Dude, There’s Your Bike: A Racer, a Modifier and an Adventure Traveller

As bike enthusiasts, we are not biased and are equally drawn to European, American and even desi bikes with Royal Enfield being on almost every dude’s list. These five bikers too dream of ‘em. Only difference is that, unlike us, they have worked hard and today are proud owners of some mean set of wheels.

A bike racer or a modifier or even a stuntman, all of them have one thing in common – a passion for roadsters. They know exactly what they want from their road companions and push them to that limit to churn out the best results. From the basics, speeding right at the corners to doing wheelies or travelling more than 2000 kms in the worst conditions, they tell FHM all about their amazing possessions.

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The Bike Racer

David Johnson, a young racer from Australia dreamt of bikes since he was a 4-year-old kid. Today he’s living his dream as one of the most well known names in European bike championships, where he speeds against other more experienced bikers and manages to clinch the tag of the fastest racer.

After numerous crashes that have broken over 27 bones in his body – David Johnson’s dedicated towards bikes can’t go unnoticed. From age four, when he could understand the mechanics of a mean machine, Dave has been racing. “My dad raced superbikes in the 80s and that’s how I got into racing. I started with a BMX when I was 4 and competed at the junior world championships travelling the world until 16,” he tells us.

Then he purchased his first bike, a 1994 Honda RS125GP – his pride and joy. “I bought it straight after my first ride. My dad sat me down and said, “Dave, if you’re serious about this, you have to buy your own bike, only then will I help you!” – so I did just that,” he states.

Not a fan of stunts, he only does big wheelies, “I leave stunts to my crazy mates.” But that doesn’t stop him from entering dangerously fast races. “At the Isle of Man TT (there’s no race more dangerous), I was the fastest newcomer back in 2010 riding for DP Cold Planing Honda,” he informs us.

This season, he’s riding for Carbontek 4 Anjels BMW in the BSB Superstock 1000cc Championship. “An extremely competitive series, the bike has 202hp with top speeds of 200mph, but a completely stock engine. They are very fast standard bikes.”

Dave’s also into restoring old bikes and has customised his own Triumph T140 750 twin. “It has GSXR1000 forks, RGV mono shock swing arm, 250gp wheels and I’m in the process of putting a turbo on it. Honestly, I believe in enjoying life to the fullest. If I weren’t a biker, I would’ve been a commentator or bike journo. In fact, I do a bit of each now and commentate in front of 60,000 thousand race fans, which is a mega buzz,” he mentions enthusiastically.

His favourite race till date is the 2006 Assen IDM superbike series in Holland. Not only was he the fastest in every practice session, he also got a pole position and won. “This season, my 4th podium finish was my win at the Oulton Park round of the BSB Superstock championship, which was an amazing feeling,” he tells us.

We know his ultimate goal is to progress to a full time World Superbike ride, but before he zooms to that stage, we ask him if he has ever taken a girl for a spin on a racetrack? “I took my ex (a glamour model) for a blast around a circuit and crashed,” he answers shamefacedly. “I was showing off and after topping 180mph down the straight, I entered a corner too quick and ran off into the gravel. It was embarrassing for me as a crowd of 40,000 fans saw it,” he ends laughing.

The Bike Modifier

Apart from designing bikes that take you to the future, Akshai Varde, the founder of Vardenchi Motorcycles, rides some of the coolest roadsters in the country too. His innate passion makes him create the wackiest motorcycles that are sure shot head-turners.

From making a Ghost Rider-inspired bike to customising speedsters for Bollywood’s A-listers, this young lad has been creating designs on hot wheels. His preference for motorcycles over cars, and his eagerness to understand the engineering and make of it got him experimenting on bikes for friends in the beginning. “I started customising my bikes at first. When things started going good, we started Vardenchi in 2005. It’s been 7 years and we’ve made 200 plus bikes,” Akshai informs us.

A hotel management degree mentioned on his resume has little value now. These bikes are expensive, but they are worth every single penny. “The Skeletor that we made for Jackie Shroff is the most expensive. It costs ₹7.5 lakh, but trust me it is one hell of a machine.” However, his personal ride is what grabs our attention. Named Stealth, it’s a matt black motorcycle, which is a unique blend between a modern and classic model.

