Two wheeled Panther

Remember when you drove something for the first time? The first cycle ride or the first time you got your hands on a basic motorcycle or car. The childish happiness of moving when you operate a few levers and pedals is surprising and feels quite good. We even fondly remember the person who taught us that. That is usually our dads.

Then there is another kind of feeling good. I am not a sports person but I have experienced the joy of playing a sport when you are in peak form just for a while. The joy of timing the ball with the middle of the bat - over after over. It's a flow, it’s a thrill and it’s really memorable.

Riding my Z900 (I call it Bagheera)  on our road to the airport these days recreates a combination of both these kinds of joys. I am a decent enough biker but this thing elevates me to greatness. This bike feels tight, there is nothing loose, the wheels are tightly hugging small road undulations. The fat tires feel planted no matter how leaned over you are. That road is not bumpy but it does flow like a wave over kilometers and this bike feels like it surfs the wave.

It is not an adrenaline rush, it does not scare me, I feel like I am in total control. That is more due to the bike than my skill. It is not about the top speed but it is about how this bike slides between vehicles with a mellow growl in 6th gear when I twist the throttle. It then emerges from a cluster of vehicles and races to catch up to the next cluster of traffic a few hundred meters ahead. While this happens there is a stupid grin on my face.

Sometimes when I find a gap, I duck a little, feel one with the bike, shift down two gears though it is not at all necessary and slide between traffic with a decent lean and a louder growl. If there is a good enough stretch of free tarmac, I bang up through two more gears and climb speeds at a crazy rate before I slow down for the next cluster of traffic. That slowing down is not disappointing. It feels like I just played my square drive and I am back in the crease for the next ball. This bike is not a smooth shifter. While I climb gears pushing speeds, I can feel a gushing nudge with each clutch release but that makes it feel nicer. I have figured the gears enough to make that nudge a smooth enough affair.

Traffic in India does not follow lane discipline. Vehicles move where there is space and on semi urban highways like the airport road, vehicles of all types move in clusters. That is what makes this such a pleasure. Weaving through them is like a game. It was a pointless ride going nowhere. It was like a jog. You go around and get back home. 

There are a few types of joy in this world. Then there are a few types of fun in this world. If it makes you happy from inside it is probably joy. Joy has an after effect even when it ends. If it gives you physical pleasure or engages you mentally or gives you adrenaline, it is probably fun. This borders on joy and fun. This definitely has an after effect, it feels like my day is made. At some points in the ride, I would take one hand off the handle, sit upright, get off the aggression and calmly cruise. At one such point, it even felt like, chalo, zindagi jee liya. :)