In a grand ceremony, Indian elevator manufacturing giant Johnson Lifts Private Limited launched its all new series of path-breaking, first-of-its-kind elevators, for the extremely high pillion seats of Indian sports bikes like the Yamaha YZF R3, Bajaj KTM RC 390, Kawasaki Ninja 300, Benelli TNT 300 and so on.

The new elevators would facilitate easy seating of pillion riders on the pillion seats of the bikes. “It was about time someone did something about those insanely high seats and Johnson is proud to be the first to introduce something like this. With this invention, we’ve literally scaled new heights,” exclaimed a delighted MD John Kongalath John. “For a while now, we’ve seen all these Indian sports bikes where the driver has to bend up to as much as 30 degrees while driving. More notable in these bikes is the pillion seat. Climbing on to it is almost like climbing on top of an elephant for a ride, without the elephant bending – certainly not everyone’s cup of tea. I immediately sensed huge opportunity there and our design team quickly came up with a solution for a pillion seat lift. It’s so easy now, all one has to do is stand in the lift, press the button and it’ll rise up one floor to the pillion seat. We’ve fully tested our pillion lift and even your grandparents can now sit comfortably at the top,” John added.

Rival international corporations like Schindler and Otis have expressed deep disappointment over the missed opportunity. “I’m very disappointed. The folks at Johnson, being in India, sensed the market mood and requirement much sooner than we did. This was something we should’ve pounced on and exploited to the hilt. Nevertheless, we’ll come up with something better, for sure! Watch out, Johnson!” said chairman Alfred Schindler. PM Modi lauded Johnson’s innovation, hailing it as a remarkable achievement of the “Make In India” initiative.

The first customer to get the lift on his superbike was Delhi lad Balle Tinu Jassi, who proudly took his aged grandma for a ride. “She was so delighted as long as she was in the pillion lift, but she did feel a little uncomfortable once she hopped on to the seat. First of all, she has a fear of heights and she did complain about feeling a bit cold, due to loss of temperature in high altitude. These apart, she had to bend down many a time to avoid banging her head against tree branches, over bridges or random crows and drones,” Jassi explained.

In related news, India’s super-bikes with their riders and elevated pillion riders have inspired ace director Mani Ratnam to come up with a contemporary version of India’s Vikram Betaal folk tale, making it his third movie in this genre, after Thalapathi and Raavanan.