Its been full 6 years since i had my first riding experience on a bike, as a rider....though i took my licence just 1 year before....Then it was a red YAMAHA RX100...it was as old as I was then and was bought from the first lot when it didnt have a manufacturing centre in kerala...i remember it could easily carry 4 people(dad,mom,my bro and little me) and climb any hill...that was the power of the 2 stroke bike....it really suited me....I was not at all a tall guy then...but could easily climb on it and reach my feet on the ground....I havent really enjoyed throttling the bike to its maximum...had just started to learn riding a bike and was unaware of the THRILL it gave....its sound was amazing.....like always ready for a challenge.....a real masculine touch...it was surprising to me that such a smaal bike had so much power....which was matched by no other bike at that time....but the mileage aspect was a factor which it was just satisfactory at....which was the only thing in demand then.......The new era of more efficient,mileage giving bikes had started in India and Dad had no second thoughts on buying a new one....which was a TVS VICTOR...the old buddy was given at a price higher than it was bought....the production of 2 stroke bikes had been banned by then by law due to pollution norms.....and there was an increasing demand for this bike among youngsters....the new one was a revolution....due to its innovative design and styling.....its efficiency and performance....these were the features projected in the ads which were flourishing in channels those days.....but very few had noticed its lack of pick up....its when the labels and covers of the new bike started wearing off that the REAl bike began to show up.... the mileage began to come down and the shocks seemed to be softer to the road rather than to the person sitting on the bike.....by that time i had been riding the bike more often and the THRILL element had begun to dawn on me...and decided to test the limits....throttled to the bikes maximum on the kowdiar vellayambalam strech ...the economy mode had changed to power mode and the orange LED lit up for the first time..... the speedometer crossed 60 and the bike started vibtrating....it reached 70...and my hands started shaking....it touched 80...and i could hear the bike wailing......and pleading "No more...pleeaseeeeeeee.....i cant go further..."..and i had no options but to release the accelarator.....neither was I happy nor was the bike ...it had started to produce a permanent rattle.....as a result of the small torture....and sounded like a repeated a$$h*le aimed at me....this was when my old friend came to my mind....had it been there with me now.....its sppedo would have touched 100 and the accelator shouted..."Gimme more....dude..."....and this surely would have been the reason why my Dad sold it before i could test the limits....many new bikes would have come....with more power and performance....but my old friend will simply remain the best.......the one and only YAMAHA......
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