[Sran]

Beautiful post. Rarely does someone show this much passion to possess something. I am in awe of you focused dedication. Have a happy ownership. Your father looks proud to have you. Mr GK is very fine man indeed. To understand your emotion and letting go of this Bullet shows he is a kind hearted man.

[Samba]

The film industry guys can make a blockbuster movie out of this real life story! The emotion between man and machine have been portrayed perfectly.
The restoration job was neatly executed, simple yet thorough.
The mechanic must be thrilled to get this bike back after so many years. He definitely got a new story, which he will proudly narrate to his grand sons/daughters!

You are pretty lucky to get the bike back. I searched quite a bit for our 1960, Fiat 1100 Select, which my dad sold in early 90s. I came home in that car and is quite nostalgic to us. That was his first car too. But I could not trace the car back. :(

An excellent thread. Rated a well deserved 5*.

[ku69rd]

Lovely journey it must have been with all the search and excitement in finding the bullet. Congrats to Arun and Karthik for finding the bits and pieces to complete the puzzle. Am sure your dad will be a very happy man.

Fantastic write up

[ebonho]

Fantastic thread Arun. A really beautiful story.

Cheers, Doc

[PrasannaDhana]

Congratulations Arun!!

What a stroke of luck + effort in getting your dad's bullet back!!

I can relate to that emotion. My dad was a big time bullet lover (owned 6 bullets in late 70s until mid 80s).

And young riders out there, this is what is called a real bullet.

The much adored thump from the much loved CI block engine. What people ride today are not even close to what these machines made us feel.

I owned one when I was in my grade 11. Absolutely loved it.

[theexperthand]

What a beautifully penned thread! Thank you for putting this up, Arun. I could really feel the emotions.

The thump in the first video is pure music :-)

Happy to see the whole garage and wish you and your dad many more happy miles with all 3 vehicles.

--Anoop

[ss125_i10]

Congratulations Arun. Excellent writeup. I am sure Mr. GK would have agreed to sell seeing your determination. A good team work helped in solving this. Wishing many happy miles with this beauty

[tharian]

Some good investigation work there Arun.
Good to know that the bike was not scrapped or left unused. That would have increased your bills a lot.

I never had a good experience or encounter with Mehboob, I guess that's the chief mechs name and the owner. I've been there only for small work few times over the years which he never entertained. Maybe that's the reason it worked well for you and since he is also remembers your dad as well.

Was the Indori type muffler the only one available? That muffler only mimics the note of a heavy crank Enfield which this model already is. The way the exhaust flows inside causes a flat spot in a certain rpm range. At least that is how it was on my Electra and I knew it isn't good on the long run just by the feel of it. I couldn't find the original type muffler with filters inside, in Bangalore because RE doesn't sell it anymore, but they sell the bend pipe. I finally managed to get hold of it from the Quality shop in Chennai. Now the ride is much better and the sound not as loud.

Enjoy the bike. Nothing comes close to that heavy crank idle beat and riding one.

[srini1785]

Great!. Nothing brings more joy than find that one piece of nostalgia from your childhood.

We also had two such automobiles, a car (TMO 5820) and a Lamby (MDB 81) both of which belonged to my dad and are untraceable. A few photos are what survive.

[thmsfrnnd]

Your dad's garage is beautiful!!

Smiling from ear to ear reading your thread

[catchjyoti]

This is one hell of a thread Arun! Once I started reading, I just couldn't stop. When you want something very badly, the universe makes it happen for you.

[boniver]

Lovely thread! Glad to know the bike was eventually found and restored.
I embarked on a similar journey in December '21, but it did not have a happy ending. My father owned a HH Sleek which he bought new in 1991 in Bhubaneswar. This bike was then bought back to Kolkata and used till 2014, post which he gave it away to his mechanic for free, who eventually sold it to a vegetable seller in a nearby market.
At first my dad was reluctant to tell me who he gave away the bike to, but given that the bike was still first owner on paper (in his name), I tried to scare him by saying he'd be in a soup if the bike was ever used for wrong reasons. With this, we set out. Visited the mechanic who vividly remembered my dad and his bike, and promised to find the buyer by visiting the market. Unfortunately, he found out that the buyer had stopped selling his vegetables in the market, maybe due to COVID. My dad is of the opinion that he never searched, because in such rural settings even if you can't find one person, you can find someone else who knows him. Anyway, we let the bike go. I even thought of finding another Sleek, unsuccessfully since these bikes were sold very less in my part of the country. Eventually, I ended up picking an RX100 that was lying in my neighbour's backyard, unknown to me. That is a story for another time.

I would be following this thread to know what you eventually do about the paperwork. I am in a similar situation myself, where the RX100 is registered in my neighbour's name (he's the first owner), but he's lost all documents of the bike. Thankfully though, all details show up online. Would be great if someone could guide me through the process of obtaining a duplicate RC for the bike. From what I understand, the process is:
1. Obtaining insurance, as without it you can process anything on parivahan.
2. Filing a police report stating that the RC has been lost.
3. Pay all the pending taxes (pending since 2011)
4. Apply for duplicate RC with all the above documents.

Not sure if point 3 is needed, or it can be done after getting the RC.

After point 4,
5. Take the bike for its fitness test, and pay all pending fines (since 2011)
6. Once the new updated RC is issued, apply for ownership transfer to my name.

This is as per my understanding. Would go about the work once I'm back home during summer.

Ending this post with a photo of my dad's Sleek, OR 02 9110. He hated having a number plate in the front, and used the bike throughout the country with a single black number plate with white letters on it, at the back, even though the rules didn't allow black plates anymore. Even though we had the bike with us till as late as 2015, sadly this is the only photo we have of the bike, taken sometime in the early 90s:

[nettooran]

That was a great story. I can completely understand your dad's happiness. I used to own a 2003 CI bullet electra which I bought used in 2007. I used it extensively including a trip to ladakh in 2009. By 2020, married and with a kid, I was not using it much and sold it to another bullet lover. But the post sale trauma hit me and in another 3 months I bought it back from him for a premium😃. It now lies in my garage used only for weekend rides.

[veyron_head]

What a heartwarming thread! This could go straight into the screenplay of a Netflix movie! Fondly remember my brand new TVS Champ that I bought 25 yrs ago during my college days which people used to make fun of (my college had the Richie rich riding all sorts of bikes). But I loved every bit of it. Shouldn't have sold it!!

[Rajjay]

I am a voracious reader of mysteries and thrillers. I felt like reading a mystery by Harlan Coben ( one of my favourite authors ) when I was reading your story with so many twists and turns.

Nice work. Congrats.