'Several of our batch mates owned, rather expensive motor bicycles even in the
60’s.. Derryk De Silva used to ride a NSU motor bike. It was a well-known German
brand and was relatively noise free. It had a built-in self-starter, a rarity
those days. Derryk used to take the bends
at speed, leaning into the curve rather than turning the handle. This was in the style of the true riding connoisseur. I think that he was trying to
imitate Zacky Deen, the motor cycle ace of
Rama
Karthigesu owned a beautiful BMW motor bike. It had horizontal, opposed
cylinders. I think it also had a shaft drive. 'Karthi'
used to take off in a jiffy, starting the bike with the built-in self starter. Selladurai owned what I recall was a Triumph
Tiger 100, with twin vertical cylinders and overhead camshaft but no self starter.
Sella’s riding gear consisted of dark
glasses and black gloves and reminded one of 'Zorro'. It was a lovely bike.
A
few students owned scooters which were a novelty those days. Vijitha Nikapota used to ride a Lambretta which
was a rather sedate vehicle. In the early days, he used to give a lift to Anula
to and from the faculty. The sight of
Anula who was always neatly dressed in a Kandyan saree, perched on the back of
the Lambretta, never failed to gain the traditional attention of the medical students, living in Bloemfontein Hostel. Perrin and Geri Jayasekara, who behaved more
like cousins than brothers, also had a Lambretta scooter. Perrin would be
riding the scooter blissfully unaware that Geri seated behind, was waving at
girls passing by and making merry. Gamini Jayasinghe, Ganeshanayagam,
Sabanayagam and a handful of others also owned scooters and were much in demand
when we had to attend classes in distant places such as Angoda and Ragama.
Yamaha, Suzuki and
Extract from the book 'Remembered Vignettes'.
No comments:
Post a Comment