A Time To Ride

The View of the Lo Manthang

noreply@blogger.com (Vir Nakai ) — Sun, 19 Jun 2022 03:44:00 +0000

The view as you ride down into the upper regions of Mustang towards the ancient walled city of Lo you need to stop and stare cause there is so much to gawk at. Also the trail you ride down is quite hairy so better to stop and stare.

The Bridges of Lower Mustang

noreply@blogger.com (Vir Nakai ) — Sat, 18 Jun 2022 15:22:00 +0000

Drinking Beer and chilling on a Saturday evening made me upload a video to "You Tube". But its a video in full res of me crossing one of the bridges of Lower Mustang. I posted an Insta version on the gram a few days ago.

Tanking Up on Sideburn and Dice Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Vir Nakai ) — Sat, 18 Jun 2022 03:30:00 +0000

At the first Tank Up. We are going to have to have separate post on that next I feel. At the coffee counter I put all my personal copies of all the Sideburn Magazine I own so that people could sit grab a coffee and flip through the magazines. The idea was to kind of bring in some of the culture behind motorcycles from around the world and showcase it at our weekend.

From there I realised how hard it is to get these magazines into the country so I spoke with Gary the Editor and asked him if I (going further Tank Up) got be the distributor for Sideburn Magazine in India. Gary jumped at the opportunity and viola I am now the distributor for Sideburn Magazine in India.

For those who follow Helmet Stories and dont know what or who Sideburn Magazine is follow this link and take a look for your self. Sideburn Magazine

Order Issue 49 with us now. Fill in the link a the bottom of the page.

Once the first batch of Sideburns were ordered I thought why not make a corner at Tank Up a library with Magazine and Books that talk about Motorcycling and the culture that revolves around our favourite past time. So I contacted the good peeps at Dice Magazine and asked if they had a supplier in India and if not would they happy to have me as that person. It didnt take them long to say of course they would happy for me to take it up. So before I knew it I had ordered the first batch of 10 magazines. Which showed up at my door just as I was leaving for Lo Manthang.

Again for the uninitiated follow the link to learn about Dice Magazine

The cool part of all this is that we have been able to bring Sideburn down and keep the price the same as the cover price + Shipping + if customs decides to Tax us. (Sideburn is 7GBP and Dice is 20USD).

This is just the start I will move this to a proper space on the Tank Up website (we need to make a Tank Up website) where you guys will be able to see what Issues we have with us and what is on the way.

For now all the people interested in Sideburn Issue 49 and Dice Issue 94 - 96 fill in the link as we are going to be sending out an order later next week.

FILL LINK TO ORDER MAGAZINES HERE

It’s been a long long time

noreply@blogger.com (Vir Nakai ) — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 10:06:00 +0000

It's been a long long time since I did one of these. I think I have forgotten the fine art of blogging. We used to do lots on our blog all the time but it seems we just came to a grinding halt one day. Instagram for sure had a huge part to play. The ease you can post and publish, the way you could connect with like minded people from around the globe was super easy. But lately I have to admit that Instagram that amazing app that has giving me soo much is becoming a big fat turd.

So let's blame Instagram for killing this blog way back when and being the reason I am here resurrecting it.

Let's hope this carry's on…

The Royal Enfield Trials

noreply@blogger.com (Vir Nakai ) — Wed, 18 Mar 2020 11:46:00 +0000

So last year Royal Enfield launched a new varient of the Bullet 500 and 350 the Trials edition. The bike was more or less just a nod to the past with some edits to the the existing Bullet into a trails edition very much like the bike Johnny Brittain rode to victory back in the day.

The fun part of the launch was that Royal Enfield brought down an actual Trails rider to teach us how to enjoy the sport. They put together a small course with three stages and we rode it and competed against each other.

View this post on Instagram

Getting all the important bits of Trials motorcycling.

A post shared by Vir Nakai (@virnakai) on May 6, 2019 at 8:16pm PDT

Stage 1

The stages were not long but they are full of all sorts of fun bits and bobs. Stage 1 it had a tricky last sandy turn which I totally botched up coming into and I thought I would stall the bike (you can hear the engine in the video I almost killed the engine). That’s the worst a stall is 5 points and that is just a nono. I ended putting my foot down at one spot because I felt I would end up dropping the bike (also 5 points) and ended up snagging one point for it.

View this post on Instagram

Three stages has been marked out for us to ride and test out mettle. The stages are not long but they are full of all sorts of fun bits and bobs. This was stage 1 it had a tricky last sandy turn which I totally botched up coming into and I thought I would stall the bike. That’s the worst a stall is 5 points and that is just a nono. I ended putting my foot down at one spot because I felt I would end up dropping the bike (also 5 points) and ended up snagging one point for it. Well watch and see for your self.