“It’s very vigilante! At night, one might not even notice it. Stealth is like one of those bikes that fight crimes, you know like the Batman kinds and that’s why the name,” he proudly states. With 130 kph as the top speed, it has a 500cc machismo Royal Enfield engine and costs approximately ₹4 lakh. He tells us that the longest distance he’s covered on it is back and forth between Mumbai and Goa.

All his creations are unique and one-of-its-kind, but we still pester him to list favourites. “It’s tough to choose, but let’s start with Dragster – we did it recently and it’s awesome, then there’s the Sunburn brand (made for Sunburn, of course), Skeletor, Vedic – it’s a really long, white-coloured low chopper and The Dark Knight. Oh, and Stealth,” he quickly names.

To popularise the bikes and his business, he displays them at Auto Car and Auto Expo, apart from doing a lot of brand ads. “We want to tap other markets as well. We do want to make our presence felt all across the world, but as of now its only India,” he says with a smile. These bikes have great resale value if sold in the market or back to the Vardenchi guys. “We design and manufacture all the parts and for that we give a one year warranty. No warranty on the engine though! But as we use Royal Enfield ones, which are sturdy and good,” he elaborates.

While there are plenty of bikes that are designed for stunts, for Akshai, his motorcycles are for the BMW and Mercedes-kind of guys. “The customer base is quite varied. From celebrities to businessmen to CEOs, people who have true passion for motorcycles come to us. Motorcycles are personality driven and ours are by default head turners when taken out on the road,” he explains. So do they attract a lot of women? “That’s what we build them for. Take them for a spin on your first date and woo the girl immediately,” he ends by giving us a reason to buy one.

The Adventure Traveller

Adarsh Saxena loves to take his Royal Enfield for a spin every now and then, and his job just about allows him to do that. Organising leads and taking bike enthusiasts on mind-blowing trips is not only his calling, but his job too…

Looking at him with jealousy, as he talks about his job, we wonder what qualifications one needs to be in his shoes, and the answer is thrown at us – ‘Passion’. Which wouldn’t want to earn a living out of organising trips and riding a Royal Enfield to all corners of the country. “(Laughs) Bhutan and Nepal too… I’ve biked there as well,” Adarsh teases us. “When I was 17, I got my first Enfield and joined a club of like-minded people. Little did I know, I’ll start getting paid for organising these trips,” Adarsh informs.

This adventure traveller, as he likes to call himself, got his first bike when he didn’t even have a license. “I was always fascinated with bikes. As a kid, every two months I had a new cycle,” he recalls. That hasn’t changed even today and apart from owning a Royal Enfield Classic 500cc, he owns a sturdy bicycle too, “I recently took part in a competition as well,” he cuts in.

On his Royal Enfield, his longest ride has been from Bombay to Kashmir to Ladakh back in 2010. That aside, he soon plans to organise a tour abroad. If you think that’s all, then let us tell you he also does a bit of off-roading. “I do squeeze out time for it. There’s a racetrack in Chennai where I go practice and went to Pune for a race too,” he adds.

He always prepares well in advance to avoid hazards and unwanted incidents. “We need to do our homework before we head anywhere. At my first ride to Ladakh, it was super cold and I saw a lot of guys suffer – falling sick and all that. Luckily I had done some research and was prepared,” he tells us.

Elaborating on his travels, he mentions these journeys are his ticket to freedom. “It’s like a steroid injection.” He’s travelling to a new place everyday, seeing new cultures, eating different foods and meeting all kinds of people, which is what excites him. “We meet new people and get to ride with them. I’m originally from Bombay, but I have a place to stay in every city,” he laughs.

His two bikes have top speeds of 120kph and 130kph and he has tried both of them on Rajasthan roads, which according to him are the best in the country. “There are sand dunes too that add to the fun,” he mentions. So is he planning to visit there again? “Every month is a different destination. We select a maximum of 75 guys on a first-come basis and head out.” He does mention that speeding on the roads of Africa and South America is his dream – something he wishes to do soon.

From the September 2012 issue of FHM India.