BMW Level 1 - what next

[Eddy802]

As a youngster I rode a BMX around a local quarry. Later ragging a DT50 at the same venue. I realise now that this aspect of biking is what puts the bigger smile on my face, so.....

...having completed the BMW off road skills course a couple of weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed it, my better half and I were considering the options to continue the off road experience. Riding our 12GS and 650GS off road is not amongst them (new, precious, heavy), so we're left pondering the following:

Book another level 1 course in the early part of next year and a level 2 later on, with a view to amend the second booking depending on the outcome and progress during the first.

Book any other form of Enduro School courses - although I don't know which, when or where (any suggestions with bike hire?)

Buy second hand bikes and practice our newly aquired skills on green lanes locally (North Essex - much doing that we could ride to and from without it sucking the fun out of the muddy bit?), returning for further training when skills are consolidated.

I look to the experience and giving nature of the forum and respect your input. Which path do you guys suggest? Perhaps there are options that I've not considered.

Cheers.

 

[Fanum]

Riding our 12GS and 650GS off road is not amongst them (new, precious, heavy),

Don't dismiss that option too early Eddy......

With some crash bars on and a pair of TKC's, it's surprising what a GS will do quite happily.

Try joining in on a couple of 'off road rides' with some others....as long as there are at least three of you to pick the buggers up, they can be a reet hoot

 

[Eddy802]

Having had a short go on one of the course 12's, there is no doubt that I'd like to do a little more if the chance comes round. Smooth power delivery and balance point were just 2 of the points I enjoyed compared to the 650 ride.

I may well follow that advice on a personal level, but I have to bare in mind that with SWMBO along, there's already 2 bikes worth of lifting for me to do in any one ride!

So you can see how that option would pale just like a long haul ride to the green lanes on a knobbly fitted 250 does...



Thanks for the feed back, keep it coming.

 

[GS Adventurer]

Eddy, understand your nervousness at taking the 650 and 12 off-tarmac especially with the weather we've had recently. Believe me, some of the green lanes in North Essex can be almost impassable, but not all. You need to know the ones that can cope with wet weather and more importantly, those that turn to bog!

Have taken my 650 Dakar and GS Adventure down most of them, but only when I've got a good idea of the conditions first. Call me if wimp if you like but as I ride the byways alone, I'm not taking too many chances - I've fallen off in the river at Littley Green (bike on side and water in engine) and been stuck in mud up to the axles on Colley Bridge Lane - trust me, it pays to know!!

So what do I do - I take my little DR350 most of the time and enjoy the lanes whatever the weather!!

If you want info on the lanes in the Colchester area, I know them all very well - I've been riding them on and off (!!) for the past 10 years. An added bonus is they're all BOATs rather than RUPPs so not affected by the most recent blow to our lifestyle.

Mike

 

[BLUE(UK)]

If you want to do deep muddy,technical stuff then go for some XR/DR etc for the fun but if it's like stone/off pavement/fire road type of stuff(what one would usually call easy going)then take the BM's out.....just take your time and build your confidence.

 

[Eddy802]

Thanks gents.

Mike,

I'll definately PM you to pick your brains later when I get minute.

 

[Llama]

Eddy
I'm interested in doing the BM courses next year, so this is of great interest to me.

Why would you want to do the level 1 course again?

I would have thougt that you would follow the L1 with the L2 assuming that one adds to the other or doesn't it quite work like that?

Ralph

 

[Eddy802]

Hi Llama,

I can 't recommend the course highly enough. Apart from some charging about as a youngster with little formal consideration to technique I had no off road experience.

On the BMW course the method of instruction and coaching was fantastic and the basic handling techniques taught in isolation were then consiolidated during regular instructor lead rides around the enduro park. Each group is paced around the participants and more confident or able individuals are grouped as soon as this shows to ensure everyone gets the most out of their time. So much covered and learnt in 2 days. What felt like massive progress in ability and confidence. Absolutely knackered by the end, we were glad of 4 wheels for the journey home!!

