The unassailable Dilip Bam!

[GTO]

I seldom read bike reviews, but the ones I could never resist are those penned by Dilip Bam! Those amongst us who read car magazines from the 80's and early 90's will fondly remember this chap for his humourous no-nonsense approach to two wheeler reviews.

Where is he?

Some excerpts from Dilip Bam's Enfield Diesel review. A true classic!

Enfield has chosen to name it the Enfield Diesel rather than the Diesel Bullet. It probably did this considering the pickup of the bike.

The pickup is kaafi pathetic. I actually raced against a bicycle, and the cycle was ahead for the first 150 meters.

The quality of parts is in line with Enfields philosophy on quality........."our lips are sealed"!! I wonder why Enfield doesnt use the same seals on its front shockers as that which it uses to seal its lips.

Though vibrations dont bother Dilip Bam, they do bother the bike. Nuts and bolts come loose and parts keep falling off.

Safety is an inbuilt feature of this bike. There is no need to lock this bike, Nobody can steal it because nobody can start it.

[Blue Thunder]

Some additional info about him :

Indiacar.com - Dilip Bam

The last line in the above article reads :

"Last book read : Owners Manual of some bike I have been testing."

[mail4ajo]

Yes, Dilip had an extremely casual way of presenting his reviews. What I liked a lot was his infusion of hindi words into the reviews giving that personal touch.

The last time I heard from him was on indiabike.com (I am guessing) as a bike expert answering to even the sillest queries in the most appealing way. Has he retired??

[madan80]

i wonder if it was his review on the Kinetic K4-100 (?) where he siad that
"its so easy that it can be ridden by any tom, Dick or third bihari!"

[moralfibre]

Naughty Dilip Bam. I have been good friends with him and did my Kashmir to Kanyakumari biking sojourn in his vigilance. Nice chap. Has just one ear fin. The other was lost in a bike accident. We did quite a lot of bike rides around Pune. One being on gearless scooters in Verandah ghat in pouring rain and the Karizma to give us company. DOESN'T use any modern measurement methods for testing figures just a stop watch for acceleration times. He uses a 1 liter bottle of petrol (like a saline bottle) hanging around his neck to do fuel efficiency tests. And he is pretty fast on bikes. I remember running a souped up Shaolin and a autocross prepared RX100 against him on the Karizma first ride. Thats Dilip Bam for you.

Btw, he's crossed the Sahara desert on a Ki-Ho (Kinetic Honda). Got kidnapped somewhere and was made to beg outside some god forsaken place in the middle of a desert. Anyone from Pune wants to go drinking? You'll have more tales to hear.

[mobike008]

Hilarious stuff. We need more forthright people like him to help the gullible ( at least majority of them are) automotive buyers

[spadival]

Why the hell isnt he on TV? I am tired of all the "College lecturer" type anchors that we get to see on the Indian automobile TV shows.

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by spadival

Why the hell isnt he on TV? I am tired of all the "College lecturer" type anchors that we get to see on the Indian automobile TV shows.

For the record he is a college lecturer. He conducts MBA induction programs at Symbiosis, IIMM, etc.

[midlifecrisis]

The quotations are hilarious GTO. Thanks for sharing

[Technocrat]

Have had a chance to meet him when he was testing a bullet & some Kinetic bike near ARAI.

He sure has some good sense of humour. Except for recent goof up with P220's review he seems to have good reviews.

@mf: Thats a news, hats off to him man

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

He sure has some good sense of humour. Except for recent goof up with P220's review he seems to have good reviews.
@mf: Thats a news, hats off to him man

What was the goof up Techno? I haven't been following reviews very often. Got a link?

[rahuldeodhar]

I remember reading Auto India long time ago - it had review of new LML scooter and the author mentioned headlight of LML pointed skyward and hence this scooter should be given to police in Purulia to seek out planes (some plane had dropped lethal weapons that time - Purulia arms dropping case).

It was really funny - but was that Dilip Bam? or who else was it at Auto India

RD

[Rahulkool]

still remember the first quote which GTO has mentioned ...... read it some 10 years back i guess in auto india or indian auto, that was one awesome review of bullet diesel lol

[ram_hyundai]

GTO,you just brought in old memories about him.Why is he not doing the same anymore.I had read lots of reviews from this gentleman and he used to put everything in a lucid way.
ram

[condor]

mail4ajo : Dilip had an extremely casual way of presenting his reviews.
moralfibre : DOESN'T use any modern measurement methods for testing figures just a stop watch for acceleration times.

A very rustic approach to presenting things. And often, will show his nose to more accurate (and expensive) ways of testing.

moralfibre : I have been good friends with him .... We did quite a lot of bike rides ...

An ex-colleague who I knew in the late nineties said the same, and that he had joined Dilip on many a test & a ride. (This guy was a Delhi-ite, but we were in Mumbai then).