A post shared by Vir Nakai (@virnakai) on Mar 27, 2019 at 9:50pm PDT

Stage 2
Stage two was the toughie. I got to see many many people go up and not make it up without a dab or make it up at all. It was uphill and one side was sandy and not so steep while the other side was more firm but steeper and more packed. By the time I had my go most of the other teams had torn up the field but no one had made it to the top without without gaining a point or five. Until I got my turn and it seemed I found the line eveyone had been looking for all morning.

View this post on Instagram

Stage two was the toughie . It was uphill and one side was sandy and not so steep while the other side was more firm but steeper and more packed. By the time I had my go most of the other teams had torn up the field but no one had made it to the top without without gaining a point or five. The rest is here to see

A post shared by Vir Nakai (@virnakai) on Mar 27, 2019 at 11:34pm PDT

Stage 3
Stage 3 was longer with elevation changes and clayey muddy green bits. There was a moment before the descend I felt my leg was going to go down but I made it through in one piece without picking up points.

View this post on Instagram

Stage 3 was longer with elevation changes and clayey muddy green bits. There was a moment before the descend I felt my leg was going to go down but I made it through in one piece without picking up points. Later today I shall stitch all the stages in one and put it up on IGTV with the added bits of the time trial and the hill climb in it.

A post shared by Vir Nakai (@virnakai) on Mar 28, 2019 at 1:52am PDT

Stage 4
Stage 4 was just a race around a track for the best time.

Such a fun way to spend a day playing with a motorcycle. Royal Enfield really has learned how to host fun events for the launch of their motorcycles.

What was the icing on the cake was it turned out that Royal Enfield was actually taking down all the points and all us media monkeys were competing with each other and there was a trophy waiting the winner at the end of the day.

Whats even funnier was that the winner for the days trails event was me...

A year later...

noreply@blogger.com (Vir Nakai ) — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 07:44:00 +0000

A week or so ago before this virus scare hit the world I put out on Instagram stories a question that should I go back to blogging all the fun stuff we are upto? Seems Instagram has taken up all our bandwith and the blog is just kinda dying away. Which is a shame because I mean the blog is the blog and Instagram is cool but it aint the blog you know.

So I think we at Helmet Stories should take this time that we have been grounded to catch up on one years blog posts.

So here goes let me check on what we did last year in March and start updating asap.

Oil In The Blood: A film about custom motorcycles

noreply@blogger.com (Vir Nakai ) — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 04:30:00 +0000

We saw the full Oil and Blood film at Mama Tried a few weeks ago and all I can say is I came out of the film fully motivated to start chopping up some of our bikes. The question is should it be the Himalayans or should it be the Continental GT.

If you get a chance to watch the film do it!

The Mama Tried Show 2019

noreply@blogger.com (Vir Nakai ) — Tue, 26 Feb 2019 04:39:00 +0000

Ever since Instagram I find we blog less. Its not because we are lazy and we don't ever get down to it (ok sometimes that may be a reason) but I think people dont have the focus to check out a longer post than on Instagram so we end up focusing on that more. Sadly a brilliant show like Mama Tried is very hard to showcase on just Instagram. I mean we would be at it forever to show all the madness that ensued there.

So what I have been able to do over the last few days is get together just a few shots (like 200) of what the main show looked like. All the motorcycles are not here just the ones that piqued my interest.

The Mama Tried show is an is an indoor invitational held in Milwaukee, WI (That is the US for people who dont know) that connects motorcycles and builders to fans and riders alike. Keeping the fire stoked all winter long. The Show features over 100 motorcycles from builders of all calibers—flat-tracker, hill climber, chopper, and bar hopper.

I tried putting them in some format but when they got uploaded something went wrong and it just went haywire. So if you have any questions on any bikes best thing to do is drop me a line on Instagram (Vir Nakai) and we can chat about the stuff there. Or you can add a comment at the end here and I can get back to you.

