City to stamp its presence at the India Bike Week

The paint-job and the bike cost me close to Rs 30 lakh. My bike has decals of Haleem, Osmania chai and biscuits, pearls, Charminar and other such stuff. The best paint job on the bike is the Harley hand-shake. It represents India and USA coming to an understanding, wherein we supply mangos and they give us Harleys. For the love of Hyderabad, I wanted to get this done. The whole paint job took about 2-3 months to complete. We have already figured out the route and we would make sure to stick to the pattern.

The second edition of the India Bike Week would be held in Goa this month. 28 HOGs (Harley Owners Group) and other freelancers, 50 all together would be riding down to represent the Hyderabad Chapter of Harley Davidson. The platoon of motorcycles would surely feature some of the classiest and desired bikes. Last year, the event was knighted as the largest congregation of bikes in the country.

Hyderabad Hans took a closer look into the passion that puts two of these HOGs behind the handle every year. Shyam Kapoor, a veteran biker who owns close to 20 other Harleys, has made sure that his love for the city is conveyed through custom paint job on his Fatboy (which he has dubbed Deccan Odyssey). His bike features some of the unique places and food that idolises Hyderabad.

“The paint-job and the bike cost me close to Rs 30 lakh. My bike has decals of Haleem, Osmania chai and biscuits, pearls, Charminar and other such stuff. The best paint job on the bike is the Harley hand-shake. It represents India and USA coming to an understanding, wherein we supply mangos and they give us Harleys. For the love of Hyderabad, I wanted to get this done. The whole paint job took about 2-3 months to complete. We have already figured out the route and we would make sure to stick to the pattern,” said Shyam.

Shyam Swaminathan, another rider who would be taking part in the ride on his Softtail said, “I am actually not from Hyderabad. I am living in the city because of my profession. When I came down, I was lonely initially. But after I joined the HOG, I found a family in them. Now they have become some of my closest friends. Every ride with these guys is like a family outing.”

This year around the city HOGs have scoped the formations which they would be maintaining while driving. “There would be one leader who would be the most experienced driver and then at the end, there would be a sweep that would make sure that there is no one left behind.

Also this year, Harley Davidson would be giving us a support van which would be following us and helping us out, in case of any breakdown,” he added.

In terms of safety, both of them said in unison that they follow the basic protocol of riding a Harley like, wearing helmets, leather jackets and a pair of boots with a hard toe covering.

On the other hand, it was noticed that last year at the India Bike Week, HOGs were given a more preferential treatment as compared to the other bikers. In this context Shyam Kapoor agrees, “If it’s a Harley event, there would be partiality. We were given parking space whereas other bikers were not. And there is a dedicated day at the event for Harley’s only. So definitely there will be a bias.”