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Motorbikes
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Ye zameen yeh aasman,
Ye zameen yeh aasman,
Hamhara kal hamhara aaj,
Hamhara kal hamhara aaj,
Bulandh Bharat ki buland tasveer,
Hamhara Bajaj hamhara Bajaj,
Bulandh Bharat ki buland tasveer,
Hamhara Bajaj hamhara Bajaj.
Who wouldn't get goosebumps and drown in nostalgia when this advertisement is seen (we all saw it on Doordarshan):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scltYH13uEY
If you are in your late 20's or 30 and above, chances are you or your family member has owned a Bajaj Scooter. For majority of us, our parents ferried us on the Scooter. 'Hum Do, Hamhare Do' was popular and so it was common to see a family of Father, Mother, Son and Daughter on a Chetak up to late 90's. Most of us learnt riding on scooters. We had our first fall on scooter and had the best times with a scooter in our childhood or early adulthood days.
I always associated Nostalgia with my childhood, especially with objects/vehicles I thought I may never be able to own. Incidentally, I had a 1991 Bajaj Super FE in college around 1998. I simply loved riding it. More than the love for scooter, it was love for it as an automobile. The Super FE was super special to me because I happened to own it by chance. A relative of my dad owed some money. After a long time, he offered this scoot instead. My dad took it with open arms as the relative returning money looked too bleak. Dad's idea was to resell and cut his losses. The scoot came all the way from Anantapur. As it was AP registration, selling wasn't a breeze. He needed some time to figure the formalities. By then, I started using it casually. By time my Dad could figure how to liquidate, I had made him look at the scoot as a necessity to me. Slowly, he let go of the idea and the scoot was all for me. I was worried about riding an AP registered scoot in Bangalore. When asked what to do if cops caught, he always said follow the rules, nothing will happen. Worst case, leave it and come, we will look into it later (he meant leave it, and let's forget we had a scooter). Enjoyed it for few years and then started working and bought a RX 135 and interest on scooter died down. Priorities changed and my dad's scooter went bust in 2005 and he used mine for few years until I got him a Activa in 2008. Sadly, in 2010 we had to scrap both the scooters during my wedding as mom very insistent on cleaning up lot of old stuff for a new beginning in my life. There it went!!
Once all work was completed, the scooter rode like a charm. It surpassed all my expectations and really rode better than a new Bajaj Scooter when it was available new. I felt I was very lucky to identify the mechanic who made this happen! Here are some pics after the engine work.
Now that the Scooter ran beautifully, it was time to set the papers in order. To my shock, to fix the paper work or mean renew fitness was a super expensive thing. Just penalty of 300rs * 25 months was to be paid long with the fees for FC and smart card!! Refer to an earlier thread I had created on this RTO penalties(
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/stree...-services.html). I felt a bit devastated. It was freaking costing more than price of a used Bajaj Chetak! It did not deter me and I made up the courage to pay it and update to make it road legal and also renewed insurance.
When I went for the Fitness Test by myself, the inspector failed the Fitness. He was a very nice guy who checked every aspect of the scooter. He actually liked the fact that everything worked well. He just said the front bumper is too very faded and so is the handle. Just get this over coated and your scoot will be through. I felt fair enough and returned. Pictures taken on morning of day of inspection:
Added the new leather covers for the side shield and front dickey to enhance its looks. Of course, I gave it a generous bath with a good car detergent. The odd looking and badly faded bumper very visible here(Even after I applied some rubbing compound and polishing):
I visited my mechanic who introduced me to next door tinker and nearby painter. I wasn't interested in just repainting handle and mudguard. I inquired the costs for full overcoat. I got a quote and painter too saw some passion in me and asked why not go for a full paint job and he gave a quote for that as well. He showed many vehicles he had painted and his work spoke a lot. He was absolutely good with it.
I left the scooter there and thought about it for 2 days. In fact I was thinking which color to repaint to lol. Spoke to the tinker (very little tinkering was needed) and painter and chose a different color.
When it comes to the engine and bore, its simply doing fantastic. Even in city I can get to higher gears damn quickly! I ride in 3rd and 4th gear literally 40-50% of the times even though I live in heart of city in Bangalore and experience extremely high traffic. My Access 125 gives around 25-26, Deo and Active deliver about 29-30.
This Scooter surprised me with its mileage figures. Its been giving me around 32kmpl with ease. On the Nandi Hills ride, it surely has given me 55+ kmpl.
Above is a data sheet I maintained to arrive at the mileages. The one that reads 48kmpl includes Nandi Hills ride + city riding and still was 48kmpl.
Moving thread from Assembly line to Motorbikes forum. Thanks for sharing, Karthik!
Congratulations on having the passion to restore a real classic like the Chetak. It’s a simple vehicle which has surprisingly high torque. I used to ride one for a few years and boy, do I have some fun memories with the ride!
Interesting that you point out the higher mileage figures as compared to the current crop of scooters. Shows how even the old 2 stroke engines could give better mileage and yet are condemned for being more polluting. No one thinks about the pollution and environmental consequences of scrapping perfectly running vehicles and swapping them with new ones.
Wish you many kilometers of safe riding on her. Be very careful during the rains- I have managed to skid on a wet road and it wasn’t something I’d like to revisit.
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