So here it is check it out. Just Some of the motorcycles from the Mama Tried Show 2019

Motus Operandi - The Adventure Edition (Dec 8-9)

noreply@blogger.com (Vir Nakai ) — Sat, 01 Dec 2018 05:57:00 +0000

Chennai on the 8th of December head out to The Farm and come chat with the likes of Ouseph Chacko, Rohith, The Helmet Stories Crew - Harsh Man Rai and me. Come hang out and chat with us and talk adventure motorcycling. If that is not enough come back Sunday and learn what it takes to plan out a ride and what it means to head out on trails in the middle of no where and how to get that perfect Instagram picture that will eventually get stolen and used by everyone. There will be photographs from many adventures and of course there will be coffee lots and lots of coffee. So what are you waiting for clear out your schedules and see you then,

Podcasting with Varun Painter on the ISI helmet Issue

noreply@blogger.com (Vir Nakai ) — Sat, 22 Sep 2018 12:37:00 +0000

So last week I caught up with Varun Painter of Power Drift to chat about our ISI Helmet Issues on their new Pod Cast Torque The Talk.

I have been sitting on the link all day so thought I should put it out there on to the interverse before I forget. You can hear it hear or listen to it on Apple podcast and soon on Saavn.

Come on people we have a week left check out the blog post on what you can do to be heard before they take a call on banning non ISI helmets.

Motus Operandi, a Farm-grown organic moto show

noreply@blogger.com (Harsh Man Rai) — Tue, 11 Sep 2018 07:28:00 +0000

Last month, in a brief window of freakishly good Chennai weather, saw the first edition of MOTUS OPERANDI at The Farm, in Semancheri. A kind of a loose collective initiated by Arul Futnani, MO seeks to convey our love of the internal combustion engine in all its forms and functionality. Helmet Stories was there for the first MO, scarfing down breakfast and single-origin Malabar Monsooned coffee (yeah, we are coffee snobs too) over the delicious din of classic motorcycles being coaxed to life—from the deep thrum of ’55 Triumph Tiger T100s syncopated to the rat-a-tat-tat piston slap; to the blood-stirring ringg-dingg-dingg-dingg of a pair of gloriously restored 2-strokes—a Yezdi Roadking and a Yamaha RD350. Royal Enfields were of course in attendance as well as Vespas, Lambrettas and Matchless machines.

The second edition of MO is our homage to the bike we love and hate in equal measure—the Royal Enfield Bullet 350. On show will be Bullets and related memorabilia from the Madras Motorcycle Company days in 1955 to the current day Royal Enfield offerings. So, come, come to The Farm, either to bury the Bullet or to praise it or just come for some damn fine food and coffee.

Motus Operandi, 15 and 16 September, 8 am to 11 am at The Farm, 1/277 Semancheri Village, Old Mahabalipram Road, Chennai

#MotusOperandi +91 9176050562

Special Helmet Stories ride to Manang

noreply@blogger.com (Vir Nakai ) — Mon, 03 Sep 2018 11:40:00 +0000

Its been a while since we at Helmet Stories did a special barebones ride. I think the last one may have been way back in 2012. Anyway Harsh and I are planning to head to Manang around the 8th of October for a week. If anyone wants to join us on what is promising to be another epic few days give us a holla at info@helmetstories.com and we will send you the details. There are maximum 6 spots vacant for the ride. So I wouldn't wait.

Since its a route we have never done before our selfs we dont have any pictures of what the route will be like (images are from our Mustang ride) but we do have found You Tube Videos that show you what its going to be like.

It is for sure going to be a fun ride.

The ISI Helmet Stories

noreply@blogger.com (Vir Nakai ) — Sat, 25 Aug 2018 12:38:00 +0000

Its a no brainer. Helmets are bloody important if you ride or are a pillion on a motorcycle period. If you think otherwise then well you are a fool.

I remember my first helmet ever. I didn't even own a bike but the promise of getting the family trusty old warhorse of a Kinetic Honda kept my teenage dreams of freedom alive. But all my friends got motorcycles way before I did. There was one RX 100 which we all learned to ride on and we all fell off many times and then there were like 5 new Suzuki Shoguns with KRP exhausts the real mad motorcycle of our youth. I remember when my friends went to but helmets for their madly fast bikes I went along and bought my first Vega - state of the art and the best you could get all for a princely sum of Rs 1200. When I eventually got my own Machismo 350 years later the Vega was in tatters so I moved to a Studds Tourismo. The Tourismo was the bees knees. I had to have the helmet ordered from the Studds showroom in Chandigarh and wait a few days for it to show up. It complemented the way the bike looked and was uber cool. I loved that helmet so much that when I need a change I got another that was identical to the last.

As I started to ride more and more the helmets changed and got better and better. Its now twenty odd years later and I have a whole collection of helmets I am wearing at the moment. Depending on what I am riding, where I am riding and just how I am feeling at that point of the day I choose what goes on my head to keep me safe. I am not the only one in the family who is like that. Dad has a collection of helmets that makes mine seem sparse and the eight year old child has two already.

