Setting the road on fire

10 pm, outside Hinduja Hospital, speed addicts on their bikes, gather around you, almost with a regal air.
An unspoken rule of this group is that bikes below 500 cc are not allowed (except RD 350). It is evident that riding is not only a passion, but also runs in these bikers’ blood.
Says 30-year-old Warren Lazaro, a motorcycle dealer, “I love bikes, and I’ve been riding since I was eight.I have five RDs, a Bullet and an Aerial 600 (1942), which happens to be the oldest bike in the group.�
The bikers meet every week, and ride all over the city. A mechanical engineer by profession, Sharit Roy (26) says, “Basically, we are all speed freaks. And riding is great when you get to do it together.� Maintaining these bikes is not an easy task. Besides the high costs, replacing a part gone wrong is pretty troublesome. Says Zubin Ponnappa, a bike dealer who also specialises in cars and Japanese bikes, “These machines need to be ridden by mature people.�
One cannot afford to get carried away while riding superbikes. “The bikes can touch 100 kms in less than four seconds, so you have to be completely sane,� he cautions. So far, the bikers have managed to steer clear of any serious injuries. He adds, “Many 100 cc bikes try to get in our way. At times, we have picked them up when they ram into other vehicles while trying their stunts. They’re dangerous because we can fall because of their tricks.�
Most of the bikers look up to him. Undoubtedly, Ponnappa is their guru. “Whatever you want to know about bikes, he’s the man,� they say, unequivocally. Zubin laughs and recalls, “Some of us grew up in the same locality and over the years, we have grown to a group of about 35 and ride every Thursday.� Danesh Contractor (21), who hooked up with the group two months ago, pitches in, “I wait to do this, all week. There’s so much to learn from these guys.�
The men behind the speed machines manage to get a lot of attention. “We are asked many strange questions like, ‘Does it run on petrol or diesel?�, ‘Is it modified?’ and ‘How much fuel can the tank hold?’,� the boys laugh.
And just how expensive does it get when one falls of a bike? “A drop could cost Rs 50,000,� replies one of them.
It’s 1 am, and after setting the road ablaze, they head home, content.