Let me take you back in time. To a simpler time. To a time where the internet was just moving on from dial up, to a time where social media didn't exist(or maybe Orkut did), to a time where the Y2K bug was all we cared about, to a time when you had to decompress your Enfield before you actually kicked it to start, to a time where you had to scoured Yahoo groups to find out what was happening in the motorcycle world in India, to a time where the Royal Enfield 500cc was the be all and end all of big motorcycle available on the market.
I had been a part of the Inddiethumper and the Royal Beasts Yahoo Group for a while. I had never met anyone from these groups they were all just names on an email digest but every day religiously I would check into the groups see what they were talking about. One day I noticed some chatter on the groups about a gathering, a party, a place for many of us to come out to meet and have a great time and finally hang out in person. They called it Rider Mania.
The Inddiethumpers were hosting the party and just outside Mumbai. That was perfect because I travelled to Mumbai a lot as Amrita had already moved out there a few years before. So I got back on the group and booked my self a spot for this "Rider Mania" but since I had just sold my motorcycle and didn't have the time to ride down from Chandigarh (I had a proper day job) I decided I would get to Mumbai rent a bike and ride down with the Thumpers. Eventually the Thumpers sorted a bike out for me and I rode with a group of them to the venue.
What a sight it was riding in. That parking lot full of Enfields, and not stock ones there were loads of customs builds and chops. But to top it all of the people running the show were just brilliant. I am not going to carry on about the show because all of a sudden I can remember almost every tiny detail from those two days.
Today Rider Mania is huge a far stretch from 2005 when we were only about 300 of us. Royal Enfield runs one in Goa which is on this weekend and I am missing it. While the clubs host a separate one that travels the country and is hosted by a different club in their own city. 27-28th January 2018 Inddiethumpers are hosting it again outside Mumbai check the website for details.
I am now just going to shut up and let you check out the pictures. Remember this was before digital cameras and I had only two reels of 24 shots each for this weekend.
\I had been a part of the Inddiethumper and the Royal Beasts Yahoo Group for a while. I had never met anyone from these groups they were all just names on an email digest but every day religiously I would check into the groups see what they were talking about. One day I noticed some chatter on the groups about a gathering, a party, a place for many of us to come out to meet and have a great time and finally hang out in person. They called it Rider Mania.
The Inddiethumpers were hosting the party and just outside Mumbai. That was perfect because I travelled to Mumbai a lot as Amrita had already moved out there a few years before. So I got back on the group and booked my self a spot for this "Rider Mania" but since I had just sold my motorcycle and didn't have the time to ride down from Chandigarh (I had a proper day job) I decided I would get to Mumbai rent a bike and ride down with the Thumpers. Eventually the Thumpers sorted a bike out for me and I rode with a group of them to the venue.
What a sight it was riding in. That parking lot full of Enfields, and not stock ones there were loads of customs builds and chops. But to top it all of the people running the show were just brilliant. I am not going to carry on about the show because all of a sudden I can remember almost every tiny detail from those two days.
Today Rider Mania is huge a far stretch from 2005 when we were only about 300 of us. Royal Enfield runs one in Goa which is on this weekend and I am missing it. While the clubs host a separate one that travels the country and is hosted by a different club in their own city. 27-28th January 2018 Inddiethumpers are hosting it again outside Mumbai check the website for details.
I am now just going to shut up and let you check out the pictures. Remember this was before digital cameras and I had only two reels of 24 shots each for this weekend.
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