What I am getting at is that even thought we are a little crazy in this family about Helmets its the law to wear one when you ride a motorcycle. Obviously you cant just wear any helmet and pass it off as a motorcycle one. They have to pass some regulations and get some certifications to prove they are safe so when I buy it I know they will help keep my pea size brain and watermelon sized head safe.

Buying a helmet is a tough job there are lots of variables involved to find the right helmet for one self. The most important being safety. Now unfortunately the Indian Standard helmets are not the best I mean there are some helmets out there that look like they are made out of Papier-mâché and have the Indian Standard on it. So its safe to say I would rather invest in something for my head I know will work when I need it to like a helmet with an International Certification.

Now there seems to be some new hullabulloo about a new law being passed making non ISI (The Indian Standard) Helmets Illegal. That means Helmets like Arai, Shoei, AGV, Icon and their ilk that have DOT and ECE standard certification will soon be illegal. I am not going in to the detail of this as Shubhabrata Marmar of Overdrive has written am informative piece about it here and he has explained and said it far better that I could ever.

What I am going to do is ask all of you to help do something about it because as usual this will effect us and not the people making the rules.

The government gave us 60 days to respond with feedback to the Helmet Quality Control Order posted on the 2nd August 2018. What we need to do is write an email to js-tpt@gov.in telling them how we feel. Tushar Burman has been awesome and sent a well articulated letter you can copy paste and send Abhay Damle the Joint Secretary of Transport telling him how we feel. The more the emails he receives the more chances they will hear us and do something about it. (Do what I have done and send an email from every email account in the family because it eventually effects all of us.)

To,

Abhay Damle

Joint Secretary (Transport),

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways,

Transport Bhawan,

Parliament Street,

New Delhi - 110001

Sir,

I write to you in regard to a recent notification, reported widely in the media (F. No. RT-11012/07/2012-MVL) bringing Protective Helmets for two wheelers rider under compulsory certification under Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016. I welcome this initiative. It will compel manufacturers to adhere to quality standards for helmets, and riders to buy/demand higher standards for their own safety. However, in the process, I anticipate some problems and have concerns:

1. A vast majority of ‘premium’ imported helmets ranging in cost from Rs 5000 to Rs 1,25,000 conform to international standards such as DOT, ECE, JIS, SNELL, SHARP etc. Our own IS 4151 is based on ECE 22.05, with some additions. These imported helmets do not conform to ISI 4151, and would therefore be ineligible for sale once this notification is in force, despite being made to the highest standard and used in the most demanding situations world-over. These standards have been developed over years of research and real-world experience in the spheres of motorsport as well as on the street. Such helmets are either imported privately, or sold by importers. Our own national motorsport authority -- the FMSCI -- requires the use of SNELL or ECE-rated helmets for use on the racetrack.

Requiring ISI certification for helmets already compliant with international standards will effectively reduce the choice of safe, high-quality helmets in the market. To this end, I would request you to make relevant exemptions for established international helmet safety standards (DOT, ECE, JIS, SNELL, SHARP etc), so that we in India may continue to choose helmets providing maximum safety. Such exemptions are already in place for fully-imported vehicles, which can be registered by furnishing homologation certificates from other countries. Certainly, this can be seen as a precedent.

2. Reports quoting the PTI indicate that there is a proposal to reduce the maximum weight of an IS 4151-compliant helmet from 1.5kg to 1.2kg, achieved by making relevant changes to the testing methodology. As in many types of manufacturing, achieving light weight is a demanding, expensive process. Worldwide, a standards-compliant helmet that weighs 1.2kg or less is typically made with exotic materials such as carbon fibre. These helmets are reserved for race use and are extremely expensive, putting them out of reach of the average rider.

Most top-rated, proven international helmets conforming to SNELL, ECE, JIS etc will be above 1300g. Putting an upper-limit of 1200g for IS 4151 compliance seems infeasible. Certainly, modifying long-established and respected standards simply for a lighter helmet does not seem to be beneficial. I would request that due notice of established international standards, as well as compliant helmets and their weights be taken, before this weight limit is enforced.

3. On-ground enforcement of this notification is also unclear. Thousands of safety-conscious riders in India have chosen to pay premium prices to ensure their helmets meet international standards of safety. Will these riders now be forced to buy ISI-marked helmets? Once again, reasonable exceptions for international standard helmets will achieve the greater goal of eliminating spurious helmets, as well as promoting safety among the two-wheeled population.

I appreciate your initiative in ensuring quality standards for helmets in India. For too long have we been victims of spurious materials, and low enforcement. Arguments against wearing of helmets such as lack of visibility or greater injury due to low speeds/heavy weight are deflections and easily proved false.

