Retro is Cool - Royal Enfield Electra 350

Here are some of the photographs of my Electra, shot during the KTM Duke 390 photoshoot. The theme of these however is completely different from the other one. It's clearly more vintage. Hope you enjoy it!!

A friend posing with my ride.

If you like the work, do leave a comment. I am starting to like these posts myself, as it brings together two of my passions in life: motorcycles and photography. So you can hope to see more of such work in the future. Subscribe to the blog and stay tuned.

Cheers!!

Sid

KTM Duke 390 - an impromptu photoshoot

It was a long weekend and I wasn't riding anywhere! Can you believe that ?!! Anyway, I had some chores to take care and that's how Saturday and Sunday were gone. I did get the new carb and a new fuel line fitted to my Electra, which I had sourced from Karol Bagh, but that would be revealed in a post of its own. So there I was at home on a "no plans" Monday. I was trying to recall any weekend projects I had in my mind, that I could take up today. Oh yes. I had thought of doing a photoshoot for Yezdi Road King, owned and pampered by a friend of mine. I called him up in the morning and he was happy to know that his beloved vintage 2-stroke powerhouse would be exposed to some limelight. But there was one small issue, the bike was under restoration and was in an incomplete state. Sigh! However, he proposed.."how about the Duke?". Well.. not a bad idea and it's been a while since I photographed any sports bike (or street fighter for that matter). And considering the (well-justified) popularity of the KTM Duke in our country currently, I would be more than happy to shoot some pictures of it, for all the owners and fans. So we caught up and started hunting for a place. This turned out to be a bad idea, especially when we have already wasted the soft light of the early morning sun. I was not actually feeling very creative that day, yet wanted to step out and do something interesting. So despite picking the bad time (mid-day) for the shoot, we could manage with a few locations that came to our mind at that point.

We took a couple of shots of my Electra as well.. which will be shared in another post.

The beast with its master !!!

Hope you had a lot of fun viewing the photographs, as much as we had shooting them. If you want any particular model of motorcycle to be featured here, do leave a request in the comments and I'll see what I can do :)

Cheers!!

Sid

Firefighting Motorcycle

During last year's (2015) air show, while returning from the Yelahanka air base, I noticed a brand new (and colorful) motorcycle parked inside the Fire Station. Me being me, I got inside all curious to know what bike it was. The closer I got to the motorcycle, the more familiar it started to appear. It turned out to be a Royal Enfield Electra UCE. However, it wasn't a stock motorcycle we get to see on the road. It was modified to be a..well...firetruck / fire-motorcycle if there is such a term. Luckily I had my cam with me and I couldn't miss out on the opportunity to capture some shots of this interesting machine. It's not always a good idea to point a lens at Govt run establishment without prior permission. So I just walked into the office next to the parking and spoke to the gentleman/officer there. He had no objections if I could restrict my image to capture only the bike and not the surroundings/premises. I was more than happy as that's all I wanted :) So here are some of the photos I could get of the geared-up Electra:

These bikes will be able to filter through Bangalore traffic to reach a location quicker than a bigger more equipped fire truck can and would be able to provide backup in the crucial initial stage of a fire incident. This in my opinion can make a real difference, as in India by the time a fire truck makes it to a location, most of the damage would have been done. So if something of this sort can make it early with a trained firefighter on board, the situation can be contained more easily.

Having said this, I am yet to see one of these in action in Bangalore yet. Hope they are getting used to it and making a difference. 

Have you seen this machine on road? Do share any image/info you may have in the comments.

Cheers!!

Sid

RE Himalayan - Assorted First Look Videos

Here is some first-look, overview, walkaround and expert opinion videos of the newly showcased Royal Enfield Himalayan from youtube.

Motorbeam:

NDTV:

BikeDekho:

PowerDrift:

Overdrive (Shubhabrata marmar aka Shumi):

Autocar (Kartikeya Singhee):

ZigWheels:

Royal Enfield 'HIMALAYAN' - ** LAUNCHED **

One of the most awaited (at least by me) motorcycle from Royal Enfield has officially been launched today. 

Check out the official video of the event and the design story by the none other than the CEO himself, Siddhartha Lal. Its quite evident that they have gone the distance as a manufacturer to come up with a first of its kind product to cater to adventure touring niche, yet keeping it usable as a daily commuter. I know you might be excited to see the bike and everything else (luggage,accessories, etc) on offer, so go ahead and click the link below:

Product Showcased @ 36:51

I shall be checking out the officially revealed specs of this motorcycle and what it could mean in real world riding scenario sometime today. So stay tuned.

Ride Safe & Ride Far,

Sid