[chintan15]

Its 50 minutes past midnight, went through the whole thread, man i cant stop laughing. I sure have become a fan of Mr. Bam. where ever he is, God Bless him.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by black12rr

I dont understand this . A thread is being created out of person

Hey, just to clarify : This is Dilip Bam's fan club talking. Edsel Rulez! has pretty much summed up what I'd have to say.

Originally Posted by deepclutch

From Flyte Review by Dilip Bam:
Kinetic-SYM Flyte Article by Dilip Bam

Originally Posted by mantrig

Do check out the comments on Mr. Bam on the link below and its so pleasant knowing we are not the only folks missing his humour.

Motorcyclist At Large: TVS Flame, RTR-Fi review: Link

Originally Posted by jingaboysr

here: Enfield BULLET ELECTRA: Will it meet customer expectations?

Thanks dudes! Humourous lunch time reads. I found a link that seems to be a repository of his articles. Though, I must add, he does need a proof reader. Check this out:

OF THE NEW BIKES FROM TVS, TOP-OF-THE-LINE IS THE UPGRADED APACHE 160 RTR EF-i, WHiCH IS NOW COMiNG WITH PETAL DISC BRAKES FRONT & REAR, AND Elektronik Fuel injexun. I RACED IT ON TEST-TRAK. DAMN GuuD. VERRi VERRi RACiST, & Hoo-Haa PiKUP & TOP SPEED! THE RIDER SEATiNG POSTURE IS TOTALLY RACiST ! ROAD-HOLDiNG IS EXCELLENT. CORNERiNG IS BRiLLiANT. HANDLiNG IS PURELY RACiST. From here

I presume he means racy (as in race track)

Buttttttttttttttttttttt here is another classic:

Truth is, each bike is designed for a specific performance. A Cheetah, which weighs 50 kg, can run at 120 kph (bhp) but you cannot ride it. It does not have the carrying capacity (Torque). An elephant can carry 20 people, (high torque) but cannot run faster than 40 kph. A Cheetah lives for 12 years and an elephant lives for 100 years. The giant turtle of Galapagos lives 500 years, but its speed is just 20 metres (65 feet) per hour and it eats very little. The quantity of food (fuel) which these creatures eat (consume) is also very different.

It is the same with bikes. The faster you drive, the higher will be the rate of fuel consumption. That is why the "STANDARD CONDITIONS" at which most manufacturers advertise their bikes' fuel consumption is at steady 40 kph. Indeed, fuel consumption at 20 kph in 4th gear would be even lesser (turtle). From here

And them one more:

In view of the fact that monsoon had already set-in on the Konkan coast west of Pune, and my rule being, "eat dal-roti in dhaba, **** in jungle, wash in river and sleep on roadside in order to cut costs", we decided to head east from Pune, instead of west. So we decided to go to LONAR crater. Lonar crater is an absolutely circular, natural bowl, about 2 km in diameter and about 250 feet in depth , formed when the earth was hit by an asteroid sometime between fifty thousand to one lakh years ago, when Dinosaurs (Jurassic Park type) ruled the earth...........

Recently, it was reported that some Maharashtra minister inaugurated a sarkari resort there and he "Threw open the crater to the public". (As if the crater was closed before that!!).

Far as I know the crater was "opened" by an asteroid one lakh years ago and has been always open since then, and no govt. has the money or technology to build a dhakkan of two km diameter! From here

Originally Posted by iraghava

Actually no, in the mid to late 90's the top dog was Auto India

I can read a 15 year old copy of Auto India / Indian Auto to this date. But the current magazines, I am all but done in 1 hour flat.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by GTO

I can read a 15 year old copy of Auto India / Indian Auto to this date. But the current magazines, I am all but done in 1 hour flat.

Exactly. I was one of the first subscribers to IAJ and switched to AI when it was launched. I stopped subscribing to it around 2002 as the drop in quality and content was unbelievable. I still pick up an occassional auto magazine from the stands when I have to travel long distance by train, but it does not hold my attention for long.

[iraghava]

Originally Posted by GTO

I can read a 15 year old copy of Auto India / Indian Auto to this date. But the current magazines, I am all but done in 1 hour flat.

Originally Posted by Gansan

Exactly. I was one of the first subscribers to IAJ and switched to AI when it was launched. I stopped subscribing to it around 2002 as the drop in quality and content was unbelievable. I still pick up an occassional auto magazine from the stands when I have to travel long distance by train, but it does not hold my attention for long.

Unfortunately, that has been the state of our auto mags for a long while now and not to mention the biases are at times so apparent that the reader usually gets fed up. So while I still spend hours trawling through EVO, C&D, Automobile etc. the ACI I buy usually gets one leaf through of about 15-20 mins.

[vrprabhu]

Originally Posted by Edsel Rulez!

Ever heard of "fan clubs"?

The fact is that some of us find Mr Bam's style refreshing and funny (though I must say his current semi-literate SMS style puts me off) and hence enjoy sharing some nostalgic moments. It helps if you were an ardent reader of Indian auto magazines in the 80s and 90s. Or at least possess a sense of humour. With neither at hand, I agree this thread may seem pointless.

As to your other doubt, if Mr Bam wants to join the forum, he's free to do so

+1 to that Edsel Rulez! Not only Bam's articles were refreshing, but they had loads of common sense thrown in - no hi-fi language or technical jargon.

I too don't like his way of replying nowadays - may be he is just tired of repeating the same questions - you should read the kind of questions they put forth.

BTW, I had joined cybersteering before I teamed up here, so I already sent him the feed back on this thread! Now let us wait and watch!!