From what we can understand from the information available, this regulatory change will change the business dynamics of the helmet marketplace, by requiring homologation of imported helmets. This is a tiny percentage of the market, and the requirement will likely make selling internationally-acclaimed helmets unfeasible or impossible. The greatest hit will be the customer -- who will now have less choice. As it stands today, one can buy an ISI-branded helmet for as little as Rs 300 from a local manufacturer. If this proposal passes, those helmets will be legal, while the best helmets in the world costing hundreds of times more, will be verboten. It is not unreasonable to ask who exactly is being benefited here.

I request you to take cognizance of these points in your final decision.

Sincerely,

Motus Operandi

noreply@blogger.com (Vir Nakai ) — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 09:18:00 +0000

If you've been to The Farm - Chennai, you know there's a serious love affair with motorcycles happening! Guests always stop to stare at the gorgeous machines lined up. Kids want to climb on them, others want to hear them roar. So after many years of pondering they have finally got down to doing something about it! .

Come on down on the 18th and 19th of August for the First edition of Motus Operandi - a curated monthly event hosted in our garden, with a focus on the evolution of automobiles and their influence on design, culture and fashion.

This edition will feature a display of our eclectic motorcycle collection. A bunch of us will be on hand to speak about their features, history, technical and design elements. And Fire 'em up!!! .

Come spend the morning with and shoot the breeze about them machines. 08:00 to 11:00 - Saturday 18th & Sunday 19th

You can find The Farm Chennai on Instagram

A post shared by The Farm Chennai (@thefarmchennai) on Aug 8, 2018 at 9:41pm PDT

Did I hear you ask will one of us be there?

As a matter of fact Harsh will be so if you dont follow his Instagram account do it now and follow all the craziness.

Never an easy ride

noreply@blogger.com (Vir Nakai ) — Mon, 16 Jul 2018 10:31:00 +0000

Its been two years since I rode the first leg of the Ducati Globetrotter90 trip. I was talking to Ouseph about another trip we did to Spiti in the winter and my mind wandered and I found my self on Facebook looking through my archives. I learnt that two years ago today I rode from Sweden into Norway to the old capital of Trondheim. It was one heck of a day that I wont forget ever.

This is what happened as told by me to MCN

I swear this is how it happened and it's all true. It was a rainy morning in Östersund, Sweden, and the temperatures was about 9 degrees. A good time for me to zip-in my warm as well as my wet liner. Since the weather didn't seem like it was going to let up I geared-up, packed the bike and hit the road. The idea was to make it to Trondheim, Norway, by the evening. Not a hard day's ride at all.

Wait, let me start at the beginning. My name is Vir Nakai. I run Helmet Stories Adventure Motorcycle Touring Outfit back in India and I am one lucky motorcyclist. I have been chosen to be the first rider for the Ducati Globetrotter 90 Project. A relay ride where seven of us are riding one Ducati Enduro 1200 around the world to celebrate the 90th Anniversary of Ducati. The only thing I was told when handed the bike in Bologna was 'see you in Moscow in 25 days'.

With time on my side I obviously took the scenic route and found myself in the middle of Sweden riding towards the Norwegian Sea. So I fuelled up at the first petrol station I came by and rode for about an hour or so. Before the Norwegian border I reached this spot by a lake which was screaming for me to stop and take a picture or three. I obliged and spent a few minutes looking around and marvelling at how beautiful Sweden was (is).

Back on my way I stopped once after crossing the border into Norway to take some more pictures and made my way towards Trondheim. When I reached my hotel for the night I started searching my gear for my wallet. It takes me a while with all the pockets in my jacket - it didn't take me long to start mildly panicking. Where the hell is the wallet?

I last used it to fuel up in the morning and now it’s late afternoon. I do a bit of a jig and remembered that every time I use my bank card it sends me an email as to where it was used. Using that information, I call back the petrol station, but they have not seen the wallet anywhere. I couldn't believe it, is losing my wallet going to end the trip of a lifetime?

Moneyless, cardless, licence-less, fried, with half a tank of petrol, in a new city, in a new country I sat cursing myself. How could you be so stupid? The only choice I had was to ride the 200km and check every spot I had stopped on the way up. With 350km of petrol (thank god for the 30 ltr tank) I started my trip back.

My mind filled with a 100 plans on how to fix this, on how to get some money to at least make it back to Copenhagen (my closest friends live there). But whatever way the day was looking bleaker then it had been. There was no silver lining to it.

