When you hear the word Bandung, those in the know, will immediately think of the city’s nickname… ‘Paris Van Java’ , Paris of Java, it’s because Bandung is the hub of all things fashion in Indonesia. But it’s not only ahead in the area of fashion, Bandung is also the countries barometer for automotive events, perhaps the most famous being the yearly ‘Bandung BBQ Ride’.
The automotive community in the city of Bandung is, in a word, huge, and that moves to massive, when you include the myriad of motorcycle communities. In Bandung you’ll find everything from small CC communities to the large motorcycle communities and pretty much everything in between. When talking about any of the bike communities in Bandung, it never stops to amaze that there is someone out there always bring new ideas to the fold.
As is the case with the new event we went to Bandung to attend. A Flat Track racing affair initiated by a bunch of motorbike enthusiasts who wanted to wrap the racing around a camping theme. The idea is to hold it once a month, each time the full moon arrives. They aptly called it "PURNAMA LAND", which translates to FULL-MOON LAND. While this isn’t the first Flat Track event to happen in Indonesia, these guys got to take a mess of credit as they are the first to build a permanent Flat Track circuit.
So, when we got their invitation to attend an event at this new track, we were super excited. I wasn’t the only one, my colleagues from Batukaras who are members of the "Roda-Roda Tua Community” were also thrilled at the idea of sliding left, coincidentally "Dean Permana", who most know rides for Deus Indonesia, just happens to be one of the one front men in the "Roda-Roda Tua Community”.
Walking the walk, or in this case riding it, we thought the only way we could travel would be to ride our old motorbikes from BK to Bandung, while the distance isn’t huge, approximately 220 KM, in Java that is a big journey taking about 6-7 hours to travel.
We left the day before, Dean had several things he needed to do in Bandung before the event, one of which was picking up a motorbike from the Deus Ex Machina Bandung store. There was a Kawasaki KLX 150 that had been built for Flat Tracking in Bali which fortuitously was on display in Bandung.
We set off a little late in the morning and it was already hot, riding through the day and finally arriving as night came around. A whole day in the saddle tends to make you creaky, if not a little cranky, they were old motorbikes after all. We swept into town and got what we needed to do done with the minimum of fuss and energy. We then contacted Kang Yosep, he is one of the custom builders in Bandung as well as the founder of "Prama Motowork" which just happened to be the guys who instigated the whole Purnama Land event.
He invited us to come over and spend the night at his place, we didn’t have a whole lot of options so jumped at it... Waking early the next day, we thanked our generous host before rolling down the street to find a place to grab breakfast roadside. Once our bellies were full we set off to the event location, another big ride as the location of their track was well outside the city of Bandung, in the West Bandung Regency. We arrived to a wonderful welcome from those already there, one of them being Andre Ray, another of the founders of Purnama Land.
The campsite was full of fellow Flat Track activists who’d made the pilgrimage from places such as Jakarta, Bekasi and Sukabumi. Of course, there were many from Bandung itself. We settled in, setting up camp and once all our equipment was neatly stowed away, Dean was off, first checking over the motorbike but what he mostly wanted to do was get out there and try out the circuit. It took him a few laps, but Dean soon got the feel for the bike, the track and the fact you keep going left and sliding through those corners. All things considered he looked pretty damn ready for tomorrow's event. Luckily, he had the testing done early for the heavens broke and the rain poured out putting an end to any more practice laps. We sheltered in the tent while waiting for the rain to stop, but it had really set in and continued all afternoon until dusk.
It was still very damp but the rain had stopped, so we all gathered around the camp fire to eat and share stories, it was great to sit and chat, which may have showed our limited flat track experience but we were sitting here rubbing shoulders with a bunch of people who were a lot more competent in this field. Flat track racing is still relatively new in Indonesia, unlike America, Australia and Europe, so the exchange of tips, tricks and techniques was huge for us, the uninitiated. The night grew colder and as it got late, mutual consensus said it was time to hit the hay.
We woke to a clear morning but the circuit was still wet, which meant the start was pushed out as we waited for it to dry. It gave us time to meet with friends, new and old who’d come up just for the day. One such friend, Eddi Broccoli, an entrepreneur who’d just arrived, also happened to be one of the people behind the event.
Around noon the circuit was ready to be ridden. Dean went back out on the circuit accompanied by a couple of friends, Maulana and Sandi, we’d got to know Sandi really well when he had come to Bali to participate in the 2019 Deus Slidetober event... During those first practice sessions, Dean took a massive spill, going head over heels luckily nothing was broken.
