Day 1 of IBW 2016: All the Action Summed Up Here

India Bike Week 2016 opened to much fanfare and excitement as hordes of riders and biking enthusiasts thronged the new venue on Day 1 of the two-day fest. The event in its fourth year now, has become large enough to not fit in its previous venue at Vagator, and has hence been moved to Arpora, Goa. The move turned out to be a good one as thousands began pouring into the venue soon as gates opened during the day at 11 am. 

Bike after shiny bike rode in to the ‘Great Migration’ as there were four major ride-in rallies by riders beginning with the Harley Owners Group (HOG), followed by DSK-Benelli, Triumph and lastly Ducati. Everywhere, one saw banners reading ‘Welcome Home Bikers’, drawing the riders who had undertaken long journeys to be part of the biggest of biking festivals in the country. 

Harley-Davidson had an elaborate display set up along with unveiling its first-ever mobile outlet, designed by the famous Dilip Chhabria of DC Design. The India HOG Ride which took place a day earlier had culminated in a concert by Parikrama. 

Up next, DSK-Benelli showcased its upcoming models Tornado 302 and TRK 502 at its podium, weeks after unveiling them at the Auto Expo in New Delhi. Triumph Motorcycles meanwhile brought out the 3 models of its 2016 Bonneville line to the party, which it is launching nationwide through the Reborn Tour. 

The highlight among the new models, however, was the launch of the Ducati 959 Panigale, which made its India debut at the IBW, while the Italian manufacturer also showcased 4 other models. The first event of the day was the National Stunt Championship - a show of pure daredevilry two wheels.

This was followed by talks by the Big Trip Speakers, including Dakar Rally hero CS Santosh, Alankar Misra (Solo Traveller Diaries), Rishad Bhumgara & Deepak Kamath, HOI, Martin Wickert, Gaurav Siddharth, Meenakshi & Sushil, and Dhruv Dholakia.

For us, though, it was the Moto Trails by 12-time FIM Trial World Championship winner Dougie Lampkin that packed the most energy. His skills were a sight to behold and drew the awe of all present! What would be a biker fest without custom bikes, and we saw our fair share of them, just parked everywhere.

Artists Mojojojo, Whosane rocked the Howling Dog Bar, while Girish And The Chronicles set the mood for the evening at the Main Stage, followed by Soulmate, and The Other People. Meanwhile, Vedant Joshi, Rodney Branigan, and Thalavattam gave brilliant performances at the DSK-Benelli stage.

Bikers from across the globe were seen grooving the evening away, in the company of their fellow brethren as Day 1 came to a close with the giving away of awards for the Stunt Championship, Dirt20 Enduro Challenge and other competitions. Saturday will be the second and final day of IBW and looks like the only thing that could trump Day 1 in terms of pure biker enjoyment.