This Article is written to highlight the cascade of knee-jerk reactions thrown up by our country’s Legal Machinery to the fast growing culture of Professional Motorcycle Touring in India.
I would first like to introduce myself to the reader. I am a practising criminal trial lawyer in Chennai and Motorcycle Touring is my hobby. I have covered around 30,000Kms on the saddle of my trusty Royal Enfield Himalayan 411 over the last two years and I am delightfully experiencing the joys of motorcycling, adventure and the motorcycling community.
The Term ‘Professional Motorcycle Touring’ requires an introduction to the uninitiated reader. This term applies to travel by motorcycle riders who use the public roads to travel distances while using special techniques that focus on safety and disciplined riding. This category of riders[1] are facing legal wrangles due to knee jerk reactions by our country’s legal machinery.
The Common Man and Motorcycling
There are only two instances where a common man comes into contact with a professional motorcycle tourer. One, when witnessing a professional touring or a group of such tourers on the road, being awe-struck (mostly the case) and two, witnessing or being part of an unfortunate event called “road accident” and being frightened (natural reaction for a human common or tourer alike) that involves these professional tourers in some manner. Apart from these two circumstances, the common man does not have any opportunity to come into contact with motorcycle tourers.
A keen reader would grasp that, the whole basis of Public’s perspective of The roadways is based on Fear and Survival Instinct. This fear is common to both public and professionals alike. A professional trains and learns skills to overcome this fear whereas a common man does not do so. There is very little interest for the common man to obtain skills that will reduce his fear of the tarmac.
When Fear and Skills are understood to dictate behaviour then the inability to identify “skills” results in categorizing skilled behaviour also as criminal acts.
Professional Motorcycling Down to the Middle Class
Professional Motorcycling used to be a very expensive sport out of reach for most ordinary folks. It is now just ‘expensive’ and very much in reach for most folks earning a decent livelihood. It was dominated by those who lived in the world of competitive racing when they toured the highways and the streets. However, the 2020-21 Lockdowns changed everything. Humanity at large realized the consequences of ignoring real world experiences. The old ways of making money and reputation began to be called into question on various social and cultural grounds. One of the ways the above materialized was the boom of motorcycling and touring culture.
Simultaneously exploitation of Social Media on the Internet space during the lockdowns lit the match to the explosion of motorcycling experiences. It became possible to access crucial information on motorcycling by people of all standards of living. Entire stories could be written by riders of their thrilling experiences and influence the aspiring motorcycling riders through their Vlogs. Motorcycling Communities built their portfolio on Social Media that attracted riders to a sense of tribe and community. Earlier only experts were aware of the intricacies of professional motorcycling. Now, the information, community and experiences could be accessed by anyone.
The result was a combination of cultural and material demand resulting in an explosion of hundreds of motorcycle product brands[2] in India. These brands build products to enhance the motorcycling experience while ensuring safety of the rider remains an uncompromised principle and influences the rider towards enhancement of motorcycling skills. Often these brands are curated by experienced tourers themselves. As a result, particularly, the Middle Class that suddenly found that the necessities of professional motorcycling was not going to burn their wallets and life savings.
Legal Wrangles
The Law and Motorcycling Intersect a Two Points down the Road –
One, What You Put on the Motorcycle and Two, What You Do With the Motorcycle.

1. What You Put on the Motorcycle:
This deals with the explosion of motorcycle brands referred to earlier. There are many fittings that a motorcycle rider needs to put on his vehicle in order to make it ready for multi-day, hundreds of kilometers long distance travel and that includes luggage systems, lighting systems and fuel-additives and systems that regulate efficiency. The Motor Vehicles Act,1989 and the rules framed by the states and the central government are the relevant laws for this aspect. The Law as it is in force today does not prohibit modifications as long as it does not change the “basic feature”[3] of a vehicle that is detailed in the “original specification”[4] of the manufacturer. Therefore, when the manufacturer intends motorcycles to be used for long-distance adventure style touring, provisions on the hardware is made on the motorcycle, by the manufacturer for fittings to be made by the riders. Surprisingly, descriptions of these provisions for touring systems do not form part of Form 20 of MV Act,1989! Neither is the State encouraged to make Rules to accommodate such legally permissible modifications. This is proving to be a massive problem for riders (speaking from personal experience and also learned from other riders).
