Super bikes have taken to Pune roads like never before

Jigar Gavali, owner of Platinum Auto, says a majority of the owners of such bikes are either working in the information technology sector or are second-generation businessmen. “Ease of riding and comfort are the major reasons for people to go for such bikes. Also, events like competitions, group outings organised by companies have soared the popularity of such bikes,” he says.

According to Gavali, Pune can easily have 25-30 groups who regularly go for rides in and around the city.

Nandu Chitnis, who has been riding super bikes for long, says rising incomes have made the entry-level price of Rs 1 lakh for such bikes affordable for many. “Many families have double incomes, so affording such bikes is not a very big issue for them,” he says.

While style and comfort are attracting more and more people to such bikes, traffic police say such bikers have a tendency to both speed and drive recklessly, making them dangerous for city roads. The traffic police had a few years ago undertaken a special drive to curb the nuisance of such bikes and initiated stringent action against defaulters. Such drives are conducted sporadically, but irregularly. Heavy duty bikers in the USA are, incidentally, called “organ donors” because of the high accident rates involving super bikes.

Pranjali Deshpande, project manager of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), says in countries like the US such bikes have designated zones, like down town areas. “For inter city transport, safety and control are of paramount importance. These machines are built for speed and are thus not suitable for city roads. In cities like Pune, with mixed land-use pattern, such vehicles can prove to be dangerous,” she adds. Both the RTO and the traffic police pass the buck on eath other when it comes to controlling the movement of such vehicles.

Sarang Awad, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic), says the RTO, being the licensing authority, should decide where such vehicles can ply. “We take action against night racing and speeding but we can’t decide which vehicle will enter the city and which will not,” he said.

Newly appointed Transport Commissioner Mahesh Zhagade, on the other hand, says the Motor Vehicles Act does not differentiate in the two-wheelers category. “We are the licensing authority and we only issue licence once all the safety standards specified by the government are met. Local authorities should control the movement of such vehicles,” he says.

Sagar Apte, an IT professional who has been using such a bike for the last few years, says riders should follow the rules. “We are a group of 20 bikers and go out biking every weekend on the highways around the city. Within the city limits, we do follow the rule as it is important for our safety too,” he says.