Chapter 2: Name Change '2 Wheels' to 'DELHI BIKERS'

Taking over NH1 en route to Murthal

Initially we were doing monthly rides only during the winter season.

October to February…5 rides until Delhi heated up.

But as more people joined they started demanding rides throughout the year.

I was more than happy to keep going as long as there was interest.

The name didn’t really stick. If it was about bikers than why focus on ‘2 Wheels’? 

So I changed it to ‘Delhi Bikers Breakfast Run’.

It described who we were (Delhi Bikers) and what we did (Breakfast Run)

Our values got distilled into a simple tag line ‘RIDE-RESPECT-RELAX’

RIDE: We were primarily an all inclusive riding group.

Not a virtual group but an inter-club, motorcycling community that got out and faced the elements and one another.

Our goal was to RELAX from start to finish.  

Hence we chose not to ride for more than two hours out of Delhi. 

Hence we chose not to print T-shirts and stickers in our first 2 years.

From start to finish people learnt to RELAX

There was no rush to prove to anyone what this was about.

Besides it would have been misunderstood as a move towards starting a club and I thought in a year or so we would fizzle out anyway.  

When no such thing happened, many bikers who had become regulars on the DBBR rides formed their own clubs. Now with the rapid increase in leisure motorcycling, a club is started almost every other month in Delhi.

Nothing like garam-chai!

At the center of our RIDE and RELAX was RESPECT.

It answered the question of how we would ride and relax?

By respecting those who rode with us. 

By ensuring they had a good time.

And by not disrupting the general traffic flow.

The evidence of that respect was when more ladies started to join us. Guys felt confident to bring their girlfriends or wives to the ride. With more girls joining us, obviously more guys joined. And so we grew.

By 2010 end we were averaging 100 odd bikers on each ride.

Each time there were 20-30 first timers and I felt like we had succeeded in some way. 

Just the fact that people woke up at 4:30am to ride with a bunch of strangers was something.

Heavy-duty ego’s on 500cc’s had to rub shoulder with 100cc novices on their first joyride. Once the helmets were off, no one knew who had arrived on what. 

What mattered was their attitude, their character.

Who walked over to you or walked away from you depended on what you were full of. 

The ‘maa-behan’ babble or was there any ‘substance’ in your talk.

People started to find one another. And soon some genuine friendships began to form. 

That too was a sweet reward.   

I got a special kick every time someone would tell me...

“Its unbelievable, had no idea my boss was into biking!” or

“This is my daughter’s first ride and she loved it!” or

“Its my first ride since I gave up biking in the 80’s”  

The first timers got to meet seasoned bikers

Same jokes, different dabha, still funny!  

With more and more bikers joining we could no longer arrive unannounced. 
Still riding without any formation.