Why make a silly mistake?

Okay, this is a bit of a rant, so bear with me.

I am more than a little surprised by this. In the recent past, I've had the pleasure of meeting three people who read this blog on a regular basis. One of them asked me a question about helmets which I posted here not so long ago. You know, the one about dropping a lid and 'denting' it.

Recently, I met this chap again for a drink at a lounge bar close to both our houses. The second member of the reader troika joined us there. Since Gentleman 2 turned up in an auto and that's how he went back, so how many drinks he had does not, in the least, concern me. What does concern me is that Gentleman Number 1, who lives ten minutes away, took the precaution of carrying the selfsame dented lid to the bar, and here's where it becomes a the equivalent of sand in a swimsuit... he rode back home when we were done bantering about bikes.

The third gentleman and I also met at a watering hole, and yes, we watered. I, again, was off the motorcycle for obvious reasons and cabbed it home. Gentleman 3 person rode home, wearing a helmet. And I must – I'm OCD remember – point out that this lid is the exactly the sort of item that we like to laugh at – an imitation hard hat.

Now, I know from this person's photographs that he is in possession of a fine helmet and from what I've heard from him, and read about him, sound judgement as well. On the face of it, the former was obviously missing, and the latter chose not to make an appearance. The watering hole and the cab stand are, at this watering hole, separated by a yawning gap. So the gentleman thoughtfully offered to let me ride pillion to the cab stand. Ah but you see, I've not got my kit. That's condition one and it means I cannot get on a motorcycle, in either seat. Besides, not only am I well-watered (far from inebriated, I must freely admit though), you're three drinks down as well. Forget me riding pillion, you shouldn't be riding either. You, my friend, should have left the bike at your place and cabbed it as well. If nothing else, the walk to the cab stand would have been very pleasant. And it would have given us another twenty minutes to prolong the lovely bike banter.

It strikes me as strange that two motorcyclists, both seriously into two wheels and both deeply in love with our countersteered world would make such an obvious error in judgement. As far as I can tell, both ride safely and within their limits. Both are aware enough to either already (or aspire to) own good riding kit. Both are good men, nice to chat with, knowledgeable about motorcycling and have clear logical and rational thought processes. And yet.

I don't know if Gentleman 2 cabbed it home because he planned to drink, or it just turned out that way. But the point is, that this is a serious, even potentially fatal mistake. One that shouldn't be taken lightly. That alcohol impairs your judgement and slows your reaction time is known beyond any hint of a doubt. That alcohol in your bloodstream causes other problems is public knowledge too.

Statistically, you should already know that it close to your origin or destination that you are more likely to crash. You should also know that short, routine rides figure in far greater numbers in all manner of crash stats than the odd long tour (related links: 1 | 2| 3).

But more important is the fact that the chap driving blissfully while yakking away on his handphone doesn't care. When he hits you, the damage is the same. But if there's alcohol in your blood, it becomes your fault (see this. Look at point #7 in the Claims section). If you die, your family loses all hope of getting any aid from insurance. If you live, the car driver, who was probably at fault skips away scot free because you tippled.

A long time ago, I was a lot more militant about motorcycle safety. Oh yeah, I mean that in the past tense. I used to tell everyone to be careful, to wear helmets and so forth. I used to insist, insist and when I could, I would force people into line.

I don't do that no more. It isn't worth my time and effort. I like you, and if something were to happen to you, I'd be sorry – no matter who was at fault. But I will only try to ensure that you have all the information you need to make your own decisions. I will hope that you make the right decision.

But at the end of the day, it's your life. You can strive to preserve and enrich it. Or you can throw it away.

Motorcycles: Happy New Year

Now that the awards are given (posts below), it is time to wish you a Happy New Year. I would love to do a wishlist 2008 like I did last year, but if you guys don't mind, I'd like to hold that till the Auto Expo has blown right over, leaving us clues scattering in the cold Delhi wind.

