NEW DELHI: India Bike Week 2019 (IBW) witnessed the launch of the global Harley-Davidson Riding Academy for the first time in India, especially curated for the local market conditions by the iconic American motorcycle brand.
It will offer the skilled rider course through its 32 dealer locations in 2020 in partnership with Autocar, at unique venues. Expert instructors who have had special training on how to handle and ride a Harley-Davidson will be imparting their knowledge over both theory and practical classes. Detailed information on the schedule of the academy will be shortly made available on Harley-Davidson’s India social media handles. The first session will be held on 14th December in Mumbai.
Meanwhile, responding to large demand from enthusiasts and members of the media to expand the sport of Flat Tracking in India, Harley-Davidson curated India’s first Flat Track Timed Trials at IBW.
For the uninitiated, Flat Track is a form of motorcycle racing that finds its origin in the early 1900’s in America. H-D has seen tremendous success over the course of the last century with the fabled XR750 being the undisputed Flat Track motorcycle for almost the better part of three decades. The races are held on oval dirt tracks where riders race against each other without any front brakes only using their skill to slide the rear tire to turn left into fast corners.
Over 500 registrations were received for the Time Trials where only 150 slots were available. Rajputana Custom Motorcycles prepared 4 Flat Track racers that were all based on Harley-Davidson Street Rods. Each racer was given four laps around the track set up specifically for the event at IBW. The best lap was counted and the contestants with the top 10 best lap times were invited to come back to the track to battle it out once again. Sanjay Kumar emerged the winner, closely followed by Abrar Bin Ayub and Dev Venkatesh.
