India Bike Week Goes Full Goa Throttle

You know how brides’ fathers are – they reach the venue much in advance to make sure that everything is in order before the baraatis arrive. Just like them, FHM too arrived at Vagator beach on the opening day of India Bike Week much before the action started. However, once the show started, it was an entirely different story.

01 Nisstarkya – India’s first electric bike concept

Developed by Mysore based engineer Santosh’s Nisstarkya (unimaginable in Sanskrit) is powered by a 350w hub motor that is further fuelled by three 36 V rechargeable batteries. The bike weighs 40 kg and both wheels measure 3.00x18 inches. Its top speed is 40 kmph and on a single recharge of two hours, it can run for 40 kilometres. Though its riding position is extremely uncomfortable, Santosh says that it can be customised according to owner’s needs and comfort. Read the full story in our March issue.

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02 MMA type fight league – FCC

While the highlight of the first day was the parade of a 1000 Harley Davidsons riding into the venue simultaneously carrying hot pillions clicking selfies, a MRF tyre burnout competition and motocross, the second day was brought to life by Mixed Martial Art type desi league – Full Contact Championship (FCC). While you will get to read more about it in our March issue, it’s important to note that hardly anything is scripted in these fights and the fighters beat each other with enough force to dislodge your molars and send you in for a facial reconstruction. These guys are damn good, brilliantly committed and exceptionally competitive. Fabulously unless there are some pesky kids around intent on trying it out on their friends.

03 Bikini bike wash sans the bikini

While on the roads you are supposed to go gentle on curves, India Bike Week organisers ensured that riders are not forced to be gentle on anything else, and certainly not on the curves of these imported biker wash girls who were eager to wash the mud off the bikes. Though everyone else wondered why these girls were not wearing bikinis as had been promised, it was a hit with the riders who had ridden to the venue from across the country.

04 Bikes older than your great granddad

When people first saw this 1912 Indian motorcycle in the century class display, everyone assumed it’s not functional, however, on the second day of the festival when the owner of this bike, Subodh Nath, asked his son to ride it on the Harley Owners Group stage, everyone was stunned. This Light Twin 670 CC model was manufactured by Hendee Manufacturing Company in USA. As per a Jodhpur-Bikaner Railway note, it was transported from Kolkata on February 14, 1915. Though its present owners have the complete history of this bike documented in a coffee table book, they don’t want every detail of its ownership revealed to the general public. Nath bought it from Moolchand Pratap Chandji Soni in 1982.

05 The Vespa that stole the show from the Harleys

Would you believe that this age-old vespa was ridden from Delhi to Goa in flat four days? Its owner (we lost the diary in which we wrote his name) told us, “This is the original Vespa, it’s called Osa, which in Italian means wasp.” When we asked him how does he feel to be the odd man out among the Harley riders, he said, “Harley Davidson is like Zarine Khan, Vespa is like Katrina – original.” Hope the sponsors are not pissed.

From the February 2014 issue of FHM India.