What steps forward did we take last year, then? Um, lets see. Bajaj showed that it is rapidly understanding how bikes become one cohesive, emotive units. Yes, I mean the 220 and the 200. Now, if the quality were to go up one notch and the KTMs would start going on sale... In the process, we now have hi-po headlamps, fuel injection and tubeless tyres. From other Pulsars, we have LED tail lamps, digital dashes. All small steps to be sure. But the big step, Bajaj wise, was just how good the 220 felt in motion. That, was the big step forward. The same is true of the TVS Apache 160. One more motorcycle that came together. Especially the aluminium bits in the package, the crafted levers and stuff. Plus the quick handling and the raging motor. From the Flyte, we learnt that with the right guiding hand, even perpetual 'errors' can be erased.

From the Karizma, we learnt that cosmetic jobs may not always work. From the Unicorn, we learnt, they sometimes, though, they do work.

From the Access, we figured out that packaging is important. From the Machismo 500, we figured out that that's not always obvious.

From the Discover 135, we learnt that a little more displacement can be nice. From the Shine upgrade, we learnt that more displacement, sometimes, is not the end-all and be-all.

And more or less, that would be about it. 2007's biggest achievement is that India's first CBU motorcycles are now on sale. The problem is that, more or less, is the only really big step forward.

2008, on the other hand, is glowing with a lot more promise. All the best to you. And may your fingers hurt from being crossed in anticipation and before you get drunk on 31 December 2008, may you have lots to celebrate.

And if you're wondering, Asahi is now available in India. Another beer that I happen to love.

King's beer: I'm lovin' it

A very dear person just returned from Goa, bearing the sweetest of all gifts from that lush land... King's Beer. As I noted in this post, King's is one of the nicest beers I've ever tasted. Kautilya and I, were in Goa on a college trip, sometime in 1995 or so. We left our classmates to go have a gander at this island thing. As luck would have it, he and I arrived at the ferry literally minutes after the one we wanted to catch had pushed off, headed for its umpteenth trip across the lazy Mandovi. With not much to do, we found a run-down shack near the jetty and ordered a beer. He only had local brew – Kings. I am happy to state the forty minutes (or was it an hour) were spent in a happy state, tasting a really, really good beer, enjoying very good company and great scenery in lazy, lovely old Goa.


Of late, though, King's has become really hard to find. This person, evidently, spent a fair while searching for my five bottles worth (heck, I even love the shape of it, now echoed by the almost equally elusive Kingfisher Stubby).

Well, I'd like to thank her for taking the time to look for it. Oh, and I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm going home to five super-chilled bottles of the stuff. Yippee!

Haywards Black: I like it

Wikipedia says stouts and porters are dark beers, made with roasted malts or barleys. As would be the case with anything that's so old (1677!), it now has varieties and flavours.

SAB Miller, the chaps who brew Haywards 5K & 2K, Royal Challenge, Knock Out and Castle Lager (international brands include Miller, Peroni Nastro Azzure (Rossi's ex-sponsor) and Pilsner Urquell (quite nice, The Wife purchased some for me from Prague, not so long ago) recently launched Haywards Black, which is India's first stout beer.

The taste is a bit strange to start out with. Especially if you're beer-lover and beer-novice rolled into one. So unlike my friend Kautilya, I haven't been intimate with old Guinness so far. Please, please hold those collective groans, I'm working on that. Anyway, there's a strange taste I found hard to identify, but after reading through SABMiller's site, I think yes, it is that hint of caramel. The beer is just a tiny bit more viscous than normal beer and hence, tends to sit a bit heavy. It's no Guinness class meal yet, but you will notice the extra weight at the end of the pint. There is some extra alcohol, but again, it's not like the extra pint is going to knock the steadiness out of your legs or anything. On the whole, I like the beer a lot. That's why my fridge is now equally divided between HBs and Buds (Yes, I like the Indian Bud a lot too.)

