BHUBANESWAR: Famous biker group XBHP Bhubaneswar participated in a bike trail ride organised by Kawasaki Bhubaneswar recently.
Pure off-road bike models Kx 100, klx 110, Kx 250 were made available for biking enthusiasts to ride through the specially designed tracks inside a private property. These are the same bikes which are used for motocross events across the world.
Eleven riders from the city-based group: Abhijit Goswami, Abhilash Mohanty, Anupam Behera, Ashesh Rathor, Jyoti Prakash Behera, Mohammed Israfil, Rudra Mohapatra, Sajal Seth, Sambit Kar, Satyajit Mohanta and Subhranshu Sekhar took part in the event.
For many of the participants, it was a first-of-its-kind experience to ride a real motocross bike in a specially designed track. Riding in the designated track was quite challenging as the bikers explored their way through loose sands, steep hills, obstacles and deep potholes. Riders were full of praise for the bikes due to their off-road capabilities.
Some of the traits that make these bikes so convenient in inhospitable conditions are the amount of torque generated in low rpm, grip provided by tyres and handling in low traction surfaces. It was a dream come true for many of the participants as they were engaged in various stunts which they had seen only in TV before.
Despite their exhilarating performances, these bikes are rarely accessible for normal usage due to various reasons. Chief one among them is the fact that these are not legal road bikes. These bikes lack mirrors, headlamps, indicators and horns among others. So riding of these bikes is limited to private properties and hence cannot be registered.
Another major reason for its inaccessibility is its pricing. None of the variants of motocross bikes is cheap as these are imported from foreign countries which attract import taxes. However, local manufacturing of these bikes could make them more accessible.
Kawasaki has a lot of confidence about the success of such dirt bikes in India as the country has suitable landscape for such dirt bikes. They had recently launched a klx 140g model this December which is priced at 4.06 lakhs ex showroom. With this launch, they wish to alter the motocross terrain of the country.