Dean was put in the 150cc 4stroke class
Wearing a white Deus Jersey in his round, Dean performed perfectly hitting the lead early and holding it right through the race, cementing a first position. Have to say, for us in the cheap seats, his performance was both amazing and we were just a little surprising because it was his first time in such a competition, we all knew he’d had a lot of experience as a Longboarder in competition, now we knew also has a talent as a Flat track motorcycle racer.
In his next race the competition was a lot stiffer but again Dean surprise the hell out of us finishing second out of eight starters, thus making it through to the next round, the semi-finals. That meant there was only a few steps left and he really was within striking distance to bring home a trophy. "Go Dean, you can do it!" we started to chant, as he lined up for the start of the semi-finals. It was a neck and neck race with Dean again taking out second place. The crowd was loving it, we were getting a little hoarse from screaming encouragement from the sidelines, and so far, still gob smacked at his awesome achievement.
Other divisions raced until we came to the Final round. Dean was looking more than a little nervous as he lined up with a group of racers who all had a lot more experience in Flat track racing than he had. But then he had us, who were still shouting and cheering our encouragement and that was bound to make him a whole lot more confident.
And then they were off. Dean flew to the front position, he held his position despite various pressures from other drivers, we were going crazy from the side and as they came into the last lap he struggled to hold it, finally a couple of riders pipped him, with Dean crossing the line in third place.
He hadn’t been able to win but he’d done incredibly well against people with a mountain more proficiency. He’d pushed himself and he had delivered, he’d also entertained all of us shouting and cheering for him. For his first appearance on a flat track we were all so incredibly proud, and we’re sure that next time he’ll be better and perhaps one day soon, even be the best.
Photo’s & Original Bahasa Indonesia Text: Giang GAW.
Additional Photos: Purnama Land & Hell Trust Indonesia
English Translation: Ano Mac
MENGEJAR PURNAMA
Ketika mendengar nama Kota Bandung kita akan langsung teringat akan julukan "Paris Van Java" atau kota Paris nya Jawa, Karena Bandung seringkali menjadi trend setter nya Fashion.. Diluar itu Bandung juga menjadi barometer setiap acara yang berbau otomotif di Indonesia dan kota kelahiran dari beragam kegiatan otomotif di Indonesia, salah satunya BBQ Ride.
Komunitas otomotif di Bandung, terutama komunitas motor bisa dikatakan yang paling banyak. Mulai dari komunitas motor cc kecil hingga para pengendara motor besar. Bicara soal komunitas motor di Bandung mungkin tidak akan pernah ada habisnya, seperti hal nya para penggiat komunitas motor di Bandung yang tidak pernah ada matinya untuk membuat hal-hal baru.
Salah satu ide luar biasa yang baru lahir di Bandung yakni event balap "Flat Track" yang di inisiasi beberapa orang pecinta motor dengan tema Camping dan balapan yang dilaksanakan setiap satu bulan sekali saat datang nya waktu bulan purnama. Mereka menyebutnya "PURNAMA LAND" meskipun ini bukan event Flat Track pertama di Indonesia namun, mereka adalah penggagas event Flat Track di Indonesia yang mempunyai sirkuit permanen untuk Flat Track.
Jadi, saat kami mendapatkan undangan mereka, saya dan teman-teman dari Batukaras yang tergabung dalam komunitas "Roda-Roda Tua" tentu saja sangat antusias dan tidak sabar untuk berpartisipasi didalam acara tesebut. Kebetulan sekali Dean Permana merupakan salah satu Rider Deus Bali yang juga salah satu Front Men dikomunitas "Roda-Roda Tua". Kami berangkat dengan berkendara bersama mengendarai motor tua ke Bandung yang jarak nya lumayan jauh dengan jarak tempuh kurang lebih 220 KM atau sekitar 6-7jam perjalanan..
Kami berangkat sehari sebelum acara tersebut digelar, Dean yang sebelumnya sudah menghubungi Deus untuk ikut bergabung dalam acara balapan tersebut akan mewakili deus dan Roda-Roda Tua harus mengurus beberapa hal di Bandung, salah satunya mengambil motor KLX 150cc di toko Deus Bandung yang merupakan motor hasil karya Bengkel Deus khusus untuk balapan Flat Track dan di pajang secara sukarela di toko Deus Bandung.
Mengawali perjalanan di pagi hari, dibawah terik nya matahari pagi pada hari itu dan tiba di Bandung pada malam hari. Seni nya berkendara dengan motor tua membuat kami seharian diperjalanan. Setelah semua urusan di Bandung beres, kami menghubungi kang Yosep, salah satu custom builder di Bandung sekaligus founder dari "Prama Motowork" yang kebetulan juga salah satu dari inisiator terbentuk nya “PURNAMA LAND”
Malam itu, kami dipersilahkan untuk berisitirahat dikediaman nya...
