to heart.
• One question we've never heard is, "Are we there yet?"
• I don't know where the bike ends and I begin.
• The faster we go, the more life slows down.
• If speed is a sin, I am guilty of It.
• Cars Suck !
• We ride two wheels..sometimes one wheel..but not like dead body carried in 4 wheels
• The Journey is the destination
• Where there is a wheel, there is a way.
• I would rather be riding my motorcycle thinking about God,than sitting in a temple thinking about my motorcycle.
• I don't suffer insanity, I enjoy every minute of it - I RIDE
• One life live it!!!!
• I'm a cowboy;A steel horse I ride...I'm wanted...Dead or Alive
• If heaven doesnt allow bikes, I will ride mine straight to hell
• Only a Biker knows why a dog sticks his head out of a car window
• Life is not a journey to the grave with intentions of arriving safely in a pretty well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming ... WOW! What a ride!
• Getting high on life.. down the never ending road.. just me and my ride..
• Roll on the black road on a red machine
• Rover, Wanderer, Nomad, Vagebond... Call me what you will.
• Just Twist The Wrist!!
• Destination Anywhere
• Live life on empty roads
• Beyond Good and EvilSome take drugs,Some do bungee jumps,Some become monks,I do motorcycling......!
• The truth is out there. Get out of ur couch.!!!
• No riding, No fun. Know riding, Know Fun
• Speed is an Illusion
• Never ask me for directions if you're in a hurry to get there
• Lean into the corners and whisper something dirty to the pavement
• Its not about the number of wheels, its about the degree of freedom
• I Ride. Why don't you ?
• We talk in KMPH not KMPL
• Life begins at 40, but it doesnt get any interesting till 150
• We talk in MPH not KMPH
• The Holy Trinity: Traction, Torque and Tarmac.
• What you ride is what you get. How you ride is who you are.
• Work-Life balance is like Air-Fuel mixture.
• I run it lean...in the corners.
• Running-in is all about self-control. How you ride is what you get.
• Safety is a state of mind, neither influenced nor restricted by how you ride or what you wear.
• No matter what bike you ride or how deft you are at handling it, accidents are caused by this notion of certitude.
• Every Day I wake up, if I don’t feel like riding, I go to work.
• If the ride is so smooth, u are in wrong lane.

MY Tattoos - My PRIDE :)

I am a proud tattoo collector and i always look for reasons to add to my collection... a lot of people have asked me a lot of questions about my tattoos so here is an answer to most of the questions about the designs:




My first tattoo was a tribal/Celtic fusion design with an eye in the center… to remind me that someone is always watching you...

The second tattoo was the sun design… when observed closely; you’ll notice a moon in that! Its two faces in one… something that I am “a perfect Gemini”

The third tattoo was a bit complicated… it’s a dream-catcher, with a yin-yang pattern to signify proper balance and grizzly bear pugmarks to represent the majestic yet gentle nature of the grizzlies. (this combines the Native American and the Oriental patterns together)

Things you REALLY don't want to hear your mechanic say . . .

• Uh-oh...
• Oh S***!
• What the heck?!?
• That's SOOOOO bizarre.
• Wow!! Look at this...
• Hey!! Bullets don't do this!
• Mechanic's certificate of training? What's that?
• Well, it's doing SOMETHING...
• Wow...that seemed funny...
• I got a better job at Honda...
• State inspection rules say...
• Sorry, the parts you ordered are no longer kept in stock by The Company.
• Damn! It didn't do that a minute ago...
• Damn, and I just bought that Coke...
• I removed a gasket and now there's LOTS of clearance.
• Hey, do you smell something?
• Hmmm! What's that grinding sound?
• I have never seen one do THAT before...
• I don't think it should be doing that...
• I remember the last time I saw it do that...
• My vacation starts tomorrow.
• Oops! (said in a quiet, almost surprised voice)
• Hmm, maybe if I do this...
• Hmmm, curious...
• We're standardizing on metric.
• Wonder where THIS nut goes?
• (Looking at your T-Bird) What's this switch for anyways?
• If I knew it wasn't going to work, I would have tested it sooner.
• The air cleaner isn't supposed to leak brown gunk, is it?
• Boy, it's a lot easier when you know what you're doing!
  

