Before motorbike museum, Dhoni comes up with showroom

RANCHI: Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is known for his love for superbikes and he has also plans to come up with a superbike museum at his under construction farm house at ring road in Ranchi. But before coming up with the specially designed museum he has come up with a motorcycle showroom and service centre at Ratu Road in Ranchi.
Mahi’s close family sources said that it was one among the few commercial ventures that he was interested in.So, is the showroom going to display superbikes? At least not now, to begin with- the idea is to cater to the middle class youth segment which forms a wide base of bike market.
The service centre cum showroom and godown has come up at the commercial block of Astha Regency, the realtors to have gifted Mahi his first fully furnished flat as a token of appreciation for his performance in international cricket, way back in 2006.
Manager at the bike showroom Navin Sharma said that the showroom is spread in sprawling 11,000 square feet area and has the facilities of servicing too. Asked if the high end bikes would also be available for sale, Sharma answered in negative. “Depending upon the demand and inquiry from customers the high end (read heavy cc) bikes may be brought but that is to be decided at a later stage,” he said.
Dhoni himself has a long list of superbikes, most among which have been kept at his Harmu Housing colony bound residence. In the list of high end sports motorbikes like Suzuki Hayabusa GSX1300R, Kawasaki Ninja 14R, Yamaha Thundercat, Yamaha Y2F R6 and Ducati 1098, Mahi has also preserved some of the ordinary but rare bikes like YamahaRD350. This particular variant of Yamaha is no longer in production but Mahi has a collection of seven of these bikes in Ranchi alone.
Close associate of Mahi and convener Dhoni charitable foundation trust Sanjay Pandey said that his special liking for Yamaha 350cc bike is evident from the fact that he still is ready to purchase that particular model which is no longer in production. “Apart from seven bikes in Ranchi he has few in Delhi and Chennai as well,” Pandey said.
Brand ambassador for TVS motorbikes, fan of Yamaha series and proud owner of limited edition Suzuki intruder Mahi is often seen on the streets of his home town riding a Harley Davidson. “Dhoni is not crazy about any particular brand of motorbikes and when it came to taking a decision about opening showroom, the only consideration in decision making was that the brand should be Indian,” said one of the family members accepting that even then the choice was tough.