I stopped at the last spot I had taken a picture at and searched the ground and the area around it and nothing. I carried onto the next spot and nothing. I crossed the border back into Sweden to the brilliant spot I had stopped at and started my search again. Still nothing. I really thought it would be there, it had to be. It wasn’t there I still remember the feeling in the Pit of my stomach.

Then I saw something on a rock I had stood on to take a picture. The wallet just sitting there waiting. All the cash was floating in the lake. All of it. Every last Euro, Krona and a few Rupees. But the wallet was just there. It was unbelievable. I didn’t know if I should laugh or howl my guts out. Of all trips to do something so stupid I had to chosen this one.

With rain and tears of joy running down my my face I rode the 180km back to Trondheim to a big celebration dinner and a well deserved beer vowing not to be as stupid as I have been already. So much for it being an "easy day's ride".

Ducati Dream Tour powered by Helmet Stories

noreply@blogger.com (Vir Nakai ) — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 05:15:00 +0000

Do you own a Ducati and live in India? Well if you do then you are in luck because Ducati and Helmet Stories have planned the first ever Ducati Dream Tour. A brilliant 4 day ride into the Himalayas Helmet Stories style.

So what are you waiting for go check out the website for all the details.

There are only 10 seats so hustle.

Life In Spiti

noreply@blogger.com (Vir Nakai ) — Wed, 14 Mar 2018 03:48:00 +0000

I first heard of Himanshu Khagta via the interwebs what we had actually heard was there is someone living in Kaza through the winter. Documenting life during the harsh winter. Incidentally it was the same winter Ouseph and I rode Triumphs into Kaza looking for snow (post on that ride here) and we ended up staying in the same hotel. It was the only one that was open (Sakya Abode) and we spend an evening in the kitchen (cause its the warmest spot also its the closest to the food) exchanging stories and just talking about our love for the mountains.

Well Himanshu has finally collated all his images and come out with a book called Life in Spiti and specially for readers of our blog is giving away 10 signed copies at a reduced cost. So all you got to do is go to this Link (LIFE IN SPITI) and use the code helmetstories and the first 10 will get them self a signed copy of Life in Spiti.

Moto Art Show Bangalore

noreply@blogger.com (Vir Nakai ) — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 04:18:00 +0000

Do you love motorcycles?

Do you live in and around Bangalore?

Well if you do you have lucked out because some super talented Indian moto artists are getting together to put on a show for a whole month at the PeepleTree Art Gallery in Bangalore (31st of March till end April).

Going by the fact that some of our uber talented motorcyclist friends like Joshua John and Motoholic Works will be there we can just imaging how great a show it gonna be. I don't know if we'll make it to the opening but we are going to definitely try and get to Bangalore to get a glimpse of the show. But everyone who is in the area should stop by and take a look, buy some art and support these awesome peeps.

Check out their website for all the details.

Yes Joshua we are going to try!!!

The List of Artists showing
1. AA_ELL

A post shared by Aigars. (@aa_ell) on Nov 10, 2016 at 4:33am PST

2. CHIRANJITH_BARUI

A post shared by Chiranjit Barui (@chiranjith_barui) on Mar 11, 2018 at 12:49pm PDT

3. HAMERRED49

A post shared by hamerred (@hamerred49) on Mar 8, 2018 at 11:13am PST

4. HEADRUSH_ART

A post shared by Joshua John Art India (@headrush_art) on Feb 23, 2018 at 8:06pm PST

5. IRONIC88

A post shared by IRONic (@ironic88) on Jan 13, 2018 at 8:37pm PST

6. MALLIKAMOTO

A post shared by Mallika Prakash (@mallikamoto) on Nov 19, 2017 at 1:18pm PST

7. MISFITMOTORCYCLES

A post shared by Misfit Moto (@misfitmotorcycles) on Nov 15, 2017 at 5:11am PST

8. MILESONCANVAS

A post shared by GANESH 🇮🇳 (@milesoncanvas) on Feb 3, 2018 at 3:00am PST

9. MOTARTCYCLE

A post shared by Kanika (@motartcycle) on Dec 12, 2017 at 10:33pm PST

10. MOTOHOLICWORKS

A post shared by Nidhi (@motoholicworks) on Feb 15, 2018 at 7:02am PST

11. PRANAV__95

A post shared by Pranav Dinesh (@pranav__95) on Dec 14, 2017 at 7:11am PST

Flat Track - Harley-Davidson

noreply@blogger.com (Vir Nakai ) — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 06:24:00 +0000

Its the norm these days to send out Save the Dates pre-invites but this one that I received about 20 days ago was the best one I have got for a while. Harsh and I have been talking about Flat track and how awesome it would be to have a few tracks in India where the lot of us can trash around and have a ball. I mean we have a load of friends in the UK (Sideburn and Co-Built) who do just that and have built up a great little community of mad flat tackers.

