Motorcycle rallying and racing form the basis of motorsport in India.Any one who  owns a motorcycle  (be it two or four stroke) could start racing his machine from day one.It really does not take much. A well maintained run of the mill street bike is enough to take part in small events like picnic rallies, college rallies etc.These rallies are run on a Time-Speed-Distance (TSD) format (more of that later).When it comes to riding the National Rally Championship,you would require a slightly better and faster bike,but most of all the bike should be reliable.The National Rally Championship is run on the Stage format  and all events are solo events.

Motorcycle rallying in India runs on two formats ---- Time-speed-distance (TSD) format and The special stage(S.S) format. All events of the championship run on the SS format.A number of other events also run on this format.Most small events like Picnic rallies,College rallies,Rounds of the regional championship etc. run on the TSD format. The TSD form of rallying requires both a rider and a navigator  as this type of rally is basically a navigators rally. In this form of rallying the navigator has to read the tulip ( road book ) and calculate the speed the bike is to travel at ,the route etc.This form of rallying does not have any long high speed runs or stages,but in some cases the speeds  do get a little high.This format has proved to be the stepping stone for most of the top riders in the country.The length of these rallies is usally around 100 to 150 km.

 The stage or SS format of rallying  consists of long high speed runs and various tight transport sections. Some of these rallies are solo events like the national rally championship while some of them have both rider and navigator.In the course of a solo event the organizers of the event usally take the competitors on a controlled recee a few days before the actual event,so that the competitos could familiarize themselves with the route.Most SS format events are around 250 km to 600 km.The events of the championship are usally around 600 km in length.

The number one question on most peoples mind is "How safe is motorcycle rallying ? ".The answer being  that the sport in reality is not as dangerous as most people make it out to be.Yes there is a certain amount of risk but basically its OK. A lot of saftey precautions are taken in all events.All competitors must wear adequate riding gear like helmets,gloves,Padding and other protective gear.When it comes to gear always wear good quality standard stuff.It is always better to use helmets of a reputed brand which  bear the ISI mark.Padding is easily available in most sport shops (skate board knee & elbow guards do fine).Gloves are also easily available.Leather gloves are the best bet and are not too expensive but if you dont fancy the leather gloves you could use football goalkeeping  gloves or if you can afford it buy professional racing gloves.Riding boots are also an absolute neccesity ( at least ankle height shoes ).Most top riders use professional riding boots & other riding gear like chest protectors,this gear is pretty expensive but cheaper equivalents are available in India       (look at the performance acessories section on this web page or you could get in touch with me thru email).

 Lets take a look at the bare neccesity of motorcycle rallying - the motorcycle. Any 100 - 150 c.c bike is fine be it a two stroke or four stroke.The preffered bikes are usally the Yamaha RX135 & Suzuki Shoguns/Shaolin (new model).The bike should be road worthy as it should clear the pre-event scrutiny before any event.When I say road worthy I mean the bike should have the adequate papers( some events require the vehicle to have rally cover insurance.This insurance is easily available from your insurance company.It costs around Rs20-25 per day) ,all the electricals like indicators,headlights,brake lights,horn etc. should be working.The bike should also have proper suspension.The suspension that comes as OE is pretty good (Armstrong,etc.)

 Most rallies except the events of the National Championship are categorized as open events i.e the bikes in question can be either modified or unmodified.The events of the national championship are not open class events There are seperate classes for modified and unmodified bikes. Modified bikes fall into the Group C category while unmodified bikes fall into the Group D category.

 To participate in most events you would have to get a competition licence.This licence is available from the FMSCI (Federation of motor sport clubs in India ) at a very nominal cost of Rs.50 for a group D licence.You first have to hold a group D licence for at least a year to upgrade to a group C licence. 

 For further details you could contact me,the FMSCI or your local motor sport club.