Need for Speed

Sam Solomon,collector of vintage bikes,displayed 18 beauties at the second edition of India Super-Bike Festival that saw a gathering of more than 500 bikers

The premise of Amanora Town Center resounded with revving super-bike engines all weekend long. After all,it was a congregation of machines above 600 cc at the second edition of India Superbike Festival. What started as a months effort conceptualised in March 2012 and floated the following month has grown in scale since,with over 500 riders participating in the fest held on October 19 and 20.

Standing at the vintage motorbikes bay,which had a display of over 100 vintage bikes,was Sam Solomon,a proud owner of 18 vintage bikes. My obsession with bikes began in school when my father bought me a Triumph Thunderbird, said Solomon,adding,And after my father bought me that bike,I was a spoiled brat because I never studied again. His father too was a collector of vintage cars and bikes,and sowed the seeds of the collection in the family.

The 18 bikes that Solomon owns,he said,are the cream of bikes. I owned a larger fleet of bikes,some of which I had to sell off because their upkeep was getting troublesome. But the 18 I have are enviable, he said.

Introducing some of his beloved possessions,Solomon said,This is a Velocette Venom (1956). This is a thorough-bred racer. I have owned it for 39 years,and it has never let me down. The bike in question is a spic-and-span red bike,with shiny chrome mud-guards. The upkeep is top-notch indeed. Everything you see on the bike is as per original factory specifications. Right from the chrome to the fibre-glass fairings. And this bike,along with some of the others I own,can still clock over a 100 mph, he added,consecutively taking us on a tour of his other bikes,namely a black Velocette Thruxton and a silver Norton ES 2 500 Single Cylinder,all of which,Solomon said,have been raced extensively during Pune bike-racings belle-epoque.

The Lohegaon airstrip,until 1971,was used for racing purposes with permission from the airport authorities. It is only after the war in 71 that racing was disallowed, he said,adding,Most of these bikes that I have put on display are tried and tested racing bikes and still have enough muscle to cross a hundred easily.

Amol Talpade,co-founder of the event and a biker himself,who has experience in racing and as a factory-rider,says,Last year,we had a tough time getting manufacturers to attend the event,because in India people are not aware of this concept. He adds that they still managed to get a decent response and were therefore able to rope in more participants this year.

Much like last year,there were myriad competitions,including the Loudest Bike,and Best Accessorised Motorcycle. We have added to the expo this year in numbers. National riders of India have also been attending the event. We also want to promote motocross in India. Therefore we have set up motocross tracks and will have events to that effect. The vintage bikes section was a special feature this year, says Talpade.

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