[v12]

Dilip Bam was also famous for the following :
- Testing space on scooters by keeping a LPG cylinder in the leg bay.
- Stertching road tests with totally unwanted information.
- Hinglish langauge.
- Testing on the Mulshi harpin bends.

[gaddiwale]

I grew up reading few automobile magazines available that time - Car & Bike International, Indian Auto and Auto India. There was few great knowledgeble guys were associated with these magazines that time - Adil Jal Darukahanawala, Neville, Hormazad, and Dilip Bam. I can still remember the road tests of Yezdi 350 Twin written by Dilip whose dog leg type front break lever (with photo) was bent by none other than Sunil Gavaskar (I still have all the old issues of these magazine in my native place). I guess Dilip has a MV licence for three wheeler too, in one of the issue of C&BI his licence photo was publised where he was wearing a Gandhi topi.. He mentioned that was the norm that time for 3-wheeler licence. A great guy with indepth knowledge of automobiles and stong writing skill. If Dilip is reading this request you to join this forum, we'll be privileged to have you on board.

[parimal_g]

Shall we invite him on teambhp ..? Am sure he will not say no,but now a days he is very busy with his life.I still remember the the 2006 issue of Auto India having the road test of Yamaha RXG and Bajaj Kb 125 and he used to write bikes are fast but still no match for The boss,and after this road test only i was curious to know which is THE BOSS..and after riding the boss completely blown away by the pickup and the sound of exhaust ...and then the love for SHogun started.He was the one who suggested me if you are happy with the noise go for it.I was having all the issues of Auto India and Car and Bike International but sadly in July 2005 Rains all washed away.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by v12

Dilip Bam was also famous for the following :
- Testing space on scooters by keeping a LPG cylinder in the leg bay.

Why on earth?

Originally Posted by gaddiwale

There was few great knowledgeble guys were associated with these magazines that time - Adil Jal Darukahanawala, Neville, Hormazad, and Dilip Bam.

How can you leave out Ashraf Sheikh? Absolute master of the technicalities, and had a very straight-forward way of explaining them to the lay man.

[gaddiwale]

Originally Posted by GTO

How can you leave out Ashraf Sheikh? Absolute master of the technicalities, and had a very straight-forward way of explaining them to the lay man.

Oh my forgetfulness! That old man was fantastic. I guess he runs a garage in pune! Actually I feel earlier these guys really looked at the technicallities during the road tests or first drive reports and the perodicals were more like a journal. Now-a-days most of the automobile periodicals simply publish features like a magazine. I can remember the June 1993 issue of Car & Bike International publised a road test report of Suzuki Shogun and shoot out of Shogun vs RX100 actually influenced me and my dad to buy a Shogun for me. Hats off to all the biggies.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by v12

Dilip Bam was also famous for the following :
- Testing space on scooters by keeping a LPG cylinder in the leg bay.

Ah, yes! The ability to accommodate a gas cylinder was very important if a scooter was to "make the cut" in his books. In a Scooty Vs Sunny shoot out, the Sunny lost out because of this, if I remember right!

[Shubhendra]

Hi All,
As mentioned earlier in this thread that Dilip Bam is lecturer and teaches MBA students of Symbiosis and other colleges. I was among of them, who interacted with him, discussed with him and had drink with him.
He is gem of a person. Just to let you know guys he is XLRI Jamshedpur Alumni. He cleared IAS exams but did not opt for it. He worked in Singapore then he thought of coming to India. In India he used to drive Taxi in Mumbai.
Although i read some critic post about use of his language, but just FYI he has excellent command over Hindi and English. i attended 10 days Workshop moderated by him. Whenevr he used to speak we had to search some of his words in dictionary even for Hindi words!!!!!!!!!!

I really cherish those moments. And yes he smokes 30-40 small Red & White in a day.

Regards,
Shubhendra Singh

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by black12rr

I dont understand this . A thread is being created out of person and ppl are getting kicks out of , yet there are not willing to invite him or make member of the forum .
Whats the point of making this thread ? , just to make fun of him ? .
If you ppl really like him and his personality , why not make a formal request to join him to the board

Dilip Bam is India's Jeremy Clarkston and he's been entertaining readers even before TopGear and Jeremy became popular.

We are an open invite forum BTW.

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by Shubhendra

Hi All,
As mentioned earlier in this thread that Dilip Bam is lecturer and teaches MBA students of Symbiosis and other colleges. I was among of them, who interacted with him, discussed with him and had drink with him.
He is gem of a person. Just to let you know guys he is XLRI Jamshedpur Alumni. He cleared IAS exams but did not opt for it. He worked in Singapore then he thought of coming to India. In India he used to drive Taxi in Mumbai.
Although i read some critic post about use of his language, but just FYI he has excellent command over Hindi and English. i attended 10 days Workshop moderated by him. Whenevr he used to speak we had to search some of his words in dictionary even for Hindi words!!!!!!!!!!

I really cherish those moments. And yes he smokes 30-40 small Red & White in a day.

Regards,
Shubhendra Singh

Nice writeup Shubhendra. I remember the first roadtest of the new 1986 (SB 308) Maruti 800 that was done by Dilip Bam for Indian Auto. I still have the issue with me.
He had said that he was working with TCS in Singapore and that his domestic help would turn up in his apartment, driving the frail Suzuki Alto. And he was wondering as to how such a car had raised its hype to stratospheric levels here in India?
I also used to read his many unbiased two wheeler road tests with frank and curt opinions. Of course I miss him these days, as I do not subscribe to Top Gear but to ACI.

[Akadian]

I've thoroughly enjoyed myself going through this thread. Hats off to Mr Bam. Even his current lingo is very comprehensible as far as I can make out. It will be fun to have him with us on Team BHP