Biking and Things...

these are a few random thoughts that I've rummaged through the internet and compiled as a list of things that i read and smile...

• Midnight bugs taste best.
• Saddlebags can never hold everything you want, but they CAN hold everything you need
• NEVER argue with a woman holding a torque wrench
• Never try to race an old geezer, he may have one more gear than you
• Home is where your bike sits still long enough to leave a few drops of oil on the ground
• Routine maintenance should never be neglected
• The only good view of a thunderstorm is in your rearview mirror
• Never be afraid to slow down
• Bikes don't leak oil, they mark their territory
• Don't ride so late into the night that you sleep through the sunrise
• Pie and coffee are as important as petrol
• Sometimes it takes a whole tankful of fuel before you can think straight
• Riding faster than everyone else only guarantees you'll ride alone
• Never hesitate to ride past the last street light at the edge of town
• Never mistake horsepower for staying power
• A good rider has balance, judgment, and good timing
• A cold hamburger can be reheated quite nicely by strapping it to an exhaust pipe and riding forty miles
• Never do less than forty miles before breakfast
• If you don't ride in the rain - you don't ride
• A bike on the road is worth two in the shed
• Respect the person who has seen the dark side of motorcycling and lived
• Young riders pick a destination and go. . . Old riders pick a direction and go
• A good mechanic will let you watch without charging you for it
• Sometimes the fastest way to get there is to stop for the night
• Always back your bike into the curb - and sit where you can see it
• Work to ride & ride to work
• Whatever it is, it's better in the wind
• Two-lane blacktop isn't a highway - it's an attitude
• When you look down the road, it seems to never end - but you better believe it does
• A rider can smell a party 5,000 miles away
• Winter is Nature's way of telling you to polish
• A motorcycle can't sing on the streets of a city
• Keep your bike in good repair: Motorcycle boots are NOT comfortable for walking
• People are like Motorcycles: each is customized a bit differently
• If the bike isn't braking properly, you don't start by rebuilding the engine
• Remember to pay as much attention to your partner as you do your carburetor
• Well-trained reflexes are quicker than luck
• Good coffee should be indistinguishable from 50 weight motor oil
• The best alarm clock is sunshine on chrome
• Learn to do counter-intuitive things that may someday save your butt
• The twisties - not the superslabs - separate the riders from the squids
• When you're riding lead -- don't spit
• If you really want to know what's going on, watch what's happening at least five cars ahead
• Don't make a reputation you'll have to live down or run away from later
• If the person in the next lane at the stoplight rolls up the window and locks the door, support their view of life by snarling at them
• A friend is someone who'll get out of bed at 2 am to drive his pickup to the middle of nowhere to get you when you're broken down
• Catching a June bug or yellow jacket in your goggles or honeybee down your shirt @ 70 mph can double your vocabulary
• If you want to get somewhere before sundown, you can't stop at EVERY tavern
• There's something ugly about a NEW bike on a trailer
• Don't lead the pack if you don't know where you're going
• Practice wrenching on your own bike
• Everyone crashes. Some get back on. Some don't. Some can't
• Beware the rider who says the bike never breaks down
• Owning two bikes is useful because at least one can be raided for parts at any given time
• Don't argue with a 18-wheeler
• Never be ashamed to unlearn an old habit
• Maintenance is as much art as it is science
• A good long ride can clear your mind, restore your faith, and use up a lot of fuel
• If you can't get it going with bungee cords and electrician's tape - it's serious
• If you ride like there's no tomorrow - there won't be
• Bikes parked out front mean good chicken-fried steak inside
• Gray-haired riders don't get that way from pure luck
• There are drunk riders. There are old riders. There are NO old, drunk riders
• Thin leather looks good in the bar, but it won't save your butt from "road rash" if you go down
• The best modifications cannot be seen from the outside
• Always replace the cheapest parts first
• You can forget what you do for a living when your knees are in the breeze
• No matter what marquee you ride, it's all the same wind
• Patience is the ability to keep your motor idling
• And the Bountyman's favorite. . . "Only a Biker knows why a dog sticks his head out of a car window"