We got a taste of Flat Track at IBW where we saw Vijay Rajputana take his custom built Harley around the oval just having a great time. We also got a peek of John Singh Speedway outside the Pink City and Vijay again hammering away on his flat tracker we had a go at the track but on much more modest and calmer machines (Sleet) and I can tell you I had a great time.

I cant even begin to imagine doing that oval on a custom 750 and trying to go sideways. Going to need a whole set of new gear for this one because like Sideburn says IF YOU DONT LIMP YOU AINT SHIT.

Urban Adventures

noreply@blogger.com (Vir Nakai ) — Mon, 26 Feb 2018 05:24:00 +0000

We have always said that having fun on a motorcycle doesn't mean heading out for days on end looking for some obscure trail in the middle of nowhere (Though we all know how awesome that is). So after hearing us drone on about that Ducati decided to call us out on it and sent over two identical Ducati Icons to go and enjoy some Urban motorcycling.

I picked the bikes up last week and brought them home but left a few hours later for Goa. Now I am back in the city and looking for a reason to take them out and go riding.

Keep an eye out here and on our various social media channels for all the Urban Adventures we get up to.

Oh no there are no tomatoes in the house I need to ride to the vegetable man now to get some.

Who says chores have to be boring?

Look out for bikers! Find Out How You Can Help Keep Riders Safe.

noreply@blogger.com (Vir Nakai ) — Mon, 26 Feb 2018 03:53:00 +0000

Challenge Accepted

noreply@blogger.com (Vir Nakai ) — Thu, 08 Feb 2018 06:31:00 +0000

My WhatsApp starts pinging like mad. I check instantly because I am stuck to the phone surfing Instagram all the bloody time these days.

Other Person :"Vir What are you doing between the 1st - 3rd Feb"

Me: "Nothing"

Other Person : "Wanna ride a motorcycle?"

Me:"Do the wheels of a bus go round and round?"

Other Person : "HUH!!!"

Me: "Yes"

Other Person : "Ok then we want you to ride to the Harley Davidson 6th HOG Rally in Goa and well do your thing but only with your GoPros."

Me: "Challenge Accepted"

Other Person (GoPro India): "Killer we cant wait. Someone will be in touch about the motorcycle."

So the idea was straight enough. Ride a new Harley Davidson 2018 Street Bob from Mumbai to Goa and have fun while doing so. Spend a few days with the HOG crew partying in Goa and go back home.

This is what I got. Tell me what you think? Did we nail it or not?

How to draw A Royal Enfield Himalayan By Motoholic Works

noreply@blogger.com (Vir Nakai ) — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 07:56:00 +0000

Sometime in November we posted a great Tutorial by Motoholic Works on how to Draw a Royal Enfield Continental GT. Well here is an update to that as here is a Proportion study on how to draw a Royal Enfield Himalayan.

We would love to see what you guys come up with. Email any drawings you do to us.

A post shared by Motoholic Works® (@motoholicworks) on Feb 4, 2018 at 7:47pm PST

Harley Davidson University

noreply@blogger.com (Vir Nakai ) — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 03:30:00 +0000

As Indians motorcycles and scooters or what we call two wheelers are just second nature to us. When I gave my test for my car license the authorities looked at me and said of course you can ride a bike and ticket the box for both. It’s just a given it’s like second nature to us.

But the funny part is it’s not second nature to us to fix our own motorcycles. There are so many roadside mechanics over and above the trained company ones that it’s just cheaper and faster to take your bike to one of them hand them the keys and come back when the work is done.

Ok let’s be honest I have spent many years riding motorcycles and spent many many days at mechanics and at Garage 52 watching stuff being done but never have I had a chance to take apart and rebuild and engine. So when Harley Davidson India invited me the attend two days at the Harley Davidson University learning to tearing down and building up a brand new Milwaukee Eight engine I jumped to it.

The Harley Davidson University is a school for all Harley Davidson technicians to come and learn and hone their skills. It was a first that a group of 40 odd motorcyclists (who don’t work for Harley Davidson) would be allowed in and allowed to run amuck.

To keep us in check they called in the big guns John McEnaney. An employee with Harley Davidson for almost 20 years he helped set up the India service operations and was technical lead for the longest time. When I asked him what bikes he had he said “every Harley since 42 and I rebuilt me all and they run” (it was some year like that I had a few beers in me when we had this conversation). So no better person to guide us in this operation.

