Armenia

Samuel, Marmarashen, Ararat Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006

As many of you might have guessed from the previous post, yesterday I went on the back of a bike to Marmarashen in the Ararat region of Armenia to meet some more members of the Hayastan chapter of the Hye Riders Motorcycle Club (MCC). Who would have thought that there’d effectively be a custom motorcycle workshop 20 minutes outside of Yerevan?

Anyway, Samuel, his brother Vahan and friend Tigran seem to be doing a great job in creating some beautiful looking bikes, including one for an Australian-Armenian photographer complete with bracket on the front so that a camera can be attached to photograph his journeys when he next returns to Armenia.

I briefly interviewed Samuel and Tigran on their love for motorcycles and customizing bikes.

Onnik Krikorian: How long have you been riding bikes?

Samuel Karapetyan: I’ve been riding for 20 years.

OK: Why?

SK: Because every youngster dreams of a motorcycle. When any child sees an adult riding a bike, they dream of having one themselves. So it was one of my dreams too, and it came true in 1987. Then I went to the army, and when I came back I started to ride on a regular basis. Now I can’t imagine how I could live without one. I feel sick if I don’t ride a motorcycle for a few days.

OK: How did you start making custom bikes?

SK: When I first started riding bikes I was a beginner, and when things started breaking I had to take them to someone else to be repaired. As they didn’t fix them well it made sense to understand how to repair my motorcycle myself, and I told others the. If they don’t want to fix the bikes themselves, then at least go to a professional, but they should also know how their motorcycle works.

Slowly, I started to make sense of everything myself. Then I was introduced to someone from a nearby village who’s still my friend today. Back in the Soviet era, however, he was the chief mechanic of the Artashat district branch of the Motorcycle Owners Association of the Soviet Union. He taught me a lot, and slowly from engine to frame, and from gears to brake systems, we started to build our own custom motorcycles.

The red bike was the first motorcycle I completely built from scratch by myself, and I can tell you how it was built. I was riding an old Soviet motorcycle, and guys were making fun out of me for riding that bike. I told them not to make me angry or I will build such a motorcycle that will be better than any that they had. The guys said “yeah, right. You won‘t be able to do that.” My response to them was “of course, I can,” and I went home and started thinking how I was going to make it.

I flicked through several magazines to take ideas from each motorcycle I liked, and the next day started on it. In one month I had the frame that was welded from bits taken from other motorcycles, and the following month I had the rear wheel. This was three years ago, and the bike took me 10 months to build. As I was building the bike, though, the guys were dropping by my place and to give their “opinions” and “suggestions.”

One said it was too long and looked like a submarine, another said the wheels were too small, and Misha said the engine was too off center and it would steer in one direction because of this. I said, that’s fine. Remember your words later. I will continue to build it and will finish it, and then you can all ride it. If you discover that there are problems then, I’ll fix it.

So, on the day I finished the bike I brought it to the guys. They congratulated me, and I told Misha that as he said the engine was situated off center, he could take it out to ride to see if it steered to the right. Of course, the bike rode normally, and I’ll never forget the look on his face. Basically they were all jealous of me building a custom bike.

OK: Now you build bikes for other people. Who are your customers?

SK: It depends, but until today, 90 percent of work has been done for our friends.

OK: How many bikes have you built?

SK: I’ve lost count. Lots.

OK: The bikes are using motorcycle or car engines?

SK: Mainly old Soviet motorcycle engines. We’re using whatever we have, but if we were to have the possibilities and parts available outside of Armenia, what we’d be able to do… When they’re building a custom bike abroad they’re taking a stock frame, stock, engine, stock wheels, stock rims and they’re painting it a different color, doing some minor modifications, and calling it custom. If we had their tools and opportunities we could produce bikes of a far higher quality that theirs. We can’t order those parts or engines because they’re too expensive.

OK: What sort of prices are we talking about for your custom bikes?

