How to learn motorcycle riding in India

Three high speed crashes yesterday with a category of bikes that I associate myself with- bikes with a lot of cc, a lot of HP- this side of a helicopter turbine, a lot of Nm or torque- easily the most this side of road rollers.

A Daytona 675R went down with its rider- fatally just north of Mumbai.

Another just as expensive or twice so- Ducati Hypermotard 821- literally broke into two around Lavasa, with news that its rider is alive- and then as if it wasn’t enough a bike twice that cost- a S100RR HP4, went down in Hyderabad again taking its rider with it- to heaven.

Time and again- too much, too little training, too little time acclimatizing to the throttle- and hanging with the wrong kind of people.

The fragile human ego- is easily challenged and at the drop of a hat ready to compete in a show of faster, further, stronger- at anytime. I think ego sometimes doubles up as a pimp for the God of Death.

In sequence- you have to find the right guys to learn from, observe, and train with- and in this only your karma can guide you. After that its your hand that guides you and your upbringing that tempers you- and the sense of what is right and wrong, inculcated in you that will prevent you from chasing people who are more proficient than you- and your judgement that there will always be someone better than you- eventually. And that its ok.

A commercial airline pilot, trained to handle emergencies and save the lives of the hundred who fly with him- if he could fall prey to the lure of being quick, being ahead- then others with far less training, I dread the coming days on the highways.

I call out to group leaders, riders who are looked up on be younger and newer fraternity to encourage good riding, and to be able to cultivate a sense of capability of different motorcycles, that a SuperLow will not stop on braking in even twice the distance of a Ducati Diavel. Racing on NH17 is not the same as flying low between Kolhapur and Belgaum.

I call out to new riders and wish to tell them that there are no older riders- every day is new- every ride is a challenge- there are just wise riders- try and find them and learn from them.

With my riding partners- Sushant and Osborne and the full family at #bombayharriers