HIMALAYAN FT 411 Prototype
FLAT TRACK
IS A FORM OF RACING THAT INVOLVES HIGH-TORQUE MOTORCYCLES ON A FLATTENED
DIRT TRACK AND CARRYING AS MUCH SPEED AS YOU CAN,OR DARE, IN THE CORNERS
The FT 411 is based on Royal Enfield’s Himalayan, and even though the chassis and the motor have remained unchanged, the flat-tracker is a stark visual contrast from it’s road-legal sibling. First, they sent it on a diet dropping all the non essential metal bits, including the headlight, the rear footpegs, saree guard and the front mudguard and roll cage. Since we were not expected to be using them, out went the front brake lever, the brake disc and master cylinder. No official figure has been given, but I’d reckon a good 15kg has been lost in the process. It gets a set of Timsun 110/90 18 inch tyres with a unique tread that Johnny called “off-road” slicks. There’s a new S&S exhaust system that is re-routed via the engine with heat shielding. Now exiting under the seat. Well, what’s left of the seat anyway. The entire rear section has been scrapped -- no more comfy cushion seats-- and in its place a fibre rear section with some hard cushion glued on the top side for your posterior. The biggest change though to the performance is the bigger rear sprocket that goes up two sizes from 38 teeth to 40, in the interest of better low end performance. These small changes are enough to massively change the way the Himalayan is but we heard that this might just be the tip of the iceberg. If slide school is the pilot project consider the FT 411 an early prototype. If the project takes off, expect more changes, suspension, chassis and even some updated gearing. that despite being one of India’s heritage brands that RE is still very capable of leaving in-box stereotypes where they belong. As part of the first graduating class, we had the benefit of having a guest instructor in the form of Johnny Lewis, a pro flat track racer, a patient teacher and a demon on the motorcycle who’s been trying to raise awareness of the sport through campaigns like this, not just in India but across the world. In short, Flat Track is a form of motorcycle racing that involves taking high-torque motorcycles on a flattened dirt track and carrying as much speed as you can -or dare-- through what is usually an oval track. It’s a specialized sport that needs a very special machine. Thus was born the FT 411 based on the Royal Enfield Himalayan, albeit louder, lighter and with no ABS or front brakes. Catch the details in the box.
The day started with a classroom session where
Johnny tried to break down the theory involved in flat-track racing to the batch after which we were sent out to the track to get our first taste of the dirt. More so literally, than metaphorically. In the brief Johnny had tried to bring our attention to three key facets of flat-track riding, the seating position, visual markers and arm positions. The seating position is slightly offset depending on the direction of the track, which means you’re sitting on the edge of the seat, crack on crack Johnny called it, self-explanatory and arguably the best way to explain where you need to be on the seat. The second thing is line of sight, in the middle of the chaotic corner entry and exits; the only thing that will keep you from not going through the fence is keeping a clean line of sight. The third is arm position. Entering the corner the arm on the inside of the corner needs to start straightening out while the other reels in. The track was short which meant you could just about get it into 2nd gear down the straight before you have to slam it back into first. The moment you do this effectively arresting the rear end, the tail goes into a slide. Ideally, you’ve got use this slide to steer your bike right up to the apex entirely leaned over, using your left foot as an anchor. The key is NOT using the throttle right up to the apex. It sounds easy enough, but a dab of the right wrist usually puts a motorcycle back on track. Letting it slide right up to the point of no control that’s counter-intuitive. It took a while-some mild unlearning later -- but eventually we were starting to get the hang of it. Or so we thought, till Johnny jumped on one of the bikes and showed us that we were still playing in the dirt as far as pro-flat track goes.
The day had been a learning experience unlike any other, and we went home with a brand new way to appreciate motorcycles. The slide-school is now officially open for anyone who wants to try their hand at flat-track at Bangalore’s Big Rock Dirt Park and is likely to do a tour of the country very soon!
JOHNNY LEWIS, A PRO FLAT TRACK RACER, A PATIENT TEACHER AND A DEMON ON THE MOTORCYCLE