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Romancing the bike
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In focus Warren Latouche has a collection of 60 vintage bikes, and he’s looking for more
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Photo: Nagara Gopal
Collector’s envy Warren Latouche with his collection
Warren Latouche fell in love with James as a 16-year-old. Even now when this classic rolls on the road leaving a trail of dust, he cannot take his eye off it. “I had to chase hard and pay Rs. 600 to bring it home. When its owner Isaac was convi
nced that I was pursuing the bike and not his four daughters, he sold it to me,” Warren says with a laugh. With its old piston engine, cushion seats and golden Birmingham logo, the petite James, a 1939 model is now worth lakhs and a towering presence in Indrapuri Railway colony at West Marredpally, Secunderabad. Giving James company are 60 other vintage bikes collected by Warren till now. The godown near his house, which stocks these dazzling models is every collector’s envy. A 1939 military model Norton (Remember the bike Jai and Veeru zoom on in Sholay singing Yeh Dosti hum nahin chodenge… ), Triumph (1952), Triumph single cylinder, BSA M20, Royal Enfield, Vespa and a bright red Honda 500 (1982) are in top gear.
Warren discovered his passion for bikes at his father’s workshop. “After school, I would rush to see the damaged British and American bikes. As my father repaired them, I picked up the nuances,” he recalls. Since then it has been Warren’s relentless effort to restore the aura of old bikes. Ask him what draws him into biking and he says, “Driving a vintage bike is a high which only bikers experience. Its power, distinctive roar and macho looks are unmatchable.” He calls youngsters, who zip around their electronic bikes as stuntmasters. “Today’s youth are all Dhoom copycats, who do not know biking. They just raise the bike’s front wheels and feel aggressive. They do not know what it is to drive a real bike,” he asserts.
Warren, who runs Box Office, a video library in West Marredpally is always scouting for vintage hot wheels. “Restoring battered bikes is much an effort as finding its parts is not easy. One needs lot of patience but once its makeover is done, the bike is the envy of all,” he says. He is the president of The All-India Anglo-Indian Association, Hyderabad chapter and in his free time, he watches movies like the classic Great Escape with its bike chasing sequences. This year, Harley Davidson has caught Warren’s fancy and he soon hopes to make it a part of his get-to-home collection. Now, when Nano, the four-wheeled wonder promises to steal the show in the country, this Hyderabadi fan has been celebrating the spirit of vintage bikes in his own special way.
NEERAJA MURTHY
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