We had shifted up to Shimla in Himachal Pradesh and although for us it was so easy to move about by local bus and on foot but there was just too much we were missing out on. Mind you travelling down to Delhi during the summer was not my idea of fun so the possibility of checking Bulletwallas and Balu out for a bike was deferred.
On the then current www.bulletwallas.com website Balu had some interesting options for modifying the bike and its performance, machining the engine to fit better quality bearings and generally getting rid of all of the bugs from the beast while giving a bike that had more kick than a mule.
I was impressed and anticipated that such a technically sound profile would give worthwhile results and I would have a bike somewhat better than my first one. Talking with Balu on the phone gave me the impression that yep all was possible, so before long I was heading down the mountainside into the pollution and grime of Delhi.
Even though I was late in arriving and having been ticked off for my tardiness I still got one of Balu’s big bear hugs, it felt good, so after intro’s with his Laura, I wandered off to find a place to sleep and anticipate the next day.
There was something easy about this Balu and Bulletwallas that made me want to get to know it a little more, no hurry about the bike, I wanted to see the operation. Not so easy as Balu informed me as it was scattered over about 5 small workshops. Okay then, lets talk about these modifications from the web site. Ahh well not so easy to do now, as the parts are not available, all imported and very few people really want to go to this level. All true, but not how it was presented earlier. No matter let’s look at bikes.
I am pretty fussy and really could not get excited about what I was seeing out side the shop. There were nice looking bikes but that classic 500 was hard to beat for good looks. I wanted something special. Well have to say that I went away unimpressed. So back to the mountain views of Shimla.
The bug had got me though and it wasn’t long before I was heading back to Delhi and calling into Bulletwallas in the hope of getting something to ride that would give me what I wanted, a bike with all of the bugs out of it and something that looked just right. On one evening I spied this 500cc parked up, it had been tweaked a little and looked like it was set up for long rides. Next day it was gone and that was sad. After a few more days of mooching about Pahar Ganj and doesn’t that place just allow you to mooch about, so fascinating, really is, back to the hills with no birthday present for myself.
You know how it is when there is a desire, that need and it has to be fulfilled. Yep back to Delhi and Bulletwallas again. I was getting pretty desperate for wheels and that was it. Still nothing there but we talked about that bike that I had seen on my last trip. Aussie Bob’s bike it was, and he was planning to sell it., and I was planning to buy it. But the problem was he had wandered off to Rajasthan and would be heading back soon. The theory was he would sell the bike to buy a van as he was feeling at 60 something he was to old to ride. Fine with me. So I hung round waiting, a week or so went by and no Aussie Bob. These bikers just travel. It turned out that he had decided to do a trip over to the Orissa side before getting into 4 wheels.
It was now Christmas Eve and I was feeling pretty screwed by the whole trip. Balu had tried to get me interested in his big black diesel bike but it was to big and heavy for me. There was this green diesel that frankly was ugly but I began to think its funky ugly and well what would it be like up in the hills running on vege oil. Okay so here is a different bike, I am a greeny from way back and the challenge was interesting to see what it would be like, frozen vege oil at 2500m, so lets give it a go.
The day that I decided to leave, well before it turned New Years anyway was a drama. As much as we can so okay, here’s the money and I want to leave on this date, it turns out there are many unfinished things on the bike, though it had been portrayed as ready to go. Well it was on display and in running condition but I am one of those customers that want things reasonably right, hell why not, my bike and I want it as I want it. So after much coercion I did get a windscreen, did get a backrest, 2 out of 4 indicators fitted, new or so I was told new tyres fitted.
It was really strange, being a customer and feeling like I was imposing, like hey, I have been hanging out for a long time and I wanna get going guys. I wandered off and bought 10 litres of pure Soya bean oil, after which we had a little ritual of pouring in the oil with photos and chit chat. I was all pretty nervous about this, not only this strange bike, the atmosphere but trying to find my way out of Delhi, that was a big worry.
Eventually round 10.00 pm, after calling home to say that I was on my way. I was loaded up, wearing my big Kiwi Swandri Southland farmers horse riding coat, thermals and layers of socks and gloves, being cold was not an option and so was heading out. Had a few misdirections heading out but eventually I was on my way. The bike felt okay, diesels are not petrol and a 350 is not a 500 so it was slow to pick up but a nice rhythm along the way, that was until vibrations began; I took note of this when most of the bolts on the windscreen had fallen out.
Around Sonipat, 85 kms out of Delhi on National Highway One, Grand Trunk Road, I lost 2nd and 3rd gears, this was not a good feeling and at around midnight not what I wanted to know about. All resolvable in the light of day and I still had 1st and 4th so keep on moving dude. Found a place to have a break and a chai, reorganise my clothing as from my knees up I was as warm as toast, but my shins and feet were not enjoying the trip. So more thermal pants and more socks were added. Back into it and thank god for the electric start. Changing from 1st to 4th worked out but one has to be resourceful, and we, the bike and I continued nicely for an hour or so. I kind of think that changing gears is not a good idea and before long 4th had gone. Having memories of all of the problems that I had had with the 500 I wondered at my fortunes. I called Balu, woke him from his slumbers and told him of my wonderful journey and said that being in the middle of nowhere and wanting to be somewhere where there was life and preferable a mechanic was my goal, so onward grinding away in first and going slower than the bicycles passing me by. Something haunted me about what Balu had said, this is a special bike, no one has done this here before. He had one himself but wanted me to understand that this was all hush hush in case someone tried to copy it. So I reconsidered the mechanic and decided to find a trucking company that would take the bike back to Balu and BulletWallas and get it all sorted in their workshop.
Eventually after travelling for nearly 50kms in 1st gear, I got to a trucking company about 10 kms before Ambala and negotiated some storage so that Balu could send someone up to sort it all out. After a few phone calls describing the events, the vibrations where bolts fell out of the windscreen, loosing 2nd and 3rd gears, 4th and giving up on 1st when it became really slow, then walking for about and hour. Sensing that there was an argument going on and some four-way discussion was happening that I wanted no part of. Me, I had had enough and I loaded up my gear and began walking up to Shimla, well if I had to I would. I walked out the gate of the trucking company with my gear and luckily a bike stopped and gave me a ride to the main bus stand in Ambala, I was heading home for New Years, pissed and knackered.
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