[GTO]

An amazing post by Rachit planted the seeds for this thread.

Originally Posted by Rachit.K.Dogra

Ever since I bought this bike, I wanted one of my friends Shekhar to ride it. He is an exceptionally gifted rider and has done CSS level3. Watching him ride is like poetry. That day finally happened very recently and it was as beautiful as I had imagined it to be. Seeing him do things on the R1, the way she danced, was magic. He of course at the end was all red and shivery, but in his words, this bike deserves a track. So hoping for that to happen soon.

Whose driving or riding skills left an impression on you? I have two who were exceptional

1. We'd gone for a Team-BHP drive to Lonavla & there were a bunch of cars. Driving my C220 was Rtech. On the straight expressway, his driving was solid & confident. But where he really blew us away (we were 4 onboard) was climbing up the Lonavla ghat. The way he put that RWD German with a 6-speed MT through the curves was mind-boggling brilliance. It was as artistic as watching a professional ballet dancer. There was pin drop silence in the car, as he attacked corner after corner with a grin on his face, and choosing the 100% perfect line, with sharp steering inputs, slick gearshifts & lightning fast footwork between the pedals. The only sounds being the mechanical gearshifts & tyres squealing. That really left an impression on me.

My style of driving is fast, yet smooth. I respect that in others.

Rtech's skills were legendary. Here's what Atul Chandan Menon had to say on his memorial:

I still remember the first time I met Robin. It was on a Sunday morning ride. Watching him sashay the ZZR on Karjat twisties was pure music, akin to Mozart's symphony - fluid, seamless and harmonious. Although I struggled to keep up with him on my puny ZMA at WOT, I was grinning ear to ear through my helmet watching Robin do his thing a few metres ahead. After a very long time, I was happy that I was riding behind someone. It's a feeling words cannot express & somehow I felt we connected on a level only true enthusiasts would understand.

2. The second was a Formula racer from Europe (don't remember his name). Every man thinks he's an awesome driver and I'm no different. But this was a truly humbling experience. We were driving on track. I went first, and then rode shotgun with this racer. Man, he was accelerating way past my braking points!!! So many times, I thought he's going to leave us plastered on the wall, but he took them like a champ . Can never forget that experience. Some people are gifted.

[Shreyans_Jain]

What professional racers do is something we regular people can’t even imagine of doing. It truly is an eye opening and humbling experience to ride shotgun with one of them as they put their machine through its paces. Especially when it is wet.

[condor]

My earliest impression - the city bus drivers in Dharwad. Those old Tata 1210's. The days when service was a bit limited. So the buses in the peak hours used to be full. The drivers on the routes were regulars, so they used to call me (and my brother) to stand behind their seat - in between the driver's seat and the pipe grille that separates the passenger seat. The second best place in the bus !

One guy - Syed - was quite enthusiastic, going nicely on curves and straights. He later became a small time actor in Kannada movies.

But the one I really appreciate was Attar. Ever smiling, quiet person, with a shiny pate . Smooth driving. His trip in the morning was a little early for school, but I still used to take his bus also because it was less crowded. And though the bus stop was a little further down the road, he used to slow down in front our house so that I could get in - and I went straight to the seat on the left of the engine. He had got a medal for 25 years of accident-free driving ! I think my driving style has his influence. Observing him the way he used to drive - my first un-intentional lessons in driving. Handling the steering wheel on turns, smoothly switching hands for that flowing action - and the way he let the steering wheel slide in his hands when coming out of the turn. Downshifting on inclines ..

Before we moved out of Dharwad, he called me for one last ride on his bus with him, treated me to a glass of milk too. We did meet a few times again on my visits. Those were the days.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by GTO

Whose driving or riding skills left an impression on you?

Here are a few from my side.

1. I've admired the driving skills of most drivers of GSRTC (Gujarat) and SETC (TN) for their ability to keep their composure even under adverse driving conditions - navigating mad traffic, indisciplined riders and drivers, inclement weather, long traffic hold ups. Like everywhere, there are some ruffians in these transport corporations too but they don't form more than 2% of the total strength.

2. Among individual drivers, I've loved a friend of mine for the way he used to program his drive his Altis diesel and a subsequent XUV500 in Chennai City and on highways - different styles for different traffic conditions but always safe and smooth. His only shortcoming - reversing skills were very poor.

3. Among riders, there was this Debajit Shome in college who made me ride pillion on his Yamaha RX100 in 1990 and he was doing 105kmph. I thought I was a goner but he left me impressed with his zero rash but fast riding.

