Motorbikes and scooters are the backbone of Indian transport. The perfect balance of economy, flexibility, and a certain level of street cred involved, it’s no wonder that a huge chunk of the population commutes by the good ol’ two-wheeler. Come office hours and Indian roads are peppered with bikes in all sizes, colours, and makes.
Whether you’re a man or a woman, riding in a big city or small, riding a Hayabusa or a Scooty, there are some things every person who rides to work can relate with.
1. The bike won’t start after a weekend
If you haven’t ridden the bike for sometime, or it’s really cold weather-wise, bikes tend to jam up the engines and won’t start immediately, needing you to kick start and then some till it becomes like a dance routine.
2. Going to work in formals is awkward
If you happen to have a meeting or a special ocassion at work that needs you to suit up, going on a motorbike is likely to put a spanner in the works and attract some…attention.
3. The thoughts of the day ahead
While you’re trying really hard to concentrate on the road ahead and just ride in peace, you can’t help but shake away the thoughts of the impending gloom at work.
4. The traffic needs you to improvise
If you happen to be commuting in a big city, especially as traffic-choked as Bangalore, then you probably have learnt all the shortcuts by heart, and won’t hesitate to step over footpaths, snake around private lanes and gullies to get to the damn office faster.
5. Breakdowns
The nightmare of any motocyclist is the bike breaking down a good distance away from your office, leaving you stranded and helpless just before that important day at work. However, thank god for LetsService that comes to your rescue should you have the unfortunate mishap of breaking down in the middle of a commute.
6. The bike hair
Every motorcyclist worth his or her weight in gasoline would be familiar with the concept of “Bike hair”. When despite leaving home with all the cosmetic care in the world, hair perfectly combed, oiled and gelled up, you get on the bike, ride, take off your helmet and look like an electric shock hit you.
7. Fear of cops
You were totally going to get a license and renew that insurance but hey we all tend to slack up and forget things. Every ride of yours is fraught with the morbid fear of getting caught by the cops and being handed a ticket. It’s midway in the month and god knows you don’t want to blow up the last remnants of your salary on that challan.
8. No time for bike servicing.
Being busy at work can leave you with very little time to have a life outside the office, leave alone giving your trusty bike the TLC it requires on a timely basis. Plus mucking around the bike or at the depressing, greasy den of the mechanic’s is not the ideal way to spend a weekend. But thankfully there are startups like LetsService that let you let them take care of your bike and its maintenance while you slog away at work.
9. Your drops being hesitant
While you’d love to give a ride to that hot colleague on your spanking new Bullet, she’d rather travel in the AC environs of a car instead, and preserve her freshly applied makeup and the high heels that are going to make pillion-riding tricky.
10. Feeling of freedom.
Whatever the issues having the bike may present, having a bike and using it for your primary commute to work means feeling free. You can sleep the extra hour, and leave the office an hour early, without needing to be at the mercy of the auto or cab guys. That’s a moment you feel like God.