Orgy on the roads…

The Sunday was one of the best in a while! I got an invite from Rocky for a ride with the ‘veteran’ bikers for a ‘running-in ride’ our good friend Orgy (better know as Arijeet Ghosh to others) just got the engine on his bull redone and he had to get it run in… only flipside to the invite was that I got the call at 8 in the morning when they were about to ride out and I was still lazing in the bed!
I told them to start riding and promised that I’ll catch-up with them on the way. I knew that this is a running in ride and their speeds are not gonna go over 60kph so I can catch-up with them mid-way if I maintain a speed of over 80… (Simple math, I guess)
The Wife and I had a hasty shower and slipped in our riding gear… I got some snacks and water in my tank-bag and rolled the beast out! It was all set for the ride, a full tank (20 liters!); newly serviced parts and nicely polished and buffed body! We got on the bull and started ripping on the Hosur road. Ripping at speeds of 100! I didn’t know that the bike will be able to perform so well with the full tank and both of us on it… but it did and it pleasantly surprised me!!!
I started ripping and we passed the Reliance A! Plaza in a jiffy… I was so bent upon finding these guys that I didn’t bother to stop anywhere, just wanted to catch 4 bulls cruising lazily on the roads… I reached pretty far after Hosur and decided to call these guys and check their position… what a shame?!! They were still at the A! Plaza and I just shot past them some 10kms ago… so I turned back, caught up with the guys, Rocky, Prateek, Fiona (?) (Rocky’s pillion) and our Mr. Orgy! We had a quick breakfast of Idli and coffee… and started on the roads again.
The roads were just heaven! Completely empty, straight, well tarred and amazingly picturesque! An all along 4lane highway… we turned towards Pondicherry after Krishnagiri and stopped at the Tamilnadu State Hotel/Restaurant to have some grub and the very famous ‘CHILD BEER’ and no there is not typo here, it’s the CHILD beer and not CHILLED… but the bar was closed and there was nothing else to eat there… we all had a cold drink each and started our ride back.
This time I took Rocky’s bike as Tana wanted to test his much better back-rest… well we rode till the Punjabi dhaba on our way back stopped there and had a sumptuous lunch of rotis, dhal and chana masala. After the nice lunch and a few photo-ops we started back. Rode till after Hosur and then took a diversion to a 2lane road, amazingly this road was also pretty picturesque and offered a lot of twisties… but this was the last lag of the ride and we found ourselves back in Bangalore and to the usual snail-paced traffic.
I just rushed home, wanted to spend the rest of the day just lazing at home… Rocky called up after a while as we had sorta lost each other on the way back in the city traffic I thanked him for the superb and laidback ride. And promised to be part of the next one!
Now I’m sitting here, relishing those slow ride moments and cursing myself for not remembering to keep the camera in my bag… missed on a lot of great foto-ops… hopefully next time not too late from now…

Saturday Shopping Spree

Been a while since I had such a hectic Saturday!
I managed to reach home at around 10:30pm on Friday night, had already promised a few friends that I’ll escort them to JC Road to get fixtures done on their bikes… now let’s start Saturday!
Woke up at around 8:30 (lazy Saturday morning!) remembered that I had promised Keeny that I’ll meet him at 11am near forum, I had to drop the wifey at he college and get myself a decent shave before that! But who knew that plans nicely made can be flopped by just one small teeny-weeny glitch? The gas cylinder ran out dry just as Tana started making some coffee, I suggested we chuck the coffee idea and get ready and get out before its too late… had a quick shower and got ready, but still it was already 10:30 and we decided that we’ll just have a muesli bar for breakfast and then decide about the lunch later… we were out of the door by 11am and I was already worried that I’ll be late :-( on the way Keeny calls up and says that he will be a bit late (typical him!) so I asked him to directly drop at JC Road as I had 2 more people to meet on the way and @ JC Road. I dropped Tana at her college and started out towards JC Road, my first meeting point was near the Lalbagh Botanical Garden with Gaurav from my office, he wanted the auxiliary headlamps like mine on his bike and a better seat cushion… he was there on time and was actually waiting for me… (Amazing!) Now most of you know that punctuality is something I always rave about and try real hard to follow!

