Triumph Freedom Ride 2018
We rode with Triumph India on the Independence day to support noble cause of girl child education – #SheCanFly
Riding on a public holiday is a thing nowadays but riding for a cause rather makes it more engaging. This Independence day Triumph invited us to join for a ride – “Freedom Ride 2018”. It was for a noble cause – #SheCanFly. A campaign by Smile Foundation to support girl child education. This ride was organised across various cities in India and 513 riders including me had joined the ride. Things get more interesting as Triumph gave me the Bonneville Bobber and I rode with more than 50 riders to Lonavala.
We all got together at the Triumph Mumbai showroom and the ride was flagged off by 6:30 am. I hopped onto the Bobber and joined the tail group. If you guys know, just a few months back we at MotorBeam got a chance to review the Bonneville Bobber and we liked it very much. Except for the fact that the rear suspension had short travel and would not comply very well with bad roads. Mumbai roads, on the other hand, have become the worst than ever, thanks to the gruelling rains. I was only hoping that I was riding for a cause and to have fun during the ride and I don’t come back home with a broken tailbone, pun intended!
Our first halt was at Palm Beach Road for photo opportunities. The next one was at Kalamboli McDonald’s where a few more Triumph riders joined. The road till Palm Beach was bad and I could see all the Triumph Tiger owners having a ball. While I was somehow managing to avoid potholes on the Bobber. We regrouped at Palm Beach and boy, oh boy! Everyone rode in a splendid formation. I was still stuck at the tail but I could see everyone cheered up and lining up for some great pictures. Everyone riding with proper gear and the pillions at least wearing a helmet, that was a good sign.
The next halt was at Kalamboli and now the complete headcount was about 60 riders. That’s a huge turn up if you see all these bikes are classified as superbikes. Most owners don’t take their bike out in such rainy conditions. I met one of my close friends and he was riding his Triumph Tiger XR, I buddied up with him for the formation again. We crossed Panvel and by now I had a slight backache as the thuds from the bad roads were hitting me. The Bobber, however, was riding without a fuss! Brownie point for the build quality right there. Other Triumph Riders were pretty cautious too yet the pace was good for a group ride.
The Triumph Bonneville Bobber is a perfect motorcycle for highway duties,
The Bobber feels like a proper low-rider of motorcycles and the bike I was riding had an aftermarket exhaust. Not too loud but kept the ride engaging and did turn a few heads when I did a revbomb. We reached Lonavala and re-grouped at Kamat’s but in between, I took a small detour to find one of the best locations next to Khandala Ghat. Whilst taking a detour one of the Triumph riders joined us and he was on his Triumph Street Scrambler, the only one I saw in our Mumbai group. Basically, the Scrambler is a Bonneville that can do Tiger duties without breaking a sweat. We reached our destination and the arrangements done by Triumph were commendable. Breakfast for all the riders, technical team and backup support throughout the whole ride.
I noticed by the end that we had a backup ambulance too. At our destination, we had our normal ritual – salute to our Indian flag and everyone sung the national anthem. A few representatives from the Smile foundation did share the insights about the #SheCanFly campaign and Triumph India and that they are the charity partners. Also, all the donations from the Triumph riders and the proceeds from the ride will be used to support the noble cause of girl child education. While we celebrated our freedom with the Freedom Ride 2018, Triumph India provided a great chance to make it worth the while with this noble cause.