Slush Fest, is a ritual that started many years ago with one intention — having fun all day long with two-wheelers in rain and slush. And, of course, spend the next two days cleaning the mud and nursing sore limbs. This time, though, we decided to take a serious (kind of) approach and learn a few things instead, all while staying true to the Slush Fest spirit. But what do we do if the rain uncharacteristically stays away? Well, go ahead and do it anyway.
Sunny and Nelly, the founders of ProDirt Adventure, were happy to lend us a helping hand and use their facility for the day. Seeing the Royal Enfield Himalayan, the Yezdi Adventure and the Triumph Scrambler 400X, they had a wicked smile on their face which slowly faded as the Guerrilla 450 entered the scene. I wouldn’t blame them, but come on, we couldn’t be that serious with our selection of motorcycles for Slush Fest, right? Little did Keshav and I know what the ProDirt duo had in store for us.
CHALLENGE ONE: WHEN IN DOUBT, THROTTLE IT OUT
Loose sand, ruts, fast corners and slush were the highlights of this challenge. This track was meant to test the agility and handling of the bikes. Without a second thought, I reached out for the Himalayan. Keshav took the keys to the Adventure, and also because we wanted Nelly to handle the Scrambler, a dealer bike. Sunny was left with the Guerrilla.
Nelly gave us a demo run and soon after, the two of us joined in. Meanwhile, Sunny was still figuring out what to do with the RE roadster. We took some time to get familiar with the environment and went for our runs. The brief was simple — don’t crash. Though we completed our runs successfully without falling, we were still a bit slower than what we had anticipated. Suddenly, there was a dust cloud behind us, and out of that appeared Sunny — fully slideways.
A roadster could do THAT? Sunny had taken the ABS fuse out, dropped the tyre pressures, and let the Sherpa 450 do its thing. Using the engine’s grunt, the low seat height and the low-grip dual-purpose tyres, Sunny transformed the Guerrilla into a flat-tracker without doing much.
Though Nelly knew he had to be extra careful with the Scrambler, he completed the section faster than us. With the Scrambler’s sorted ergonomics, long-travel suspension and the punchy low-end, Nelly not just highlighted the Scrambler’s potential, but made quite a show while doing that.
ProDirt’s Pro Tip: Momentum is the key. Everytime you find yourself facing slush, loose gravel or even ruts, keep your pace up and trust the bike to do its thing.
CHALLENGE TWO: I BELIEVE I CAN FLY
Now that we knew momentum is the key, the next obvious test was to maintain that pace and get some air time. Sure, Kaizad was going to have a ball clicking pictures of these airborne bikes, but I was a bit sceptical whether my titanium reinforced leg could withstand the pressure.
Since the Scrambler was not going to compete in this test, Nelly just went over the crest ‘gently’ to show what to expect. Attempt one: The bikes landed flat; content that the two of us didn’t nose-dive into the ground, we turned back, only to see Sunny showing us the muddied underbody of the Guerrilla. Now that we had better judgements of the bikes and the slope, Keshav and I took turns, and with each attempt we got better air time. The suspension of the ADVs was capable enough to be (ab)used for the job.
Between the Yezdi and the Himalayan, the former was lighter and so is Keshav, and that made the Yezdi soar to new heights. Of course, I could have used the Himalayan’s performance to its advantage here, but I was advised not to.
So, despite being heavy and its road-spec suspension, how did the Guerrilla stay in one piece? The key here was landing. As long as the rear wheel lands first and the front follows in a controlled way, big jumps won’t do much damage. ProDirt’s Pro Tip: Grip it and rip it. Hold the motorcycle with not just the knees or the feet, but the entire length of the legs. This gives better control and keeps the bike’s movement in your control.
CHALLENGE THREE: CRASH COURSE
Vision, body position and cojones… to test the learnings from the previous tests, we were to do timed laps of the entire course. The track had some fast turns, a few slower and technical ones, sand, slush pits and jumps. The one to do it the fastest wins. No penalties for dropping or stalling. Simple enough?
Nelly and the Scrambler 400X: 1:37.14
The entire course worked to the Triumph’s advantage. It was lightweight, had enough power and the right equipment to handle it. With the electronic aids turned off, there was nothing slowing the bike… except my pleas to be careful. The Scrambler shot off the start line with a big rooster tail, and used the berms to its advantage to keep the pace up.
Manaal and the Himalayan: 1:56.12
As embarrassing as it was to admit I was slower despite having a more powerful engine, my only goal was to stay safe. The Himalayan’s weight and top-heaviness was a big problem in some of the tight sections. And seeing Keshav fall a few minutes ago, I certainly didn’t want to repeat the act.
Keshav and the Adventure: 1:50.17
The 334cc unit packed less power than the Scrambler, but Keshav planned on compensating for that by using the suspension and the 21/17-inch wheel setup to his advantage, and he succeeded, too… to an extent. While taking a near-perfect line out of a turn, the front tyre folded and Keshav ended up tasting dirt. Accidentally tapping the front brake in that corner cost Keshav precious time, and self-respect.
Sunny and the Guerrilla 450: 1:39.22
Sunny took it upon himself to prove that the roadster belonged in this pack. The chassis allowed him to keep the bike down and low through the tight corners, and use the performance to get through the straights as fast as he could. And the long turns were taken fashionably sideways, of course. Though he didn’t finish first, being just two seconds slower than a scrambler was a big feat.
BONUS CHALLENGE: THE CLEAN-UP ACT
Though we wanted to get all muddy and dirty, the weather gods didn’t favour us. So, like rebels we decided to take matters in our own hands and get drenched… and clean the bikes. Again, the Scrambler stayed off this test, and while Sunny and Keshav took turns to cross the river through almost waist-deep water, I chose to observe and jump in to help if needed.
After almost washing away with the current, and slipping on the mossy rocks, the boys made it back with clean clothes and bikes. It was time to head back and relax. What we thought would be a day of riding in rain and slush, getting stuck and slipping, turned out exactly the opposite. Nonetheless, we did what the Slush Fest has always been about — having fun with bikes.
