Even though I have been riding motorcycles for the past 15 years, I had never been to a training school.
BHPian N1Krider_R recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
Hello Team BHP folks,
I am back after a hiatus, had been away for a couple of months. Wasn’t able to clock many kms, as the 2nd anniversary comes up next month – the odo stands at 21908 kms. That’s an approx running of 1000 kms a month. Things are running fine and smooth as expected for a bike that comes from a Japanese lineage.
All this while what was I up to? This..
At some point in October last year, my younger brother with whom I share a good bond (luckily), forwarded some biking related memes as usual. One such meme was from the house of “Paavtya Bois” – and the meme was absolutely mental. Apt music, a typical paavtya riding a motorcycle ignorantly. Somewhat similar to the Mumbai’s “Reptiles of Kurla” page on instagram. (OT – I call them a lost generation) These folks record videos and as we all know if there is a camera around you will have some crash footage. The Paavtya bois page had a whole collection of these, do check out. I followed it instantly and a couple of weeks later saw a post from them about PSS -Paavtya Super Bike school. I was intrigued, as Mumbai or Pune does not have any racing tracks – impoverished in the sense that the number 1 city, and financial capital of a country does not have a race track. You have to go down south or up north if you are to experience a track.
In comes PSS with a mission to train all the Paavtyas of Mumbai Pune and around. The bottom line for motorsports when it comes to learning or practicing is having a safe space. While Pune has a couple of dirt tracks, there is nothing for the street bikes/super bikes. So it was kind of exciting for me as PSS promised a relatively safe space on the outskirts of Pune – where there’s a new road paved which does not have much traffic in the wee hours. After a quick chat with the Principal – Abhishek Wairagde I booked my slot for the month for Dec’24. He charged 12,000/- rupees for the 3 day workshop which runs over 2 weekends (Sat-Sun-Sat).
I informed my brother and my missus about the deed, and both of them agreed. Even though I have been riding motorcycles for the past 15 years, I had never been to a training school. Everything was learnt watching other people listening to their experiences, books by – Keith Code, MotoGp races and Youtube. This was my first school experience and boy was I excited. The batch consisted of 12 students from all walks of life – 18yr old kids studying in college to 40 yr old C suite executives and professionals. A whatsapp group was formed, in which PSS shared the track details (Its a public road but referred to as the “Track – Circuito de Paavtya Internacional” for conversational convenience, they also have a ambulance on standby and a towing vehicle near the track) and a Gmap photo marking the corners C1, C2, etc. Along with that they shared a 30-pointer checklist on Bike maintenance, dos and don’ts, and collected copies of driving licenses, and bike insurance and signed a waiver. I quickly submitted the details and was eagerly waiting for the day to arrive, our watch Batch 3.
A quick introduction on the WAG and we found out the range of riders coming with their bikes for the training – bikes were on both end of the spectrum. The lowest powered was a 19 bhp Yamaha R15 with a Kurlapovich exhaust, in between were a couple of Royal Enfield Scrams, Himalayan, Bajaj Dominar, Aprilia 457 and on the other end a mighty BMW GS1250 with a real Akrapovic, and of course our beloved Nimbus. Everything is covered, phew.
Preparations began, and WAG was flooded with queries on riding gears – PSS required you to come in leathers if it was available else the regular touring gears with good quality riding shoes and gloves would also suffice. I had recently serviced my bike and Nimbus was wearing new shoes too which were apt for the sessions to come. I packed my bags on Thursday and on Friday evening left for Pune, I had the R15 for company, 20-year-old kid – so babysitting was on cards, will not bore you with the details it was an excruciating ride to the location. We crossed Pune around 10.30 and reached the hotel around 11.30 pm which Abhishek had booked for us. I Had my dinner and went to sleep for whatever time was left. Btw PSS has a tie-up with the hotel and they charge a measly 1k pp on twin sharing, so in terms of cost we were at 12k for training, 3k for stay and rest fuel and food up to you. Food at the hotel is lip-smacking.
The next day early morning we tanked up with XP95 IOC fuel bunk right next to the hotel and rode 20 mins to the track.
I realized we were riding through the track to reach the classroom i.e. desolate road with ISUZU D-Max holding all the essentials, drawing board, water. And while riding through the track I was tailing Abhishek – I had a wide grin looking at the ravishing tarmac and wide flowing corners, absolute joy.
