BULLET crazy BOYS

On public demand... translation of the article came published in Vanitha (April 15-30, 2007 edition) about "Silver bullets"...

Bullet Crazy Boys

Every Sunday, the growl of bullets is heard at Kavadiar Palace. This is a rare union/brotherhood.

Phut... Phut... Phut...
Every Sunday 6:00pm onwords this sound echoes at the Kavadiar Palace premises. They are reaching one by one. They are guys who deeply love the motor bike called Bullet, guys who have taken the bullet thump as their heart beat. They lined up their bikes under a tree and wished each other.

"Hay, when did you replace this tail light?" some are gathered around Anil's bike checking the new light.
Varghese George explains about the newly fitted silencer.
All eyes are on the bullets parked in a line. In between some pamper their own bikes with a glance, as though whispering the bikes, 'my dear, I haven't forgotten you'. All these guys belong to the bullet club called 'Silver Bullets'. "A club for a particular vehicle and get together like... May be this is the first of its kind in Kerala." says Jaygopan Gopinathan, moderator of Silver Bulelt who is a system administrator in Envest Net.

It was in 2002 October, Mr. Kannan Sivasankaran from Thiruvananthapurm, a bullet lover, created a yahoo group called 'Trivandrum Riders'. Kannan aimed to group the Bullet lovers of Trivandrum . In an amazing response, majestic bulleteers raced to the group. "What an excitement they all had! Everyone shared their bullet ride stories in the group. If someone says he wants to sell his bullet, even if it's a joke, others would scold him... how could you..."

Babu Thariq (Business Analyst in Nest), Anil Kumar K (V P Engineering), V S Subodh (CDAC), Varghese George (Software Specialist), C N Sreejith (Visual Graphic), Praveen Kumar (TATA Aig), Gopu Krishnan (Medical Student)...
Trivandrum Riders ride their way in the net.

New Idea in the Anniversary meet
Group's second anniversary, members gathered at the Kavadiar Palace. An idea came out from someone. Why doesn’t the group meet up every week? Why can’t we go for group rides on our beloved bullets?

They started observing the activities of foreign clubs and got in touch with clubs in Bangalore and Chennai through Internet. The yahoo group has been transformed into the bullet club 'silver bullets' within no time. The strength of the club now has reached 101. They have even started a website for the club
www.silver-bullets.org
The members range from 23 yrs old medical student Gopu Krishnan to 54 yrs old Canara bank employee G B Sharma.

Now all are passionate about the long rides on Sundays and other holidays. They ride like migratory birds. There will be one lead rider at front and one tail rider at the rear. Never count them with the crazy bikers who are always nuisance to the public. Silver bullets strictly adhere to the traffic rules. "No ride without helmet, no over speeding".

Will go Himalayas too
Bullet came to India 50 years ago. At the time of British the bike production was mainly for military purpose. Now, Bullets are being exported to different parts of the world only from the plant in Chennai.
What pleasure does this 350cc rough machine give you on rides?
"There are many who go to Himalayas on Bullets. Last October we rode to Goa", says Sreejith.
If possible they are ready to take the role of a savior on roads. Once after a ride, on reaching Eranakulam, the group spotted a car with no head lights. It is heading to Trivandrum with a patient in critical condition. Silver bullets took over the situation. Two bullets in front of the car and two at the rear, they escorted the patient safely till Trivandrum.

Almost every one at Silver bullets is a mechanic of their bikes. If a broken down bullet is found on road, help is guaranteed. Even there was an incident of money being offered by somebody after the repair, thinking that he is a company mechanic.

Sreejith, Subodh, praveen and all ride a lot on this vehicle with family. "Though my company offers vehicle for official trips, I use my bullet only", says Suboth. "After marriage my wife used to ride with me on Bullet. Now, even my son is as bullet crazy as I am. Some of my relatives exclaim- how come this kid became like this."

Considering the fact that there happen around 5-10 two wheeler accidents per hour in Kerala, is it safe to do long rides on two wheelers....
Bulleteers intervened and red signaled that remark.
"Here who respect drivers on road? When the rule says, overtaking has to be only with the consent of the driver at front, here the style is to honk, scare the drivers and overtake."
Silver bullets discusses and evaluates each accident happening in the city.

The talk has again been diverted to 'bullets'. Some say, it's an unacceptable thing RE has done by reducing the weight of the engine to make the bike more popular.
"Will ladies like the article if published in Vanitha", some one got a genuine doubt.

Sun is down. It's time for them to disperse. The 'fuel of friendship' all have tanked up with is enough for them to run another week.


---
Seena Tony Jose
Photo: Judin Barnard

A Beautiful Beast

On Two wheels
Owning a ride on two wheels has always fascinated me. RX100 was my first love. It was painful for me to sell her to one of my friends after I owned the Bullet. Again I felt the pain when I heard that the machine got stolen from him.
The real fun of ride is on two wheels and if that is an Enfield Bullet. I think this legend deserves nothing other than pure respect. People have different views on riding and different bikes; it varies from the necessity of transportation to the mere fun of feeling the bike and having a joy ride. Anyway I have my own views.

