A Day In Dirt With The Honda NX500: Beyond The Unknown

Before I start, let me be honest. I have zero off-road riding experience, unless you consider riding on pothole-ridden post-monsoon Mumbai/Pune roads to be off-roading. So when PD asked me if I was interested in attending the Honda Adventure Camp, I was positively nodding even before he had finished his sentence. 

But like all things unknown, excitement came with anxiety. As much as eager I was to ride the Honda NX500 for the first time, I was unsure how this entire thing would pan out. Neither had I ridden the NX before, nor was I adept at off-roading – too many unknown variables. But, it was time to go beyond the unknown. 

The ADV camp was held at 19 Degree North adventure park in Aamby Valley, Maharashtra. Apart from the NX, there was also the Honda XL750 Transalp for us to experience. But I felt it was best to avoid it given my situation. Though after the event, my colleague Deepanshi said the Transalp was a hoot on the trails. Should be the case given its added off-roading capability. Rewinding a bit, our day in the dirt started with two basic off-roading tutorials. There were two expert off-road trainers guiding the troupe of motoring journos.

First up was a vision and braking exercise on a compacted dirt patch. We had to ride in a straight line and hit the brakes at a designated cone and stop before the vision cone. The vision cone was the point to look at during the exercise. It prevented the riders’ visions from going astray, ergo, the bike too. We had to do multiple repetitions of this exercise, each at an increasing pace. We also had to try different braking combinations at each speed to get an idea of the bike’s varied braking behavior. Now, if you have read our other stories on attending a track school or the flat track training sessions, the common link and the paramount link is vision. It’s your key to becoming a good rider – look where you want to go. 

The next tutorial was climbing and descending a hill in a controlled manner. Again, this was a curated hill in the training grounds. Here we learnt how to gain and maintain momentum going up a hill, coming to a halt atop, and then descending the hill steadily. This exercise gave us an idea on maintaining the bike’s weight and balance to efficiently tackle the rough trails. Coming to a stop on the hill is especially crucial since this allows you to study what’s after the crest and plan your ride ahead. Standing at the foot of the hill, everything beyond the crest is a blind spot, an unknown. For all you know, there could be a 100-foot drop immediately after, or a fallen log or another unknown obstacle on an otherwise known trail. That said, I did “fly” off the crest a few times since I came in too hard and couldn’t brake in time. Practice made it better though.

After a short refreshment break, it was time to hit the first of the two marked trails. We were told it was a fairly “open-world” trail that we were free to explore. Though, it did have some paths that were cordoned-off for everyone’s safety. What was open was a fairly simple trail with rocks, puddles, gradual inclines and descents – all which we could experience at our own pace and confidence. However, it did have a few optional areas for which one needed either slightly higher skills and/or stronger family jewels. I was happy exploring as much as my skills allowed for and was happy for most part of it. The NX500 proved to be a worthy off-roading companion for a novice like me and didn’t feel intimidating. 

A few hours later, we headed to the second trail. The instructors informed us that this was a fair step up as compared to the previous trail. That made me gulp a bit but now that I had tasted dirt, I wanted more. Little did I know, I was going to taste it quite literally soon after. Going down a rocky path, I miscalculated my braking. A stone slipped from under my front wheel, causing my bike to topple over. It was a fairly low speed tumble and I was able to let the bike fall between my legs. Damage was only restricted to the NX’s turn indicator. I felt it was prudent to go back to base, not be overconfident and let adrenaline take over. A few journos helped me get the bike upright and turned around. Back at the base camp, some of the experienced and trained off-roaders helped me with some water and basic medical checks to ensure I was completely ok. After all thumbs up, one of the riders mentioned that there are only two kinds of off-road riders: Those who have fallen, and then those who are yet to fall. For whatever consolation it offered, it felt good that I now belong to the first category. 

After my body had recovered and calmed down, I decided to go back to the first trail instead of just sitting around. I didn’t want to shy away from off-roading after a seemingly minor spill. Else it would have created a super-high mental crest. Returning to the trail I realised I need more off-roading skills to tackle harder trails. I do not know when I will hit the trails again in the future, but when I do, I’ll be more confident, having already gone beyond the unknown.

Had I ridden a trail without the aforementioned training, there are good chances you would be reading an obituary instead of this feature story. This is why I cannot emphasize enough on the importance of a good riding school, for any riding genre that you like. It’s an investment not an expense if you want to be a better rider. While this wasn’t a proper school that I was attending, at the end, I had more off-roading skills than I had woken up with that day.