Ducati Sporting Club UK > General > Idle Chat > Goodness gracious me

[Jools]

I've just seen a 996 and an R1

Nothing special about that you might think, especially for people like us that hang around with other Duke owners, but this is in Bangalore !!!!

I've spent about 6 weeks here over the last 2 years and have never seen any motorcycle more exotic than a 350 Enfield Bullet on any visit. Most bikes are somewhere around 90, 100 or 125cc and it's rare to see a 250. I have never, ever seen a superbike of any description over here so I was absolutely staggered to hear the rumble of Termis (yes, carbon Termis as well) and see these two bikes at the head of the queue at traffic lights. The Duke and the R1 only bimbled off down the road but even so...it made me want to point at it and tell equally awestruck passers by that "I've got a Ducati as well..."

More to the point, where the hell do you service a Ducati in Bangalore...a little bit of a trek to Cornerspeed.

Was it anyone on here ?

Well, I suppose it is Sunday, but I didn't see anything on this board about a Karnataka region ride out. If anyone wants to start one, see me...

Hmmm....a 996? Maybe it was Fordie...he gets everywhere, or perhaps it was Ruth trying to find her way back from Peterborough

[doogalman]

Dejavu me thinks.
It's as if i have allready read this.

[MJS]

What are the roads like? Would you want to ride an R1 or a 996 over there?

I've seen an R1 and a few old Gsxr's running around here, but judging by the state of the roads, i'd be terrified to ride anything other than a bit traillie..

[Jools]

IMHO, anybody who rides anything out here is out their tree anyway. A colleague of mine has got a Hyabusa out here and was going to lend it to me for the weekend

But with roads that go from actually pretty good to rutted cart tracks without warning, drivers whose sense of which side of the road to drive on is like a lottery, cars and trucks with no lights or indicators makes driving hazardous. There are the three wheeler 'tuk tuks' that wander all over the road with no warning, then of course at every set of traffic lights all the bikes and scooters make a motocross GP style start and go into the next corner swapping paint and that's just the traffic. When you add pedestrians with no sense of self preservation, having to swerve around bullock carts, roaming cows and packs of feral dogs you think....Hyabusa? Not bloody likely !!

I think India has the highest percentage of fatal RTA's in the world and it's not hard to see why. Even the taxi trip into work is a white knuckle affair, never mind riding a bike.

[Jools]

Oh....and the newspapers continue to make me chuckle. The language used by Journos is like stepping back into the 1930's. The people here are fantastic and I love all these little quirks and eccentricities of language. I quote from the Bangalore Times:

"Luckily, Anil Kapoor, known to the Bangalore police department as a rowdy element and most felonious miscreant, has now been nabbed and thrown into gaol for two years to cool his heels and calm his rash waywardness"

Another example that goes into the "you might want to rephrase that..." category comes from an interview with a vijay turned actress called Shreya Reddy who quote - says of her latest Tamil flick Thimuru "I've already proved that I can look hot in traditional clothes, in this role I play a village belle full of spunk"...so more Basildon than Bollywood then.

Then there is a piece on an American dance craze about a bunch of Americans in South Carolina who continue to keep a 1950's dance called 'the s h a g' alive. The paper reports "On a Saturday night it's not unusual to see up to 4000 shaggers, shagging all over the beach"

[doogalman]

Originally Posted by Jools

rutted cart tracks without warning

Just like the roads in the south-east of england then!

[Ains.]

Originally Posted by Jools

I think India has the highest percentage of fatal RTA's in the world and it's not hard to see why. Even the taxi trip into work is a white knuckle affair, never mind riding a bike.

India probably has the actual highest number of fatalites, but Saudi Arabia has the highest as a percentage of drivers.
There are 220,000 registered drivers, all male, and they go to meet Allah at an average rate of 14 a day.
I have personally seen two of the usual smashes on the Dammam to Tanajib road; head ons with a closing speed in excess of 180mph. They got the bodies out of the cars with a fire hose, yes really.
Next time I see one of these smashes, I will take some pix and you can see for yourselves. Not close ups I hasten to add.

Ains.

[Fordie]

Originally Posted by Jools

I've just seen a 996 and an R1

Hmmm....a 996? Maybe it was Fordie...he gets everywhere, or perhaps it was Ruth trying to find her way back from Peterborough

It was a bit like Bangaladoore here on the ride out today Jools,not ridden in such a downpour for a long time, did,nt stop Glyn from coming up the outside and taking the lead though and he's on Pilots Sports eehhhhh 4D