4. Another smooth but steady rider adhering to all PPE who never exceeded 50kmph on his Kawasaki Bajaj 4S Champion is Ashwin Maniyar in Surat.

5. Champion rider Anand Desai with whom I used to ride pillion several times on his rare gold Hero Honda CBZ. He was fast, but would never ride without donning a helmet, denims and safe shoes.

[ABHI_1512]

I have had the fantastic experience of growing up in the north east part of India and I must say, I have watched some of the most exceptional drivers. North East was not really connected through train lines before and that was a time when the buses ruled the roost. Among the plethora of bus companies, there was this company named Blue Hills Travels as well as the drivers of Imphal-Silchar-Guwahati route.

Trust me when I say this, the roads were no where near to how they are now through Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. It was pure skill and nothing else to drive a behemoth of a bus on those narrow switchbacks and landslide prone roads. Specially the road after crossing Shillong and before the bypasses happened, used to be narrow where you can see the gorge by your side sitting inside the bus. The way they manoeuvred those buses without the power steering that we get these days is mind boggling.

Those bus drivers get my highest regards and respect for safely navigating the passengers from one destination to another in those days. Of course, things have improved now but from purely skill point of view, those days were pure gold. Such was their expertise, that they almost used to reverse the bus in the narrowest of places. Phew, nostalgia just gripped me !!

Among the individual ones, have seen quite a few over the years. Composure is the key and the way they used to be whenever surrounded by doubts is what set them apart. Even now, seeing so many BHPians doing the things that they do, is commendable and learning experience

[gkveda]

Good thoughts on the thread.

I have a bus driver to remember and show my respect by remembering him now, probably 25 years after his service to us.

During 1993-94, I started my career as lecturer for RV College of Engineering in Bangalore. I used to travel by college bus every day from Rajajinagar till Mysore road campus. It was around 16 kms from stop to stop. The bus driver was an old man, may be 55- 60 years. The way he used to drive the bus every day was just AMAZING. The bus used to come EXACTLY at 7:40 AM in the morning WITH variation in SECONDS accuracy and drop at college at EXACTLY 8:15 AM with variation in seconds accuracy. The jerks during travel was absolutely minimal and used to have CONSTANT speed. I used to sleep in the bus during this 45 mins almost like sleeping on a bed in room. I used to praise this driver skills with my colleagues who were commuting from Jayanagar side several times. One day apparently, one of my Jayanagar side colleagues traveled by our bus and raised this topic of driver skills. We did not have seats in the bus and we travelled standing. He challenged me if I can travel to my destination without holding the holding bar. I took it as challenge and stood without holding the bar. Believe me or not, I had to hold the bar only once during 10 kms travel while the bus took a turn. The bus was so stable and I was able to stand with out holding the bar.

I still wonder how can one drive the bus in such a wonderful, constant speed and maintain the stability of the bus. No overtaking, no ego clashes with other drivers on the road, maintaining the time of arrival and departure exactly the same for years together.

Hats off to that driver who supported us for 2 years with so stable speed.

In my journey of travels, I have not seen such a driver again

[dailydriver]

I

During a trip that none of us want to be reminded of today because of the many minor mishaps and inconveniences that it brought with it, we distinctly remember the driving skills of the barely legal age chap who chaperoned us through the journey of nearly a thousand kilometers in 2017.

He was a short built young man; his feet could hardly push the accelerator pedal of the Force Tempo Traveller to its end. The steering wheel appeared gigantic in front of his frail frame.

Yet, the control with which he could take the curves, the anticipatory actions and reflexes, the no nonsense overtaking manoeuvres on narrow single roads and his general sense of correctly judging the road conditions made me his fan.

Trivia: 1. In spite of his mastery over the wheel, he was a cave man with respect to maintenance. The TT had a puncture in a desolate area and our Schumacher couldn't even jack the vehicle up. No marks for guessing who among the passengers ended up playing the cleaner!

2. How much ever I might respect him as a driver, I cannot recall his name today. Speaks a lot about my people skills .

II

My brother (technically, a cousin) drives huge tippers for a living - ones that are used in mines and quarries. Sitting high up in the driver's seat, he handles it with such ease, love and care that it often reminds me of poetry. Even on the road, with or without his cargo, he is a model and considerate driver.

III

A colleague and a friend Mr. S owns a Swift. He isn't a skillful driver. He eats up clutches and brake pads for breakfast. But the zen like state he remains in, in the midst of all the cacophony on the streets is an attitude I would give a million dollars to imbibe.

[aargee]

I don't have these guys picture nor these guys are some celebrities', these 2 folks are very ordinary people like anyone in this forum, but have extraordinary driving skills & I quite learnt to stay humble with driving.

