Friends called me a crazy chap. Even relatives murmured the same sort, when I openly told them that I want to own a car! Believe me all the time I had thought & spent my precious childhood time calculating various strategies towards the aim of owning a car. It was around 15 years ago.
Forget about the purchase of a vehicle even thinking of it was far from the thought process. Virtually it was a luxury item of the life. When I was around 5 yrs. I used to be fetched to the same school where my mother was a teacher. The school was located in an isolated village & it was around 10 KMs away from our town. Wherever she used to be transferred in her career ladder I used to follow her as an honest follower.
We have experienced the circus of going 4 members of entire family in my Papa’s TVS 50 vehicle! In the vehicle all seats were prior reserved for all the time! Since I was younger to my brother my place was front at the foot rest. Believe me, what an awesome picture view from there. None of the cameramen of Hollywood has enjoyed so.
It was like wearing the goggle & watching the 3D movie! With great speed of 50kms/hr, my Papa was a real hero, over taking all the rikshas, bicycles & tractors! I was a navigator to my papa in exploring the patches & holes on the road & to instruct him. My Papa was a rider, Brother in between & Mom at last. This was the transport structure we had to commute to school daily.
Once in an evening of July the rain was literally pouring. And the buses stopped traveling as the only main road was drowned with full of water. No telephone service was there or though it was there we were unaware of it! The time was 8 in the night. There was a car from other city was passing through & we waived our tiny hands to stop & drop us till our town. But he didn’t even care to say no. He simply vanished. That was the first time I accepted the challenge to have a car to my family!
Myself, brother & mom waited there itself in the school. The time was running very fast it was 10pm totally we were tired without food. There came my real hero my Papa by our TVS 50! He had crossed 22 KMs in the same heavy rain. He had taken a long route as the road was blocked. When we saw him we were recharged with high voltage. More over by that time the rain started slowing down. And we reached home by 12 in the late night.
The entire scene of this marked in my mind & tempted me to go for a car. After my MBA I went to Bangalore for job hunting. And luckily with a less time I could able to get a job in a consultancy. As I was directly from the college my package was so low that living in the expensive city like Bangalore was toughest task.
Some how, I managed the show in a PG. And when I realized that living with friends may be still cheaper than staying in PG I shifted to Kavika Lay out of Bangalore. One fine morning of the Sunday all my friends went to road side & as usual we sat on the road walls. So many different cars with dazzling colors.
This time again it hit my mind I said openly that I would own a car. Friends started calculating my CTC per annum told & started kindling that I will have to wait at least 10 years that too without spending lavishly to purchase the car. One point of time it looked apt but it was not difficult. I quit the job there got a better with unexpected and handsome salary & I got the same Swift vehicle of Maruti after exactly 3 yrs & 5months later.
My hunt for the toy did not stop there. It was cherished once again when I & my friends had gone for the movie ‘Saathiya’! I was stunned by watching the vehicle – Avenger of Bajaj. (That time even the name was unaware!) This time I again shouted that I own this! But this time they did not laugh at time. Now I own an Avenger 220 of Bajaj! A real wonder on the road. As Bajaj says one will feel like a God!
As the wheelbases of the rear & front wheels are high they lend the bike its characteristic cruiser looks & performance while the broad rider seat and splayed out riding position ensure comfort and better dynamics, even when handling corners and cutting bends of the awkward kind.
A flat handlebar, a twin down-tube frame in the front, the steel swing-arm reaching the rear wheel all make for old-fashioned bike mechanisms and heavy traffic does bring out the horrors of handling this heavy cruiser, so corner tackling is a challenge then. However, braking being incredible, the stability is rock-solid. The intensive utilization of the chromium offers an elegant & fresh look. But when the sun is at your back the plated part over the petrol tank hinders the rider’s focus!
My Avenger answered almost all the answers I was looking for a pleasure & comfort ride by way of a cruising experience on two-wheels with low-slung rider seat design, lifted pillion seat, exemplary braking, enhanced engine and gear box performance courtesy bigger 5-speed fundamentals and a neat oil-cooler to ensure lowered temperatures.
Bajaj would have offered the two variants i.e. with front disc brake & without of it. Only concern is the mileage of its as it offers only 40 – 44Kms per litre (long ride) & 35 – 38 Kms per litre (in city limit). As the bike does not have any storage possibility, the bikers can go for the stylish customized side bag which may cost you around Rs.150/-.
Regards,
Praveen
