Suited, Booted And Going Full Throttle

It바카라�s a weekend and you바카라�re thankful you바카라�ve beaten the rest of the holiday-going city slickers to the highway. Now you바카라�re zipping past, giving the crammed towns a wide berth. A toll plaza looms up and you join the queue, with a scowl. Out in the open again, as you contemplate life between one toll booth and the next, there바카라�s a hum and a rider whizzes past your car. And, then, a beeline of riders. Say what you will바카라�there바카라�s something about motorcycling that바카라�s inexplicable. Free will? Perhaps. But everybody else on the road turns to look. What they see now, however, is the Indian rider like he never was바카라�all cladded-up, suited and booted.

For long, motorcycling enthusiasts in India pined for the big bikes바카라�highway cruiser or speedster바카라�but all they got were commuters. Now, there바카라�s more BHP (Brake Horse Power) in the market than ever before. So you can바카라�t just hop on and touch the spurs바카라�riding skill is key and, of course, protection. 바카라�Level 2바카라� armour is in; windcheaters won바카라�t help. Che Guevara-inspired road trip? Yes, but in full gear.

Suddenly, the rider is spoilt for choice바카라�there are dozens of riding-gear brands on the shelves. A helmet was, till recently, the only safety gear people knew about. Today, you have stores in all the big cities that바카라�ll outfit you head to toe. All this comes at a price, of course바카라�a jacket with back, shoulder and elbow protection usually starts at Rs 6,000 and goes up to five-six times that. But, they바카라�re finding takers. And, it바카라�s not the pros who are buying.

The transition is visible, even if nascent. 바카라�A mot­orcycle today isn바카라�t just a means to commute, it바카라�s also an aspiration,바카라� says motocross champion C.S. Santosh, who runs Big Rock Dirtpark, an off-road track about an hour바카라�s drive from Bangalore. When he started racing a decade-and-a-half ago at age 19, there wasn바카라�t any gear available in the country. 바카라�I had to buy second-hand stuff, imported boots or riding gear,바카라� he recalls. 바카라�Not any more. The whole list is available today. A lot of things have changed.바카라�

바카라�The boom happened four or five years ago바카라� says Bangalore-based Jay who runs Cramster, one of the early brands to sell motorcycle travel gear in India. He바카라�s got a lot more competition now. 바카라�It바카라�s peaking right now. You have 10 times more options.바카라� Clearly, things have come a long way, even if it바카라�s been painstakingly slow바카라�the wide-eyed 1980s kids who got all fired up watching Street Hawk leap out of its garage on Doordarshan now actually own some mighty machines. Ask Jay why he got into the business back in 2004 and he answers with a shrug. 바카라�Typical reasons,바카라� and reels off a well-worn template you hear in Bangalore바카라�s start-up conversations: 바카라�Software engineer...the common denominator of Bangalore. I bought a bike, I wanted gear.바카라� Cramster, he says, sold roughly 2,000 jackets last year, each costing between Rs 6,500 and Rs 9,500. A tiny drop, of course, in a country where a million motorcycles, mostly small-engined commuters, sell every month. 바카라�In fact, a lot of people I see on the highway still don바카라�t have gear...except for the riding groups. They are the ones who are more aware.바카라�

Out on the wide Bangalore-Hassan highway on a weekend, a group of six pulls over after an early morning run of 100 km each way. One of several riding groups in Bangalore, they call themselves Ministry of Torque. As they settle down to chat, a separate group of riders goes by. Within the hour, another lot pass by. How did all this happen? 바카라�Affordability,바카라� suggests Manoj Bawa, one of the founder-members. 바카라�EMIs are good,바카라� quips his riding partner Akshay Appanna. Both ride litre-class BMWs. Safety, of everyone on the road, is top priority. Their group is usually linked with communicators attached to helmets바카라�an intercom of sorts.

Now, the gear. Appanna wears an Alpinestars full suit that can pack in an air-bag바카라�costing about Rs 1 lakh plus바카라�and boots (Rs 40,000), Dainese gloves (Rs 30,000) and an AGV helmet that costs Rs 1 lakh. It takes him 20 minutes to get into the gear and alm­ost the same to peel it off. 바카라�It바카라�s better to spend on the best gear if you are serious about riding,바카라� he says. Serious means making the trip to Chennai or Coimbatore for a track day; Buddh International Circuit, he says, is on his to-do list.

For some, it바카라�s not just a weekend outing. Bang­alore-based Payal Chakraborty does her 5-6 km commute to work on her Ducati Scrambler, wearing her Hooligan mesh jacket and gloves, Mototech boots and AGV K5 helmet. She바카라�s got a second set for the longer trips out of town on weekends. There isn바카라�t much variety yet in the women바카라�s section in local stores, so she had to buy her gear in Singapore. 바카라�I바카라�m planning to upgrade to a supersport bike and get trained on track,바카라� she tells Outlook.

Motorcycle-maker Royal Enfield has much to do with the boom in the midsize segment바카라�it hit pay dirt with the Bullet Classic launched nearly a decade ago, which meant more riders were upgrading from commuter bikes. So, Leh, where once only the hardcores turned up, became a pilgrimage for many. And, people were outfitting themselves for it. Then, the sprightly KTM Duke 390 came along and whacked open the throttle. There바카라�s been a flood of premium bikes since.

Apparel, says Royal Enfield president Rudratej Singh, is closely knitted into the whole experience. 바카라�We are almost doubling our apparel business every year and the nascent motorcycle accessory business is also going to have similar ambitions,바카라� he says. In fact, the merchandise reaches even places where the company doesn바카라�t have motorcycle dealerships, he says, so a bigger retail push is on the anvil. 바카라�It바카라�s about how many people are living the pure motorcycling lifestyle. Our whole perspective is, even you are doing a test ride, you experience the entire gamut of the gear바카라�gloves, boots, the works,바카라� he explains. 바카라�Then, when you buy the motorcycle, you바카라�re invited back to be part of the community, and form your own group. That바카라�s what exactly happens,바카라� he explains. Looking good, obviously, is a big part of swinging a leg across the saddle.

Now that people are used to bigger machines, many are now also looking beyond their weekend breakfast spins on the highway, reckons Santosh of Big Rock Dirtpark. Two weeks ago, a few dozen amateurs turned out for a trail riding event he organised, equipped with good helmets and gear. 바카라�The course we set was quite challenging, but doable, and you didn바카라�t need prior expertise or training,바카라� says Santosh, who바카라�s the first Indian to ride the gruelling Dakar cross-country. 바카라�This is just the beginning for adventure sport in India on the motorcycle front.바카라� Motorsports, he says, isn바카라�t typically a family thing, but a day out scrambling on a dirt road could potentially be. 바카라�We바카라�ve seen that. I바카라�ve had kids come here with their fathers. I바카라�ve also had mothers riding as amateurs,바카라� he says. 바카라�Out of these, we바카라�ll be able to find a few talented ones, who will then go on, hopefully, to become professionals.바카라� Things are revving up for sure. Tank up, get kitted out.