Sturdy companions

Sixty nine-year-old Satheesan Panangattu recollects that as a child, he would run to the mechanic’s shop in his neighbourhood once he returned from school. After having spent his evenings tinkering with cars, bikes and their spares lying around, Satheesan slowly developed a passion for these machines and that interest has only grown stronger with time.

His love for old bikes is evident when he begins talking about his two favourite machines — a 1949 Sunbeam S 8 which he bought in 1985 and a 1963 BSA A50 which he picked up three years later. Satheesan says he was sure that if he ever wanted to buy a bike, it had to be a vintage one and he found the perfect match in Sunbeam. “I bought the Sunbeam from someone who owned a large fleet of vintage cars and bikes. The owner didn’t want to sell it to just anybody but to someone who was just as knowledgeable about them as himself,” he explains.

The Sunbeam, though, had most of its parts missing, says Satheesan. “I had to assemble the parts and make it look like one piece. It took me three years to completely restore the bike and put it back on the road,” he states. He says his passion for vintage vehicles grew when he rode his friend’s RD 350. “I was impressed with the power and road grip of my friend’s bike and wanted to own something similar,” he says.

The Sunbeam has an unusual engine layout which is similar to that of a car, explains Satheesan. “The engine is a longitudinally mounted inline vertical OHC 500 cc make. It has a coil ignition and wet sump lubrication. It also has a cast aluminium alloy silencer and plunger rear suspension units which make it unique. The engine suspension of this model incorporates flexible mountings, torque reaction buffers and bonded rubber dampers,” he says. He points out that the bike is very stable due to a low centre of gravity.

Satheesan says that it wasn’t easy to source the parts of the Sunbeam but thanks to a few friends living in the UK and the Gulf, he has been able to import a few parts that were hard to come by in India. “Whenever I needed any missing part, I would immediately write to my friends in the UK who would oblige and bring these parts with them. I have also approached Stewart Engineering and some of the members of Sunbeam Owners Club in the UK have also helped me in getting the spares,” says Satheesan. The many manuals on old bikes that Satheesan has bought have also helped him understand the working of these bikes and quicken the process of restoration.

The 1963 BSA A50 was bought exactly three years after Satheesan restored the Sunbeam. “A lot of people wondered why I bought another bike when I already had one. I had been hunting for this model for a long time and when I finally found it, I bought it without a second thought,” he says. The unique features of the bike prompted Satheesan to buy it. “The BSA is a unit construction 500cc Parallel twin bike with a chain drive. Today, this bike is in the same condition as it was when I bought it. Of the two bikes, I prefer the Sunbeam because it is more sturdy and stable,” he reasons.

Satheesan says he finds it hard to ride new bikes since he is used to riding the Sunbeam and BSA which are heavier vehicles. “For me, riding the new bikes is like riding a cycle,” he says with a laugh.

There are a lot of youngsters who have evinced interest in owning vintage vehicles and Satheesan admires their efforts to do so but feels that it is important for them to gather as much information as possible about the vintage bikes before buying them. “Young people must have an immense amount of patience because the maintenance of old bikes involves a lot of hard work. And one must not be afraid to get one’s hands dirty,” he says.

He also advises youngsters to work on the bikes themselves rather than hand it over to the mechanic. Satheesan’s sons and wife Radha are extremely supportive of his hobby and are just as proud about the collection as he is.  

(Satheesan can be contacted on 9448718952)