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Photo: H. Vibhu

The man and his machines Benhur with his collection of vintage bikes at his house in Pachalam

Valiaparambil House in Pachalam, is known in the neighbourhood as the Bullet Family. This is because almost every male member of the family owns one or more Enfield motorbikes.

This craze for motorcycles began with Benhur’s father. He was the first civilian to own a bike in Cochin State. He owned one called ‘Ariel,’ another British brand, which has the number CS 3976 (CS stands for Cochin State) .

He bought it from Chennai in 1928 for Rs. 1,200 after obtaining a special permission from the British rulers. A motorcycle was necessary for him, a defence photographer, whose job entailed him to a lot of travel. He owned Malabar Studio, the only one of its kind in Cochin at that time.

Before Independence, only the military and other government departments were permitted to use Royal Enfield motorcycles. It was difficult for civilians to own a bike, for they had to submit valid reasons for it. Though the ‘Ariel’ motorcycle was sold off when Benhur was a child, his interest in bikes only increased.

In 1974, when he was just 14 years of age, his father got him his first bike, a Royal Enfield. Benhur bought his second bike, a second-hand Bullet, with his own earnings. From 1979 to the present day, Benhur has bought and sold several Bullets. The craze for this brand lingers. Bullet, as this Enfleid motocycle is popularly called because of the company caption ‘made like a gun’ is Benhur’s ultimate riding experience.

For Benhur, not even a Harley Davidson can take the place of an Enfield. Don’t ask him for reasons for Benhur honestly says that he cannot explain the reasons for this love. He has never used and swears that he will never use any other motorcycle other than his favourite Bullet. The feel that one gets riding the Bullet cannot be substituted by any other brand.

Benhur now owns a fleet of six Bullet motorcycles. Every evening, after shutting his Internet Café in the city, Benhur spends some time with his bikes. He checks each one of them thoroughly. Sometimes he dismantles a whole bike to check the reason for an odd noise that it makes while on the road. These years spent with his bikes has turned Benhur into an expert mechanic.

Earlier, Benhur had a 1942 model, 350 cc, ‘Triumph’ and a 1989 model B.S.A. Both of them had to be sold as spare parts of these bikes were not available. But he refuses to part with his pet 1934 model B.SA. Benhur believes that it was his destiny to own it. It happened quite unexpectedly. The real owner, a week after he bought this bike, found it difficult to drive and maintain it. He persuaded Benhur to buy it. Confident of handling this brand quite well Benhur bought it and he says that he is extremely satisfied with it. Since he does not use it always it does not need much of maintenance and minor repairs are done by him.

Every night, till almost 2. a.m. the Bullets roar happily, while the vintage B.S.A. waits for the occasional ride.

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