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What's the opinion on the best place to seek training riding the big adventure bikes?

 

Jimmy Lewis, Rawhyde, BMW?

 

Living in Michigan the closest is the BMW training center in South Carolina, I think.  But I am thinking of taking a spring ride in Arizona, Southern Utah, and Jimmy Lewis is just over in Nevada.  Any thoughts?

 

Thanks

 

Chris

Edited by motochron
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I am a two time Jimmy Lewis alumni and can't speak highly enough about his training.  Affordable too ($600).

 

RawHyde is great too I've heard.  I think they are a bit more expensive but have the "experience" down.

 

There are some other small ones like EarthRider.

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I took the RawHyde course and it was excellent. I arrived with zero off-pavement experience and left with a lot of confidence. That said, I think any of the classes you mentioned are going to be great and people have good things to say about all of them. There's another well known course in the PNW area called PSSOR if you make it over there.

 

The great thing about these things is you can take them all! Just pick any one of them to get started on the adventure.  :ride:

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Geared toward riders of all brands of adventure motorcycle, http://www.xplor-Int.comAdventure Riding Training includes incredible rides in some of the most scenic riding areas in the country. Xplor-Int Adventures, “No Hassles” approach includes plenty of riding on forest, gravel and two-track routes mapped by Alain Kaldewaay, the camaraderie of like-Thank you for calling www.xplor-int.com this our web site and in next txt you will get the registration. enthusiasts and a full weekend or four day is full of activities, including riders training, lodging and bonfires.

“Adventure-touring continues to grow in terms of popularity, and we’re really excited that Xplor-Int has chosen to partner with the country’s premier adventure-touring company http://www.riverspilot.comRiver Pilot of Cheyenne, WY. Xplor-Int Adventure Riders Training will expose the rider in new ways to serious adventure-touring riders around the country off road.

One of our many training locations is the 2.76 million acre Apache - Sitgreaves National Forest provides about as much adventure riding as one could stand. Probably several thousands miles of good, numbered forest roads plus quite a bit of fire road and inspired OHV trails.

Included in BASIC training:

Nottingham, Pa

Spring Mills, PA 

Flintstone, MD 

Windslow, AZ 

* Set-up of the motorcycle and riding position

* Balancing the motorcycle

* Lifting techniques

* Warm-up on the motorcycle and different riding positions

* Throttle and clutch control, slow riding

* Emergency braking until stand-still. How to use front and rear brakes effectively

* Function of ABS. Should it be switched off and when?

* Off-road steering, how to make the bike go in the desired direction in the terrain

* Slow speed cornering

* Stopping on a slope. What to do, if you have to stop on a slope or if the motorcycle stalls

* Up- and downhills

* Starting on a slope

* Gravel tour with feedback from instructor

* Two night lodging included

Included in ADVANCED training:

Nottingham, PA

Windslow, AZ

Thacker, WV

* Warm-up on the motorcycle and advanced riding positions

* Emergency braking to stand-still. How to use front and rear brakes effectively

* Function of ABS. Should it be switched off and when?

* Suspension set-up

* Cornering at speed

* Stopping and turning around on a slope

* Braking and stopping downhill

* Ruts

* Off-camber riding

* Sand riding

* Crossing a log

* Crossing a ditch

* Towing a bike

* Riding a fully loaded motorcycle

* Gravel tour with feedback from instructor

* Four nights lodging included

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I recently did a course with RawHyde, and it crushed my expectations. I plan on doing the Jimmy Lewis course early this next year as well because I've heard awesome things. RawHyde definitely is a more costly investment, but they do provide all the accommodations you need while you're attending. Those both are convenient for me, and have great reputations. I think if you have another group closer to you that has some good reputation then you shouldn't get hung up on going to one of the ones here in the West. Honestly I think the best answer is to do all of the training you can afford!

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I had a Jimmy L class last year. Very good. Excellent training.

