[ajmat]

Polaris opened their 83rd Experience Centre at Dirtmania at the Hangout@Nandi, north of Bangalore this week



Pankaj Dubey - Polaris MD and Raj Kumar - Dirtmania Partner

Polaris India Pvt. Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Polaris Industries Inc inaugurated the second branch of Dirt Mania Adventure in Bangalore. This is the 83rd experience centre in Bangalore. Dirt Mania Adventure have partnered with the Hip Café Hangout at Nandi who provide the space for the ATV's and manage the bookings. The centre is open from 9.00 AM and they also do twilight rides. Dirtmania have a mud track and trails in Kanakpura and a beach trail rides in Mangalore.


What type of ATV's are available?

Dirtmania offer 4 bikes - a choice of 400cc and 500cc bikes Sportsman ATV's. These are the basic ATVs for basic fun. You can take a pillion but for limited joyrides. Polaris sell 8 models in India with different permutations in terms of power, utility and passenger. Go to www.indiapolaris.com for more bike details.




This is a 570 - I had a choice of this or a 470 - I took the latter as it had better tyres






Unlike bikes, the right thumb controls the accelerator and left hand controls the brakes. There is a front foot brake. Gear lever controls High-Low-Reverse - Neutral-Park




Do I need a licence?

No, this is all offroad

Do I need to wear protection?

Yes - helmets and body armour are provided and you need to sign disclaimers.

Do I get to wrestle in the mud, get down and dirty?

Erm no, dusty - yes, dirty no


Whats the experience like?

After you have signed and kitted up. You form a convoy - no overtaking allowed. The Dirtmania guys will lead.



They used this nifty Isuzu to lead and haul the photographer.



We ride 300 meters on the road and then lead off onto a rocky trail



Guy in front of me was useless - no momentum and balance - so a Dirtmania person transferred from the Isuzu and rode pillion.



Rode up to a view point



Thats me!!!



Reached a certain point and turned back down. I decided to be the last. That gave me enough space to put some speed, stop, create some distance and speed


How Much?

Single rider Rs. 1550
​
Pillion Rs. 1900
​
Night Trails after 7 PM
​
Single rider Rs. 1700
​
Pillion Rs. 210

Worth it?

Pricing is ok but Kanakpura offers more variety of vehicles, trails, tracks etc. The 4.5 KM is well priced but the trail is mildly challenging and would be over in 40 min. Dirtmania are still in the process of influencing local stakeholders to allow access to enhance the trail.

Who would like this?

• Corporates - who would send a few folks out while the rest play dumbcharades or similar @Hangout
• Families - who want to silence a teenager
• Hen parties - looking for clean but dusty fun

What you will like?

• Very accessible
• Decent place to park your family while you go on the trail
• Nice view from the hill
• Good for beginners and nervous folks

What you will not like

• Short and sweet
• Too short a session to bond with your significant other or significant another
• Our offroaders will nod off with the lack of dirty action

[ajmat]

Moving out to main forum!

[mazda4life]

Good to know its being offered in Bangalore, I had a terrible accident using an ATV in Flagstaff, AZ and from which I am still recovering from. Will plan to take my son when time permits. One question: How are the instructors at the center? Are they qualified?

[GTO]

Nice report as always, Ajit! Thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by ajmat

Unlike bikes, the right thumb controls the accelerator and left hand controls the brakes. There is a front foot brake. Gear lever controls High-Low-Reverse - Neutral-Park

Wow! Learn something new everyday. Don't you think it would just be safer if the controls were the same as on a motorcycle? Since that's what is hardwired into our brains?

Pricing is ok

1,500 bucks is nicely priced for 40 minutes of fun. It's much cheaper than go-karting and this would be a first-time experience for many.

Families - who want to silence a teenager
Hen parties - looking for clean but dusty fun

Too short a session to bond with your significant other or significant another

Originally Posted by mazda4life

I had a terrible accident using an ATV in Flagstaff, AZ and from which I am still recovering from.

Sorry to hear about your injury and wish you a speedy recovery.

I'm glad that Polaris has a hand in this - will definitely ensure best practices are followed. But as with all such exercises, your safety is your responsibility too. Be safe, wear all the right gear and don't do stupid things.

[Vid6639]

I think 1500 is on higher side. Their biggest audience is corporate folks and 1500 will be a hard sell.

I would have preferred 999 for this 40 mins actually for an hour.

I had rented a 400cc atv in pismo beach California for 2 hours. Was insane fun in the sand dunes. Sadly didn’t have a go pro. Got some insane air time over 50 foot drops over the dunes. Those were 4wd.

The rule was don’t flip ot over. They had a flag on each and if you broke the flag you pay the fine.

My friends realised it’s dangerous to put me on one of these vehicles. Went a little crazy and almost went into the path of a dune buggy mid air. Lol.

Same thing happened on a jet ski and I went flying 20ft in the air.

It’s best to stay away from me when I’m on a go kart, atv or jet ski.

[sagarpadaki]

I have been to the Dirt Mania venue off Kanakapura road. The concept is the same- Go trail riding. The first time I visited 3 years ago, it was good. Bit expensive like viddy has mentioned. Went to the same place recently and it was a totally disappointing experience. Prices were jacked up. Very very poor maintenance of the quad bikes. I would say, there is hardly any effort to upkeep the condition of the bikes. We had rented 4 bikes. The tyres on ALL their bikes were worn out almost 80%. The tyres as such were 4 years old(Checked the MMYY on them). This is downright dangerous especially when you want the grip of the tyres while climbing up and down hilly areas. The brakes were pathetic and spongy(Guess no one bothers changing the brake fluid and flushing the brakes). The control for the accelerator was hard and I had a thumb pain just halfway into the trail. None of the lights were working. The suspension was rock hard and the seats were worn out.

I would say they are just milking the customers and the vehicles to the max possible extent. For the amount charged, one expects the vehicles to be in good condition if not excellent. But they are no where decent. It is ok for a single visit and I would suggest the least powered bikes since one cannot exploit the capacity of the 400 or 600CC variants on a trial where the max speed you can reach is around 40kmph.

A word of caution. The higher capacity bikes heat up too much and will kabab your thighs and crotch on a hot day. This will make the whole experience a pain than a pleasure

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

I think 1500 is on higher side. Their biggest audience is corporate folks and 1500 will be a hard sell.

I would have preferred 999 for this 40 mins actually for an hour.

I had rented a 400cc atv in pismo beach California for 2 hours. Was insane fun in the sand dunes. Sadly didn't have a go pro. Got some insane air time over 50 foot drops over the dunes. Those were 4wd.

The rule was don't flip ot over. They had a flag on each and if you broke the flag you pay the fine.

My friends realised it's dangerous to put me on one of these vehicles. Went a little crazy and almost went into the path of a dune buggy mid air. Lol.

Same thing happened on a jet ski and I went flying 20ft in the air.

It's best to stay away from me when I'm on a go kart, atv or jet ski.

Ooh! Youre a dangerous daredevil eh?
But youre right.
I did a Quad bike chukka in Dubai and the bikes were well maintained 4WD and not too expensive at 75 AED for an hour at the time (2012).
Pricing in this Devanahalli place at 1500 for 40 min on a poorly maintained bike seems a waste in comparison.