Bullet Battalion's Motorcycle Diaries .........va va vroooommmmmm!

                                     BULLET BATTALION’S MOTORCYCLE DIARIES


Get your motor runnin’, Head out on the highway

Looking for adventure and whatever comes our way ......


Steppenwolf’s classic number from Born To Be Wild is what could aptly descirbe Surat’s Bullet Battalion. For a team that was formed barely more than a year ago, this gang of bikers has covered more than 7000 kms countrywide.

“We began with a team of four guys and now have 20 members to our non- profit organization with no commercial interests.”Says Ravi Bhatia - one of the core members of BB since its inception. All members of Bullet Batallion own classic models of Royal Enfield that are either 350 cc or 500 cc and have a passion for hitting the highway for day rides, as well as indulge in long distance travel once every two months.

The Battalion is all for bike -buddy bonding and its members vary in their age group from 24 to 42 years. “Age is just a number, on our recent day trip to Wilson Hill in Dharampur, we had a 61 year old rider enthusiast from Valsad join us, and his Bullet was a 1971 model that zipped with zeal.”Says an engineer groupie, who prefers to remain incognito; the BB gang also has as its members’ businessmen and bankers who hum in unison, the feeling of Steve Earle’s song:

“Nowadays I got me two good wheels and I seek refuge in aluminum and steel

It takes me out there for just a little while and the years fall away with every mile”

In June last year, a few BB guys cargoed their bikes to Chandigarh and then set forth for a journey to Ladakh. “We practiced for four months before attempting to ride upto the highest motorable peak. It was a dream come true that got us motorcycle lovers very emotional. The route was scenic yet tough, it also had a 22 km stretch of sand that had us sweating even in minus degree temperature; but, every time we gave up on ourselves the road beckoned us invitingly, tempting us to tour on.” Says Ravi Bhatia.

Alongwith their yen for riding, they also developed the art of motorcycle maintainance hence they carry along clutch wires, tyre tubes, air pumps and are well equipped to handle minorbreakdowns. Helmets are compulsory; long distance rides require bikers’s boots and jackets that are armoured to protect shoulders and backs. Pure passion drives this battalion who feel while others are commuters, they are comrades hence they ride in a single line alignment, at 60 kph, and ensure that the fastest rider is at the end, each rider is responsible for the one behind him thus no one is left out.

While alternate Sundays are reserved for city rides to Suvali and Dumas, on the 27th of April, they plan to make the metal hit highway mettle to Mumbai and catch an IPL match.

BB rides and Kms:

Padamdungri 250

Saputara 350

Ladakh 3000

Dandi 110

Kutch 650

Gira Fall, Dang 250

Valsad 180

Wilson Hill 300

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