Neil Davidson

When you are ready to buy a motorbike, there are many options in front of you, ranging from cruisers and choppers to dirt bikes, sport bikes and touring bikes. If you are on the lookout for a high powered bike that offers top performance but is lightweight and easy to handle, then sports bikes are the best option for you.

In this day and age, when miniatures of practically everything are available, the pocket bike or the mini bike is just another miniature – of a motorcycle! Pocket bikes typically have a two stroke 49cc engine which turns the rear wheel through a chain.

Mini dirt bikes typically contain a 47cc 2-stroke engine and they are built to carry much less weight – approximately ten stone only. Mini dirt bikes can carry only 1 liter petrol and have a much smaller petrol tank. The seat height is also less as these are placed about 500mm-600mm off the ground.

They are the latest craze among riders, young and old. You can see them everywhere; parked at an empty parking lot, or some kid speeding by on one or a parent trying to teach his kid how to blast down the road with their butt just 12" above the tarmac!

Cruiser bikes, also known as beach cruisers, are wonderful machines. They are comfy and highly useful. They combine upright seating, single speed or multi speed riding and balloon tires to give riders a blast of a ride.

Women who are looking for the perfect two-wheeler to take them from point A to point B, perform some exercise, enjoy some stress free riding and benefit from the scenery around them for a while – could opt for beach bikes. These bikes can do what mountain bikes can't, Stingray bikes can't and Low rider bikes can't.

During the Great Depression, when not many people could afford to buy regular bicycles, Schwinn designed a more affordable, sturdy bike for the youth market. The bike looked a lot like a motorcycle but rode like a dream even without a motor! The heavy cantilevered frame, the wide tires and the low handles of beach bicycles looked impressive.

At a time when e-invites are ruling the roost, Indian wedding invitation cards still cling to parchment and mirror work. In fact, Indian wedding invitation cards are being reinvented and are very much in demand because they are unique, quaint and quite rare.

Marriage, regardless of the faith, is a joyous occasion – one which enfolds everyone in a circle of love. Therefore, as the harbinger of this occasion, it is only natural that wedding cards are designed in the most beautiful manner. After all, wedding invites are welcomed by invitees and most people do pay attention to the aesthetic, religious and cultural aspects of the cards, besides the message of course.

With more and more foreign tourists, among them celebrities too, opting to tie the knot the Indian way, there is a lot of curiosity about the grand Indian wedding, its customs and rituals. Here is an attempt to demystify it.