Have you taken a rat around for a ride? I did

Yeah strange as it may sound, I did take a rat around for a ride on my bike.

For many days right below the seat of my bike I would find bits of foam that is used in the seat lying on the ground. Initially I ignored it thinking that it must be some waste come in from somewhere. It was only later did I realize what it was & where it had come from.

On a particular day I took the bike out as usual & went about wherever I had to go. The bike started properly & rode properly as well. Then sometime in the afternoon I parked the bike somewhere and went to a shop to check something. The problem started once I got back. The bike wouldn’t start. I generally make an attempt to remain calm when the bike doesn’t start, especially at traffic junctions where bikes generally have a tendency to go off, as if saying I am tired I can’t ride anymore. I checked if the bike was switched on, then confirmed if I hadn’t accidently switched off the up/down button that is there on the right side of the handle bar. That was also fine. So I patiently kicked thinking it would start. But No, no such luck.

Eventually I had to push the bike home & after parking it near the gate I began to feel really angry about it because I wasn’t able to figure out what could be wrong. The nearby bike mechanic was shut that day. And for some reason I thought I should get this checked at the service center which I frequent. That was a fine idea but the only downside to it was I would have to push the bike for a good 2 – 3 Kms and to make matters worse for a small stretch the road is fairly steep.

That evening my brother in law came visiting & during conversations I happened to mention that the bike was not starting. He offered to take a look. He too tried different things but nothing worked. After coffee he suggested that we push the bike down to some mechanic shop & get it checked. I reluctantly agreed. Luckily not far from home there was a mechanic sitting outside his shop. We explained the problem to him. He first tried to start the bike but it wouldn’t relent. Then slowly one by one he began to unscrew the screws & loosen the nuts. As he removed one part after another both my brother in law & I looked & wondered how each of those parts make up the bike. Finally when he removed the seat, came the surprise & the shock. A rat jumped out of it. It was nice & big. I remember I only managed to jump on to a raised platform nearby & got down only when it had managed to run away. The mechanic now knew what the problem could be. The rat had eaten into the wires that run beneath the seat & this was causing the bike not to start. He removed one box like thing & showed us how the rat had chewed into the wires.

While the mechanic was fitting in a replacement, I was only wondering. God knows for many days the rat had been there inside. And God knows where all I had taken him. Just imagine the little big thing sitting right under the seat, constantly munching on to the wires, the basic life line of the bike. Or just imagine what if the rat got tired of the wires & decided to chew up the seat & work its way up to the top of the seat….God!!! what an escape.