If you want sand, come to Ottawa. City put it down for traction during the winter, and it's still on the roads.
I'm doing the Total Control Skills day next week.
I'm doing the Total Control Skills day next week.
|
|
|
Motorcycle courses…
- Thread starter jc100
- Start date
moarmoto
Well-known member
Did total control in 2020.
Learned a lot... Things you think you know but realize it wasn't the case and practicing, etc.
One negative was that the parking lot was in pretty bad condition. But the instructors did their best to sweep, put drill cones in better parts, etc.
Was it worth it? I think so. Learned to have more control over my bike be able to trust tires (you think you'll fall if you lean more but still have way more room)
Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk
Learned a lot... Things you think you know but realize it wasn't the case and practicing, etc.
One negative was that the parking lot was in pretty bad condition. But the instructors did their best to sweep, put drill cones in better parts, etc.
Was it worth it? I think so. Learned to have more control over my bike be able to trust tires (you think you'll fall if you lean more but still have way more room)
Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk
Sand scared me , then we moved for a few years to the desert. The front wheel feels like learning to water ski , it sort of plows back and forth and then you get it . Unless you over correct , then you really get it .
The class sounds like tons of fun , report back how it goes
Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
The class sounds like tons of fun , report back how it goes
Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
matt365
Well-known member
play in the sand bowl in the ganny for a bit. That'll help with the sand-phobia.
Keep the speed up. Front wheel floats. Keep on the back of the seat.
Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk
justride
Well-known member
If you are in the Shannonville area, Fastriding school offers FAST STREET. I haven't tired it though!
OWN Bike only
Designed for beginners or riders with custom bikes that want to use their own bike to practice and improve their skills with specific exercises without doing laps around the track. Street riding gear (DOT Helmet, motorcycle jacket, boots and gloves).
Exercises:
All this is done using the very safe 7-turn Nelson Racetrack. (no lapping)
OWN Bike only
Designed for beginners or riders with custom bikes that want to use their own bike to practice and improve their skills with specific exercises without doing laps around the track. Street riding gear (DOT Helmet, motorcycle jacket, boots and gloves).
Exercises:
- Counter weight steering at lower speed
- Start and immediate 45-90 degree turn
- 180 degree turn at low speed (U-Turn)
- Break and down shift
- Front/Rear brake application and ratio
- Trail braking in a turn and stopping
- Throttle steering
- Traction
- + many more training exercises
All this is done using the very safe 7-turn Nelson Racetrack. (no lapping)
Interesting, I didn’t know that. Do you need to do any bike prep? Shannonville is kind of “down the road” from me.
Edit: OK, that’s pretty spendy too. $400+, I think I’d rather do Total Control if I’m spending that much. That’s a shame that it’s priced like that for something done on your own bike too.
Last edited:
justride
Well-known member
I doubt you would have to change anything on your bike (coolant).
One thing that caught my attention from FAST STREET is the Trail braking in a turn and stopping.
If that exercise is done at a "decent" speed it would be beneficial in real world riding. ie going around a blind corner doing 60, 70 , 80 km. ie going wide in a turn. Most fatal accidents happen at speed and on the road
One thing that caught my attention from FAST STREET is the Trail braking in a turn and stopping.
If that exercise is done at a "decent" speed it would be beneficial in real world riding. ie going around a blind corner doing 60, 70 , 80 km. ie going wide in a turn. Most fatal accidents happen at speed and on the road
Just got back from Trail Tours. Absolutely amazing day. My fear of sand literally went in 5 minutes since we took the bikes out on a sand track to get used to them first thing. Emergency braking on dusty/sandy tracks, clutch control to control speed, tight cornering, log jumping, hillclimbing training and lots and lots of single track.
For about 15 lonely minutes I thought I‘d gotten lost in the forest but someone came back to get me.
Fell off once when the front tire suddenly didn’t have any ground to travel on at the edge of a trail and got stranded like a teeter totter across a second log when the first (giant) one smacked the bash plate. Consoled myself by watching everyone else not get across successfully.
Totally exhausted but it was very confidence inspiring. Slipping and sliding about in corners is a lot of fun and it really takes a lot for the bike to go down.
For about 15 lonely minutes I thought I‘d gotten lost in the forest but someone came back to get me.
Fell off once when the front tire suddenly didn’t have any ground to travel on at the edge of a trail and got stranded like a teeter totter across a second log when the first (giant) one smacked the bash plate. Consoled myself by watching everyone else not get across successfully.
Totally exhausted but it was very confidence inspiring. Slipping and sliding about in corners is a lot of fun and it really takes a lot for the bike to go down.
i've done a bunch of courses around the GTA. my favorites are supersonic school (even if you don't plan on going on the track), and any of the dirt bike schools
i've done total control up to ARC1 and it is good for newer riders but the gymkhana stuff I do is way more challenging now
i've done total control up to ARC1 and it is good for newer riders but the gymkhana stuff I do is way more challenging now
That's awesome! Another rider joins the dirt brigade!
