Instead of just turning up and riding, we decided to make this a nice adventure to remember and create some sort of identity with a logo (seen on the home page) and a team name. After an intensive, mind draining brainstorming session of just about a minute we locked the name Posh Goondas.
Posh: Well! Because we are.
You may think what you like, I possibly cannot comment!
Goondas: This is an Indian word for ‘Badass’ blokes.
Need to be a little like that to think up, create a pack and make this ride possible! You may think what you like, we will have to agree!
The Posh Goondas:
| Name | Jatin |
|---|---|
| Alias (known as) | JP |
| Age | Just about right |
| Home Town | West Windsor, NJ |
| Country | USA |
| Age when started riding | 16 |
| Country where started riding | India |
| First Motorcycle Owned | Yezdi 250cc |
| Current Motorcycle | Honda Shadow 650cc |
| Adventure Sports/Activities | Whitewater Rafting, Jet Skiing, Parasailing, Hang Gliding; would love to sky dive one day |
| I started my two wheeler life riding around on a Bajaj (Vespa) Scooter and progressed to owning a Yezdi 250 cc. This was a bike made by an Indian manufacturer and was quite popular before imported bikes were allowed. The other bike I was exposed to was the Royal Enfield 350 cc that my brother owned. In those days I weighed 50 kg’s and could not keep the Enfield upright but was always enamored by the soft yet emphatic dug dug dug sound that made the bike feel like royalty. Most of my joyful riding was on my Yezdi and took many a long trip and a few falls on this bike. It is those memoried that made me start thinking about riding again a few years back and along with three family members, we got our licenses after going through some safety training and then bought bikes together in 2013.The last couple years have been spent getting reacquainted with the joys of riding as well as rediscovering riding skills on a bike that is much heavier than what I grew up with. After discussing various riding expeditions over the past year, really looking forward to taking the plunge with our first ride that is planned for this summer. | |
| Name | Kalpesh |
|---|---|
| Alias (known as) | In Baroda most of the friends called me Don and my brother Bond |
| Age | 5 years elder to my fellow bikers, but can still be at par with them on the road or any sport |
| Home Town | Only place in united states where the weather, is very similar to India and grow all the fruits that you get in India ( Chikoo, Mangoes, Lychees, Jambuda, Sitafal and ……) Parkland, Florida |
| Country | USA |
| Age when started riding | 16 |
| Country where started riding | India |
| First Motorcycle Owned | Royal Enfield – Bullet |
| Current Motorcycle | Yamaha V Star 650 |
| Adventure Sports/Activities | Racquetball, Volleyball (religiously every Sunday since in Florida), All watersport activities – have to, being on the ocean. Almost did skydiving in NZ – bad weather. |
| Always have been crazy on the road – whether on motorcycle, scooter or car – specially in India. If I don’t drive in India from the day I land, than I feel my journey is incomplete – the challenge of driving or riding within a inch of other vehicle, and not to forget watch the pedestrians. Started with Bajaj and than Enfield – actually three of us ordered Enfields at the same time. I have taken part in motorbike race in Baroda, but that was on Yezdi and part of the route was in sand near Mahisagar river. This bike ride is going to be thrilling, as it is in mountains of Himalaya. But I cannot forget my most memorable trip. Driving from Baroda to Kathmandu via Pokhara and back – but that was in a car, but beauty of the trip was that the oldest person in the car was ???? …18 – no adult with us. And second best trip was trekking in the Himalayas – unsurpassable beauty, and we walked across snow at 14000 ft – I cannot wait to ride up to Khardung La at 17580 ft. That is what I miss in Florida – it is flat. I have a Yamaha V Star 650 bike, mostly short rides, the longest was 200 miles thru Everglades and sugar fields – miles and miles of it – very boring. |
|
| Name | Nimish |
|---|---|
| Alias (known as) | Take a guess...it's not difficult to figure out 🙂 |
| Age | The ripe and mature side of the life |
| Home Town | Stanmore, London |
| Country | UK |
| Age when started riding | 18 |
| Country where started riding | India |
| First Motorcycle Owned | Someday....I keep dreaming |
| Current Motorcycle | Yezdi 250cc (I still dream about it) |
| Adventure Sports/Activities | Am sport for anything and everything, but Football, Cricket and Tennis are more closer to heart. Travelling to wildlife reserves around the world and capturing the natural beauty of our planet keeps me sane and motivated. |
| Straddled between the two Indo-Yanks, as an Indo-Limey I am fairly different from them in many ways. I am the shorter, fatter and the balder one. Unlike them I also don't own a motorbike currently, however I can claim a fair bit of experience on motorised two wheels.Like the other two, and countless other young people who grew up in India, I began my two-wheeler experience by grabbing my father's 125cc Bajaj Scooter at every possible opportunity. This was a far rewarding and relaxing ride as compared to my bicycle with fixed-wheel sprocket and without any brakes. I soon graduated from the scooter to my own motorbike - the coolest bike of our time in then India - 250cc Yezdi. After graduating with a B.Sc (Hons) I moved from India to UK in 1985. I did Masters in Wildlife Management & Control in UK, as part of which I did a field study on exploitation