Nicky Hayden Interview

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Keshav @ Dec 22 2009, 07:57 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Now you're just dragging the conversation down blind alleys. How knowledgeable I am
isn't based on the size of the bike I own. Never said that. It's based on my past
experience as a club racer and team manager for an endurance racing team and
almost three decades of street riding.

My statement about the virtual non-existence of serious sport bikes in India is based
on nearly 20 years of traveling around the country. In all that time I've never seen
one single Japanese sport bike in the 400-1000 cc range. Unless folks are hiding them
under bedsheets every time I come to the cities - I'd say that's a pretty good indication
that they're as rare as hens teeth in India. If anything - your statement that there are
lots of biker boys with liter bikes in the big cities is an astounding exaggeration.

If you can post a photo of a group of Indian guys standing around on the street with actual sport bikes with devanagari signs in the background - we can continue this conversation. Otherwise
- just drop it.
Ha ha just too easy Click here to see the bikes in India

Edit... more pics as I got some more free time

8602:43101.jpg]

8601:43108.jpg]

8603:43102.jpg]


And a video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYb_B3qj2qs
You can look at the related videos in youtube to see other sports cars/bikes in Indian cities.

Hope these are good enough for you

I spent like 10 seconds to fish out this image. If you want I can point to hundreds of other images.

Dude, that's a GOLDWING!! A couple of standards and marginal sportbikes... I was silently rootin' for ya but Doooood... nah!!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Renjith @ Dec 22 2009, 11:25 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Ha ha just too easy Click here to see the bikes in India

Edit... more pics as I got some more free time

8602:43101.jpg]

8601:43108.jpg]

8603:43102.jpg]


And a video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYb_B3qj2qs
You can look at the related videos in youtube to see other sports cars/bikes in Indian cities.

Hope these are good enough for you

I spent like 10 seconds to fish out this image. If you want I can point to hundreds of other images.

Goldwings and BMW touring bikes riding around at 5 mph on a closed circuit ridden by a bunch of
lard-assed businessmen - exclaiming "Oh my goodness gosh golly look at me! I am having a too much expensive toy!" at some weird, gay flag-waiving event- is not sportbikes on the street. Remember - right from the beginning I said I knew there were a small minority of wealthy kids who owned sportbikes as status symbols but never took them out in the streets of the city (nevermind the pitiful back roads that destroy the suspensions of zillions of trucks and buses every year.) Oh... and the other link is a picture of a dealership (could be anywhere) with a bunch of kids standing around wishing they had the money and the balls to ride a big bike.

We have similar phenomenon here. The guys who have custom painted tricked out Harleys that the
trailer down to Daytona for Bike Week. They spend 10 days trawling around an 8 block radius of ..... bars at 4 mph hoping to be mistaken for Hells Angels, and after 10 days they trailer the bikes back to Teaneck NJ where the bike sits for the rest of the year in a nice heated garage - only to be taken out in the driveway during mild weather, for the occasional four hour wax job and maybe a grandmotherly ride to the Burger King. We call them posers.

"nevermind the pitiful back roads that destroy the suspensions of zillions of trucks and buses every year"

OK Kesh, I'm with you too... BUT... I've ridden a hard suspension, tuned VFR all over bum-.... nowhere roads from Labrador to Loas and I'd much rather be on my bike than in a Rover, Cruiser or AM-.......-BASSADOR!!!! WTF

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Mick D @ Dec 22 2009, 12:38 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>"nevermind the pitiful back roads that destroy the suspensions of zillions of trucks and buses every year"

OK Kesh, I'm with you too... BUT... I've ridden a hard suspension, tuned VFR all over bum-.... nowhere roads from Labrador to Loas and I'd much rather be on my bike than in a Rover, Cruiser or AM-.......-BASSADOR!!!! WTF

The Ambassador is the ubiquitous car of India. Twenty years ago - all taxis were Ambassadors.
They were originally British and when the company went out of business - Indians moved the
factory lock stock and barrel - down to the last brick - to India and the Indians have been building
them by the zillions ever since. They're tough little buggers. Of course nowadays there much
more choice in cars in India - but the Ambassador is still extremely popular. Here's a picture
of one going into the garage on an Indian tow truck.

I am familiar with the Am-Effin'-bassador... I'd rather be on an Enfield any day (Himalayas excepted...).

