A Motorcycle is just not a machine to travel from Place A to Place B, it is so much more than that. I received a surprise invitation from Royal Enfield to experience the flat-track at BigRock Dirtpark at Kolar as a part of their SlideSchool initiative. SlideSchool is an initiative by Royal Enfield which is geared towards professionally training the motorcycle enthusiasts to ride on different terrains, tracks, off-roading and so on. In short, it is a school which is aimed to teach you the best-things a motorcycle can do.
One has to prebook their slots on Royal Enfield SlideSchool’s official website before heading on to BigRock Dirtpark centre. Currently there are 2 track locations offered by BigRock (BigRock works in collaboration with Royal Enfield) , one in Bengaluru and the other in Kolar. Situated 5 kms away from the highway, the BigRock Kolar welcomes you with a widespread land that has multiple tracks made for different conditions (off-road, flat track etc).
If you are a motorcycle rider, sessions like Slideschool helps you learn different techniques of riding – using your motorcycle the right way, maintaining the right posture, position of your leg etc. Not only riding the right way, you will be also exposed to different tracks, terrains and riding customized motorcycle like Himalayan FT411. For sliding session, you will be asked to ride on the customized Himalayan FT411, these are flat-track bikes and looks so different and sporty – so much well made for sliding. I was surprised and it took me sometime to get used to FT411 as by default it is not equipped with front brakes on handlebar. So every single time you have to control the pace of the motorcycle / or want to stop it you have to use the leg brakes and the tyres are so different.
Once i got used to this custom bike, it was a really fun experience to ride and slide. The Slide school instructor Mr Bheema, helped us with different techniques that are used to slide. Even before we started sliding, we got clear instructions to warm-up, how to ride, what to do and what not to do etc. In my case, I did lot of mistakes in holding the throttle, misplacing my legs on leg brake, riding posture etc. Got professional tips and instructions to work on it.
The fun part begins when you take your leg out and anticipate for the corners to slide. It all happens automagically, your body and motorcycle starts to blend with the corners of flat-track. It is a must-try thing if you are a biker, you would explore the unexplored. It is not a very tiring experience, it is more of a fun and adventurous experience – so a very safe place to get started.
There are different levels of training given – for beginners, intermediate, advanced etc and there many tracks. I also noticed many biking groups from Triumph, BMW Motorrad etc taking part here and different age-groups are allowed as well (including kids). It is a pretty well-maintained facility with a strict enforcement on COVID rules. The day ended with lot of take-aways and urge to do more sliding and explore the adventure part of motorcycle.
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