Returning to its home base in Goa for a roaring 11th edition, India Bike Week (IBW) 2024 is an annual biking festival that brings together Indian and local biking communities. In conversation with ItsGoa, Martin da Costa, CEO of 70 EMG, founder, and festival director of IBW, shares insights on the benefits the Asia’s premier biking event brings to Goa and the Indian biking community, what the 11th edition has in store for festival goers, and shares his vision for IBW.
How does India Bike Week (IBW) reflect your passion for motorcycling?
Martin da Costa: Pretty much all of us at the IBW Team are avid and passionate bikers. I’ve been riding bikes in India since 1995 – I still have my 1983 Enfield Bullet. It’s been joined more recently by the Triumph Tiger 1200 Rally Pro, another great bike. There’s not too much of India I haven’t ridden through on those bikes.
What was your biggest challenge in creating a platform like IBW for bikers in India?
Martin da Costa: We’ve never really felt challenged at any point while building the colossus that has become India Bike Week. Every year is built on the foundations of the year before. The crowds have gotten bigger, the Festival has tripled in size, and more young guys and girls have bought their first bikes and ridden out for an adventure. The bike manufacturers and all our partners on the project have worked with us to build India’s biking culture and one of the world’s greatest bike festivals. It’s mostly been a joy.
What’s new or different about IBW 2024 compared to previous editions?
Martin da Costa: Size and scale, of course! IBW is bigger than ever. We’ve invested enormous amounts of time and money into making racing an integral part of IBW. The festival should be the place to use your bike to its fullest. This year’s new highlight is the ‘IBW Flat Track Race’ with the highest-ever total prize money of INR. 1 million in partnership with Harley-Davidson. This is a one-make race featuring Harley-Davidson X440 motorcycles custom-built by Rajputana Customs. The race is affiliated with the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) and will follow all the rules and safety regulations under FMSCI scrutiny. Alongside that are five other racetracks. Gulf Oil will showcase an adrenaline-pumping FMX show, featuring jaw-dropping stunts that promise to leave the audience breathless. As part of the vibrant Club Village, IBW will feature the Best of Clubs — the best stories and most powerful bikes among them, set by the Gulf Syntrac Dyno timings from Race Dynamics, King & Queen of Moto Fashion, Biker Dance-Off and Club Parades. And of course, a stellar music lineup, the Big Forkers Barbecue Festival and so much more.
The Big Trip Expo is a major highlight this year. How do you think it will empower Indian riders?
Martin da Costa: The Big Trip Tents, Exhibition and Village are where young Indian riders come to learn how to cross India and the world on two wheels. It speaks to the spirit and confidence of young India as it spreads its adventurous wings. We’re pretty unique that way — there’s no other place and time in the country where you’ll meet legends of overland (extended periods of off-road biking) like Elspeth Beard – the first British woman to circumnavigate the world on a bike in 1982, and many others. Over the years, the Big Trip has inspired thousands of Indian riders to follow their dreams abroad.
How has IBW influenced biking culture in India since its inception?
Martin da Costa: I think that IBW has been fundamental in pushing the idea of adventure, independence and fun on two wheels in India — not just through India Bike Week but also through the thousands of bikers we have ridden with in over 20 cities across India as part of our ‘Chai & Pakoda’ rides every year. IBW has only ever had one rule, and we don’t care whether you’re on a scooter or a 1600cc cruiser bike — if you’re a biker, you’re one of us. And that inclusivity has helped thousands of young Indian bikers take to two-wheelers and ride out in search of adventure.
What role do you think events like IBW play in promoting safe and responsible riding?
Martin da Costa: We’ve got a second rule that we all promote and adhere to as well — ‘All the Gear, All the Time’. We’re constantly working with police forces and the government on our ‘Chai & Pakoda’ rides as well as in Goa, to promote the use of helmets and riding safety gear, and teach riders how to negotiate the roads of India safely. It’s a process of engagement we have been working on for over a decade.
Do you see IBW as more than just a biking festival — maybe a cultural movement?
Martin da Costa: IBW is a cultural movement. You’ll see at the festival thousands of riders of all sizes, ages, boys and girls, men and women, all of whom have come to celebrate their great passion, and many of whom have come to IBW every year since 2013. Increasingly we’re seeing people who have never even thought about riding a bike come to IBW just to be part of that energy and joy, with the inevitable result that they, too, join the tribe.
What’s your most memorable moment from past editions of IBW?
Martin da Costa: We have met so many amazing people over the years, and witnessed so many amazing musical performances on the main stage and new bikes launched. But, perhaps the most important edition of IBW was the one immediately after the pandemic’s end in December 2021. Over 3,500 riders, abiding by stringent COVID rules set for everyone’s safety, joined us to celebrate better times ahead. It was a weekend none of us will ever forget.
What was the vision behind IBW? How did the idea come about and how did the program start?
Martin da Costa: IBW started in conversations amongst all of us at 70 EMG, back in 2010, as an event we would all love to attend. Fast-forward to 2012, at a whiskey and cigar bar New Delhi, where Anoop Prakash, then head of Harley Davidson India, and I were having a relaxed evening. Anoop suddenly said, “Call it ‘India Bike Week’ and count us in,” and that was that. IBW was born and we’ve never looked back.
How do you envision IBW evolving in the next decade?
Martin da Costa: It’s only going to get bigger. More riders, manufacturers, and racing in bigger venues. We foresee electric bikes and scooters taking up more space at the festival. We might even travel around the country a bit with the Festival, but always coming back to Goa as our home base. But whatever we decide to do with IBW, it will always be the same enormous amount of fun and a place where we’ll be meeting the very best of our friends and partners.
Over the past decade, have you seen an increase in biker participation? Can youquantify the same?
Martin da Costa: The inflection point arrived around two or three years back with the launch of Triumph’s 400CC bikes and Harley Davidson’s XC440s. They coincided with Enfield’s dramatic expansion of their own line-up and introduced hundreds of thousands of new riders to excellent big-bore bikes at a reasonable price point. We could see the immediate uptick in registrations at IBW and the almost exponential growth of bikers riding down to the festival.
Do you have a personal favourite bike or riding destination? Why?
Martin da Costa: Well, I’m 55 now, so the very relaxed seating position of a good adventure bike seems to suit me best these days. And I am a sucker for the inline triple that Triumph manufactures — I’ve been enjoying my Tiger 1200 Rally Pro immensely since I got it some years back. But then again, one of my partners and a fellow Founder of IBW, Darayash Gocal, has ridden a frankly terrifyingly fast Hyabusa sports bike down to Goa these last two years and he loves that. So, to each his own, I suppose. In terms of destinations –- Madhya Pradesh and the deserts of Rajasthan were amazing. The coast of Maharashtra and Goa from Alibaugh to Panjim is always a blast. I’m looking forward to riding through Karnataka down the coast and across Bangalore after IBW this year.
How do you think IBW adds to Goa’s tourism and economy?
Martin da Costa: Around 30,000 to 40,000 riders from across India and the world in Goa for four to five days every year bring a massive boost to Goa’s local economy. Not to mention the advertising and marketing benefits of pushing Goa as a riding destination to the global tourism market. During IBW the hotels are full, restaurants are booked solid, and everyone benefits.
What can be done in Goa to develop it as a destination for motorsports?
Martin da Costa: For a start, build a world-class track here. Second, create a venue for festivals like India Bike Week. Third, make the licensing and government permissions process transparent, accountable and predictable. Do the third and either or both of the first two things — and motorsports in Goa will dominate the future. The 2024 edition of IBW is scheduled for 6th and 7th December 2024 in
Vagator, Goa.