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Keshav @ Dec 22 2009, 10:57 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Goldwings and BMW touring bikes riding around at 5 mph on a closed circuit ridden by a bunch of
lard-assed businessmen - exclaiming "Oh my goodness gosh golly look at me! I am having a too much expensive toy!" at some weird, gay flag-waiving event- is not sportbikes on the street. Remember - right from the beginning I said I knew there were a small minority of wealthy kids who owned sportbikes as status symbols but never took them out in the streets of the city (nevermind the pitiful back roads that destroy the suspensions of zillions of trucks and buses every year.) Oh... and the other link is a picture of a dealership (could be anywhere) with a bunch of kids standing around wishing they had the money and the balls to ride a big bike.

We have similar phenomenon here. The guys who have custom painted tricked out Harleys that the
trailer down to Daytona for Bike Week. They spend 10 days trawling around an 8 block radius of ..... bars at 4 mph hoping to be mistaken for Hells Angels, and after 10 days they trailer the bikes back to Teaneck NJ where the bike sits for the rest of the year in a nice heated garage - only to be taken out in the driveway during mild weather, for the occasional four hour wax job and maybe a grandmotherly ride to the Burger King. We call them posers.

I told you I didn't dig much (And hence posted the first jap bike pictures I could lay my hands on)...Does the first link look like a dealership to you? Since when did Suzuki and Yamaha merge as I can see lots of Yamahas and atleast Suzuki there.

You just assume too much I totally agree with you that India is nowhere in motorsports arena compared to US or any other countries in the west but things are seriously catching up. Couple of cities are having proper race tracks of their own. All I objected to was your extremely negative portrayal of India which I still believe is not fair.

Thanks MIck-D for rooting

PEACE.....

Renjith

this thread got me thinking and i did a little digging. found this, hope it helps...

http://www.r1-forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=234110

Aren't these guys from India?

http://www.xbhp.com/

they do get around a bit though, They did an Aussie road trip and turned out some great photos.

Though let me have a go at playing "the diplomat" like Michaelm.....

they seem to have all the right riding gear ...... but their bikes aren't what we are used to .....





but looks to be a healthy riding scene going on there with bikes pretty much what folks all round the world are used to seeing too:

http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/news/11030-lau...cky-hayden.html

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Renjith @ Dec 22 2009, 01:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I told you I didn't dig much (And hence posted the first jap bike pictures I could lay my hands on)...Does the first link look like a dealership to you? Since when did Suzuki and Yamaha merge as I can see lots of Yamahas and atleast Suzuki there.

You just assume too much I totally agree with you that India is nowhere in motorsports arena compared to US or any other countries in the west but things are seriously catching up. Couple of cities are having proper race tracks of their own. All I objected to was your extremely negative portrayal of India which I still believe is not fair.

Thanks MIck-D for rooting

PEACE.....

Renjith

I get where you're coming from. A lot of Indians are thin-skinned when it comes to any negative portrayal of India very well. Kya karenge? Understand, there's a lot I love about India. If someone here were Israeli they might think my avatar name is the Hebrew word for "listening"
but - you're Indian and you know it's a name for for an avatar of Vishnu. It's not my "screen
name" - its the name everyone has known me by since 1995. Would I go by this
name if I hated India? I wouldn't have spent as much time there over the years if
all my experiences were negative. I don't assume much. You're mistaking me for some casual firengee tourist, or some old hippie. But I'm not. Indian culture
has been a driving force in my life for a number of years. I do business
there, and import instruments from all over India - and have co-sponsored many
Indian classical music concerts in the USA. I have published interviews with the
top Dalit Radicals, gone to the racetrack in Mumbai with local gangsters, recorded
Bauls singing on the Ganges in West Bengal etc. I know the culture well. Just because I said there
isn't a thriving (or for that matter visible) sport bike scene and that most of the cars
are stripped down econo models doesn't make me some kind of terrible bigoted
cultural imperialist. It's just a statement of fact. Aram kharo bhai sahib. If you're
going to hang around this forum - you shouldn't expect folks to candy coat the truth.
Peace,
Keshav

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BigAl @ Dec 22 2009, 01:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>this thread got me thinking and i did a little digging. found this, hope it helps...

http://www.r1-forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=234110





What you're seeing in that photo is a rare anomaly. Trust me. BTW - I have in my
I-Photo files hundreds of photos of small displacement Indian motorcycles that have
been home customized because I love the passion that goes into individualizing these
inexpensive little commuter bikes. When things slow down at work I will post a bunch
of them. Some of them are amazing and some are just downright bizarre.

