Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

"Double your skills and halve your fears"

It is a brilliant course - you won't regret going.

Details on this site: http://www.hambanani.co.za/countrytrax.html

The course is held at Klipbokkop near Villiersdorp, from Friday to Sunday.  No prior offroad experience required, but you need to be able to ride.  Cost about R2.5k with luxury accomodation all in.  Very professional, and you will literally double your skill and halve your fears.

It seems expensive, but is less than the insurance excess of one small off - so a good way to ensure you do less damage to your bike, finances and body.

Glad to hear it is money well spend.

I am looking forward to the experience and hope that after the weekend the bug will bite the wife

So, who else is joining?

Hans, sien ek jou daar?

make sure you have good ATGATT before you go and ensure that you AND your partner are at least moderately physically fit. Some of the work is repetitive and tiring by nature. Ensure that your bike is equipped with all the necessary crash bars, which are adequately taped up. You are going to be doing lots of cones and there is a fair chance that your bike may fall over quite a few times - all walking speed stuff, of course - but be prepared for a few scratches on the bike and your bodies ... so hence the crash bars and the ATTGATT comments earlier.

My beginners and intermediate courses with CountryTrax were money well spent. Needless to say that you'll meet like-minded people and make a few friends as well.

It will take your riding to a new level & I'm sure all those who have done similar courses will agree.

As the Training Co-Ordinator for the club I need to warn you about Country Trax courses:

They are addictive!

You start with one and you keep going till you've done them all!  Really excellent courses given by great instructors.

Enjoy!

Thank you for the adviec Stan.

That is why my wife is going with, she will be dressed like a astronaut to make my landing softer only joking.

I need to sort her out with proper boots before the weekend and a neck brace, and a pink ish helmet

I hope the crash bars on the 800 GSA is sufficient, the side panniers work well, they have been tested in the drive way to see how the bike clear in case of a fall over.

Ferdie - as ek jy is sal ek ook bietjie duct tape op die bike plak oor al die kolle waar dit sal kontak maak met die grond. 'n Paar van die manne het gehuil oor die krappe op hulle nuwe bikes. Kyk, merke gaan jy kry, vroeer of later, maar ek was ook van daai ouens wat my bike jammer kry. Vat ook 'n Kamelbak of soortgelyk saam om mee te hiedreer - julle gaan dors raak deur die dag. Geniet dit.

Looks like you've already got a pinkish helmet

This specific Country Trax course is going to be a very special one.

It is not only the last weekend course for 2013, but Jan (Staal) du Toit, founder of Country Trax and legend in dual sport riding is going to be there himself.

Deon Meyer, famous crime/adventure writer and DS rider, is also going to be there.

For more info: http://www.bikebookings.co.za/country-trax-offroad-klipbokkop.html

Hahaha

Ek sal maar paar rolle inpak soontoe en op paar plekke tape. Vrou wil anyway hê dat ek bike deur sleep, want ek tel haar direk van werk af op die Vrydag. Moet haar baas nog met biltong omkoop dat sy kan vroeer loop.

Dankie vir die info Stan, glo dit sal handig te pas kom. Hoop maar dis soos fiets ry en dat alles gou weer sal terug kom. 

Cheers

Ferdinand

Wel, booking gemaak en betaal vandag, heeha

This is a course I've always wanted to do but instead opted for many of the cheaper training days. Along the way I've built up confidence and my riding skills have improved. I'm contemplating this course but it is a bit pricey and don't want to spend unnecessary money if I can help it. For those that know me and have done the course before, would you still recommend I give it a bash? I know you can never train enough but just asking.

Apart from the excellent training in a made-for-purpose venue, where you will definitely learn some new stuff, the venue itself is a holiday:  luxury accomodation, superb food and catering and customer service.  And I haven't even mentioned the bar, the views over Brandvlei dam, the wildlife and fynbos.

Even if you only do this once, it is a bikers' bucketlist kind of thing.  I have been there 3 times and loved it every time.  Be careful.  Once you have done it you will be finding excuses to do another one - and the advanced sand course is a great follow-up.