Then, Is it reasonable to expect riders to stick merely to the worded specification in Form 20 and not to enjoy the motorcycle to their maximum potential? The Manufacturer and other businesses are bound to market the luggage systems and lighting systems to the rider! Are the riders expected to say no Form 20 does not allow it? That cannot be the case because time and again the courts have laid down such a rule would be an absurdity in a globalized capital-driven welfare state. On the other hand, Is it not perfectly reasonable to expect uniform enforcement of the Act and Rules across all states in India?
This is where “common man’s fear factor”[5] plays the devils’ advocate. For example, different states in India have different rules regarding external lighting. In one state, auxiliary lights are required to be totally dismantled whereas in another, only one particular color of the lights are permitted. In yet another state, there is no restriction at all. In a recent incident in a northern state, a police official apparently mistakes a brand new factory-stock adventure touring motorcycle to be a unlawfully modified one by simply listening to the loud sound by revving the throttle and seizes the motorcycle, books the rider and owner for violating the MV Act,1989 and Rules.When a culture of cross-country travel is emerging and offering much needed benefits to the economy in form of boosting tourism, entrepreneurship and self-employment, the least the State can do is not to put unwanted hurdles in the path by confusing motorcycle tourers, merely on the assumption that changes in-tune with the times would cause fear to the public.

2. What You Do With the Motorcycle:
It is in this category where law becomes much stranger than fiction. Let me highlight some incidents. A particular state in India banned the usage of ‘Action Cameras’[6] on the Helmet and the motorcycle on the ground that riders who use such cameras ride in a manner dangerous to the public. The priceless benefit that live action cameras offer[7] to the Riders who unfortunately get caught in “accidents”. The reasons cited by the authorities to ban the usage of helmet mounted cameras is downright bizarre and shows that the authorities are not updated on the latest developments in motorcycling gear. Similar is the case with Helmet Intercoms[8]. Another example would be the case of “Road Design”. A 2023 research[9] pointed out how Road Design – something that is the exclusive domain of the State is encouraging High Speed Travel on Roads, at the same time attempting to muzzle Speeds by shifting blame on to the riders, through outright prohibition of motorcycles from certain highways and more importantly expensive intrusive technological solutions such as ANPR Camera systems. The recent uproar over restriction of stickers on vehicles that declare the social identity of the driver/rider has brought out the Fear-Driven Knee Jerk reaction into focus. Most Riders adorn their motorcycle with their personal embellishments and insignia that reflects their travels and the places where their motorcycle has taken them to, often facing difficulties and hardships that are welcomed and enjoyed while handled with skill. It only reflects the growing heritage of motorcycling that manifest in unique personalities. This attitude is the hallmark of individual fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution. To curtail such fundamental rights of self-expression by half-thought knee-jerk state reaction throws up a lot of uncomfortable questions only caters to multiple fears existing in the public mind – both political and cultural fears.
However, this is not to defend that all riders are saints. There are certain rogue elements that do not have any regard for rules and road-safety and misunderstand skill with reckless behaviour. The case of the Youtube celebrity in Tamil Nadu who gained notoriety on social media is a case in point. This Celebrity without a doubt used the cultural trend of motorcycling touring to further his ambitions for publicity and performed a lot of theatrics both on and off the motorcycle for his selfish reasons. He Particularly gained notoriety by performing stunts such as “wheelies”on public roads and in one such attempt a horrific crash took place that resulted in a world renowned litre class motorcycle (cubic capacity 1000cc and above) being totally shredded to pieces. The State did not prohibit maneuvers such as “wheelies” rather resorted to paint the culture of motorcycle touring ( as publicised by this celebrity) as the villain.