We were given a new bench, a full set of tools, the official manual, step by step instructions by John and two of Harley India’s best mechanics to help us through the two days. John was a trooper he explained every step and came and lent a hand every now and then. Even when we snapped the bolt to the timing chain - because someone may have torqued it too much. He stood there took a deep breath and told us not to worry carry on but to put the torque wrench away as we were done for the day.

The two days on the bench working on those engines was such a brilliant experience all motorcyclists need to have specially here in our county. Thank you Harley Davidson for letting us be a part of it. Now to get some shut eye as I am riding at the crack of dawn to Goa for the 6th IHR and incidentally I am riding a new Milwaukee Eight Street Bob with the engines I now know how to put together.

So if I break it I can fix it.

But let’s hope I don’t have to.

Riding the Himalayan Sleet in Jaipur

noreply@blogger.com (Vir Nakai ) — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 04:02:00 +0000

The voice at the other end of the line said "Hi Vir. I am calling on behalf of Royal Enfield can you please keep these following dates free. We would like you to join us in Jaipur to ride some motorcycles. We shall be in touch with more details" CLICK. Cut to we are in Jaipur at the hotel with a cold beer in our hand sitting down for a presentation. The room is filled with some familiar faces. Lots of moto peeps who are popular on Twitter, Facetube, Instagram and other Social Media channels. So team Royal Enfield splits us up into groups of 4 and then starts telling us what the plan is.

We will be riding the new Fuel Injected Royal Enfield Himalayan and each team will have one Royal Enfield Himalayan Sleet with the new Explorer Kit. (The explorer kit has the new panniers, a new wider double walled braced handlebar and engine guards). The Sleet refers to the new paint scheme the bike will come in adding to the two colours it was originally launched in Granite and Snow. (Remember we rode them at the launch).

Anywho the idea was to spend a day riding these new motorcycles around Jaipur but Team Royal Enfield had a spin to this. They broke us up into teams of 4 and gave us all 10 GPS coordinates (there were 5 spots which held points when we had to collect. It was actually 7 which they didnt tell us and left it as a secret) and told us we needed to get to as many as we could in the day and be back in the hotel by 5P.M. Every minute later and we would loose points. I luckily was teamed up with some map ninjas. They plotted and planned the route down to the detail while I drank beer with the other teams trying to infiltrate their plans and throw them off course.

The next morning we were the first ones out of the gate and started knocking the points down steadily. By lunch time we had 5 points and 4 locations left (we had no time for lunch we were to busy kicking ass). There was one coordinate that was giving us trouble. We knew how to get there but it was through a national forest and to enter we needed tickets for all 4 bikes and riders but also we needed to pay for every camera we were carrying. Just me I had 5 cameras not counting the phone. In the team we had over 20 and a drone so we were in financial trouble. We left that one till the end because we had to find another route to it. A longish highway ride and a flat tyre later we found the spot and grabbed the last point and made it back to the hotel. Needless to say guess who was the big winner that day YEP. What a day it was. The best part was when I caught up with Harsh (who was in a different team and went and spent the day at Sambar Lake) and compared our days ride and they were like totally different experiences. What a way to ride a new motorcycle and have a ton of fun doing it.

But it seemed that team Royal Enfield had more in store for us. Vijay Singh Rajputana boss man and visionary at Rajputana Customs has built him self a flat track that he has named John Singh Speedway after his grandfather who was an avid motorcyclist and dirt track enthusiast. So team Royal Enfield got Vijay to spend the day giving us some tips on flat tracking and boy what a day it was. We spent the whole day riding around the track kicking up dirt and having a great time doing it. I was so taken by the Flat Track that I am actually itching to get back out again. What a incredibly fun day what an incredibly fun two days hosted by Enfield for their new Himalayn Sleet.

The 500 special edition Sleets went out on sale yesterday on the Royal Enfield website and were sold out within the day. Now if you want a Sleet you can buy one but without the adventure pack that will now be sold separate at an extra cost.

Harshs Kit

Jacket - Icon DKR Raiden

Pants - Rev'it Defender Pro GTX

Gloves - Icon Raiden Arakis

Boots - Sidi Adventure

Helmet - Icon Varient Carbon

Virs Kit

Jacket - Icon DKR Raiden

Pants - Joe Rocket Ballistic 7.0 (they are 10 years old and kicking ass)

Gloves - Ikon Raiden Arakis

Boots - Sidi Adventure 2 Gore-Tex

Helmet - AGV AX-8 EVO