Lessons in bike safety

You’ve just bought yourself one of the many “faster” bikes available in the market right now. You put on your helmet, gloves, press the ignition button and set off... for about 20 metres before you find yourself lying on your back with a big dent on your brand new ride.

That’s where Motovation, a group that organises track days on the outskirts, where you get to learn all about how to handle your bikes (super or not) in a safe, controlled environment, on a real track, comes in. The group, started by motorcycle enthusiasts Anoop Pamu, Nikhil Paul Johnson and Mihir Chadha aim not just to get you trained for the track, but help you use those skills on the road.

It started as an idea about a year ago, when Anoop and Nikhil decided to organise a Hyderabad-based track day instead of travelling to the more motorsport-friendly Chennai. “It started out with us just calling our friends, and then they said they would want something like this on a regular basis,” Anoop says, “It took a while but we finally found a place which is decent enough, and is a good learning ground for people.”

While they aren’t a racing school, Anoop says that they focus on getting riders to be safe first and foremost. “Our motto is basically unlearn-relearn-evolve,” Anoop says, “The first time you come here, we try to get you to forget every bad habit you got into while riding your bike, whether it’s holding your clutch or jamming on your brakes or accelerating too fast. A couple of them want more advanced sessions now, so that’ll be the relearning. Finally, what we’re hoping for is that once people get trained enough, we want them to get into motorsport.”

The group also believes that what you learn on the track can be replicated in the city as well, making you a safer, smarter rider. “You become a lot safer on the road once you learn track riding,” says Nikhil, while Anoop adds, “You can’t apply road skills to a track, but you can apply track skills to the road.”

A track day with Motovation will cost you around '2000, the package comes with track time, tips and one-on-one sessions, refreshments, and even an ambulance with a technician as well. “To get on the track, you need a jacket, gloves, shoes, knee pads and a helmet,” adds Nikhil.