I took Gaurav to Sandhya Motors (its like THE PLACE to go to for all the bullet spares) I wanted to fix the rear crash-guard on the redeye so picked it up and started on the fixing on it… by the time it was done, Karthik turned up just as I was done…he also wanted the auxiliary lamps done on his bull… in less than 10 minutes, both Ajey and Keeny showed up.
We started off first for the lamps that these guys wanted fixed. But, all of us forgot that it’s the Eid weekend and most of the shops were closed on JC road, the ones that were open wanted to charge a bomb for the smallest of things! Can you imagine paying 50 bucks extra for the smallest thing? Well so it turned out that we spend time till 2pm just haggling over thins that didn’t eventually turned out as a sale and wasted a pretty good morning!
At 2 I rushed home… the wife was really mad and hungry as I had promised her a decent lunch… and we were to meet Rocky (my mentor in biking) over lunch… we met up at Ta’am (a Mediterranean restaurant) for some Humus & Falafel lunch… after the lunch I was to take Chris (my colleague at work) for riding gear shopping… I had promised him this over 3 months ago and never got a chance to take him there… Rocky agreed to ride us all in his Bolero (my latest most favorite SUV) to KJ’s place for the shopping!
We met Chris at round 5 and then started off to KJ’s place (http://cramster.in) and as any other die hard biker Chris just flipped looking the collection at Cramster! He picked up a whole riding kit for around 22K!!! Boy, don’t I envy him to pick it up so way?!! Heh heh
The shopping lasted over 3 hours which included chit-chatting with the others there and finally we were dropped back at around 9pm to our bull… this was almost dinner time and Tana and I went to this place called Umarkot, it’s the latest hype for Indian food in town and they boast a really rich wine collection! But again, what luck? :-( Due to dehydration and excessive heat that day we couldn’t eat a thing there! We got the dinner packed and finally went home… had some antacids and just crashed out…
Darn what a Saturday?

relaxing weekend!!!

"Is the pressure okay?" he asked…
"Yes buddy, this is just fine!" I replied.
Wait! Don’t you guys to conclusions… this is a conversation between the masseur and me on Sunday, Tana and I had decided that both of us deserved a good massage after so many months of moving houses and working really hard. Sort of a celebration and splurging for a weekend.
We went to the place called Ayush Therapy Clinic, just 10minutes away from where I live; our bones had started creaking while walking, working or even sitting! Major body aches and stress built-up so this was our rejuvenating getaway…
The massage lasted over an hour. Which included a very detailed body massage stressing my aching back and the palms of my hands (too much riding, I guess) also a head massage and finally a grand steam bath and awesome shower!
I guess this was our getaway weekend! On Saturday we had a well deserved lunch after a ride of around 30kms within the city! B’lore was to witness the India-Australia ODI but I guess it was flopped after major rains. The traffic was everywhere and it took us over 2 hours just to reach the place for an amazing lunch at Miller’s 46 (some of the best stakes in town!) spiked with some beer and dinner of mouth watering gol-guppas! We also watched some great movies at home out of my now growing DVD collection! (I guess we saw Da Vinci Code and Superman Returns on Saturday) this was the first weekend after ages when we just decided to laze at home and watch movies.
Sunday started with a great heavy breakfast of sandwiches and juice, again a movie on the home-theater and the massage sessions in the afternoon. We were pretty hungry when we returned back home… I tried my hands at making a smoothie at home (it was amazing!) and then again a movie in the evening (this time was the old classic Half-Ticket) dinner was a full meal of roti, subzi and dal-chawal… darn, we were stuffed by now, but to end the weekend with a bash, I made some amazing ‘masala-milk’…
This weekend helped us a lot in realizing that its okay if don’t ride every week and take a couple days off just for ourselves :-)
Looking forward to some more of these in the future now!!!