Since there isn't much cause to criticize a Nicky interview I thought the India discussion was an entertaining tangent... 17% of the worlds population don't you know sir (visualize head-wobble). Let's continue in a new thread (maybe starting with Kesh's modded bike pics) if Jum's got his panties in a wad over the hijack!

Hey Jum - yah got some new jewel of insight to revive the Hayden interview - I'm all for it. In the meantime...

Hmmm... upload function does not seem to be working for me this morning. Oh well, time to go make the donuts.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jumkie @ Dec 23 2009, 01:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'> I know bro, now if Nicky could manage to talk .... or something, man that would give us more milage, eh. Hahahaha. Don't let me interrupt the fun, actually I was learning a lot. So they don't have any roads worthy of sportbikes...
One of my co-workers was in Bagalore a few months ago, and from what he was telling me, if there were any good roads, they would be so over-crowded with scooters and cars bumper to bumber you wouldn't be able to enjoy it.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (L8Braker @ Dec 23 2009, 08:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>One of my co-workers was in Bagalore a few months ago, and from what he was telling me, if there were any good roads, they would be so over-crowded with scooters and cars bumper to bumber you wouldn't be able to enjoy it.

Yer co-worker speaks the truth. I've been through Bangalore many times.
I hate the place - but it's an unavoidable travel hub if you're going from north to south
by train. 25-30 years ago it was a beautiful place with a huge central
park that was like a paradise-like garden. But the place is overrun
with call-centers (the ones that answer the phone when you have questions
about your Amex bill) and software engineering companies and the huge
influx of money there has increased traffic congestion so badly that it has
to be one of the most dangerous places in the world to cross the street.
Worse than the traffic circles in Rome. And don't get me started about
how ugly the place has become architecturally as a result bone-headed
attempts to make a once graceful looking city into a modern mecca
of shopping malls.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Keshav @ Dec 25 2009, 09:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Yer co-worker speaks the truth. I've been through Bangalore many times.
I hate the place - but it's an unavoidable travel hub if you're going from north to south
by train. 25-30 years ago it was a beautiful place with a huge central
park that was like a paradise-like garden. But the place is overrun
with call-centers (the ones that answer the phone when you have questions
about your Amex bill) and software engineering companies and the huge
influx of money there has increased traffic congestion so badly that it has
to be one of the most dangerous places in the world to cross the street.
Worse than the traffic circles in Rome. And don't get me started about
how ugly the place has become architecturally as a result bone-headed
attempts to make a once graceful looking city into a modern mecca
of shopping malls.

Have to agree with every bit of that sadly . This is not just the case of Bangalore, all the cities of India have lost the heritage it had once and are now nothing more than a forest of glass and concrete.

yes, india is a crowded country with people who ride like morons and nobody follows traffic rules. But you just cant say we don have good roads to ride superbikes. There are enough of twisties here where guys take their superbikes on weekends and lot of people are there touring on their big bikes.
you can find pics taken in some of the track days and national champioship races( gotta register for viewing)
http://bikeforums.watchtheworld.org/viewtopic.php?t=309
http://bikeforums.watchtheworld.org/viewtopic.php?t=328
http://bikeforums.watchtheworld.org/viewtopic.php?t=284

below links can be viewed without registering
http://killerdude.net/trackdaymar2008.aspx
people here have all sort of variants of the ducati 1098 and what not and they regularly flaunt it on the track.

and we even race those piddly little 150cc 4 strokes
http://killerdude.net/jul08urnrc.aspx


Below are the links of some serious racing teams who race supersports in india and abroad
http://ten10racing.com/
http://www.redroosterracing.com/carrallynews.htm

and this year one of the race tracks hosted one asian gp round and an indian got a podium against much experienced competition.

and there are guys who tour on big bikes
http://www.gods.co.in/index.php
http://www.indimotard.com/index.html

and am not posting this because i got offended, am just trying to change the perception that people have about this country. sure its not like USof A or some european nation with all big bikes and cars roaming in the streets but we too have some action happening here and india is catching up.

cheers
Dinesh

I remeber when the Indian guys rode around Australia as part of a TV series. They followed it in Aus MC News and had interviews and all of that. There was a website and to be honest it looked like a lot of fun.

The message was quite clear then, bike culture is exploding in India, once they start building decent roads then it will be on.

I also believe KTM will be manufacturing off road bikes there as well.