Day 1 entailed 7-8 drills getting comfortable with your ride, understanding the weight, steering, etc right up to body position on Day 3. From here on I’ll let the Photos do the talking and run up commentary wherever required.
Back to school in winters, going through the basics
Learned about the bike’s geometry, center of gravity, throttle input, suspension, and how the bike behaves when you play with all these. Interesting insight on what happens to the rear suspension when you crack open the throttle, compresses more or opens up? any guesses? Don’t google pls.
Before the drills begun, bikes were checked for air pressure, brake pads and to see if there is anything odd. Masking tape was applied on the speedometer.
Feeling the bike, weight, steering
I was the first one to try this, and moving around this 240kg mammoth was a difficult task. experienced where the steering locks, how much the bike can turn, etc.
On the bike now
This was far more difficult than I imagined, had a small tumble as well – managed to break the fall, soft landed no damage to myself or the bike. Phew, what a start.
Sighting Lap
I was kind of doing my own thing initially as the reflexes took over, but later on I consciously put the effort into applying what was taught and did not waste any more time.
Throttle Control and Counter steering
As we moved from theory to practicals -Things started getting serious.
PSS arranged breakfast and hydration
Btw, we carried our own protein bars till we took the actual Break for having breakfast/lunch.
Idli Sambar
Puts bhel
Back to the Classroom
Got our individual feedback, what’s working what’s not working, position, etc.
Latching on to the bike
This was by far the best part of the whole 3 days, how to latch onto the bike and use the body and pivot points to maneuver the bike. Feedback is provided promptly and after every drill. Abhishek even follows you on the track behind you to see how you are doing.
Handsoff Drill
Another drill to showcase that without any input on the handlebar, you can turn the bike. While it was a bit difficult on my bike, the rest of them were doing it easy. However, I had another trick up my sleeve – Cruise control. Used it rather generously and practiced the whole drill on it. Realized you need a strong core and good leg muscles to perform this particular exercise.
Hand position
Right Hander C5
Look at the entry, look at the apex and look at the exit
Left Hander C2
Find various clues on the track to know where you are
Lunch break at a nearby Dhaba
Turn points: Find where to turn in a corner
Rider Input
Use various touch points that are available on the motorcycle to steer mainly pegs+tank recesses to begin with
Pick up: How to exit a corner faster
Moving on the bike
Incase you have never seen the underbelly of a Ninja 1000
Beautiful Tarmac
This beautiful tarmac inspires so much confidence, wonder why we are moving to the pathetic Cement Concrete roads.
Special Mention for the Metzeler M7RR
Utilizing it to the max limit, absolutely loved shredding them on the corner exits. We also changed the suspension settings on the rear at 30 clicks out of 40 and dialed in the front at 80% hard to reduce the wallowing.
Everything coming together
By end of Day 3 all the theory bits were being converted to practical and results of all the practice sessions started showing up.
We were assigned gears in which we could ride, for the Ninja it was 3rd gear and she was doing unmentionable speeds mid-corner and exits. I have telemetry on the Kawasaki app and it helps to see what you are doing at a particular part of the circuit. Abhishek and his volunteers also do a job of spotting mistakes in case you try to cheat (using wrong/high gears), touch the brakes, or carry incorrect lines, etc. i.e. you disobey or do not know what you are doing.
While this motorcycle is not built for any track action, I always wanted to see what she could do, more than that what I could do. You can see that this is a very versatile motorcycle -she tackles a corner with the same aplomb as she carries the touring duties and long hauls.
PSS has been by far the best investment I could make to get to know more about my motorcycle, riding defensively, and safely and ensuring I can ride for longer periods reducing RSIs, and avoiding stupid mistakes. While the curriculum is large, I have just provided you with the snippets. You get to experience the actual L1, L2, L3 curriculum at a fraction of the cost you would pay at a typical school. There is no doubt that you can go to MMRT or BIC and see where your limits are, the goal here is to learn the best possible riding techniques, in a relatively safer space, from one of the best in the industry until we have our very own actual race track someday. So whatever kind of bike you may own currently, want to learn riding techniques, beginner or advanced head over to PSS if you do not have access to a race track or do not have the budget currently – don’t waste time, upgrade your skills to ensure you don’t land up on the Paavtya Bois page.
Signing off
Cheers.
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