Frozen Dreams

Ask a hardcore biker who has seen 60 turns of the calender years about bikes and you will hear names like BSA, Norton, Triumph and DKW! The Hayabusas and the ZXs of this world hold no meaning for these gracious young gentlemen! If you had to enquire what their dream bikes are, it would be a legend from their era. You will not find them drooling over images of a Ducati 999.

Such are dreams. They are just a connection to a place that does not exist. Now ask a 16 year old lad going to school, about his dream bike. You will hear names that will want you to invest in a book that lists every possible production machine! Busas, Gixxers, KTMs, Ducs, Yams and the whole global motorcycle manufacturing segment will get rattled off in one single classroom! Ask him if he has ever seen a Duc in real life. I guess not. Then how is it so desirable? What makes it his favourite? What does he know about the feel of riding one? The pros and the cons? Its his desire because he read about it somewhere. He downloaded wallpapers and pasted them on his desktop. He follows the latest from his chosen dream maker company and sometimes even ditches the brand due to some growing up change of fantasy!

Years ago, Bijoy (Ed- BS Motoring) did a story on the Kawasaki GPZ 1100. You can read the article here. And that, my friends is my dream bike. I have never seen one in flesh. I have never heard that suppressed silent howl. I have never felt the inline 4 breathing under me. Yet, it is the one bike that I would love to own, forever.

Ask me the same question when I am 50, and Ill say the same thing. Ditto when I am 65! Dreams have a weird habit of getting frozen. Unlike our need for the latest gadgets or the fanciest cars, dreams never budge. They stay put. And I have a dream that got fueled by this article. Thanks Bijoy. You know how many times I have re read it? About a 150!

You dream about a bike too? Tell us!

- Rahul

Images by BSM