I Can't Wait To See The Build. Train. Race. Grid Slide Their New Bikes In The Dirt

In its eighth year, Royal Enfield's Build. Train. Race. program is switching the flat track grid up with Sherpa-engined machines!

Photo by: Royal Enfield

By: Janaki Jitchotvisut

Oct 12, at 8:04am ET

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Ever since its inception, Royal Enfield's Build. Train. Race. program has been about getting more women out on track, which is excellent to see. And also, since the beginning, it's been utilizing its 650 parallel twin platform to get the job done, in the form of the INT650 in its Flat Track program, and the Continental GT 650 in its Road Racing program.

That's all well and good, but for its eighth season, BTR has opted to switch it up. You see, behind the scenes, Johnny Lewis has been putting the purpose-built GRR450 through its paces in the dirt at Royal Enfield's Slide School. And now, for 2027, BTR just announced that it's officially bringing the GRR450 platform to its Flat Track program for the first time ever.

I'm not a slider. I didn't grow up riding dirt, as I've told just about everyone multiple times, though I absolutely admire (and am more than slightly envious of) anyone who did. I've also had multiple conversations with multiple seasoned dirt riders (including Jenny Lewis) about how it's so much easier to teach folks who grew up riding dirt how to ride street than it is the other way around.

And as someone who learned to ride street for the first time as an adult, and then nearly had multiple panic attacks the first time she lost traction in the dirt, I can tell you this makes all the sense in the world to me. (I'm less terrible now than I was, but learning to breathe normally when your rear tire loses traction is a tough skill to learn later in life!)

But I do very much know and love the Sherpa engine, which you'll find powering both the Himalayan 450 and the Guerrilla 450, as well as the flat tracking, purpose-built GRR450. And while I'm not a slider, and I haven't ridden the GRR450 (those two things kind of go hand in hand, I suspect), I still think this is an incredibly exciting development.

What do you think?

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And I absolutely cannot wait to see what the BTR racers do with the GRR450 bikes this year. The INT650 is a fine bike, to be sure. But that Sherpa engine is easily my favorite in Enfield's current lineup. To my mind, it's got just the right amount of snarl and attitude in a compact package. I've ridden it in both very hot and very cold weather, and it genuinely could not care less. While I may not know how it does in the dirt, I strongly suspect that won't phase it, either.

If you're intrigued by this information, and you're a woman who's looking to get into racing Flat Track, the BTR program is now taking applications for its class of 2027! Actually, both the Flat Track and the Road Racing programs are accepting applications, though only the Flat Trackers (so far, anyway) have announced that they're changing things up to the GRR450 for next year. (Please note, that information hasn't been changed on the BTR website yet; it's only on their Instagram so far.)