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Transport in India in 2014: page 4 - bicycles (by Dick Gilbert)
Last updated 28 August 2024
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As some of you will know, I spent a short holiday in India in October 2006. What a fantastic country! At that time we visited four states - Delhi (DL registrations), Haryana (HR), Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Rajasthan (RJ). On my return I created three pages illustrating the transport delights that I saw.
Then, in 2014, I went back again, but this time to West Bengal (WB registrations), starting from Kolkata (Calcutta) and travelling about 250 miles north up into the real rural India, close to the Bangladeshi border and following the Hooghly River, a branch of the mighty Ganges. It was a fabulous trip with lots of new things to see, and I've divided my pictures into five sections, as per the above list:
2-wheeled and 3-wheeled vehicles (motorised or not) are a vital part of India's transport infrastructure - cheap and versatile. The range includes a few familiar brand names from Britain, and we will start with some of those.
Royal Enfield motorcycles ceased U. K. production in 1970, but had already been in licence-production in India since 1955, and still are. This is a 350 Classic seen in Calcutta.
Also seen in Calcutta is this Bullet 350, a model which has been available in India for 60 years. They are currently only available in black, so maybe this example has an army heritage. Royal Enfield bikes are now only made in India, from a factory in Chennai (formerly Madras).
This bike, seen in Murshidabad, is the Royal Enfield Bullet Electra, with upgraded styling and extra power from the 350cc engine which fully complies with the latest emission regulations. I was told that the Enfields are the most desirable bikes in India, and the waiting list for some models can be up to eight months.
Here's another Royal Enfield Classic 350, also in Murshidabad. The company is now part of the Eicher Group, who are also manufacturers of small trucks and buses, Indian distributor of Volvo trucks and - surprisingly - publisher of travel guides.
This badge, seen on a bicycle mudguard in Matiari, will be familiar to older Brits. Hercules Cycles were founded in Aston, Birmingham, in 1910. The company was sold to Tube Investments in 1946 (which accounts for the name TI CYCLES on the badge) but the brand was withdrawn in UK in the late 1950s, yet lives on in India.
TI Cycles (Tube Investments) of India now includes BSA products under the BSA Hercules brand, so it is a pleasure to see this familiar logo on the mudguards of many Indian bicycles. I'm sure most readers will know what the initials BSA represent but, just in case you don't, the Tube Investments website says BSA stands for style, fun and comfort. That was a surprise to me...
Moving on to three-wheels, a couple of tricycles near English Bazaar serve to show the wide variety of uses to which they can be put. It must be no fun having to spend so much time pedalling in the dust thrown up by trucks (and our minibus).
A tricycle can take a substantial weight, if the rider has the muscles to move it...
...or perform something as lightweight as being a mobile cauliflower stall.
Putting a motor into the tricycle greatly improves its potential. I've no idea who made this thing, but it certainly seems to be pretty full.
Another use for the pedal tricycle is to take children to school. This is an example of the bus version of the tricycle, only big enough for small people.
Let's look in more detail at the morning school run in Chandernagore. Here are a bunch of children on their way to school in their minibus.
Another option is to travel on the back of your dad's motorbike, in this case a Hero Honda Super Splendour made in Delhi.
Or you can sit on the back of your mother's scooter - especially if it's a trendy TVS Scooty Streak.
Or, even better, you could perch at the front of your mum's lovely perky pink (yes, it's perky pink') 87cc TVS Scooty Pep+.
Or just sit on the crossbar, like so many others.
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