SK: The cheapest is about $1,500. A motorcycle like mine would start from about $2,500. That’s the price that people are willing or able to afford here in Armenia.

OK: Yet, in the past year we’ve had the first motorcycle dealership opening up on Abovyan Street. The factory-model bikes range from $15-20,000.

SK: The people that buy those bikes are not like us. They’re posh people far removed from motorcycles. It’s just like fashion for them. They simply want people to see that they have a new motorcycle parked alongside the [expensive] cars that they also own.

OK: Yet the roads are terrible in many parts of Yerevan and Armenia for such bikes. Here the roads are also quite bad. Do you have problems riding your bike?

SK: Everyone knows how to ride their own motorcycle, and if you’re familiar enough with the road to know where every pothole and manhole cover is, it’s ok. Riders also know the negative or weak parts of their bikes as well so it’s a matter of being careful.

OK: Do those people that know you now pay more attention to bikes on the roads when they drive their cars? On the way here I was actually paying attention to the marshrutka (minibus) drivers. None are using their side mirrors.

SK: These drivers are kamikazes! This is why we always keep our lights on high beam and using brighter colors for our bikes so that drivers have a better chance of noticing us. This is something negative about Armenia compare to the West. Motorcycles are not only not noticed here, but they’re also not respected.

OK: It’s a little bit the same in the West although I’d say that in England we had public service announcements to warn car drivers to be especially observant when looking in their mirrors. The slogan was “think once, think twice, think bike…” However, on the way here today, could only hope that one day car drivers in Armenia would be able to think at all.

SK: There are some experienced drivers here who are observant and respectful to bikes.

OK: You belong to the Hye Riders MCC?

SK: Yes, I’ve been a member since the start.

OK: What does belonging to the group mean for you?

SK: First of all it’s pride because you’re wearing the colors of the club. You feel proud that you’re a Hye Rider, and you feel proud because there are Armenians in America who are active and you are among them. That’s the feeling that I have. I also hope that Hye Riders [in the United States] can help us develop motorcycling here in Armenia.

OK: Do you consider yourself a “biker?”

SK: No doubt about it, and not least since there is probably no other region in Armenia, let alone person, with more motorcycles than I have at home. Of course, there are some people in the villages and in Yerevan who are really good riders, but their bikes are only used for commuting. I can see from the way they look at us when we’re riding our choppers in a group they feel they are missing something. If they had time and a chopper, I’m sure they’d gladly join us.

On the other hand, the bad thing is that while Yerevan is slowly developing as more people see foreign bikes on the roads, if you ask people in the villages what the best motorcycle is in the world, they’d name you an old Soviet bike. So, we’re trying to introduce them to the fact that motorcycling can be better. We’re trying to show them that there are better motorcycles in the world. In Marmarashen, for example, half of the village are pretty familiar with this.

And while in the past, parents wouldn’t let their children even look at a bike, they now don’t object if a kid wants to get a motorcycle. If years ago, parents were forbidding their children to ride a bike, now they’re just telling them to be careful. Slowly things are changing and people are understanding that a motorcycle is not a bad thing.

The main difference between a bike and car is simply that one has two wheels and the other has four. Regardless of whether you ride a bike or drive a car, if you’re not careful you’re going to have an accident.

Of course, when the police see a group of bikers together they think we’re violent or something. Maybe 80 percent of people in Armenia have this stereotype in their minds, but when they talk to, and get to know, us, they change their opinion. However, it will take a lot of time to change these perceptions.

Samuel, Marmarashen, Ararat Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006

Anyway, still more to do on this story until its complete, and not least write up Wednesday’s interview with Norik Matirosian, head of the Hye Rider’s Armenian Chapter. Should be a great story so thanks once again to Areg from Blogster for arranging all of this.

Tigran, Marmarashen, Ararat Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006

Tigran, Marmarashen, Ararat Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006

This entry was posted on Friday, May 19th, 2006 at 6:00 am and is filed under Bikers, Transport, Caucasus, Armenia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.