and trade in wildlife in northern and western India. This involved going undercover and living with wildlife smugglers, traders and poachers. During the project I acquired a Hero Honda CD100 and travelled more than 2000kms in rural Rajasthan and Gujarat.After completing my post-graduation I moved to work in remote part of land of my birth, Tanzania. I spent seven good years living close to Mikumi National Park. We began spending a few nights in a tent while having four walls and corrugated roof built in a location with no electricity, running water or any other mod cons. It was an adventure of lifetime. Apart from driving 4x4 and occasional tractor, riding a Honda 125cc off-roader in the bush tracks was a great fun.With a growing family I moved back to UK in 1997 and have been a civil servant since then. I have continued to be involved with wildlife conservation, particularly tigers in India, since 1982. Since being in UK I will regularly travel to wildlife reserves in India or Africa to spend time in the wild. The most recent adventure was taking a self-drive Land Rover kitted for camping and exploring Serengeti and other parks in Tanzania while camping in wild.A motorbike ride to Ladakh has been one of my bucket list since I was 20 year old, and finally after 30 years the dream is turning to reality. While most of the people look forward to riding the Royal Enfield Bullet on the rough terrain, I am looking forward to adding the opportunity to capture the experience and the fantastic natural beauty in my camera. I have a feeling that I am going to be fairly unpopular with my riding friends for stopping every now and then for a photograph. But hey ho we only do such trip once. | |
| Name | Rakesh |
|---|---|
| Alias (known as) | RJ |
| Age | 51 |
| Home Town | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Country | USA |
| Age when started riding | 14 |
| Country where started riding | India |
| First Motorcycle Owned | Suzuki AXR100, 100cc, 2 stroke |
| Current Motorcycle | Yamaha FJR 1300 AE, 1298cc |
| Adventure Sports/Activities | Whitewater Rafting, Jet Skiing, Parasailing, Travelling 4200kms across India from Cochin to Shillong in an Auto Rickshaw (A TukTuk) on a Rickshaw Run, with fellow Adventurer Rama; and the most adventurous of them all Running the Atlanta Traffic during Rush hour! |
| I started my two wheeler life riding around on a Bajaj (Vespa) Scooter and progressed to owning a Suzuki AX100. This was just after India allowed Companies to import vehicles into India towards setting up a Joint Venture indigenous manufacturing facilities in India. Motorcycling in India at the time and right up a few years ago was always just another vehicle of commute and not for sport, leisure or adventure. At the time and age, a 100cc motorcycle was zippy and ‘cool’ to ride. Add to that some customizations by way of ‘go faster’ stripes and fairings. Uber cool! I then moved abroad – UK and USA – and that more or less put an end to all things Motorcycle. Life took over. That changed back in the 2013. With another friend, I undertook an adventure for charity. 4200kms in a Rickshaw across India in 13days for Charity. This required a Motorcycle License which I received after successfully completing a Honda's 3-day MSF (Motorcycle Safety Foundation) Rider Training Course. Little realizing at the time that the License opened up the adventure doors and a Motorcycle in the Garage! We had visited NYC and NJ and stayed at fellow Posh Goonda Jatin’s home who had bought a Honda Shadow just a a few months earlier. After a short ride after so many years, I was once again bitten. Come September 2013 and an early birthday present rolled into my Garage – an 865cc Triumph Speedmaster. A Cruiser class motorcycle. Over the next year, I realized that I preferred Long Distance riding and the 865cc open cruiser wasn’t the right motorcycle for that. Soon progressed to the current motorcycle Yamaha FJR1300. It was on this bike that I achieved an Iron Butt Association Certification of riding minimum 1000miles in a 24hr period, having completed it in 17h34m. |
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what August company
Thanks Vir!
I hope by the end of the ride you believe our riding capabilities to be August too! The bikes we ride, the roads we ride on out here are a whole lot different from what we will be exposed to during the ride. Getting acquainted and comfortable with the different riding position, the handling and the ‘smooth’ rough roads will be a sharp learning curve for all of us August Chaps! It will interesting and looking forward to be a ton of fun.
Interesting how Nimish’s frown looks somehow even more menacing than it does usually when framed in the visor of a motorcycle helmet…
Andrew,
He’s really living up to our Team name! Such dedication!
~ Rakesh
Andrew – I am just trying to live up to my reputation. 😀 May be you should consider all CIC11 posters to include such pictures..might deter some regulars bothering us.
Let’s submit that as a staff innovation on your return. Maybe we should also consider issuing our people with crash helmets as well given what some of our customers think of us at the moment
I am all for it Andrew.
Great introduction of all the riders. We will keep in touch
Toral,
Thank you! Look forward to reading your comments. We will update the blog as and when we have Network or WiFi.
~ Rakesh
Loved reading the Goonda stories. Will be following you all.
Kamini,
Thanks! One Goonda already off and about in the jungles! We’re looking forward to his stories, before we start writing the Goonda stories.
~ Rakesh