His love for motorbikes started at a very young age. His fascination soon grew into passion, and he bought and collected a sizeable number of vintage as well as superbikes. But it pained him that they were all sitting in a warehouse. Combining his passion and his need to display his collectors’ items made the 47-year-old Saurabh Jyoti open the first of its kind motorbike museum in Kathmandu.

Called SJ Moto, the motorbike museum – which has a caped crusader theme - pays tribute to the transportation of choice of most Nepalis.

It is not surprising that he developed a lifelong infatuation for motorbikes as he literally grew up with them as his family is the authorised distributor for Honda motorcycles in Nepal.

It was at the age of 16 years that his love affair began, and it was with a Honda NX250 Dominator.

“I had my nose stuck to the showroom window for a week. My parents refused to buy it but my grandfather gifted it to me,” he was quoted by the Nepali Times.

After coming back to Nepal from Bangalore, in India, Jyoti started visiting garages for old rundown machines and started restoring them. Over a period of time, he was able to add to his collection – both vintage as well as superbikes – and which are now all on display at the museum.

The museum also has some of the latest superbikes from Ducati to Hayabusa that are for sale and can cost up to Rs. 6 million.

Jyoti holds a 1969 Honda Dac 70cc as one of his favourites.

“My dad used to ride this to Padma Kanya to see my mother.. But while I was in college, he sold it to one of the engineers. I bought the bike back and restored it,” he said proudly.

His other favourites are an Indian Rajdoot, a two-stroke Yamaha motorcycle that he rode during his time in Bangalore in India.

“Because we do not have a proper mass transit system in the country, motorcycles serve as the main mode of transport and they are better suited for the poor road conditions,” Jyoti was quoted by the newspaper.

The gallery’s motorcycle displays are interspersed with superhero themes from Jyoti’s collection: Black Panther helmets, a bike painted in Spiderman web, even a life-size Deadpool figure, Transformer autobots and characters, and Ironman’s heart and Batmobiles.

The gallery’s cafe is also comic character-inspired with wonder chocolate and superman muffins.

“SJ Moto is a free gallery where I share my enjoyment of bikes, a happy place to inspire people to dream big while maintaining the inner child. The only thing mandatory here is a mask and a smile,” added Jyoti.

Next in line for SJ Moto is to be an authorised Marvel and DC merchandise and collectibles distributor. They are now planning to soon-to-be-added vintage German NSU Fox in its collection.