Rajdoot thy name is reliability. Review on Rajdoot Standard

Well it is said that you never forget the first bike and the first girl in your life. I do not know much about the two legged kind but I am very sure about the two wheeled ones though!

I learnt to ride it when I turned 14 and it seems just like yesterday. It was a 1980 model and was with us for full 16 years before my father sold it off to his friend. My earliest memories of the doot are of lying flat on the petrol tank smelling the fumes (can be harmful) with my father mom and kid sister on the bike, just like so many typical middleclass families of mid eighties.

You can visit the following link to know more about the lineage of Rajdoot 175.

https://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/kevins_pages/bantam_history.html

Not many people know that the rajdoot  has a german connection, DKW to be precise. One of the main characteristics of the Rajdoot 175 ( older models not the newer ones) are:

1)      An ignition key ( without which it won’t start)

2)      Front suspension ( Earls forks)

3)      Side panels ( You either like it or hate it!)

Although the Rd175 is considered to be a heavy bike by many bikers in INDIA, it is one of the easiest to ride. The suspension is so solid that you need not worry much about the potholes or the speed-breakers that you come up at the most unexpected places.

I remember my father cleaning the carburetor and tuning it himself. I would assist him to bolt the two side panels ( I guess the only two wheeler  in INDIA with that kind of design) when he would put the carb and other things back in place.

I don’t have an idea of how a brand new Rajdoot 175 would be like to ride, but by the time I got started, my father’s bike was  almost a decade and a half old with 50K+ on the odometer. The bike was still in good condition thanks to my father's care and careful driving.

Starting the bike is not as easy as the newer bikes and needs a bit of getting used to. You have to kind of pump for a while before you give that full kick and the engine comes to life. The clutch is heavy and my father used to keep a spare clutch cable under the seat next to the air inlet..Just in case you see J. With lots of torque at your disposal right from low revs, gear changing is not required much. One thing that it does lack when compared to the smaller Jap-2 strokers is the pickup. Not bad for a bike design dating to our grandfathers times (remember to visit the link I mentioned).

You cannot lean into corners as you would like to, because of the heavy Earls suspension. But this bike was meant to be a workhorse not a race horse, so no complaints here.  You don’t even slow down when you see the speed breakers as the good ground clearance and the Earls suspension tackle them without much fuss; However, if you are the kind of biker who is mad about your bike, you would go down one gear and seldom make her jump over the breakers like a horse in a show jumping competition.

The simple design of the engine coupled with the solid suspension setup made sure that it sold by tens of thousands before being discontinued a few years back (2005?) in most of rural INDIA.  I have seen these workhorses being put to the most punishing and grueling tasks that would certainly be impossible for any other bike (save for the bullet) all over INDIA, rural AP, Karnataka, Maharastra, Bihar… and I can go on and on. Some paisa pinchers use kerosene to run the poor beasts!

The double pressed steel square section frame is tough and has very little flex even under extreme conditions of operation. I have seen bikes with missing mudguards, chain covers, headlight..err missing everything except for the bare minimum to keep two wheels running and a rider on the saddle to ride(ofcourse!) lugging loads that would be more appropriate on a auto rickshaw or a TATA ACE.

The doot returns anywhere between 30 – 42 kmpl depending on how you treat the girl (err lady).

To drive something like a Rajdoot 175, a lambretta, or even a bullet one requires not only patience but a kind of philosophical leaning which can’t be described in words. If you think you do have that then there is no need to describe it to you, and if haven’t got it then I guess you may acquire it as years pass by.

Okay agreed it is not a good looking bike like the jawa, or has a legendary lineage like the bullet, or the raw power of the Yam 100, 350. But the Rajdoot 175 has a character very much of its own and you cannot forget it once you get to know her properly. My father’s bike was a very good combination of black and chrome.  The Headlight would have a chrome strip and the wire spoke wheels all chrome, the long silencer would offset the black theme a balanced way, giving a unique look to the bike.

In 1995 after clocking 1, 00, 000 Kms, the doot was put thru an engine overhaul (grinding the cylinder wall and using larger piston rings).  The lady was showing signs of ageing and couldn’t keep up with the faster moving traffic and since my father used to travel close to 1500km per month, he said it was time that she had to go. It has been more than a decade (1996) that  we handed over the doot to my father’s friend. I do ask my father if he is in touch with my friend and how the bike is, and I still can’t help giving a longing and loving  glance when I see a Rajdoot 175 on the road and think of how she is doing. Some memories… will be with you till your end of days.