Motorcycle Tours South Africa- Motorcycle Trip Reports

trip

A dirty weekend-
Off-road training with BMW

Click here to Visit Contry Trax off road academy online

The Sama Team just got back from a DIRTY weekend, yep you heard us- we just spent the weekend learning how to ride off-road at the BMW rider training academy….. a weekend of dust, mud and, of course, Awesome Riding.

Early on Thursday morning we got up and packed our motorcycles, riding gear, assorted family members and all our luggage (excluding the kitchen sink) into the Sama Back up vehicle and we were ready to go.

We arrived at Country Trax, our venue for the weekend in the late afternoon, just as the sun was setting over the beautiful farmlands of Kwazulu Natal- if only we knew what lay in stall for us.

The first lesson of motorcycle riding off road is “MOVE THAT BUTT”. When taking a corner- no matter what speed- it is always important to move your weight to the outside foot and that includes moving your butt over- that way the bike cannot slip out from under you…

We spent the entire first day riding around cones, trees, logs - anything that forced us to shift our weight and to turn the bike sharply- it was a great lesson indeed.

The rest of the weekend was spent tackling all sorts of interesting off road obstacles- going up and down steep hills, turning on inclines, driving through mud (although- most us ended up driving (into) rather then (through) the mud.
We had to tackle thick sand- and also steer A ZIG ZAG pattern through it. I always saw sand as follows: “You open your throttle, close your eyes and hope for the best” but the actual method is: “STAND UP, LOOK UP AND OPEN UP”

You know if you actually look where you are going and plan a line for your bike to go through- it is much easier to control the bike.

The best advice I heard this weekend was from Werner, the Charming ladies instructor. He said “People always say that a motorcycle does not talk back to you- but actually it does. When you are riding along and the bike starts to move under you (especially in sand or mud!) the bike is actually telling you to look up- it is saying: look where you want to go- and I will go there” this may seem like strange advice- but when you start to lose control and you look down- 10 out of 10 times- you fall. But if you look where you want to go- your bike will take you there.

We met lots of awesome riders on the course- I think we should make special mention here of a rider called Gordon. Gordon showed us what not to do when riding off road. He spent the entire weekend driving into trees, holes, and other assorted objects- he has actually perfected the skill of lifting up one very heavy BMW R1200GS. His final lesson to us for the weekend was “What will happen to you if you drive into a bush pig hole” below is an extremely visual example:

Gordon showed us what happens if you drive into a Bush Pig Hole

Some humor:
A couple of weeks ago there was a Dutch rider at the off-road course.
The Instructor urged the Dutch rider to ride his bike up to a certain point and jump with his bike over a 3 foot long and 3 foot deep hole in the ground.

The Dutch guy really did not want to do this. The Instructor tried and tried to convince him to give it a try. He walked 6 feet away from the hole and pointed to a spot on the ground and said- “you will land over here- so you have nothing to worry about!”

The Dutch guy then replied: “AND VER WILL ZI BIKE LAND?”

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