The day we made the Tigers purr

Around 30 odd motorcycle journalists in India had the chance to experience the ingenuity of honing one’s skills when it comes to off road motorcycling. It was not an event to win a coveted trophy, nor was it meant to choose who the best was; it was simply a fun experience that had all the ingredients of safety, awareness and skill built into it.

At 54 years of age, I felt it was a bit daunting for me initially to climb on to a massive 800cc triple engine Triumph Tiger motorcycle and attempt to clear obstacles that one would usually give the pass. But several minutes into a reassuring and educative speech by the legendary Vijay Parmar, the chief instructor for this Tiger Training Academy initiative, I was all pepped up and ready to take on the unknown.

Everything from the right riding gears to riding postures to the abilities of the Tiger motorcycles were explained to the enthusiastic bunch of journalists, many of them in their twenties and rearing to tame the motorcycle and the terrain. Vimal Sumbly, the enthusiastic biker and managing director of Triumph Motorcycles India went up to the journalists and reminded them of the fun that they were to experience.

The Tiger Training Academy is, incidentally, a special initiative by Triumph to train the Triumph Tiger owners on riding safely both on and off road conditions. The course in Aamby Valley was a pure off-road experience bundled with lots of tricky obstacles, from simple cones to steep inclines and wading through water, while moss, rocks, rubble and the intermittent rains ensured that our challenge never got easy.  The Tiger motorcycles come in two different ranges, the XR touring range consisting of the XR, XRx and XRT, and the off-road biased XC range consisting of the XC, XCx and the XCA. The one I got was the XCA which has features like three riding modes, advanced on board computer, hand guards, CNC machined foot rests, aluminium radiator guard, etc. The bike is equipped with traction control and switchable ABS and its 800cc triple engine produces 94hp.

We were put into four different batches of 6 or 7 each and each batch had to complete one obstacle before moving on to the next one. The first obstacle consisted of  manoeuvring around the cones, either standing or sitting on the bike and then climbing up a steep hilly tract and coming down a very narrow path between two rocky mounds. Several boys stumbled, a few fell, but I managed to clear it all when my turn came.

Similarly, wading through water, slush and climbing up and down a few steep slushy and rocky inclines were next in line. Each of that I did with great care and skill, and also with a bit of trepidation overcoming me once in a while. The motorcycle’s ABS and off road riding mode kicked in at the right moments with adequate braking and traction control. The torque and power of the engine combined to give the bike remarkable thrust and speed.

While several journalists fell, several stalled their engines (I did that a few times), and a couple of them were not able to complete the entire course, what one learnt from this experience was something that would always be treasured. The purpose of this academy is to train Tiger owners how to handle their motorcycles in tough real life situation.

As for me, the icing on the cake was getting my Tiger Training Academy certificate saying that I had successfully completed the course at the Aamby Valley. The lesson I learnt was simple: A good off road motorcycle with some great features may look intimidating but when you ride it right, skilfully, carefully and in a much disciplined manner, you can even make the Tiger purr!!