IN RETROSPECT

What exactly does a difference of three decades look like?

- Keshav Teiva Poumai

Nostalgia is one of the stronger feelings in the assortment of human emotions, and for good reason, too. A longing feeling for the past when things seemed better, easier, and more fun. But is it, actually? Or are the good ol’ days just a romanticisation of simpler times meant to ease the discomfort of change? I am nostalgic about a number of things, the bulk of which I shall not bore you with, but the one thing that I really feel strongly about is old motorcycles. That does not immediately imply that I loathe all things new and shiny; I just prefer the classy old stuff. It is just the way my brain is wired.

To help give you a clearer picture, I decided to take the Yamaha YZF-R3 and see how it measured up against the iconic Yamaha TZR250. Three decades should be a good enough time period for nostalgia to sit and estate ri ht n a the first thing that went through my mind when I saw the two machines in the same frame was how stunning the TZR250 looked. It might be possible to lose sight of the R3 in a crowd, but not the TZR; it is too beautiful to even take your eyes off. What makes it even more special is the fact that this is the parallel twin reverse-cylinder version with an upside-down fork!