Motorcycling has no shortage of disciplines. Track riding, off-road, drag racing, touring, and even stunt riding all scratch different itches. Moto gymkhana sits in a strange corner of that world. It’s not about speed, spectacle, or horsepower. It’s about precision. And unless you’ve tried it, it’s hard to explain why it hooks you so deeply.
That’s what makes Royal Enfield’s newly launched Gymkhana rider training program so interesting. The brand is using one of motorcycling’s most misunderstood disciplines as the gateway to structured skill development. Not racing. Not lap times. Just better riding. If you know, you know.
Gymkhana strips riding down to its essentials. Balance, timing, vision, clutch control, braking, body position. Everything happens at low speeds, but nothing about it is in any way easy. There’s nowhere to hide mistakes, and no straight line long enough to recover from one. When you mess up, you feel it instantly. When you get it right, the satisfaction is unreal.
I’ve competed in moto gymkhana and found more success than I ever expected. I’ve won a couple of tournaments, stood on plenty of podiums, and spent countless runs chasing tiny improvements. What keeps me coming back isn’t trophies. It’s the feeling of mastering every single movement of the motorcycle. When every input flows together cleanly, it’s addictive. It also permanently changes how you ride everywhere else.
Royal Enfield’s Gymkhana program leans hard into that idea. The inaugural event took place in Bengaluru and featured two-hour certification modules across purpose-built arenas. Riders rotated through multiple tracks and trained on four different motorcycle models, each matched to a specific skill set.
Participants practiced drift and drag runs on the Guerrilla 450 to build throttle and rear-wheel control. Off-road sessions on the Himalayan focused on balance, traction, and reading terrain. The Hunter 350 handled tighter technical challenges, while the Scram tackled urban enduro-style courses that blended obstacles with real-world riding scenarios.
The program combines tarmac and dirt, timed challenges, expert coaching, and progressive skill levels. Competition is built into the format, but winning isn’t the point. The goal is control, confidence, and skill development in a safe, structured environment before applying those lessons on public roads.
For now, the Gymkhana program is exclusive to India. Still, the concept looks like it cab be much bigger than just one market. In regions where formal rider training is limited, inconsistent, or even non-existent, this kind of structured, accessible approach could raise the baseline skill level of everyday riders, and ultimately lead to safer roads.
Gymkhana proves that riding can be seriously fun without being fast. It rewards finesse over bravado and discipline over risk. If Royal Enfield expands this program globally, it could help more riders discover what some of us already know, that skill is the real thrill.
Source: AutoCar Pro