The instructors explained that "solid level 1 skills" are required to make the most of level 2, and whilst I feel I performed and progressed well and my confidence today is high, by the time I get back to do another course (potentially without the opportunity to practice) I feel it would be appropriate for me to be further consolidating my abilities and focussing on the level one skills again before taking on more.

I understand many people do level one at least twice before moving on, and that is oftentimes with some off road daliance in between. How you decide to tackle it is of course up to you.

You will enjoy it, I've no doubt.

 

[Polarbear]

Eddy, after our chat down at maldon I'm glad to hear you Fussel thoroughly enjoyed the course.

Everything you said in post#8 I agree with. I have done the the level 1 course 3 times, in successive years, the first time I came home severely battered and bruised, second year made progress without so many bruises and the third time everything seemed to click, I seemed to have far more time to plan routes through , round or over obstacles etc etc. I then went onto to level 2, a couple of months later, expecting the first part (refresher of level 1) to be easy, but due to the fact I don't ride off road anywhere near often enough I have to say the first hour was a struggle until I managed to relax and let the bike do its own thing. By comparison level 1 is more of a bimble around the park, level 2, in my opinion is starting to teach more of the skills for enduro riding/racing, but still I think, only scratching the surface. The overiding memory of all the courses was the way my cheek muscles ached from laughing so much.

I have had several rides off road this summer from a couple of ford rides with fanum to some green lanes on the byways around Thetford, and the last with ralph, I have to say shamefacedly, there were not many rides off road that I didn't step off at least once. I can put most of my falls down to not being relaxed and not being positive / progressive enough, both faults I'm sure, stem from lack of practice.

Whilst I will continue to ride the Adventure off road whenever the opportunity presents itself, I have to say neither Lynne or I feel as relaxed riding our own bikes off road (mainly due to lack of practice), as we did the school bikes, so with that in mind we too have been looking at obtaining a couple of older lighter weight bikes to hopefully make our forays offroad more frequent.

 

[Eddy802]

Mike,

I'm unable to email or PM you through the forum, can you email me please:

eddy at 2mileshigh dot co dot uk

Thanks

 

[chrish]

Hi Llama,

I can 't recommend the course highly enough. Apart from some charging about as a youngster with little formal consideration to technique I had no off road experience.

On the BMW course the method of instruction and coaching was fantastic and the basic handling techniques taught in isolation were then consiolidated during regular instructor lead rides around the enduro park. Each group is paced around the participants and more confident or able individuals are grouped as soon as this shows to ensure everyone gets the most out of their time. So much covered and learnt in 2 days. What felt like massive progress in ability and confidence. Absolutely knackered by the end, we were glad of 4 wheels for the journey home!!

The instructors explained that "solid level 1 skills" are required to make the most of level 2, and whilst I feel I performed and progressed well and my confidence today is high, by the time I get back to do another course (potentially without the opportunity to practice) I feel it would be appropriate for me to be further consolidating my abilities and focussing on the level one skills again before taking on more.

I understand many people do level one at least twice before moving on, and that is oftentimes with some off road daliance in between. How you decide to tackle it is of course up to you.

You will enjoy it, I've no doubt.

I have been researching on the BMW Enduro class since I am very interested and would like to attend one. It seems that the Hechlingen park only has classes for HP2 now.

They do have the GS in Wales www.worldofbmw.com
After exchanging several emails with them in that office I have signed up for the 4/16 - 17 2006 class.

Since I have never been to Wales ( I am in the U.S. ) or attended this type of class, I was hoping that you all can give me some recommendations:
1. What’s the best way to get to the training center in Abercrave from the US? The cost should be medium, not the cheapest or too expensive. After some research, I found the car rental is about $610 USD per week if I am going to drive from Heathrow airport to Abercrave. It sounds pretty expensive? As an alternative, I don’t mind travel by train or whatever is available as long as we will not have to be hopping from one vehicle to another and pulling our lugages with us too many times. Or should I fly into a different airport?

