The Royal Enfield Trials

So last year Royal Enfield launched a new varient of the Bullet 500 and 350 the Trials edition. The bike was more or less just a nod to the past with some edits to the the existing Bullet into a trails edition very much like the bike Johnny Brittain rode to victory back in the day. 

The fun part of the launch was that Royal Enfield brought down an actual Trails rider to teach us how to enjoy the sport. They put together a small course with three stages and we rode it and competed against each other. 

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Getting all the important bits of Trials motorcycling.

A post shared by Vir Nakai (@virnakai) on May 6, 2019 at 8:16pm PDT

Stage 1

The stages were not long but they are full of all sorts of fun bits and bobs. Stage 1 it had a tricky last sandy turn which I totally botched up coming into and I thought I would stall the bike (you can hear the engine in the video I almost killed the engine). That’s the worst a stall is 5 points and that is just a nono. I ended putting my foot down at one spot because I felt I would end up dropping the bike (also 5 points) and ended up snagging one point for it. 

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Three stages has been marked out for us to ride and test out mettle. The stages are not long but they are full of all sorts of fun bits and bobs. This was stage 1 it had a tricky last sandy turn which I totally botched up coming into and I thought I would stall the bike. That’s the worst a stall is 5 points and that is just a nono. I ended putting my foot down at one spot because I felt I would end up dropping the bike (also 5 points) and ended up snagging one point for it. Well watch and see for your self.

A post shared by Vir Nakai (@virnakai) on Mar 27, 2019 at 9:50pm PDT

Stage 2
Stage two was the toughie. I got to see many many people go up and not make it up without a dab or make it up at all. It was uphill and one side was sandy and not so steep while the other side was more firm but steeper and more packed. By the time I had my go most of the other teams had torn up the field but no one had made it to the top without without gaining a point or five. Until I got my turn and it seemed I found the line eveyone had been looking for all morning. 

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Stage two was the toughie . It was uphill and one side was sandy and not so steep while the other side was more firm but steeper and more packed. By the time I had my go most of the other teams had torn up the field but no one had made it to the top without without gaining a point or five. The rest is here to see

A post shared by Vir Nakai (@virnakai) on Mar 27, 2019 at 11:34pm PDT

Stage 3
Stage 3 was longer with elevation changes and clayey muddy green bits. There was a moment before the descend I felt my leg was going to go down but I made it through in one piece without picking up points.

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Stage 3 was longer with elevation changes and clayey muddy green bits. There was a moment before the descend I felt my leg was going to go down but I made it through in one piece without picking up points. Later today I shall stitch all the stages in one and put it up on IGTV with the added bits of the time trial and the hill climb in it.

A post shared by Vir Nakai (@virnakai) on Mar 28, 2019 at 1:52am PDT

Stage 4
Stage 4 was just a race around a track for the best time. 

 

Such a fun way to spend a day playing with a motorcycle. Royal Enfield really has learned how to host fun events for the launch of their motorcycles. 

What was the icing on the cake was it turned out that Royal Enfield was actually taking down all the points and all us media monkeys were competing with each other and there was a trophy waiting the winner at the end of the day. 

Whats even funnier was that the winner for the days trails event was me...

How to draw A Royal Enfield Himalayan By Motoholic Works

Sometime in November we posted a great Tutorial by Motoholic Works on how to Draw a Royal Enfield Continental GT. Well here is an update to that as here is a Proportion study on how to draw a Royal Enfield Himalayan.

We would love to see what you guys come up with. Email any drawings you do to us. 

A post shared by Motoholic Works® (@motoholicworks) on Feb 4, 2018 at 7:47pm PST

Flashback: Rider Mania 2005 hosted by the Inddiethumpers in Panvel

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Let me take you back in time. To a simpler time. To a time where the internet was just moving on from dial up, to a time where social media didn't exist(or maybe Orkut did), to a time where the Y2K bug was all we cared about, to a time when you had to decompress your Enfield before you actually kicked it to start, to a time where you had to scoured Yahoo groups to find out what was happening in the motorcycle world in India, to a time where the Royal Enfield 500cc was the be all and end all of big motorcycle available on the market.

I had been a part of the Inddiethumper and the Royal Beasts Yahoo Group for a while. I had never met anyone from these groups they were all just names on an email digest but every day religiously I would check into the groups see what they were talking about. One day I noticed some chatter on the groups about a gathering, a party, a place for many of us to come out to meet and have a great time and finally hang out in person. They called it Rider Mania.

The Inddiethumpers were hosting the party and just outside Mumbai. That was perfect because I travelled to Mumbai a lot as Amrita had already moved out there a few years before. So I got back on the group and booked my self a spot for this "Rider Mania" but since I had just sold my motorcycle and didn't have the time to ride down from Chandigarh (I had a proper day job) I decided I would get to Mumbai rent a bike and ride down with the Thumpers. Eventually the Thumpers sorted a bike out for me and I rode with a group of them to the venue.

What a sight it was riding in. That parking lot full of Enfields, and not stock ones there were loads of customs builds and chops. But to top it all of the people running the show were just brilliant. I am not going to carry on about the show because all of a sudden I can remember almost every tiny detail from those two days.

Today Rider Mania is huge a far stretch from 2005 when we were only about 300 of us. Royal Enfield runs one in Goa which is on this weekend and I am missing it. While the clubs host a separate one that travels the country and is hosted by a different club in their own city. 27-28th January 2018 Inddiethumpers are hosting it again outside Mumbai check the website for details.

I am now just going to shut up and let you check out the pictures. Remember this was before digital cameras and I had only two reels of 24 shots each for this weekend.