The biggest change I've found going from street to dirt is to learn to be less smooth with the clutch and throttle. A lot of times you need to dump the clutch or goose the throttle to lift the front wheel out of the loose stuff or to clear logs or rocks.
On the street, traction is key. In the dirt, thrust is more important. Steering with the rear is fun!
In loose surfaces, the sand, dirt or gravel smoothes out your throttle and clutch inputs anyway.
Unexpected side effect…my thighs feel like I’ve been doing squats for days and my wrists and forearms feel like they are twice their normal size. Might have been due to the death grip I had for a few hours.
I have to say I had more fun in the open sand/dirt than deep in the forest. The open sand parts didn’t slap me in the face/wheel/chest/arms with oddly invisible tree parts and the sandy bits also didn’t have partially buried and camouflaged tree stumps in them.
out in the bush i'm more worried about poison ivy! sht sucks and can linger on your gear
OntFF
Well-known member
Just to thread-jack..... I see Trail Tours is doing dual-sport courses now. Which as a newer rider, with a Dual Sport/Adventure bike, seems like an obvious fit. Plus it's like 20 minutes from my father in law, so getting the wife to sign off would be an easy sell...
Anyone done the Dual Sport / Adventure riding course through TT?
Anyone done the Dual Sport / Adventure riding course through TT?
Just my opinion, but I would suggest you do a dirt bike course with as light a bike as possible before you hop on a 400-500 lb Adventure Bike and try to muscle it around in the gnarly stuff.
The heavier the bike, the harder it is to handle, especially in reduced traction environments. A heavier bike sinks into sand and needs more speed and throttle to keep afloat. It also carries more inertia through corners and needs greater inputs with your body movements and more finesse using the brakes without losing traction. Plus, if you drop a heavier bike, it will sap your energy quickly having to pick it up over and over again.
The TT Adventure course is BYOB (Bring Your Own Bike) and you'll always be more tentative and slower to learn if you're afraid of pranging up your own ride. Better to do it on a school bike where you can explore the limits of yours and your bike's abilities.
I've taken the TT course a few times, the very first time our group organized a half-and-half session, the first half was done on their trials bike which is an excellent introduction to how to ride in the dirt because the bike is ridiculously light. Most of them weigh around 150 lbs. Then the second half was done on heavier dirt bikes, which weigh around 250 lbs. Learning on a lighter bike allows you to throw the bike around without worrying about it getting away from you. If you lean a 500 lb bike a few degrees from center at low speeds, there's less of a chance stopping it from tipping over.
The skills you learn from a lighter, less powerful bike will eventually transfer very well to a heavier, more power one.
Racer5 and FAST use the same concepts by using lighter, less powerful bikes, so you can focus more on skills and spend less time worrying about crashing the bike.
Learn to walk before you fly... over logs and rocks.
I’ll echo what Lightcycle said and add that for me, I’m probably going to go again and use the Trail Tours bikes to hone some skills and then think about going with my KTM another time. With a 150lb dirt bike I’m still wondering how I got home on a 2h drive afterwards as I was spent. I couldn’t imagine doing the same thing after picking up my behemoth Adv bike a few times and muscling it through some nasty stuff.
Our group offers professional training sessions ever other year for the instructors. You should look into it.
The group did a course at Sand Del Lee a couple of years ago, and I noticed that I can't ride that long while standing. Last year was Toni Sharpless. Even further back was Trail Tours on tour up near here.
Privately, I had an awesome "accidentally private" Total Control lesson earlier this year. I did the two ARC courses a couple of years ago. Before that I was doing Pro riders at Centennial College which is long gone.
Some of the people here took a course from Motorcycle Masters this year. (motorcycle training in Ontario Canada).
The group did a course at Sand Del Lee a couple of years ago, and I noticed that I can't ride that long while standing. Last year was Toni Sharpless. Even further back was Trail Tours on tour up near here.
Privately, I had an awesome "accidentally private" Total Control lesson earlier this year. I did the two ARC courses a couple of years ago. Before that I was doing Pro riders at Centennial College which is long gone.
Some of the people here took a course from Motorcycle Masters this year. (motorcycle training in Ontario Canada).
When I first started riding standing on the pegs of my new Adv bike years ago I thought “this will be easier as it’s a normal stance, I stand all day off the bike”. Quickly learned that wasn’t exactly the case. I also need to learn to relax though.
Apparently Chris Birch was at Trail Tours to give some clinics and did one bit on relaxing while riding showing how stable bikes are naturally and went over some logs standing on the pegs with no hands on the bars. Oddly none of our group tried that though but I don’t doubt it’s true.
Yeah. I'm sure Valentino Rossi could also drag knee without any hands on the bars too.
Doesn't mean everyone else wouldn't crash their bike trying the same thing...
|
|
|
|
|