1. This was our cab driver at office who was driving Amby with Isuzu engine & Matador gearbox from mid 2004 to nearly end of 2005. I've never seen him driving past 80 Kmph, but he was never, ever late & his driving time was almost never beat by anyone else (unless they do rash driving). His driving rock steady unwavering, like rocking a baby to sleep & was pure 100% ecstatic feeling. No matter who cuts in front of him, hurrying pedestrians waving at our car to stop or even an Indica overtaking, he was always, always cool headed & let them be. Best part? He was only 25. Unbelievable part? I don't think I can ever drive like him if at all I'm able to drive at 60!! And obvious part? His White Amby was damn near to perfection as if he details it every day including interiors.

2. Another driver in KL in my hometown; I've known him for over 20+ years now; his Amby (and Indica later) was absolute beauty both inside & outside no matter which part of the year. Even if he had returned from an earlier drive at 3:00 Am in the morning, he & his car would stand pristine at 6:00 Am ready for another trip. Never seen his speeds over 80 Kmph, no matter the emergency. The incredulity on Tata vehicles was when I saw the ODO that read 186xxx & his Indica was barely 8 years old!! Yet he was humble to admit that it was by God's grace he had a good Indica that only required general service & incurs no additional cost & was very economical to own it.

And it's eminent mentioning about crackerjack & virtuoso

H.V.Kumar

whose driving skills are nearly beyond human skills both on motorcycle & car over quarter century. He's one person, atleast I know, who has LIVED TO RIDE/DRIVE.

[One]

There are many good drivers mentioned above , lot of them driving the commercial large vehicles. I know many friends who are good drivers but for me, the hallmark of a great driver (this in public roads) is what is mentioned below

Originally Posted by gkveda

I still wonder how can one drive the bus in such a wonderful, constant speed and maintain the stability of the bus.

For me, a great driver on public roads is the one with whom sitting at the back is a pleasure - feeling minimal body roll or jerks , just making sitting in a car feel like sitting at home on a sofa with ever changing views.

Have seen two of them, one was a driver we had who could drive this way even in the congested, maddening traffic of a city and yet was never slow to reach anywhere.

The other was a driver (forget his name) we hired and roamed around in the hills of North East. Inspite of sitting in a Scorpio at the back seat, even my wife prone to nausea enjoyed those days and days of driving on twisted roads. Reminded of another incident with him - while going to Nathu La it started snowing and then it was announced that the pass was closed. The local tourist guys still took the vehicles to Changu so that they didn't have to refund the money. But our guy refused to drive further saying he wasn't comfortable. I thought it was showing excellent character when all other drivers around him were going ahead, commenting on him, but this experienced driver sticking to his guns even though he knew the roads like his back hand.

[akshye]

Originally Posted by condor

My earliest impression - the city bus drivers in Dharwad.

Originally Posted by vigsom

1. I've admired the driving skills of most drivers of GSRTC (Gujarat) and SETC (TN) for their ability to keep their composure even under adverse driving conditions - navigating mad traffic, indisciplined riders and drivers, inclement weather, long traffic hold ups.

I also have memories of ST drivers (now called MSRTC). I always used to sit on the battery boxes in the ST cabin, whenever drivers allowed. I used to ask permission and sit there ever since I was 5-6 years old. Some didn't allow, worrying about the safety, others enjoyed my company. I used to ask them questions about their maneuvers, how they see the road at night, with oncoming vehicle's headlights blinding their vision (especially with ST's candle-like lamps), etc. That's how I developed most of my driving skills.

There is one driver, who left a lasting impression on me though. He had unparalleled overtaking skill (with worse than mediocre ST). It was on the highway between Kolhapur and Pune; it used to be 2-lane road, without a divider, back then. All the sugarcane laden tractors used to slow down the entire traffic flow, in those days. This driver would come out slightly to the right side of the road, count oncoming vehicles until the next gap and judge their speed, go back in his own lane. And exactly when the last couple of vehicles are to cross the vehicle in front, he'd start gaining speed (accounting for the extremely sluggish, fully laden bus). Quickly get into the right lane and overtake exactly using the small gap he would get. No vehicle was able to keep up with this guy. Never witnessed another soul with that kind of judgement. He was the only driver, I did not dare speak a single word with; such was his concentration!