 

Another alternative:

I've gone to http://motoventures.comin Anza, Ca 4 times (1 trials, 1 dirt bike and 2 big bike training days) in the last 3 years. It's close to San Diego, less expensive than JL, great venue / exclusive riding area (not training on an open lake bed with local traffic zooming through..) I can't recommend enough the value of this outfit, Gary LaPlante is an extremely talented rider and coach. In fact, he wrote a book on it, check the website. 

 

Cheers

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or if you don't want to spend hundreds and thousands just ride as much as possible on a different terrain. Watch youtube university :)

Nothing like experience.

 

I get out and practice I much as I can, still I think I could use some guidance on what I am doing wrong or right.  Sand is still a big obstacle for me on the big bike.  I know what to do, but it can be intimidating when your actually out riding it.

 

Thanks for all the replies, not sure which I am going to take.  All depends on when I can get away from work.  Leaning towards Rawhyde or JL, but we shall see.

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  • 5 months later...

The problem with schools is that they are just that: schools. For a first time or novice dirt rider they are an excellent introduction, learning in a class setting with other riders at the same pace is great at first. The problem for me at any rate was the classes I've been to tend to repeat one another or overlap if you will. I've recovered a stalled adv on the side of a hill at least 3 times and I expect to do it at any basic class that I attend anymore.

That's where some of the major players such as Jimmy Lewis begin to really shine. Many of them offer a group rate if you and a few buddies go in together and generally you can get tailored lessons to suit you and your buddies' abilities so you aren't spending so much time on the basics. It also depends on how you actually "learn" something, a lot of training tends to focus on what we call "muscle memory" where we will practice a certain skill over and over until it becomes second nature. This can and WILL help you in time of need as you will not have to THINK, you will ACT thereby saving your miserable hide and possibly preventing injury, damages or death.

My problem, which I believe is more common than not is the time I actually have to ride. I generally get Thursday or Fridays to ride so almost no one is available to practice with and my weekends are filled with all the usual mundanities such as running our business, shopping for same or some other non-motorcycle related activity since my Wife does not ride nor does she seem to desire to.

As a consequence I can only ride lone wolf so self sufficiency and responsibility are probably my watchwords. Having ran out of both in addition to common sense last December I got to put theory into practice and hike out 12+ miles in hard Moto boots in the cold to where I could finally get service and call my Wife to come get me. We ended up using the famous Samoan Brother-In-Law from the islands retrieval method on the bike the next day and I learned a few lessons.

But the point was because of training and repetition I had given myself the best chance for success in spite of my lack of judgement in getting myself stuck in the first place and I managed to get myself out (and the bike turned around at least) because of the muscle memory training that I had done beforehand. Not as optimal as not being there in the first place but since I had managed the basics of training I wasn't a casualty.

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That's a great testimony.  Did that convince you maybe to get a SPOT device?

 

The first thing you'll hear Jimmy say at the start of a class is that it's not an off road or dirt class, it's a SAFETY class.  I learned that many times ;)

 

My first class wasn't immediately obvious that I'd learned anything until I and my friends saw my skills improve rapidly after that.  My second class was very effective mostly in correcting my mistakes.  I found it's like golf; the best riders are always practicing and working on their technique.

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any school will have good and bad points, the real trick is to put the concepts to use in practice and develop them into what works for you. Just like in school not everyone learns the same way and takes the same things away from a lesson, moto schools are the same way. 

 

So any school you choose will probably be good, just keep up the practice after, or it'll be like the spanish I learned in high school....

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Adventure training never stops! It's why we ride. You can learn something new every time.You can push yourselves as far as you want. Each class or Instructor can teach you something new every time. I've taken a mix of street and dirt classes all in the same summer and learned a ton. It's all what you want to get out of it. Obviously a little time in the gym working on strength and core training helps out. Just ask Eric Hall on Flex Fridays

Edited by motochefarwi
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