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My name is Aigars. I have lived in India since 2010 and I have been riding my motorcycle here since 2011. I have crisscrossed big part of India. I came from Latvia to work here and did so for 6.5 years till the company I worked for, went out of business. (I swear - it wasn't my fault!) UPDATE - I am full time employee at UID in Gujarat till the end of June 2023, so I am not master of my time till the end of my work contract. Check out my motorcycle trip map.
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I bought my very first bike here in India in the beginning of 2011, My previous bike riding experience was only one time in Latvia when some drunk collective farmer gave me his JAWA to try. I made 9.8 km that time and that's it.
I took my colleague Venky to help me to purchase the motorcycle. When we went the first time to the Yamaha showroom, I asked them what documents I would need to submit to apply for a bank loan. The salesman explained everything I would need to do for this. After a few days I came back with a bunch of papers - literally, a 1 centimeter thick package of requested documents. Then he took a look and told me - "ohhh, we cannot arrange a loan for you because you are a foreigner"! WTF, WTF, WTF!!! Couldn't he tell by my face and my English accent that I am not Indian?! Well OK, I could anyway afford this model by paying for it entirely in cash. And I liked how it looked. Venky then said that we must make Puja for my new bike and so we went to the temple. I was afraid to ride my new bike from the showroom to my home and Venky assisted me. Thank you man!
I took my colleague Venky to help me to purchase the motorcycle. When we went the first time to the Yamaha showroom, I asked them what documents I would need to submit to apply for a bank loan. The salesman explained everything I would need to do for this. After a few days I came back with a bunch of papers - literally, a 1 centimeter thick package of requested documents. Then he took a look and told me - "ohhh, we cannot arrange a loan for you because you are a foreigner"! WTF, WTF, WTF!!! Couldn't he tell by my face and my English accent that I am not Indian?! Well OK, I could anyway afford this model by paying for it entirely in cash. And I liked how it looked. Venky then said that we must make Puja for my new bike and so we went to the temple. I was afraid to ride my new bike from the showroom to my home and Venky assisted me. Thank you man!
I bought my first bike at a time that psychologists and psychotherapists call "midlife crisis". Trust me, it wasn't the reason! Watch this video, it will explain why. Yes, and a BIG thank you to Vipin who dissuaded me from buying a scooter (which I had 2 times riding experience) and suggested that I buy a motorcycle instead, because it has bigger wheels and India is famous for big potholes even on main roads!
In 2014 I bought a Triumph Bonneville. I loved this bike, but events forced me to sell it because the company I used to work for went out of business, and Bonneville is not the bike for a jobless person. I made 36K km in 2.5 years.
After I sold my beloved Bonnie, I had enough money to buy a KTM Duke 390. If you have a 390 in India, you are the "first guy" in the village, but in Europe, bikers arrogantly call it a moped. In their opinion everything that is below 1000 cc is not a real motorcycle. But you know what - I didn't feel humiliated at all by the lower performance given by this bike. I can cruise on highways with the same speed as on Bonnie 120-130 km/h. Plus, I purchased this brand new bike and before delivery I asked the showroom/salesman to replace the stock tyres with dual sport tyres which I had bought. And it is great, I can do a lot of adventure rides. Check out 'Dirt Forever' videos. The only con is that my legs are too long for this bike! But I am ready to go on it all around the world if I would have the chance!
History - Video Version
In February 2011 I bought my first motorcycle. It was (well, I still have it) Yamaha SZ. After a month after I bought it and learned more or less to ride it, I went for my first ride from Bengaluru to Coorg with two friends. It was beginning. Unfortunately I didn't shoot any videos at that time. This is why I decided to make video series 'Biker Rising' from still photos. Upcoming episodes 2nd-7th (2012-2017). Till 2017, because in 2017 I started to make proper videos.