But the best part is yet to come. The bus (the obvious weak link in the adventure) had a breakdown after crossing Satara. He had reached Satara in about 2.5-2.75 hours from Kolhapur. (Those who remember the state of the road back then would appreciate the time). We were asked to get into another bus since driver/conductor didn't know where to get the bus fixed. Well, we did. Now this driver found some workshop, got the bus fixed, overtook the other bus we boarded and reached Pune nearly 20 minutes before us!

Damn, I got goosebumps just remembering the experience!

Originally Posted by GTO

Whose driving or riding skills left an impression on you?

Thanks GTO for starting this thread! I relived the memory!

[PVS]

I appreciate the skills of the HRTC bus drivers for driving those TATA buses in the narrow and curvy mountainous roads of Himachal Pradesh like Shimla to Recongpio - Recongpio to Hango et al. It takes some nerves of steel to pilot uses through those narrow roads.

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by GTO

Whose driving or riding skills left an impression on you?

Great thread

I have 2 examples to share:-
1. My first driving instructor from Maruti driving school. He was about 40ish back when I enrolled there in the late 90s. I received my first formal driving lessons from him. He was a stickler for rules and wanted everyone to go through the grind of learning the ropes. Sometimes it used to amuse me but I took it all in the stride. Even to this day, I cannot thank him enough.

2. Our driver, more affectionately called as kaka (uncle). He used to ferry my daughter and wifey sometimes around. He was in his late 60s but at no point, did he let his age come in the way of driving around like God possessed
He was a former Army Engineer Corpsman and later on, did a fabulous job at Tata Motors where he was a test driver for some of their marquee vehicles including the likes of Sumo, Zest etc. From what I could ascertain, he had spent close to 10-15 lakh km easily on roads, driving across the length and breadth of India.
He always used to say that life is a journey, much like the road ahead. We all need to enjoy every moment of the journey, with whatever we have at our disposal. He passed away couple of years ago, but he did pass on some of life's golden principles - nothing directly about cars as such, but so much directly related to what we should do when we are driving one.

[akshay380]

Brilliant thread!

Here's my contribution.

1. KSRTC bus driver on Goan ghat roads. The way he drove that bus up and down the hill was pure brilliance. You could make out the guy really enjoyed driving. I was following him in my fiesta and could have blasted past but stayed behind just to see him drive. It's been 6 years and still remember every bit. Sublime. Wife was very very amazed.

2. My ex boss. He had a well maintained 2003 M5. He took he to the track one day and literally made me dizzy after some laps. Later on I got to know he was 2004 champion for a US level racing series. There is a wiki page on him!

3. My ex bosses friend. I drove some laps flat out around the Texas speedway in a piddly race spec Miata. Then my boss drove and was consistent 8 seconds faster than my best time. I was like it's ok. I'm new driver yada yada. Then this white hair guy takes the wheel and goes a full 7 seconds faster than my bosses time on his first and only flying lap because the car broke down. Later got to know he was Porsche cup racer in his days. Respect!

[YD14]

The 4 or so taxi drivers who ferried me and my schoolmates from our locality to our school about 20 min drive away. Mahindra Bolero or MAXX loaded with 12 children with their bags on the rooftop carriers yet they drove these cars with worn-out leaf spring suspensions with such smoothness that you can sleep in the car. They don't even know what weight transfer means but their subconscious brain has mastered the art of smooth braking, accelerating and turning the steering wheel on these twisty mountain roads. I am not even close to their level of finesse in my Swift Dzire, let alone a body-roll lover Bolero with 5L kms on odo.

Also even after innumerable trips on the same roads for years (Bolero taxis here work like buses, on fixed routes) and knowing the road enough that they can drive blindfolded on it, most of them drove slower and with more care than I do with less than 1k driving kms and a lot of Team-bhp reading under my belt . Definitely some connection between experience and safety awareness.

The older ones had some good stories to tell too.

[contact.nitin7]

This thread is going to be a HOT thread when ever there's a meet. Every-time we all get together, we are left impressed with someone's skill on two wheels or behind that steering.

I am no one new who has witnessed Shekhar Singh from Delhi NCR and have had the pleasure to ride with him.
He currently owns a GSXR1000 and is by far the most talented and youngest member of our brotherhood biking group.

Originally Posted by GTO

An amazing post by Rachit planted the seeds for this thread.

2. The second was a Formula racer from Europe (don't remember his name). Every man thinks he's an awesome driver and I'm no different. But this was a truly humbling experience. We were driving on track. I went first, and then rode shotgun with this racer. Man, he was accelerating way past my braking points!!! So many times, I thought he's going to leave us plastered on the wall, but he took them like a champ . Can never forget that experience. Some people are gifted.

I burst out laughing amidst an office call, WTHeck GTO