” WOW !!!! WHAT . AN . EVENT !!!! “
That’s all I can say as of now. The final count for the event was 78 RDs. The riders age group was from 18 to hold your breath, 71. It included, normal commuters, drag racers, rally riders from the days gone by, tourers, mechs etc. The event went off smoothly and no ugly incidents were thankfully seen. Wait up for a full report very sooon!!
Till then I’ve just uploaded photographs from one camera. These photographs still do not have a tag to them and not been segregated. Just dumped here. There are many more to follow. I think that one snap below should tell you the scale of the event!
And just before I sign off for today, you should have seen the blue smoke. It was just mind blowing. No need of anything to get on a high for quite sometime. Just see the haze in the pictures.
Albums from the Event:
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| Click to view album |
BURN GAS KICK ASS !!
Sunday the 29th of February will remain in the minds of RD350 riders in Bangalore for a long-long time. This day saw the largest meet of RD350 riders yet in the country. 78 of Bangalore’s RD350s came out to participate in what is now being termed as the RD Revival Ride of 2004.
The whole concept of having a mega RD meet in the city began as a conversation over a few coffees between a few guys. Subsequently more people were taken into the loop and flyers were posted out at Mechanics shops, word was spread by mouth amongst RD riders and even the press was involved by giving a couple of interviews and articles.
As there were no sponsors to the event, the riders were asked to pay a sum of money while registering to confirm participation. This covered the costs for a T-shirt and lunch, which was arranged at a farm 25kms out of the city. The Bangalore 2 Wheeler Workshop Owners Association gave their complete support to this effort by sending across 2 cars fully equipped to take care of any eventualities with mechanics.
On the day of the event the rider-bike count was at about 60 with, the tally rising to 80 with the last minute registrations (2 of the bikers who had registered could not make it due to unavoidable circumstances). The street, which was selected for the bikers to meet up, was something, which you had to see to believe. Revving engines and gleaming bikes was the order of the day. The love for these fast twin cylinder machines was very obvious in each of the participants.
The crowd was a very diverse one with the age group being 18 to 71. People from various backgrounds could be seen mingling. Ex-racers, long distance riders, guys who had done several trips to the Himalayas (Himalayan goats as we fondly call them), your regular office commuter and so on. It was a real privilege to be amongst people like Sathya (he has done the Himalayas 5 times including the trans-Himalayan ride), Dinesh Sharma, Rajen Joshua, Gautam Kadam (all racers on their RDs), Ashok and his pillion (who have ridden around the country together extensively on their RD) and listen to their experiences. There was one lady who was ‘burning gas and kicking ass’ on her RD350, Rashna Joshua (Rajen Joshua’s daughter and a racer in her own right). But one thing was what was common amongst all the participants; they were all high on blue smoke.
After being flagged off in three sets at the start, a quick photo shoot was arranged in a field near the outskirts. After this the riders were led to the venue together. What followed were introductions of the riders to the crowd and discussion on ideas for future activities for the club. The interests of the participants varied from weekend forays, expeditions to technical workshops, races and so on.
All this was followed by a sumptuous lunch. Burp!
With just 2 weeks of preparation and no sponsors, the organizers were able to bring together 78 like-minded RD350 owners, which is a good start in itself. This also serves as a reminder to major manufacturers that there is still and will always be a segment of the population, albeit a small segment, that is waiting for bikes that can stand up to the power, elegance and the aura, that is the RD350.