A little bit about my ride
It’s one of my friends who sowed the seed of bullet in my mind. Long live Danny :)
Though I liked the legend, I never knew that I’ll become so obsessed with it. My std 350cc Bull runs great. Ignition has been upgraded to CDI and is fitted with a thunderbird’s sleek seat and a higher handle bar. Rest is stock. She’s never let a scratch fall on me or her, never felt this 170kg beast hard to handle. Rather she is an obedient cat. Have a look at my ride. She is THE most 'beautiful beast'.

Why Enfield Bullet?

No machine is bad. There are machines built for different situations, each made to give its best in its own arena. The point is to find out which class belongs to you. That is a task that requires lots of thoughts. It took a while to find out I belong to the Bullet class. In other words it’s a result of few myth bursting.

The myths
There is a preconception that a Bulleteer sacrifice a lot to stay with Bullet.
(1)Low mileage, (2) left side break and right side gear shifts, (3) High maintenance- cost and frequency, (4) oil leaks, (5) uneasiness to handle it in traffic and city driving conditions, (6) Low initial pickup, (7) Stiff ride- might break your back borne, (8) Poor breaking, (9) kick backs, (10) highly priced…….
The list is endless. Anyway I found some time to think about the above mentioned criticisms just to burst these myths. I thought it worth spending time for that coz… Because it is obvious that without a reason this machine wouldn’t have lived in the hearts of thousands for decades.

Bursts
Thousands still ride their age old legends. No one wants to carry a burden and spend time for something which is a junk.
(1) Mileage:
A decent rider gets 35-40 km from an 18bhp powerhouse. Is that bad?
The new generation AVL engine offers much more than that, though I don’t like AVL much for some specific reasons; may be I can explain it later. I’m sure no one compares bullet with a use and throw new generation 100kpl bike. Intention is not mere transportation. If that's the case, a moped will do the job.
(2) Left side break and right side gear shifts
If one finds it hard to get used to this system, better keep away from bullet. I’ve heard a funny quote from a bulleter. “A bulleteer is not supposed to ride other bikes and vice versa, that’s the reason for left side brakes and right side gear system”…. Never mind... :)
(3) High maintenance- cost and frequency
I know people who like to spend time with the machine and mechanics with unnecessary tune ups and touch ups here and there. I’ve never felt that bullet is a frequent mechanic visitor. That is my personal experience. I’ve never done anything other that what I used to do on my old RX100- only the routine maintenance. If you ride with respect, it will never give a trouble. Give respect and take respect. I don’t believe that the so called niggling problems really exist.
Two exceptions…
(a) Hard core riders who live to ride and ride to live.
(b) Owners of very old machines. When the machine is 20 or 30 or more years old, yes, it definitely is an exception
(4) Oil leaks
This can be linked with the above mentioned points.
(5) Uneasiness to handle it in traffic and city driving conditions
Bullet is for people who know riding or atleast for those who have the heart to learn it. If you have just rode bullet once or twice and wish to ask “how the hell do u handle this in traffic”, sorry I can't answer. Believe me it is easy as a knife through butter.
(6) Low initial pickup
Bullet is not a sprinter.
No comparison between a cheetah and a horse.
No comparison between a 100m sprinter and a marathon runner.
(7) Stiff ride
You decide if you want a stiff ride or a smooth ride.
Most of the bulleters comment that the ride on bullet is more comfortable.
Anyway, honestly I’ve found the bullet a little stiff, especially the back shock absorbers. There definitely is an alternative. That is, to fix a pair of new generation gas shock absorbers. Issue solved.
(8) Poor Breaking
Not satisfied with the breaking? There is disk break available. Solid, it is.
(9) Kick backs
Hmm… The art of doing decompression is very simple if it’s a point timer system.
Anyway you will learn that it’s important to keep your feet (?!) healthy to withstand a stroke. Keep working out :)
Not satisfied? Go for electric start, there is option to upgrade to electric start.
(Can we call it kick back? Anyway you’ve got what I meant.)
(10) Highly priced
No comments…
Anyway, old ones are pretty cheap, I haven’t seen a hard core bulleteer going behind a brand new one. Most of the new models, I feel, are for pulling customers from the small bikes segment. Business side, I’m least concerned about…

Ultimately what matters is whether you get what you want or not…
It is a fact that for decades a bulleteer gets what he wants. Or else this machine would have been history like its co-riders. It survived for a long time and it will for another… I don’t even have a guess ‘for how many more years'…

Finally (if you are a bullet lover), what if someone asks you “Why Enfield Bullet?”
For most of the bullet lovers, the most complicated question to answer…
There is an interesting answer from someone...
“What if your wife asks you for a reason to love her? It’s something difficult to answer. There are things which your heart does on which your brain doesn’t have a say.”
Emotional attachment with this machine, for some people is unexplainable. One shared the emotional attachment his father has with the bullet. He wants the machine too to be buried with him when he dies. Which other machine has this privilege?
Anyway most bullet lovers stay with it because of……….
The Feeling it gives (feeling the bike/ride is something which only a bulleter has experienced)
The Thump
The power/torque it delivers
The individuality it gives you
The stability it has on high speeds
The ability to stay strong on long rides
The cool, majestic, and mind blowing looks
….. The list goes on and on…..
I like and respect this ‘machine with history’. And I’m sure that this legend is ‘not going be history’ in anywhere near future.

Bottom line- Bullet is not a machine to move a mass ‘X’ from a point ‘A’ to the point ‘B’. It is a device to move it in style…

Wish you happy Thumping…
Ride safe.