Riding into the past

Manchanda runs Mukesh Motors — a bike shop dedicated to Enfield — at the Karol Bagh motorcycle market. Unlike the other shops selling shiny Yamaha and Hero Hondas,Manchanda has a fetish for the old. He specialises in rejuvenating bikes from the Sixties and the Seventies. He and his team of four mechanics gut the inside of a bike and refill it with new bolts,screws and engines. They make the old new.

Recreating the past is not easy. It takes almost a month to modernise an old machine. The only part from the past is the crank. The bearings,the piston and cylinder are all new,brought from Chennai. “It’s only old on paper — the paper tells the truth,” he says.

For Manchanda,preservation brings success: The older the bike,the higher the price. His hole-in-the-wall shop hasn’t seen much change either. Its plywood hasn’t been replaced since he took over the shop in 1986. The wood,chipping in places,has boards with pictures pinned on it. The pictures are from the sales he’s made over the years. Even those images have started to fade.

Despite the many pictures,sales are slow. It’s mainly foreigners who fetish over the past. They are Mukesh Motors’ most loyal customers.

There are four other Enfield shops in the motorcycle market with newer models,but Manchanda isn’t threatened. His customers have different tastes. Mukesh Motors specialty is revamping old models with disco colours; turquoise blue and Cadillac pink were recent sales. One went to LA,the other to Israel.

He also rents out motorbikes — he has a bank of 11 newer models. Nine have already been rented out for the tourist season. It is during the months of September to February that many travellers rent bikes for Rajasthan,and the March to August period sees the bikes go to Ladakh and Leh.

Behind his desk is a map of India; in his drawers are maps of highways. He’s both a salesman and a travel advisor. Having traversed the Rohtang Pass,Manchanda claims he’s entitled to dish out route secrets. “Many of my customers come back or send friends over,” he says.

Despite the sprawling market,the shop is easy to find. One customer,Fernando from Spain,has posted a link on YouTube with directions to Mukesh Motors.

“That video has got me so many more clients,” he says. And despite his reluctance to let go of the past,he’s been roped in by a rapidly changing world. He’s even opened a Facebook account now,using a new medium to sell the old.