2. on the web site there are some general recommendations to what to wear but I would like to get feedbacks from those of you who have been to this type of class. My current riding gears are pretty much for on-road riding including Arai RX-7, BMW Airflow jacket and pants, Oxtar Matrix boots. Could you make more specific and detailed recommendations based on your experience such as jacket, pants, helmet, boots, protection gear, and their brands and models?

3. My wife will probably be going with me. She will like to tour the surrounding areas while I attend the class. Are there any one-day or two-day tour packages that you could recommend?

4. what's the weather like in March there? Rainy? cold?

5. what should I do to prepare myself so that I will get the best out of the class aside from getting myself in shape physically? Any riding practices or skills to work on?

Thanks!

Chris

 

[Gaz]

Chris,
a few suggestions
1. Continental fly from Newark to Birmingham direct. Heathrow is immensely busy ! You can get an economy size car for approx 200 USD for a week from such as www.budget.co.uk. Abercrave (on some maps it's Abercraf) is relatively remote and the train is not a good idea.

3. Tour packages are gonna be rare in the middle of winter (I guess). I'd try to look for day trips around The Cotswolds.

4. March is still winter for us, so probably wet and certainly cold.

HTH

Gary

 

[chrish]

Chris,
a few suggestions
1. Continental fly from Newark to Birmingham direct. Heathrow is immensely busy ! You can get an economy size car for approx 200 USD for a week from such as www.budget.co.uk. Abercrave (on some maps it's Abercraf) is relatively remote and the train is not a good idea.

3. Tour packages are gonna be rare in the middle of winter (I guess). I'd try to look for day trips around The Cotswolds.

4. March is still winter for us, so probably wet and certainly cold.

HTH

Gary

Gary,

Thank you very much! I looked up the car rental from your link and it sure is around USD$224 instead of what I found from Expedia.com in the US for $610 per week.

How far is Birmingham Airport to London? We are thinking about touring the Capital on the way home?

Thanks!

Chris

 

[chrish]

Gary,

Thank you very much! I looked up the car rental from your link and it sure is around USD$224 instead of what I found from Expedia.com in the US for $610 per week.

How far is Birmingham Airport to London? We are thinking about touring the Capital on the way home?

Thanks!

Chris

BTW,

How far is it from Birmingham Airport to Abercrave?

Thanks!

 

[John Armstrong]

Have a look here: http://www.theaa.com/travelwatch/planner_main.jsp?database=B

It does recognise Birmingham airport and Abercrave.

Lots to see in the area like the big mine and the Brecon Beacons, Hay on Wye etc but I'd bring waterproofs for the missus as it does tend to be on the wet side in Wales, which is why the English have their reservoirs there. Good to look at ideas for inside sight seeing. If you head west the Pembroke coast is pretty and doesn't tend to be cold for long as the Gulf Stream is close.

You can hire the kit apart from helmets and you should get some information shortly after you book (I did). As for waterproofs, you'll either be wet from sweating or from the rain, as far as I can see, you take your choice. But if the weather isn't "normal" ie it's hot and sunny then if you're wearing proper waterproofs you're going to be a boil in the bag person. From the pictures I've seen Simon Pavey wears the LWR approved suit, but that might be because it comes free.

 

[swebb]

I have had several rides off road this summer from a couple of ford rides with fanum to some green lanes on the byways around Thetford

Hi Polarbear,

I don't want to start any kind of hijack, but do you have any of the Thetford based off-road stuff on GPS? I'd be VERY interested in some "easy" fun stuff in the Thetford area, but have no idea on the byways, which are open to use, which are worth using and which suffer too badly with weather etc to risk.

Any info, especially GPS waypoints/routes/tracks would be a HUGE advantage, and greatly appreciated....

Feel free to PM any response to prevent hijacking if you'd prefer.

Thanks

-Stu.

 

[Polarbear]

Swebb pm'd ya

 

[Eddy802]

Felt it was only fair to let you know that my considerations have lead me to the KTM Adventure Tours website with a view to participating in their Off Road Academy early nextg year.

Has anyone any experience of this or other manufacturers' courses.

Thanks for all the feedback so far.