Sampled a traditional track day or racing school? Tried an adventure or off-road experience? Or maybe had a go at trials or a drag strip ‘run wot you brung’ but still got an itch for new motorcycling experiences which don’t require tons of experience or money?
Well, maybe the new Royal Enfield Slide School is for you.
New this year, it’s a great turn up and ride, one-day experience modelled on American flat track racing, can be enjoyed by all levels of rider (as long as you’re over 18 and can ride a bike). Is a fun thrill and, most excitingly, offers the potential for you to learn how ‘slide the rear’ in true Kenny Roberts style.
Best of all, though, at just £220 for a day (all inclusive, although you need your own gear including full-face helmet and full length boots) – or just £110 for the shorter ‘Basic Skills’ events – it’s an affordable way of having some ‘alternative’ biking fun with a bunch of mates or, more seriously, try something new and learn some new transferable skills under expert supervision.
The Slide School opened this year in two locations in the UK (with overseas versions also operating in Italy, the Benelux countries, the USA and India), and was inspired by Royal Enfield’s involvement in American Flat Track racing and is operated here by Dirt Craft, which is run by professional flat track racer (and two-time British champion) Gary Birtwhistle.
Gary’s main location is his 300m shale dirt oval track at Iwade, Kent (near Sittingbourne, although a venue in Leicester is also used) and the bikes are specially adapted Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450s, this year’s new, liquid-cooled, single cylinder roadster based on the 2024 Himalayan adventure bike.
Having recently reviewed the Guerrilla for our website, we thought it rude not to accept Royal Enfield’s invite to same the modified ‘FT450’ version on the dirt.
And, with bigger 19” flat track wheels and knobbly tyres, wide race ‘bars, a bespoke one-piece tank/seat unit and all road gear such as numberplate, mudguards, lights and even – worryingly – the front brake, removed, they look like pukka flat trackers too.
The reality, though, is far less intimidating and scary than that sounds. Starting mid-morning, our group of about 20 covers all ages, experience levels and genders (only one of us had any serious off-road experience), Gary and his small team immediately put us at ease and emphasize that the course is all about unpressured, safe fun with the hope of learning new skills (particularly concerning machine control and grip) which are relevant to the road.
We’re then split into four groups of similar-level riders, issued with ‘steel shoes’ (the strap-on steel ‘soles’ racers wear on their left boots in flat track and speedway) and are introduced to the bikes themselves.
Although slightly anxious – I’ve done many things in 40 years of biking but never flat track or speedway – as we go out in our groups behind Gary for our first introductory session it’s also immediately clear there’s little to be daunted by. Yes, there’s no front brake, but Gary’s put a couple of cones down on the straights for us to weave through to keep speeds down.
The track’s been dampened to improve grip and there’s lots of engine braking from the four-stroke single (plus the rear brake if needed), and all he asks of us at first is to potter around and familiarize ourselves with the bikes.
Accordingly, speeds are pretty low. Most of us notch into second gear – then leave it there, throttling off for the turn, maybe dabbing a bit of back brake, tipping it in and then propping yourself up on the steel shoe. Once accustomed, you start to gas it a bit on the exits, get a little pleasing, exciting snatch of rear end slide before throttling off to catch it and accelerating down the next straight.
After five or six laps a chequered flag calls us in and we grab a much-needed breather and drink break (it’s both surprisingly hot and tiring) while the other groups take their turns.
For our second session, with us all acclimatized, the cones are removed, speeds and confidence increase, and I’m starting to believe that, maybe, I’ll be able to do a decent rear end slide before the day is out.
With the basics covered, Gary gathers us together again and talks more about body position and lines. The former is crucial as, with most of us from a road bike background, we need to adopt the off-road practice of sitting more forward to take the weight off the rear to help the rear tyre slide and also to raise our elbows to allow easier throttle control mid-turn.
Body positioning is pretty much the opposite of what you’d do on a road bike, and it takes time to adjust. I’m also trying, as instructed, to plant my left foot wider, as I’ve already, more than once, accidentally knocked the gear lever into neutral going into bends, which can be slightly disconcerting as the engine braking then disappears…
There’s time for one more session before lunch then the same routine continues through the afternoon before finishing around 4.30. Throughout it all, Gary and his team are an expert, considerate delight, the bikes are great fun without being intimidating and I had more fun and learnt more – slides, grip, body positioning – than I thought was possible.
No, as the photos prove, I never did quite deliver that full-on, extended ‘Kenny Roberts’ sideways slide – but I did do lots of little ones that felt pretty good and know I could with further practice.
Overall, though, the Slide School is a great fun and a different, very accessible and affordable biking day out. If you can ride, are 18+ and have basic kit, it’s an enjoyable, unintimidating way to experience something new, possibly with a group of mates, without the need for race leathers or track knowledge.
Better than that, it’s also a great way to learn new bike skills which are useful for the road. I recommend it whole-heartedly.
For more go to: https://www.dirtcraft.co.uk/slide-school
Words: Phil West
Pics: Jamie Morris