If one can afford to invest in a course such as this, I don't see it as "spending unneccesary money".

Charles summarised it quite well.

Sure, money doesn't grow on trees, but then again, look at the bikes we ride ...

And most of us know how quickly things can go wrong out there, when we're still new and inexperienced, and more importantly - the cost to machine and rider alike.

Education costs money, whether I learn the easy way or the hard ...

I agree with Charles and Stan.

The intermediate course is one that would be of benefit even if you did it every year. Everything taught has practical application.

Just some feedback regarding the off road weekend course.

Lekker man, lekker

I went to this course feeling that I am to short and light for the bike I bought. Friday was an eye opener and slowly things started progressing as I was forced out of my comfort zone into unknown territory with a DS bike.

By Saturday evening I felt like a different rider. Old skill slowly started coming back and I soon realized that the size and weight of the bike was more a mental block than a reality.

I want to give credit to the instructors of the weekend, they know how to ride and they know how to share that knowledge to make you comfortable in doing it yourself. I learned a lot and my bike feels like it had lipo suction.

The 800 GSA is a capable and robust bike. I added Barkbuster hand guards, short clutch and brake levers and ran TKC rubber front and back.

I learned that clutch control "is koning" and the only complaint I have is that the weekend was too short.

Good training, good accommodation and food and a highly recommended experience overall.

I can't wait for the sand and Advance training next year,

but first practice, practice, practice

Thanks for the feedback, Ferdinand - and well done!!! I hope your bike (and wife) didn't get too bruised :). I've yet to come across anybody that thought that Klipbokkop was a waste of time and money.

You mention clutch control: I don't know whether the 800GSA has a shorter first gear, but my experience with my (then) 2010 800GS was that the factory sprocket combinantion required me to slip the clutch (a lot) when doing cones and slow technical stuff to keep the bike crawling at a manageable pace.

I've since gone one tooth smaller on the front sprocket which has made a helpful difference, and which hasn't pushed cruising speed rpm up too much. This is one of the (few) advantages that chain drive holds for me.

Thanks for the feedback, Ferdinand - and well done!!! I hope your bike (and wife) didn't get too bruised :). I've yet to come across anybody that thought that Klipbokkop was a waste of time and money.

You mention clutch control: I don't know whether the 800GSA has a shorter first gear, but my experience with my (then) 2010 800GS was that the factory sprocket combinantion required me to slip the clutch (a lot) when doing cones and slow technical stuff to keep the bike crawling at a manageable pace.

I've since gone one tooth smaller on the front sprocket which has made a helpful difference, and which hasn't pushed cruising speed rpm up too much. This is one of the (few) advantages that chain drive holds for me.

Stan

No bruises for the wife or myself

She was very scared when she saw what was expected of us, but in the end did even the emergency stop, front and back break, with me (standing and going around 100km/h)

BMW did not sort out that problem and I struggled a lot on the Friday with the slow riding stuff and aspecially cones against a slight incline. I had to ride the clutch the hole time and the bike kept stalling due to the low revs and lack of sufficient torque. This was the most difficult tecnique to master, but by Saturday noon time I had a setup that I could manage with.

I was also thinking of sprocketing it down in the front and glad to hear you say that it makes a difference.

Did you have a increase in sprocket and chain wear after the sprocket change or nothing noticable?

Regards

Ferdinand

When I first leant cones at Country Trax, the instructor said that we would be riding slower than the bike's idle speed in first gear.  Slipping the clutch is a given.  I do it all the time.  However, my bike has a dry clutch that eventually overheats and starts burning.  Also, my first gear is very long.  Like very, very long.

My strategy is to clutch-in when I can and give short pulses of power when necessary.

Ditto the other comments about Country Trax training at Klipbokkop - it is a brilliant way to spend a weekend, and the money is a good investment in your safety and the well-being of your bike.

In theory, there should be increased wear, but it wasn't noticeable. I got 25,000 km out of my last set, which seemed OK to me.