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Thrill gets an extension
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He stretches his hands and legs to ride this Harley Davidson of a cycle. But Rajendran is excited with his invention
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These cycles are different. They haven't adopted the standard frame, which comes in the shape of two clearly noticeable triangles — one in the front and the other in the rear. One cycle has taken after the Harley Davidson. To try this one, you have to stretch your hands and legs. By clutching the handlebars, you form the shape of `a flying V'.
The other cycle possesses a form that cannot be compared to anything that anyone has ever seen. Its inventor calls it the "pedals-on-rear-wheel" (PORW). Because the pedals and the crank-set have been fixed right on the rear wheel. If you don't count the forks and wheels, brakes and handlebars, which come from cycle-rickshaws, these two machines have borrowed from things that have nothing to do with cycling.
The cycles have been designed by Rajendran who has had little formal education. The man loves "heavy metal." He has used 6mm L-rods to provide the links, sliced aluminium sheets to make the mudguards, and `lifted' heavy suspension rods from various vehicles (the PORW has been fitted with 10 suspension rods that had been removed from bikes). Because of liberal use of heavy metal objects and the presence of a few superfluous elements, lightness is not among the cycles' virtues. You need to be 78 kg to tip the measuring balance against the Harley and to take on the PORW you have to be a real heavyweight — 95 kg.
It seems incredible that Rajendran commutes to work on any one of these cycles, covering about 40 km every day — he works as turner in his brother's company, which explains why he used all these materials and how he managed to get the time to make such machines.
Rajendran says these cycles are products of trial and even admits they are crude-looking, but asserts that something better can be built on this beginning.
"I know that if they are not refined and made lighter (his target — 25 kg), they won't have a fighting chance," says Rajendran. "I'm on the job."
PRINCE FREDERICK
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