On the wheels of the Vampire

Brothers Jomy and Joffy Joseph restore old bikes and have a vintage collection

November 13, 2014 07:04 pm | Updated 07:05 pm IST - Kochi

Jomy and Joffy Joseph with some of their restored vehicles

Jomy and Joffy Joseph with some of their restored vehicles

Looking at the shiny motorcycles parked in the yard of Jomy Joseph’s house in Kathrikkadavu, it’s hard to distinguish between the warring feelings of nostalgia and appreciation. A twin cylinder Jawa 350, 1986 and ’87 Rajdoot-Yamaha RD 350s and two Yezdi Roadkings, reminders of an age gone by, sit there proudly. But unlike the blackened, oil smeared, wheezing few still bravely plying our roads, these look even better than their original forms.

Jomy and his brother Joffy run an automobile electrical shop near North Railway station, as did their father and grandfather before them. But it is not just the shop the brothers inherited from their father, but also a passion for automobiles and an uncanny flair for restoring them.

“Our father loved vehicles and used to take us on rides when we were young,” recalls Jomy, as Joffy pulls up some old images on his phone of their father and younger versions of themselves posing with a number of yesteryear vehicles.

“He bought me an ’87 Roadking in 1996, which I eventually sold. But when Joffy and I got into restoring vehicles, we tracked down all the vehicles that left our family and bought them back, including the Roadking,” says Jomy with barely concealed pride.

Proud he has reason to be, because the very same motorcycle is among the ones sitting in the yard, modified with a glider sourced cylinder and expansion chamber, a custom exhaust fabricated by the duo, and the front disc assembly from a Yamaha FZ. Decked out in green paint, with fat tyres and a damper to control the vibration levels, the motorcycle is an imposing presence, classic, yet modern.

“We started restoring vehicles in earnest ten years ago, but we had the good sense to buy lots of motorcycles back in the 90s when they cost anywhere between Rs. 5,000 to 7,000, along with enough spares to last us some time. Then people thought we were mad, but now getting your hands on even one of these is hard,” Jomy says, referring to the many vehicles they have collected and stored away for future restoration. The brothers love collecting things, and conversation is peppered with little anecdotes. Joffy pulls up more pictures: their grandfather standing next to a ’47 Hudson Commodore 8 and the brothers in a Chevrolet Bel Air convertible which they drove down from Bengaluru. They even purchased the horn from a dredger that sunk off Mattancherry, just for the sake of it.

All their restored vehicles have ‘Vampire’ written on the bodywork in a simple stylised font. “Back in my father’s day, everyone would work on their vehicles and give them a name. There were others like ‘Venom’, for example. So we chose to continue the tradition. Once, when I went to Edappally church with a ’62 Volkswagen Beetle, the priest asked me what the word meant, but I didn’t have the heart to tell him,” laughs Jomy.

Despite having a sizable collection of vehicles to work on and restore to glory, the brothers have no intention of putting the motorcycles on permanent display or selling them. “This is our passion and we manage to find time for it despite our commitments at the shop. Our joy comes from rebuilding and maintaining them, and going for rides on them,” says Jomy, who started the first registered RD 350 club in Kochi.

What they do is not for everyone though. “Many people nowadays buy old vehicles for exorbitant prices and attempt to restore them, but don’t have the time or patience. It requires a lot of dedication, each vehicle takes us around three months to modify and we don’t take help from anyone else,” says Joffy.

The brothers are happy in their own world fuelled by the love for vehicles. A little restoration in the mornings and evenings, handling customers at their shop, and going on rides during their free time is all they want to do. “We occasionally help people procure vehicles but we don’t have time to work on other people’s vehicles. All we want is to continue as we do now. It’s a good thing our families are supportive,” says Jomy, indicating their daughters, who already seem poised to continue the family tradition, referring to the vehicles as mol and demanding rides from their indulging fathers.

With mopeds, scooters, motorcycles, and even the occasional car or two awaiting their turn under the skilful hands of the duo, the streets of the city may soon witness small slices of history again. Not blackened and oil smeared this time, but shiny and proud.

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