Hari kedua kami pun berangkat menuju lokasi event yang jarak nya lumayan jauh karena lokasinya berada diluar kota Bandung tepat nya berada di Kabupaten Bandung Barat. Sampai dilokasi kami disambut Andre Ray salah satu penggagas PURNAMA LAND.
Disana kami bertemu beberapa teman sesama penggiat Flat Track yang hadir dari kota-kota sekitaran Bandung seperti Jakarta, Bekasi, Sukabumi dan pastinya rekan-rekan dari Bandung sendiri. Setelah membereskan semua peralatan untuk Camping, Dean mulai mengecek motor dan mencoba sirkuit. Dengan mencoba beberapa lap Dean akhirnya mulai menyesuaikan diri dengan keadaan track dan terlihat sangat siap untuk tampil maksimal di event besok hari. Beberapa saat kemudian turun hujan sehingga kami semua harus kembali ke dalam tenda hingga hujan reda dan sayangnya tidak kunjung reda hingga malam tiba.
Di malam Hari dengan kondisi sedikit Basah kami masih bisa berkumpul dan bercerita tentang balapan Flat track dengan orang-orang yang berkompeten dibidang ini. Karena bagi kami balapan Flat track masih terbilang cukup baru di Indonesia sendiri. Tidak seperti di negara-negara lain seperti Amerika, jadi kami memang sangat haus tentang balapan ini. Malam pun semakin larut dan cuaca malam itu cukup dingin, kami pun memutuskan untuk beristirahat.
Hari ketiga, hari dimana Event ini diselenggarakan. Keadaan sirkuit masih basah, sambil menunggu kering kami pun menyempatkan untuk bertegur sapa dengan teman-teman yang baru hadir diantaranya, teman kami seorang enterpreneur yaitu Eddi Brokoli yang kebetulan juga ikut membantu keberlangsungan acara Purnama land. Menjelang siang, keadaan sirkuit sudah mulai bisa dipakai dan Dean pun mencoba lagi sirkuit bersama teman kami, Maulana Sandi. Sandi juga sempat hadir berpartisipasi dalam acara Deus slidetober tahun 2019. Dalam sesi latihan, Dean sempat terjatuh dan benar-benar sangat ekstrim. Dia sampai terlempar dari motor yang dikendarainya nya. Syukurnya, tidak ada hal serius lain yang perlu dikhawatirkan.
Dean bergabung dikelas 4tak 150cc
Dengan menggunakan Jersey Deus berwarna putih dibabak penyisihan, Dean tampil sangat maksimal dan berhasil finish diposisi pertama. Hal ini tentu sangat mengejutkan sekaligus membanggakan bagi kami dan para penonton yang hadir karena sepengetahuan kami, ini kali pertamanya dia mengikuti perlombaan jenis ini. Ternyata, selain seorang Longboarder yang berprestasi Dean juga punya talenta sebagai pembalap Motor Flat Track.
Di ajang perlombaan berikutnya, persaingan semakin ketat dan lagi-lagi Dean membuat kejutan lagi bagi kami. Dean finish diposisi kedua dari 8 starters dan berhasil lolos ke babak berikutnya yaitu Babak semifinal, tinggal beberapa langkah lagi sampai dia berkesempatan membawa piala. "Go Dean you can do it" Kami memberikan dukungan penuh dan tulus untuk Dean dan benar saja di babak Semi Final Dean kembali berhasil finish diurutan kedua. Kami dan penonton yang hadir kembali bersorak atas penampilannya yang sangat mengagumkan. Tiba saatnya di race yang paling ditunggu-tunggu yaitu babak Final, Dean terlihat sedikit Nervous karena yang akan dia hadapi di babak final ini adalah para pembalap yang sudah berpengalaman dalam balapan Flat Track. Kami terus memberikan semangat untuk Dean agar selalu percaya diri..
Babak final pun dimulai.. Pada lap pertama, Dean berada diposisi depan. Terlihat perjuangan dari Dean untuk terus mempertahankan posisi nya meskipun berbagai tekanan datang dari pembalap lain nya hingga akhirnya Dean mampu finish diposisi ke tiga. Meskipun tidak berhasil membawa pulang piala namun, penampilan Dean saat itu patut diapresiasi. Kami yakin Dean telah berjuang maksimal dan itu sangat pantas untuk apresiasi yang baik. Untuk Penampilan pertama didalam balapan flat track pertamanya, kami rasa cukup membanggakan. Kami yakin dibalapan-balapan selanjutnya Dean pasti akan jauh lebih baik bahkan bisa jadi yang terbaik.
Foto & Artikel: Giang GAW.
Additional Photos: Purnama Land & Hell Trust Indonesia
