Our introduction to the course started a day early when we left the hotel to go in search of the business park where we were due to meet on the first day of the course. Trying to follow a map sent as part of the joining instructions was not going well until we passed a local garage with around 30 BMW motorbikes covered in fresh Welsh mud – we knew were heading in the right direction now. Shortly afterwards we pulled in to a driveway to stop and consult the map again to work out where to go from them and as we were stood there the 30 motorbikes that had stopped for fuel rode past. We followed the procession of bikes back to the World of BMW headquarters and stopped around the corner to fix an issue with one of our comms systems. Just as we got all of the comms systems working again someone on a mud covered BMW pulled up for a chat – none other than Simon Pavey himself, drawn in by the strange number plates on our bikes. After a quick chat it was time to head around the corner to the Touratech HQ to pick up some brochures to start building the wish list of parts we wanted.
The following day we got down to the World of BMW HQ nice and early to start the registration process and to sort out the hire clothing. Upon arrival all of the bikes were lined up outside having been thoroughly cleaned after their offroad exploits the previous day but still showing a few bumps and scratches from their time on the Breacon Beacons so far. It was already building up to be a hot day with temperatures in the high 20s to low 30s – perfect weather to be be riding around in offroad kit. After the registration we were introduced to the instructors and given a quick overview of the bikes before heading out for a short road ride to Walters Arena for a morning of instruction. We started off in a large open area with the first key skill we were taught was how to pick up a dropped bike. With a few key tips I was able to pick up my F800GS with not too much trouble. What was really surprising was how much easier it was to pick up one of the instructors BMW 1200 Adventures especially given its size and weight. The instruction moved on to basics of getting on and off the bikes and walking around the bikes whilst only holding them with two fingers. The F800S is so well balanced that this seemed easy to do – not something that I will be trying with the Bandit that’s for sure! As the morning moved on we covered the basics of standing up on the bikes and clutch control and did some slalom courses. Next up came getting a feel for what happens when you lock a wheel under braking and braking techniques demonstrated in expert style by Simon Pavey himself as he proceeded to do the longest skid of the day well in excess of 50 m! After some more slow speed maneuvering technique practice it was already time for lunch and a quick blast around the fire trails of Walters arena down to the local community centre.
After lunch it was time to head back for more instruction – this time covering hill descents before another blast around the fire trails before covering hill recoveries which basically means picking up your bike, turning it around and riding it back down the hill which is surprisingly hard work. By the time we had completed this it was time to head back to base and finally get changed out of the off road gear and head back to the hotel for a well earned rest before the evening meal. The food was great and gave an opportunity to sit with the instructors and other people from the course and chat about adventure riding, the challenges of the Dakar Rally and lots of other bike related stuff over a few local ales.
The second day started out much as the first one with another road ride back to Walters Area and a shake down lap around some more challenging tracks and trails to cover some of the key skills learned so far before a chance to cover the next topic – momentum. This basically involves accelerating up a hill and then de-clutching before the top when you know that you have enough momentum to get to the top and not go riding straight into to trouble at the top. My first run at this proved a little bit interesting as I had managed to knock the bike into neutral halfway up the hill without noticing but quickly found out as I tried to release the clutch to get up the hill and promptly rolled back down the hill before having to make a jump for it. If nothing else this gave a little more practice on hill recoveries! The next thing the instructors had in store was a challenge for us designed to reinforce the concept of balance on the bikes. This involved riding down a long downhill stretch of fire trail stood up on the foot pegs with our arms stretched out. This initially seemed like a crazy thing to do but as it was surprisingly easy as the bikes are so well balanced and riding down a dusty fire trail at over 40mph stood up on the foot pegs with my arms out like that will surely be a standout memory from the course.
After some more challenging trails it was lunchtime again before it was time for what we had all been looking forward to – time to try other bikes. Up until this point I had been riding a BMW F800GS. This is a fantastic bike that is superbly balanced and with so much low down torque it could cope with anything that was thrown at it over the past day and a half. The only thing I did not like about the bike was the fact that the throttle was on or off with absolutely nothing in between which meant that you had to feather the clutch a lot to get just the right amount of power down for any given situation and also be in at least second gear most of the time. The first bike I jumped on for a quick ride around was a BMW 1200 GS. Although this is a heavier bike it felt very well balanced and although it did not feel as though it had quite the same low down grunt as the F800GS it certainly had plenty of go and felt easy to ride around the dusty fire trails. I then decided to hop on a BMW 650 X Country and what a difference that was. Not as much grunt as either the 800 or 1200 and by the end of the test ride I could not feel my feet due to the vibrations through the foot pegs!
By the time we had finished the test rides we had the opportunity to try a few more hill ascents. The first hill ascent was a bit tricky with most of us dropping the bikes before taking a second attempt with a run up. The second hill was a bit steeper and I decided to try this one in second gear – or so I though. Somewhere on the approach to the hill I must have accidentally knocked the bike into third gear. I did wonder why the bike was going a bit slow up the hill at the time and why I was having to constantly feather the clutch to stop it stalling and rev the heck out of it but I did get it to the top of the hill (well the front wheel got to the top of the hill anyway!).
With the day coming to an end it was time to head back to back to base and park the bikes up before final words from the instructors and the certificate presentations as well as an opportunity to pick up copies of personally signed copies of the race to Dakar and adventure motorcycling techniques books.
In summary the course was brilliant fun, we all learnt a huge amount in the short space of time and would recommend the course to anyone with an interest in riding off road. A huge thank you goes out to the instructors in our group – Simon Pavey and Clive “zippy” Town for their patience and time over those two days as well as all of the other staff there.
Cool write up! I’ll add something soon and hopefully we can add some pics to yours!