Bikers are of a different kind, we love different things and rarely think from the head. Motorcycling is itself a thing of the heart, something which beats logic and sense and that is why motorcyclists are a different bunch who follow a different cult. However motorcycling isn’t as celebrated in India as it is globally. Enter India Bike Week, a platform for like minded individuals to call home, to mingle and spend two days in total 2-wheel nirvana. We at MotorBeam rode down to the India Bike Week 2014 and came out deeply satisfied with the biking festival.
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By now, all of you might know what India Bike Week is and if you don’t, you are probably living under a big fat rock undergoing fossilisation. The event was held in Vagator, Goa and saw 8000 bikers storm to the tourism state of our country. Harley-Davidson is the main sponsor and thus there were way too many of these cruisers all over Goa roads, after all the national HOG (Harley Owners Group) rally concluded at the India Bike Week. In fact the presence of Harley-Davidson was so amplified that more than 3/4ths of the parking inside was reserved for Harley-Davidson bike owners only.
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But there is more to Indian Bike Week than just Harley-Davidson although cruiser body type bikes seem to have taken a huge prominence. The event is filled with a whole load of action, right from stunts, rock bands, bikini bike wash, martial arts championship, etc. The variety of activities enables IBW to cater to a large kind of audience. However for us at MotorBeam, there were only few things which really stood out, so let’s dwell into those without any ado.
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MRF FMMX Riders – They not only flew through the air and summersaulted but left you gazing as the level of ease they portrayed while doing these insane stunts was truly worth an applaud.
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RaceDynamics Dyno – Very aware about how much your stock bike produces but like most enthusiasts, you have done performance tweaks to your machine. RaceDynamics brought their dyno letting people check the real power of their machines. Nobody in the crowd really cared about the power loss at wheel, all they cared about was the bike on the dyno redlining in each gear and emitting pure aural bass.
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MOD bike competition, Biker Build-off – It doesn’t get better than this. This competition saw entry from first timers to highly experienced people. The displays were totally out of this world. Rajputana Customs got a chopper with a Harley-Davidson V-Twin engine while RHC modified a Classic 500 into a very extreme machine (26-inch wheels at the front, 360 section rear tyre, the world’s biggest on a bike).
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Bombay Custom Works transformed a Pulsar into one amazing cafe racer while some one took a Hero Hero CD100 and made a complete transformation of it (pictured above).
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Checkout the rear wheel of one of the bikes in the MOD bike competition. Insane, isn’t it?
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The speedometer has been neatly placed in a very unconventional position.
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Vintage Bikes – A complete range of vintage bikes were showcased and the upkeep of these machines can truly make you appreciate the owner for the passion and zeal towards classic motorcycles. Round headlights, speedometer starting from 1’o clock position and big chunky tanks were the norms in those days. Norton, BSA, Indian, Triumph, Royal Enfield, Yamaha were the makes of these vintage classics.
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Nisttarkya – It is India’s first electric bike concept and although it looks way far from production, the effort in making it is commendable and so is the vision of Santosh, the man behind this eco machine.
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That’s not all, besides these highlights, there was a big tent cinema which played interesting bike related movies, loudest bike competition which let you hear the exciting roar of in-line fours trying to do their decibel thing with DJs playing music all throughout. Dealers of BMW Motorrad and Aprilia had displayed bikes while TVS had showcased a matte-black Apache, Apache 160 racer and Apache 300cc Motocross bike. Harley-Davidson unveiled the Street 750 and displayed accessorised versions of the bike along with three Street 750 concepts. There were many notable motorcyclists present at the India Bike Week and it was really enlightening to speak to them and hear their stories. You could also purchase bike accessories and riding gear as there were many companies present at the event, selling a wide range of stuff. All this made the India Bike Week a festival worth a visit at least once for bikeoholics.
Check out the exhaustive picture gallery from the India Bike Week 2014 below.
