Many of us Indians have one very basic problem, and that is the complete and utter lack of ‘sense of self-preservation’. Now I don’t say this out of hatred or anger, but we do. Where else have you ever heard of people sitting on top of trains or buses? A testament to that are two incidents that took place this week, one that involved a reckless rider in Delhi on a 600cc TNT600i crashing into a civilian before slamming into the pavement and another that involved a KTM 390 Duke in Kochi, Kerala crashing a day old bike into a moving auto-rickshaw. Both incidents resulted in the grievous loss of life. Both could’ve been avoided if the riders had shown restraint and caution. As we grow as a nation, more of us have the means to fulfil our aspirations, with fast cars and even faster motorcycles. Mixing the former and the latter, however, can result in an end-game proposition. Now when those dreams entail a fast motorcycle, there are a few things one needs to be actively aware of.
Super bikes and sportbikes are completely different animals than their commuter cousins, and we’re not just talking about the performance. They are delicate and need to be taken care of like service intervals and real-world spare change routines.
Riding a big-bike doesn’t make you a better rider
I will admit to reading through a few other articles before writing my own, and most of them (with far more in terms of experience than myself) seem to reiterate this point. The size of your tool DOES NOT account for experience, excuse the punnery. What really matters is the number of miles you have in the saddle. That’s because the more time you spend there. The more likely you are to find yourself in hairy situations and you slowly learn what to do and how to avert them. Don’t rely on your reflexes often times it might kill you. Like letting go of the handlebar in the case of a tank slapper can sound like insanity but it’s the only way you can stay on the bike, as I found out when I hit a bump in the road( note: bump does not mean speed-breaker this was a standalone mound) at 170k. I let go off of the handles cause it had happened to me multiple times before and I knew that was the only way I could survive. Point being nothing replaces experience, speed and discipline will follow. You can’t afford trial and error on bikes this big.
Parts and service intervals
Most of these bikes were never built to cope with the strenuous road and weather conditions that our country has to offer. Before you buy one of these, accept these two persistent realities. Parts are going to need replacement and liquids will need refills almost twice as early as specified by the company. The second one is accepting that parts are never going to be available as and when you need it. They get more and more hard to come by as you go more up scale. Things will change as our demand goes up but these are something’s that you need to keep in mind every time you buy one of these bikes.
You will catch everyone’s attention and that includes good and bad
Now while most will look at you with admiration and wistful eyes, bikers have garnered quite the bad rep for themselves over the years. Many popular biking roads like Lavassa in Pune or Nandi Hills in Bangalore have seen some terrible crashes often including the local populace. Which makes riders in gear the enemy. Now I’m not going to tell you not to enjoy your machine, heaven knows that’s exactly why you bought it, but do it responsibly. Remember that when you have the gear-on, you’re not just XYZ “rider”, you are representing a community. So ride slowly through populated areas and slow down when you see human or vehicular traffic. Nobody thinks you’re cool if you’re riding through traffic exhaust blaring. Trust me.
Falling off and can be extremely expensive, and/or extremely painful or worse
Don’t push an envelope you’re not sure of on a superbike. Falling of commuters is painful enough, superbikes can get much worse. A wise man once said the only difference between a rider and an organ donor is one bad judgement call. If you’re unsure of a gap don’t take it.Try to throttle down between consecutive overtakes. And for heaven’s sake don’t try to push yourself beyond your limits just because the guy in fronts starts moving. That’s exactly how accidents happen. Even dropping you’re superbike over in the lot can turn into an expensive proposition (more importantly refer to point two, parts can be an issue) falling off it while rolling can turn out much more expensive, so this is a situation best avoided with a generous dollop of caution.
