If you have been reading Motoring World for a while, then by now you must be familiar with the name Yogi Chhabria. Master restorer, motorcycle builder, and rider extraordinaire, Yogi is nothing short of a magician in terms of the work that he does in his shop, YC Design, which, for a little while, has been churning out resto-modded Yamaha RX scramblers, along with the multiple vintage motorcycles and customised dirt bikes that are a regular occurrence. On weekends, though, he can be found tearing up new tracks with his friends on their dirt bikes. If you ever come across their group and you see a guy riding like a bat out of hell, sporting the most colourful off-road kit you have seen, then that is probably him. There is no point in having a colourful personality if others can’t spot you from a mile away, am I right? But like everything else in this world, there is more to him than meets the eye.
“There’s always a price to pay for freedom. I have paid my dues in full.”
Having had to shoulder financial responsibilities at a very young age, Yogi was thrust headfirst into the corporate rat race. Looking at him now, you would not be able to make out that this jovial, fun-loving character who lives and breathes motorcycles once used to slog away behind a desk in a cubicle somewhere amidst hundreds of others at a dead-end job. But with quite a bit of hard work and determination over a period of fourteen years, he held fast and plodded on until one day he realised that the burdens he was shouldering had finally been cut loose and were no longer weighing him down. With that realisation came the urge to do something that his heart truly longed for, something that coincided with his love for the two-wheeled kind.
But first, for something to start, something else must end. He decided to quit his job, and when he revealed those intentions to his near and dear ones, he was met with a lot of the usual reactions. His brother did something along the lines of stating that he was off his rocker to think of quitting a well-paying job just to pursue a fantasy. His partner, on the other hand, was as supportive of it as she could be and reassured him that if he was sure of what he wanted, he should go ahead and do it. That was all the validation that he needed to finally break free and begin his journey against the flow of the current. But what exactly could he do that would satisfy his craving for fulfilment?
The answer was obviously to start modifying and restoring motorcycles, the first of which was a project for a friend. Soon after, there was another project, followed by another, and then one more. You see where I’m getting with this? This was the birth of YC Design, and everything from then on out is history.
“My perception of freedom has always changed every step of the way.”
Yogi was already riding motorcycles and scooters by the time he was a teenager, oftentimes ‘borrowing’ a neighbour’s two-wheeler for a joyride when he saw the chance. It was the perfect manifestation of freedom for a youngster at that point in life. Not a care in the world and blissfully unaware of the consequences. What wouldn’t we all give to feel that way again? But soon enough, responsibilities caught up to him, and he was forced to grow up before his time.
By the time he started YC Design, his take on freedom had just changed. He had defined it as the ability to chase a passion and do what the heart wants. The workshop was his key to freedom as he knew it, and he utilised it generously. It was only a short time before he started working with clients from around the world. People now come from all over with their motorcycles so that Yogi may work his magic on them, with people even making extensive detours to come and meet him, like one guy who was flying back to Kerala from Dubai but made enough time for a layover in Mumbai to seal the deal on a motorcycle from YC Design.
The best part of the job, according to Yogi, is when he gets to interact with various kinds of people as they conceptualise a project for him to bring to life. That, along with the actual process of building a bike, because there is more to it than just putting together an engine on a frame with two wheels. Every motorcycle that exits the shop door is a work of art that he takes great pride in. I’ll vouch for that, having seen and, most importantly, ridden quite a few of the motorcycles that have been built or restored by him. As expressed by Yogi, there have been instances where he has passed on working on a project before, the reason being that he could not see something great coming out of it. That is a valid point, because good art is only possible if the artist has a free hand in its creation.
“The freedom I enjoy today is possible because of the support system I have put together over the years.”
Of late, Yogi still spends most of his time at the workshop, but he has also found that he enjoys heading out on adventures and penning them down for us to read. That is, apart from heading out with his friends to hit the trails religiously every weekend. I have accompanied them a few times, and let me say, if you think that this guy has any plans of slowing down as he gets older, you couldn’t be more wrong. He has more energy than a teenager and is capable of running circles around the best of us with an arm tied behind his back. That is with all his battle scars and broken bones in tow, too.
Speaking about what it is that is so enticing to him about getting on a dirt bike and kicking up mud, Yogi explained that this is him living the childhood he always wanted, especially now that he could afford it, and also because he has managed to build an ecosystem at the workshop that he doesn’t have to be at the helm of all the time. This doesn’t mean that he wants to get away from his work; it just helps to find the balance needed to juggle everything that he likes to do on a regular basis. Now, if that isn’t the ideal example of freedom, I really wouldn’t know what is.
