My Deepening Affection For Motorbikes

My first bike was my grandfather's rusty old Hero Honda Joy. I had just turned 18 when he handed me the keys to his bike which he had bought in 2001. We turned the key, gave it a few kicks and finally, the engine started. To my great disappointment, it turned off again. We saw the petrol leaking from the side of the tank, and that's when my dream faded, and the excitement died. The very next day right after I came back from school, I saw a brand new motorcycle petrol tank. I put my bag inside and told my grandfather to come along, and then we installed the new petrol tank and filled it up. The engine’s rumble was no less than music to my ears. Then I took it for a ride and realized that it could only manage to move at 40km/h. To fix this, I had to tighten the exhaust to the manifold, a few tweaks and it was able to move at 80km/h. That's when I got hooked up to the whole mechanism. I rode it for quite a while and savoured the feeling of the cool breeze and the entire experience wholly.

 My first real taste of a motorbike was when I drove my cousin’s Royal Enfield. It had way more torque since it was a 350cc and I was astounded by what a single-cylinder could do. So I requested my dad and asked him if I could get one too. After some hesitation, he allowed. The next day we went to place the order in Royal Enfield, but instead, I got attracted to a new showroom, and it was a remake of the earlier times-"JAWA". I instantly fell in love with the way the bike looked. After the test drive, I told my dad that this is the one and so we booked it, although we had to wait for six months for the bike to arrive, I was patient, and it was worth the wait. I still have my grandfather's bike and have maintained it. I have it saved as a memory of my very first bike which I would never forget. 

Dilraj Singh Tanday (IBDP Sr.)
Cambridge International Foundation School
2019-2020