"Two Wheelers" of the Batch

By Lakshman Abeyagunawardene

When I read Speedy's comment under a different topic/post, I was inclined to write a separate piece on the "Two Wheelers" of the batch, may be because I was one of them.

I used a blue and white Honda 50 cc (registration Number 4 Sri 3856). During that period, I had only one accident which was not of a serious nature. On the day the Second MB exam results were announced, quite a few of the males in the batch assembled at the Mayfair restaurant at Bambalapitiya junction for a small celebration. I remember arriving there rather early and when we stopped at the traffic lights at Bambalapitiya Junction, a van belonging to EAP Edirisinghe's company knocked my bike from behind. I had my friend Sunna (SR De Silva) on my pillion and although nothing happened to me, Sunna was thrown over my head and landed in front. Miraculously, Sunna was not hurt except for some bruises and I was relieved to see him getting on to his feet soon after the accident. After using the Honda 50 for 5 years, I sold it to the late Kunasingham (Kunam) who unfortunately fell back and remained in med school (probably for one more year) after we graduated. I remember very well the day I closed the deal. Kunam was at Kittyakara Hostel on Campbell Place. When I went there by prior appointment, his father had come all the way from Jaffna (or wherever) with the cash for the transaction! The agreed amount was Rs 1450, not much by today's standards, but certainly a fair amount in 1967.

A few others owned Honda 50s as we used to call them. JC Fernando and Vishweshwara too had blue and white models like mine. Easwaran Kanapathipillai rode a red and white model and so did my bosom pal the late SR de Silva (Sunna) who came to own one a little later.

There were many who owned the more powerful Vespa and Lambretta scooters. Those who owned the newer Vespa models (the handle in particular was different) were: Sanath Lamabadusuriya (I think it had registration number 4 Sri 955), Mahendra Collure and the late LGDK Herath. Douglas Mulgirigama owned an older model Vespa. Rajan (Patas) Ratnesar was the other who used an older model of Vespa. 

Now for some digression as usual. I later found out that the bike used by Douglas Mulgirigama had been owned by my next door neighbour at Manning Town the late Dr. Bala Karalapillai when he was a medical student. In his university days, Bala was a member of the champion tennis team led by Rupert Ferdinands. Bala had graduated from the Colombo Medical Faculty in 1959 and qualified as an ENT Surgeon. After emigrating to Australia, he had married the famous Mathematics Professor C.J. Eliezer's daughter. Prof. Eliezer did some special work and became well known when a total solar eclipse occurred on June 30, 1954 which was clearly visible in Ceylon. Bala had passed away at an early age in Australia.

Getting back to our main topic, HN Wickramasinghe and Jimmy Wickramasinghe used Lambrettas. 
VA (Ananda) Hettiarachchi rode a powerful BSA motor cycle (or was it a Triumph?) during our Block days before he graduated to own an Opel Kapitan car later (registration number 4 Sri 210). Among the others who owned BSA motor cycles were Bertram Nanayakkara and A. Sachithananda.

Only a few us would remember Tilak Dayaratne riding an ?NSU motor bike (I am not too sure whether it was a Ducati). Then there were the riders of more fashionable newer motor cycles like the gleaming red Motor Guzzis owned by Nalin Nanayakkara and Ranjith Kariyawasam. Even with fading memories most of us would remember that KDPR Perera (Ranjith Dambawinne) too used a Motor Guzzi before he came to own the white Volkswagen Beetle. 
  

Chaos at Reid Avenue

Four of the bikes - JC's Honda 50, Bertie Nana's BSA, HN's Lambretta and Rajan's (Patas) Vespa would go down in history because of a photograph that appeared in the Sunday Times newspaper soon after that infamous Law - Medical match of March 1963 (pictured here).

As two wheelers, we were constantly exposed to the elements. Come sun or rain, it was better than wasting time standing in bus queues. We always carried a rain coat, but didn't have to wear cumbersome helmets. None of us who used this mode of transport met with any serious accidents and I survived to tell this tale!