Panegyric to Rita the Rickshaw Part 2

Thanks for waiting guys. I hope you enjoyed the first instalment of my epic poem, but now prepare yourselves for the second one!
This one's even got a splendid picture to add a bit of spice and colour to proceedings!

With handy tips so we wouldn’t crash

Were we advised by Wise Vikash.

“Here’s the throttle, the clutch and the brake.

“Press down on it hard if you make a mistake.

“Here are the wipers, the headlights, the choke.

“And please don’t forget the oil that’s two stroke!

“Here is the horn. It’s your very best friend!

“You’ll have worn it out before the end!”

We took you out for our very first drive

And were so relieved that we got back alive!

We drove you in first gear, then second, then third

Your steering was manageable, your engine purred.

Well, not purred exactly, more clattered and sputtered

Making noises that we had never heard uttered. 

And Jaisalmer seemed a very long way

When we tipped you on the very first day.

When we stopped and stalled I was sad at heart

For it seemed only I could get you to start.

We had a big party on the eve of our quest.

Adventurist-in-Chief, Matt Dickens, addressed

Us and told us not to have any fears.

We’d be telling people about this for years and for years.

The following day, hungover and scared

We drove to the start line and stood, unprepared

For the trials that awaited us, nine hundred and nine,

Before we would cross that last finish line.

The convoy set out, sixty-nine rickshaws strong.

When trouble first hit, we’d just left Shillong.

A few miles from the city two tuks overturned

Their windshields were shattered and we were concerned

That they couldn’t continue, that their trip was now ended

These cheerful brave fellows whom we had befriended.

But all carried on, even those who had crashed

And through potholes and dirt tracks our engines we thrashed.