Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)
Bengaluru, Nov 20: For those who have seen three to four people including children travelling in a motor bike with great difficulty, this might come as a shock! Indian army's 'Tornadoes' team comprising daredevil personnel from the Army Service Corps (ASC) here led by Subedar Rampal Yadav broke its 19 earlier records and set a new world record on Sunday November 20. Major Bansi Sharma, who mentored the team for this feat, was present at the air force station, Yelahanka, when 58 persons travelled for a distance of 1,200 metres on a single motor bike on Sunday morning.
A contingent of army personnel dressed in three different colors of the Indian flag, arrived at the spot in a march past. The view looked like a huge tricolor being brought to the venue. An old 500 cc Royal Enfield motor bike arrived there. The team had before it the target breaking its own world record of 54 persons riding on a single motor bike, which was created by it in the year 2010.
Before attempting to create this unique world record, the team experimented twice with 60 soldiers on the bike but in both attempts the bike lost balance. In the third round, the motor bike took off with 58 people including the rider, and succeeded in travelling for 1,200 metres with the load and Tornadoes team found itself erasing the earlier record created by it under Guinness Book of World Records and setting up a new record.
The success came after efforts lasting ten months. Carrying a load of 4,000 kg comprising 58 persons at a speed of 45 km per hour is not at all an easy task. 150 soldiers were in training for creating world record. A 20 year sold Royal Enfield motor bike was used for this record with the same engine. Only the outer design was changed to provide room for 58 persons to stand. Initially, 24 persons were on the motor bike when it began its journey. Thereafter, as the bike moved, soldiers boarded it one by one, taking care to see that it does not lose balance.
The Tornadoes team led by Col C N Rao and Capt J P Varma had begun its adventure in 1982. The team has showcased its adventure worldwide through more than a thousand shows.
Commandant of ASC centre and college, Lt Gen Vipin Gupta and Brig Ashok Choudhary of ASC south division training centre were present. For Subedar Rampal Yadav, who rode the motor bike, this was his last such show as he will be retiring soon.
The record created by Tornadoes team proved to be sweeter for coastal Karnataka as the team also had Padmanabha Shettigar from Padmanur near Kinnigoli in Mangaluru taluk. Shettigar has been serving the army since the last 18 years.