Delhi Bullet Wallas

Bike Trip 1 009, originally uploaded by Augustus Finbar.

There is a sucker born everyday goes the saying. I will be the first to admit I have been a sucker many times during the year. In many places, life becomes a negation due to the skin tax imposed on all foreigners. It can be endlessly frustrating being forced to haggle a pair of shorts from 40,000 Tanzanian shillings to a measly 2,500 shillings. I am not nearly that good of a negotiator especially when the negotiating is in Swahili. The small shop owners simply see an opportunity to hit it big with the “rich” tourists and try to capitalize. It can get frustrating to say the least.You would think I would have learned my lesson by now but that wasn’t the case when I bought my Royal Enfield in Delhi. The swallowed the dream the owner, Balu, sold me hook line and sinker. The dream was to join a newly formed multi-national biker gang, Bullet Wallas. He even promised to make me custom stickers for my bike with “West Virginia Bullet Walla” on it (I can't lie. I really liked them, especially with the orange dueling banjos in the middle). I lived above the bike shop with my four newfound friends who also believed the dream as they too bought bikes from him. We were eager to hit the roads on bikes freeing ourselves of the painful bus journeys and overcrowded trains that plague Indian backpackers. The idea of joining any semblance of a biker gang in India made the decision to buy even easier.We paid a premium (40,000Rps=$1,000US) for the bikes that were totally reassembled with a new engine, tires, custom paint job, and even West Virginia Bullet Walla stickers. We were living the dream...at least for a while. Boy, were we had! It took us about a day to figure out the bikes may not be all we had hoped. Don’t get me wrong, Enfields break, that is what happens when 1950s motorcycle technology is driven over rough Indian roads. But after only 600KM drive from Delhi to Manali, two of the four bikes bought from Bullet Wallas needed new pistons (2000Rps), new starter, two new batteries, dozens of over tightened bolts letting oil ooze out, and other loose ends. Enfields break but every single time a mechanic takes out the broken part from my bike he laughs because it always the cheapest knock-off part to be found in India. Some mechanics have laughed at me in my face upon seeing the Bullet Walla stickers knowing there will probably lots of problems with the bike that I paid too much for. Some have also said they would not purchase a Bullet Walla bike because it wouldn’t be a good bike. So basically, I paid 25% more than I should have for a bike that kids assembled with the cheapest parts available by an American guy selling me the dream of entering into a world of an elusive traveling biker gang in India. Can’t say that everyday!Note: Any weary traveler in India thinking about buying an Enfield, definitely do it. After two months and all of my cheap imitation parts have been replaced, my bike finally running like it should and it is amazing. It will definitely get you off the Humus Trail and into some remote areas to see more Indian culture. I couldn’t imagine traveling around India any other way. Just don’t buy a bike from Bullet Wallas in Delhi. You can buy a good bike for 30,000 Rps ($750 US) from other travelers and then sell it after a couple months for the same price. Several travelers sell their bikes on the road (a lot in Goa, Dharamsala, Pushkar or Manali) and most mechanics sell good bikes. Always ask for a test drive to a different mechanic to get a second opinion. The best mechanics I have found are Anu Auto Works in Manali (Vishisht) and Rai Auto Works in Gaggle (right beside the Dharamsala airport...a 30 minute drive from McLeod Ganj).I will admit. I was a sucker. Don’t make the same mistake I did, but do buy a bike!Message from an angry "ex-Bullet Walla"