My family didn’t let me fix the motorcycle after the crash. I used a scooter for most of the time and had a Husqvarna Vitpilen 250 for a while.
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The beginning
Let me begin from where it all started, 2014. I climb down from my house in my school uniform and I see a bike. I didn’t know whose it was so asked my dad. He said it was our family friend’s bike and he had dropped it here for some paperwork to be done. The owner was a family friend who had relocated to the States, the bike was his first bike and he refused to sell it to anyone so his dad kept it around. I asked my dad “Is this a RX?” to which he replied yes. I didn’t know it at the time but this was about to change my life. I often saw dad use the bike and said the owner asked us to keep the bike for now. When I turned 18 for the first time my dad gave me the keys and asked me to ride it. I learnt to ride pretty fast, almost like I already knew how to ride.
The fast life
Soon I was riding everywhere possible, falling in love with this 2 stroke beauty. She’s a 1999 RX135 4-speed.
This picture was taken in 2018. From then I’ve used the bike till 2019, during the period I managed to ride the RX on a track once.
I was indeed a little stupid to squeeze the bike on a track however it was something I’ll never forget. Just sending it till a corner, trying to hit the apex and pull out of the corner feeling the 2 stroke engine screaming with power. A while later I met with an accident after which the bike was damaged. The tank had a dent, the crank casing had a hole and the fork was bent. This was the goodbye for a while.
Rekindling my old love
My family didn’t let me fix the bike after that and I used a scooter for most of the time and had a Husqvarna Vitpilen 250 for a short time. Fast forward to December 2023, my mother finally allows me to fix the RX. It took 5 years of convincing for me so I was on cloud 9. I called up my friend who had a friend who owns an RX and his dad runs a garage that has restored countless RX-es. We set a date and took the bike to the garage in New Bel Road, Bangalore. The name of the garage is Sai Bike.
The list of things I needed replacement/repair we decided on was:
- Engine restoration
- Tail lamp assembly
- New bigger headlights
- Side stand
- Kicker
- New battery
- Monogram
- Clutch lever and Brake lever
- Handlebar
- New pair of mirrors
- Complete wiring harness
- Switches
- New indicators
- New spokes for wheels
- New front tire
- Fork overhaul
- New fork lock
- Headlight holder
- New horn
- Meter reset+repair
- Seat
- Tank dent repair
I did not do painting as it was out of my budget. They also told me this was the last time the engine could be rebored and the next time I will have to get a block. This was on 28 December 2023. I was told the entire work might take about 2 weeks. 2 days later I got a call saying the work had been started. I also got images from the garage of the bike dismantled.
I visited the garage 2 days after that, on 2nd January.
This was the progress on the bike. The casing and external parts on the engine were being fixed when I visited. I was told the bike will be ready in 2 days and I was thrilled to hear it. On the night of 3rd I could barely sleep. I waited for the call the next day and I got it! I headed to the garage with my mother and father in the car sometime after 4 in the evening. When I pulled up next to the garage and saw my bike there my eyes filled up with tears.
I had a lot of memories with the bike and I believe those times were the peak of happiness in my life. I took a moment for myself and got out of the car and walked towards the bike as fast as I could without making it look like I was running. The bike looked brand new. I got the keys to the bike and I jumped onto the bike and quickly wore my helmet to take the test ride.
I turned on the fuel, turned the key. The key didn’t turn. Well, there was a little bit of struggle and after finding the sweet spot for the key to turn on ignition I prayed for a second. Then I gently pulled the kicker out and kicked it. The engine came to life and I had the biggest smile on my face I’ve had in a while as I listened to the engine.
I rode the bike around while keeping a low rpm since I’d have to break in the engine. I had no complaints about the bike, she sounded crisp, she moved fine and she made me smile.
I didn’t take any photos at the garage as I was too excited to ride the bike. We paid the bill which came upto roughly 43,000/- which I think is definitely worth it considering the condition the bike was in now. Just like brand new.
The oil pump was not fixed and I use a 4% mix of 2T oil. I was told to reduce the percentage of oil mix after 1000 and 2000km mark to 3.5% and 3%. The bike has done 300+ km as of 13 January.
I’ll post more updates here as I ride more!
Cheers!
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