Classic bikes, cars and people

Day 5: August 5, 2008

After getting up we set about looking for a mechanic who would check our bikes and were directed to Jagjit Auto Centre by my brother Selven. Lovely, the person in charge proved to be just whom we wanted – a pleasing Sardar who passed both bikes with flying colours. He said he loved the way my bike ran and said it would give no trouble anywhere! Being the bike enthusiast he was, he took us to his house and showed us some of his bikes – a rare Honda 70cc, a well kept RD350, his own Road King and an RX100 that was being restored. It is worth mentioning that the Road King and RX 100 were kept in an air conditioned room – now that’s what called loving bikes. We also came across a rare James classic motorcycle powered by a Villiers engine – we were disappointed that the garage owner was not interested in answering our questions about it. Lunch was at Indian Summer and by then Ludhiana’s restaurants had impressed me – great food, ambience and prices. We then went to Chaura Bazar to shop for gumboots before visiting Christian Dental College, where we met Selven’s friends. There we came across an old and imposing Bedford Ambulance that was still in use - old is definitely gold.

We visited Alex Abraham at their home and proceeded to meet the Shadangis, old family friends who had studied medicine with my mom. I was glad to be meeting friends out of Bangalore after very long.

Our time in Ludhiana was drawing to an end and we had to ride to Manali the next day. After chatting and packing up, we crashed for the night.