About Rahul Vallamber
Singing love-ballads comes easy to Rahul Vallamber. He has been singing since
he was knee high and now croons for his own band. But when the mike is switch off and the crowds go home, Rahul indulges in
a different sort of passion
"When I rode bikes, I always noticed
certain shortcomings in them - I always wished there were certain things I could do my way,” he says.
That's when Rahul took things into his own hands. He decided to design
his own bike. He had a rough idea in his head - so the first thing he did was to put it down on paper. He wasn't too keen
on namby-pamby sports machines, what he wanted was a true-blue American chopper. Once the sketch was done, he talked
it over with a professional bike modifier.
A year
and a lakh of rupees later, this is what he finally got - a 200 kilo, 500 CC demon. Once upon a time, it used to
be an Enfield Bullet. Today, you couldn't tell it from a Yankee's Harley. This was Rahul's first self-designed chopper. A
couple of crazy designs later, the man's beginning to get attention in Delhi and he's planning to take up designing full time.
Rahul says, “I am
planning to open up my own workshop on the outskirts of Delhi. For me, the greatest satisfaction is when people start referring
new clients to me. They take my name and say - Rahul - that guy can build a great chopper for you.”
Rahul's bike might look good, but it has its own share of problems. For one,
it's a beast to ride. A regular bullet rides the road like a knife through butter, but handling this one is a practiced art.
Irrespective, the bike gathers enough attention to make it worth riding. Glitches apart, this bike's proof of something –
that the next time you want a dream bike, you can try building it yourself!
(This artical had Published on www.moneycontrol.com and a personal interview of rahul vallamber also telecasted in CNBC, IBN-7, CNN-IBN, CNBC Awaaz.)
