Amit’s Passion for Biking

This article is written by Amit Sakhrani. You can also submit your adventure, passion or thoughts about biking to BikeAdvice. Just send a good article to deepak@bikeadvice.in and we can share it with all the bike lovers.

For most Indians a two wheeler is a means of transport and its only a very small percentage of people for whom biking is a passion. Most two wheeler riders wait for the day they can graduate to a four wheeler and then don’t ever want to ride again. I am not one of them.

Being from a middle class family, I used a bike while in college and for the first few years of my work life. When I finally felt I could afford a car, I had to sacrifice my bike to make the down payment for my car booking. Although biking was always a passion, however it was forced onto a back burner due to shortage of funds. 

My passion for biking was rekindled a few months ago by a new colleague and although I had not owned a bike for over four years my urge to start biking was suddenly growing by the day. Life had been kind to me and I could now afford to have a bike without having to choose between a car and a bike.

Now began my search for a bike. As biking was going to be something I would do only on weekends purely for passion, I quickly short listed my choice between the 200 and 220 Pulsars, the Yamaha R15 and the Hero Honda Karizma R.

200 and 220 Bajaj Pulsars: I was happy with the test ride, however had received a few negative reviews on the reliability of the bikes. The reviews clubbed with a horrid experience with a KB 125 a few years earlier made be decide against the Pulsars.

Yamaha R15: The bike had just been launched and the whole country was talking about it. I went to the showroom hoping to get a test ride, however was denied one. He did allow me to hop onto it and started it so that I could hear the engine. It sounded great, however I am six feel tall and it felt cramped. It made me ask myself a big question about how comfortable it would be on a long ride. The fact that it was a new model which had not been tested through time, Yamaha had not had a great bike since the RX 100 and the lack of a good support system made me drop the Yamaha. Reviews ever since have been great and its great news to all Indian bikers.

Karizma R: The Karizma was the last bike I went to test ride. Having done a lot of homework, I knew that the technology was not as new as the R15 or even the Pulsar 220, however it carried with it a reputation of being rock solid and super reliable.

Hero Honda Karizma R 223cc

After a lot of thought and reading up on all the reviews I could get my hands on, I finally called the Hero Honda dealer to book my black Karizma R and to my luck, they had one which meant I did not have to go through a frustrating waiting period. So the very next day I was a proud owner of a new Karizma R.

A few months and a few weekend trips later, my love for my Karizma has only grown. The bike has lived up to its reputation of being solid and reliable. It sure packs a punch on the highway and I have never felt a lack of power in any gear or at any speed. While traveling, I have done close to 500kms in a day and the bike feels just as good as it did when I started. The riding posture for long distances is perfect, keeping fatigue to the minimum.

My Karizma is my able companion while I live my biking passion. I am sure this is a relationship that will last a long while……

Amit Sakhrani
Hyderabad