The call center man's dream: a road trip
Ever been tempted to talk about Royal Enfield motorcycles with the Help Desk guy in India?Gary Pinchin did it. Here's what happened, in his words:
I live in the UK and have a 1999 350 Bullet I bought for 500 quid a while back. Needed a bit of tidying up but it's ready to go (well it has been since March). Only trouble is, I've been sidelined with a non-motorcycle related knee problem since February, which means I've not had a chance to ride it yet!
I'd been having trouble with my British Telecom broadband so I rang the help desk. The guy on the other end of the line says he needs to share the screen of one of the two laptops in the house to sort out the problem, so I hand him over to my partner.
Anyway, he does the job then she gives me back the phone and the guy says: "Do you work for Royal Enfield? I spotted some folders on the desktop with their name on on it." My partner does indeed do some work, dealing with the UK importer.
Turns out the guy is working in a call center in India and we strike up a conversation about the whole Enfield thing. The conversation went something like this:
Me: So you have an interest in Enfields?
Him: Oh yes, it's is my lifelong passion to own one.
Me: So why don't you buy one?
Him: I can't afford it. The price of a new Bullet in India is around £1,000 but the average wage is only £150 per month. How much is a new Enfield in England?
Me: Around £5,000 for the new EFI model. Just a bit cheaper than a base-model 883 Harley.
Him: £5,000 (in deep shock)! If you could afford to pay that much for a motorcycle in India you would be one of the richest people in the country. £5,000 would buy the very best luxury car here!
Me: Can't you afford an older model?
Him: It's not such a good idea. They always need a lot of work so it costs money for spare parts and repairs and my passion is to do a road trip. I don't want to keep breaking down. Have you seen the film Wild Hogs? I want to do that sort of road trip, just touring around. But the Enfield is a heavy bike and our roads are very, very bumpy. Have you been to India?
Me: No but I'd love to. I've seen what the back roads are like though. I bought Gaurav Jani's DVDs, One Crazy Ride and Riding Solo To The Top Of The World. They are truly inspirational.
Him: Really, I've not heard of them.
Me: Mate, you really must check them out if you're planning a road trip around India. Gaurav is in a club called 60kph Motorcycle Travel Club. Their website is just amazing.
Him: I will do that. Thank you so much for talking to me.
Me: No, the pleasure is all mine.
So, purely by chance, I've been talking to a guy in India who watches American-made motorcycle movies and loves Enfields and I'm telling him to check out Indian-made DVDs and websites on Bullets? Does it get any weirder? Sad thing is the call came to such an abrupt end when he had to get back to work, that I didn't get his name. But to bastardise an old Honda ad slogan, you meet the nicest people through Royal Enfield ownership.
Cheers. Hey, keep up the fine work with the blog!
UPDATE: Pinchin provided this picture of his Royal
Enfield Bullet 350, a private import from India that still retains its
Indian style front license plate. He adds:
"Sorry but been off-line sorting out wireless issues. Had to ring BT call centre again twice but no more Enfield chat!"
