New Delhi, Sept. 19 -- I remember turning 18 with cinematic clarity-standing at the RTO before the counter opened, clutching a learner's license form. I was applying for the MCWG: Motorcycle With Gear. No namby pamby stuff like gearless scooters would do it for me. It was the late 80s and the dream was to ride and eventually own the raucous Rajdoot Yamaha RD350, notoriously nicknamed 'YamRaj'. Furiously fast with bleak braking, riding one was like flirting with the god of death himself.

My parents, with the experience of the way I used to ride my bicycle, said, "Absolutely not." Instead, I got the Yamaha RX100. I sulked, protested, and then rode it.

That little two-stroke turned tantrum into lifelong love. Light, quick in acceleration a...