Related links:

• Budweiser in India
• Try it: Hit the bottle
• Beer: best when cold!
• Rearset's Annual Motorcycle Awards: Logos
• 250 Posts: official notice
• Goa: Beer goggles

Budweiser in India

The first time I had Bud(weiser) I was at Delhi's TGIF and it sucked. Big Time. It tasted more or less like diluted water and I was left wondering at what Bud Light would be like – as in would I be able to taste it at all? So when a colleague told me that Bud was in India, I was wondering if it had made Anheuser-Busch wiser or not? Well, it has. I've just downed my fifth (I think) pint of Bud in the last four days, and I think I like it. I still don't think it topples my favourites (in order) – Kalyani Black Label, London Pilsner, Royal Challenge and Kingfisher – off their respective pedestals, but it is nice. It has a nice flavour, tastes like beer should and yes, I'm going to be drinking some more soon. Other faves? Corona (minus lime), Heineken (original German import only), Carlsberg, Stella (you can call her by her first name if you know her well enough) and Modelo Negro Especial (strange but true).

No, I haven't had Chillingtons, Guinness and other stalwart brands yet... but there's always tomorrow, right?

Try it: Hit the bottle

Elisabeth, who stopped drinking three rounds ago, had managed to burn her blood alcohol concentration back down to legal at .066. Interestingly, she was riding more poorly than she had at .123. When we asked the experts about this they explained that it made sense because alcohol was a biphasic chemical. The first phase stimulates the central nervous system and the second stage depresses it. The stimulation had run it course and left her run down.

That quote is from this article. Read the whole thing, it'll put you off beer for a while... But then, it should.

Beer: best when cold!

Rearset's Annual Motorcycle Awards: Logos

Here they are. I thought they were pretty self-explanatory, but I added a note anyway.

This is the logo awarded to the underachievers of the year. The trophy, should you choose to construct it, will look exactly like the winner's beer mug trophy, but will be solid, so you will not be able to pour celebratory beer into it.
Moral: Try harder, bubba

This is the logo awarded to the achievers of the year. The trophy, should you choose to construct it, will look exactly like the loser's beer mug trophy, but will be hollow, so you will be able to pour celebratory beer into it.
Moral: Good job bubba!

250 Posts: official notice

NooseToday, Mumbai,
October 14, 2006:
It's official. rearset's fledgling bog blog has just notched up its 250th post. The blog, officially titled, Large Motorcyclist Motorcyclist At Large was started on January 28, 2006. Or a date that appears to be phonetically similar to that day. Talking to the hacks media, rearset said, 'the flashes are blinding me, could you turn them off, please?' When asked specifically about the blog and why he started it, rearset said, 'Oh that. It was just a thing everyone was getting into, so I wanted to try it also. I guess as an impressionable adult, I did not try grass and drugs, when all my friends were either on them, or not. This has left me with a deep-seated psycho-social need to join mass movements.'

The blog was always intended as a place where rearset could rant and rave talk reasonably about motorcycle safety. More specifically, the lack of it in India. In time, rearset has discovered, that not many are interested. When asked repeatedly about this phenomena, rearset said, 'I'm disgustipated! I only see spikes in traffic when I post information on new bikes. It's a disgrace. [the rest of this rant quote was excised for brevity's sake]'

Commenting on future plans, rearset said, 'gimme another beer.' When NooseToday finally managed to get the drunk famous blogger to focus on the subject, rather than the alcohol, he said, 'You were asking about the long term? About the blog? Oh sorry. I intend to go out there and give a hundred and ten percent. My next target is to achieve 300 posts in the shortest possible time. Which could be anytime after the 299th post goes online.'

As rearset was being dragged to the door of the upmarket pub where this boring shindig media event was held, rearset signed out with a slurred, but still witty repartee, that is likely to appear as a Mantra at the blogs, a feature the blog is despised famous for, 'I want more beer,' a classic line yelled in sheer frustration by many famous people through the ages.

For those who are still blissfully unaware of the rearset's blog, remember, you are reading this at the blog.

Goa: Beer goggles

Get to Goa, and forget Kingfisher. Really. Try Arlem. A nice, Goan beer, with a nice bite, good taste and the ability to survive on the table. It tastes decent even after it warms up a bit. Find King's beer. Another great (sadly) local beer. Distinctive bottle and taste. And did I mention it's dirt cheap? Okay, who said Fosters?