I’ve recently attended the BMW Off Road Skills level 1 course and thought it would be interesting to jot my thoughts down and share some pics.
So the Off Road Skills company is run by Simon (ex Dakar god) & Linley Pavey and their team, they provide off road training on BMW GS Trophy’s 1250 and smaller if required. They offer Level 1, 2 Foundation, 2 and 3. Home - Off Road Skills Ltd
I wasnt sure that Level 1 was right for me, given that I’ve done quite a lot of off road stuff over the years on big and small bikes, but I learnt loads. Our instructor was Carl who was fantastic.
The course is over 2 days, and held near to Swansea at Walters Arena, an off road paradise! You meet at the business park where their offices are, do admin, kit up and then ride out in convoy to Walters.
All of the instructors follow a plan, starting with getting on and off the bike, and covering various techniques, such as hill recovery, slow speed control, etc..
The course really does build your confidence and the way that the lessons and techniques build helps massively. I picked up various useful techniques throughout the 2 days despite the experience I have.
The bits I most liked were learning the grip on the front wheel by holding the front brake just on whilst accelerating on loose gravel! The abs kicks in but you get a feel for the grip and what the bike is doing, you feel a lot more confident front braking in muddy or loose stuff.
The slow control was fun riding in really tight circles, that’s the bit I felt most confident on due to my previous experience.
And then probably doing circuits where we included some steep drops and steep climbs. I remember when we started looking at the climbs and drops thinking wow that looks steep and then after a few circuits you’re launching yourself off the top of a loose gravel drop without a second thought!
Overall it was a great course and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it enough to anyone no matter what your experience.
some pics….
So the Off Road Skills company is run by Simon (ex Dakar god) & Linley Pavey and their team, they provide off road training on BMW GS Trophy’s 1250 and smaller if required. They offer Level 1, 2 Foundation, 2 and 3. Home - Off Road Skills Ltd
I wasnt sure that Level 1 was right for me, given that I’ve done quite a lot of off road stuff over the years on big and small bikes, but I learnt loads. Our instructor was Carl who was fantastic.
The course is over 2 days, and held near to Swansea at Walters Arena, an off road paradise! You meet at the business park where their offices are, do admin, kit up and then ride out in convoy to Walters.
All of the instructors follow a plan, starting with getting on and off the bike, and covering various techniques, such as hill recovery, slow speed control, etc..
The course really does build your confidence and the way that the lessons and techniques build helps massively. I picked up various useful techniques throughout the 2 days despite the experience I have.
The bits I most liked were learning the grip on the front wheel by holding the front brake just on whilst accelerating on loose gravel! The abs kicks in but you get a feel for the grip and what the bike is doing, you feel a lot more confident front braking in muddy or loose stuff.
The slow control was fun riding in really tight circles, that’s the bit I felt most confident on due to my previous experience.
And then probably doing circuits where we included some steep drops and steep climbs. I remember when we started looking at the climbs and drops thinking wow that looks steep and then after a few circuits you’re launching yourself off the top of a loose gravel drop without a second thought!
Overall it was a great course and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it enough to anyone no matter what your experience.
some pics….
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