Page 91 - Motoring World (January 2020)

dream. Although, now I’m not so
sure that it’s age at work here; both
companies were famous for ensuring
that even successive machines off
their respective assembly lines felt
entirely different.
This inconsistency in quality
was perhaps what ensured that
the Ambassador and the Bullet
came with what felt like built-in
biometric recognition. Owners had
to get really, really familiar with
their vehicles to the point where it
appeared as if only they could start
and run them. And when one of
these finally changed hands, most Old shapes simply make for better gazing, don’t they? Nostalgia is standard equipment here
owners couldn’t gel with them and
this led to these machines being
called unreliable among other
colourful things. But it’s not that
difficult, really.
A decompression lever helps with
starting the Bullet, though ‘helps’
might not be the right word for those
not used to it as our Varad More
found out. He also discovered that
the Bullet’s drum brakes cannot
really use the word ‘brakes’ to
describe themselves. These aspects
are what greatly build character,
something I’ve spent most of my
childhood learning. Once a Bullet
is started, the rider learns that the
gearbox has more neutrals than
Switzerland’s population, and that
the neutral finder lever is wholly
unnecessary. Or perhaps it’s there
to find the correct neutral, which
may be required from time to time,
usually when the bike stalls exactly
as traffic lights turn green. And yet.
At idle, it sounds like a jazz band
performing unhurried soundchecks.
That ancient piece of long-stroke
engineering takes its time to get up
to any speed. It likes gentle throttle
inputs best, but even those have
to be firm. Let your ears turn into
tachometers, realise that this is still
one of the best-sounding engines on
the planet, and use said earometers
to maximise the music through the
first three gears. Hit fourth and the
revs fall off a cliff, and seem to settle
in mid-air floating with a realisation
that a Bullet’s speed is measured

JANUARY 2020 | MOTORING WORLD
JANU AR Y 20 20 | MO T ORING W ORLD 91