The authorities then expected Riders of all kinds – commuter, skilled and reckless alike to restrain themselves from performing any kind of “maneuvers” on roads. They sought to put skilled and reckless behavior in the same basket by falling behind the “public opinion” ( another name for the fear factor in this case). This analogy was actually spelled out in a recent press release by a senior police official[10] while calling for “reckless riders” to be sent for psychological evaluation. One can imagine the damage that would be caused when skilled tourers are also subjected to such treatment it would be nothing short of injustice and However, subsequent to the initial knee-jerk reactions, there was no attempt by the state to classify specific maneuvers in public roads as dangerous. This has only resulted in Riders who are skilled and law-abiding also to face the ire of the public and the officials alike. All riding maneuvers are technically definable such as “wheelies” “cornering” “leaning into a corner” “power slide” and only some throw the public into danger when performed in public roads. It cannot be denied that, to distinguish skill from recklessness, a more educated and rational approach is required rather than simply trying to put a lid on the whole thing or denying existence and hoping the issue goes away on its own. Such an approach makes it possible to objectively distinguish reckless behavior from skills.
Before we conclude this discussion, a special paragraph is to be dedicated towards the paramount importance of any self-respecting motorcycle tourer- safety. It is pertinent to note that all professional tourers insist on side-mirrors to be mandatorily used on all trips. Curiously, there is no encouragement from the state either in the form of a ‘carrot or a stick’ as the saying goes, to ensure that side-mirrors are mandatorily present on all motorcycles plying on the roads. Situation Awareness is a key skill for any rider and side-mirrors are an invaluable tool in maintaining the awareness. The other important point to note is that professional motorcyclists insist upon the highest level of head protection which is never on the shopping list of the average commuter. Strangely, enforcement authorities often believe that the higher the protection of the helmet, the more reckless the rider is! As mentioned earlier, this is a topic of very strange fiction. Safety is the paramount importance for the professional motorcyclist. There cannot be a better person for the enforcement authorities to rely on than the professional rider when it comes to safety of the rider and the public alike[11].
The personal opinion of the author is that “skilled” motorcycling is something that must be accessible to all members of the public. As said earlier, we ain’t returning to the days of bullock-carts or horse-drawn carriages. Steel Horses are here to stay and they are getting faster and smarter too. It is high time we ensure every member of the public is made familiar with how these machines work, and how to skillfully ride them. A sincere exercise in that direction will assuage unwanted fears, and more importantly create safer roads and reduced mishaps. In The 21st Century society The public and motorcycling need a skill-based relationship and not a fear-based one.

_Article by Thiru. Ravindran Raghunathan, Advocate, Chennai.
Footnotes
[1] The word Riders and tourers are interchangeably used in this article and carry the same meaning.
[2] Motorcycle Gear Market Size & Growth [2031]
[3] https://main.sci.gov.in/supremecourt/2013/6343/6343_2013_Judgement_09-Jan-2019.pdf
[4] R. Ramasamy v. The Secretary, Ministry of Transport, Chennai & Ors. (2009) 1 Mad.LJ 1027
[5] Avishek Goenka Vs. UOI (2012) 5 SCC 321, Para 32.
[6] https://mvd.kerala.gov.in/sites/default/files/Downloads/helmet_camera_instructions.pdf
[7] Advantages of a Helmet Cam | Bicycle Transportation Cycle Accident Claims & Safety In UK
[8] Bengaluru Police to Fine Two Wheeler Riders Wearing Bluetooth Enabled Helmets – News18
[9] Better road design, not penalties the key to improving safety on Chennai roads – Citizen Matters
[10] “Police to Put Street Racers on Shrink’s Couch” published in Times of India, May 2 2024 not yet made online as on date of writing this article.
[11] https://ridecoach.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Your-First-Ride-free-book.pdf
Very impressive 👏