off-road trackdays?

has anyone done an off-road "experience"-type thing? a sort of a turn up & get given motocross gear & a bike & some instruction for a day -sort of thing?

I was thinking that since it's going to be a while before I can get out on a regular trackday that something like this might tide me over. maybe even improve my road/track riding too

if anyone's done something like this, what was it like? worth doing?

somewhere down south would be ideal

i've done the yamaha off road experiance and i've got to say it was brilliant. so much so that i had an enduro bike sat in the garage a week later!

where abouts did you do this busasean ?

im looking into it.

[fizzwheel]

I've done the Honda off road experience that MCN were doing a while ago.

Turned up at 10am was giving a briefing on the bikes and sorted out with full kit. After a brief session behind an instructor to learn the track and get a feel for the bikes that was it were let out on by ourselves. Basically that was it. You could do as many or as few laps as you wanted to there was no pressure to race or to go fast if you didnt want to. If you wanted tips there were 4 instructors there who you could ask for help or follow round for a while. There was always an instructor on the track and another one watching to make sure nobody was pushing themselves to hard. Typically I would ride for 10 - 15 minutes and then come back in and rest for 10 minutes and then go back out again. We basically had unrestricted access to the bikes from 11am till 4pm. There were a range of bike available a 100cc, a 250cc and a 450cc all four strokes. Because we were all novices we were discouraged from taking the 450's out though. I stayed on the 250cc all day but some people swapped between the two different bikes.

I really enjoyed it, it was a bit unnerving to start with as you think the bikes have no grip, especially on loose gravel / sand or dust. But the knobbly moto cross tyres really do grip. Its is very different though from riding a road bike, a different style / technique is needed. It was great fun, even falling off was fun. I feel off twice, over the handlebars both times. I bust the fork risers on one bike, but that was no problem as part of it is falling off, if you dont fall off your not trying. They expect a few breakages and the bikes are designed to break to prevent heavy damage. Its all part of it.

I was completely knackered at the end of the day and I stopped at about 3:30 as I felt myself getting tired and making silly mistakes. I was bruised and battered and I was stiff for a few days bits of me ached that I didnt know existed.

It made me more confident on my road bike, as I wasnt affraid to let the bike move around anymore and I noticed my throttle control had got better to.

Cost was £175 which included, bike, fuel, lid, body armour, boots and all the other stuff I needed. I did mine just outside Dorchester but they run them all over the country. I'm going to do another one in 2007.

i did it in wales. turned up at 8.30 at gerant (?) jones' farm complete with cows wandering round, tractors, dogs etc, got sorted out with kit and met everyone else. there were about 8 of us that went out. you were given a choice of a dt125r, a ttr250, a wr250 or a wr450, had a quick spin round the yard to make sure you were happy and then off we went round the welsh countryside! a real mix of terrain from slate, forests, mud, hills, and about 2 foot of cow **** at one point in a field. did a lot of 1 to 1 if you were struggling, or asked. also did part of the hafren route. the next morning my mate and i were in absolute bits. every part of me hurt, but really good fun! i'm looking at booking again next yr as a company thing!

sounds like exactly what I'm after. I'll just have to be careful not to end up with a x'er in the garage

[RingDing]

I also did the Yamaha Offroad Experience in Wales. Got to agree with Busasean, it was brilliant. I definitely thought it benefited my road riding and was great fun.

http://www.yamaha-offroad-experience.co.uk/

TWO Magazine reviewed Avago MX earlier on in the year and rated it.

www.mxaddict.com

I quite fancy doing this one myself next year.

Originally Posted by busasean

the next morning my mate and i were in absolute bits. every part of me hurt

Just finished chapter 2 of "Road to Dakar" and thats pretty much how Charley Boorman described the riding in South Wales

Pete

it was even worse after finishing the 12 hr dawn 2 dusk this yr!