TESTING TIMES

'BAR TALK

- KARTIK WARE

Recently, I was a bit taken aback when someone posed the question, How do you test the bikes you get?' Honestly, I haven't thought about that in a long time. Well, not deliberately, at any rate; it's just become second nature after just 14 years of doing it, to the point that I can't even ride my old bikes without writing stories in my head. And I'm the last person who wants to read those. Anyway, seeing as how even people as accomplished as airline pilots revise their knowledge every six months, I thought it might be prudent to write something about how I 'test bikes', if only for my own future reference. This does not include first-ride events organised by manufacturers.