SGB
Race Dog
Roger Scheffer, a no-frills KZN man with a passion for riding started an "official" BMW training facility at a golf course called St Cathryns a couple of months back. The Golfers and the Bikers did not manage to share the facility in harmony, the Golfers are now still playing golf, but there are no more bikes around. The latest BikeSA interestingly enough features an article about the launch of the St Cathryns place, a few months after it closed down..... Anyway, all is not lost, Roger made friends with Alan, the owner of Imbabala Lodge. This is a RIDING farm, between Greytown and Weenen, with some game and stuff on it as well. Roger ended up moving his BMW off-road training to Imbabala and today he had an open day to introduce the facility to some local riders.
I joined the BMW guys from Durban with permission from Peter Marshall. The down side is that they took the tar road, so I had to sacrifice the dirt route I had in mind for riding with some company. We met at Marshall Motorcycles at 7, and headed up the N3 towards Pietermaritzburg. From here the mercury took a serious pounding and we steamed into Greytown with a 3 degrees reading.
We made a fuel / Coke / Pie stop in Greytown, about 50km from the venue.
Imbabala was already quite busy when we arrived, quite a few bikes - mostly BMW and here and there a few KTM's and V-Storm / AT / KLR / XT types.
Roger and Alan welcomed the crowd and told us about the "new place" and promised that it was even better than the previous one. Roger explained that plan was to give everyone an insight of the course content and to show the facilities they have created to present the training. Imbabala has been an off-road venue for a while, there is some serious riding for plastic bikes here too - there is a story in the July Enduro World about a tour they recently did here. The farm also boasts decent chalet type accommodation, a cosy pub and they make a decent plate of food too.
Roger took us to the Oval track, where the normal Jan-Staal-invented-BMW-course-toertjies were shown and we all were given a chance to try them out too. Time was limited - we only had 1/2 day and the "real" course is 3 days.
All lined up at the track
The group listening to Roger explaining what's next
Cones - the row where the HP is, are spaced at the off-road course spacing, and the other row has the same number at the Advanced course (much tighter) spacing.
Lets try....
Some U-turns, Roger also demonstrated braking with and without ABS. (Showing that ABS is useless on dirt)
Slow Racing - here the purpose is to ride as slow as possible without putting your foot down - good for throttle, clutch control and balance.
Did some playing around too, see-saw is alway good fun, however one rider fell off here, did not see what happened - must be scary to come off from that height though. No serious damage. Here Roger does it correctly.
Some water crossings followed, forgot to take a pic there.
Then the up- and down hills, braking, and the idea is to bring the bike to a complete stop for a moment where the cones are halfway down the slope, then proceed to the bottom and up the other side. The steeper slope is for the Advanced course. Up and down is both good fun. (The slopes looked steeper in real life than they look on the pics....) ???
Generally having a good time :-*
We then followed Roger for a few km's and parked in the grass, to be introduced to the sand monster in a river bed. Small patch of river sand to start, but a turn or 2 makes it interesting.
By now it was lunch time and we returned to HQ where braai packs were handed out and the pub was open and the manne and their pillions could mingle and share some wisdom.
This little man had a great time too, pity my kids had to be at school for a sports day. Imbabala is a great family venue, something to do for everybody.
After lunch, we did some playing on the oval track which was not in great condition (bumpy and difficult-to-predict patches of "grip" and "slip"), but they do grade it before a course. Roger also showed us the "Mamba" which is a windy track with some motocross style jumps - great fun to ride! John Briscoe, (from Gear-up Biking Accessory shop in Umhlanga) showed me a bit more of the farm, whilst the others tested X-challenges, "rested" in the pub and whatever they felt like doing or not doing. John and Howard and another Roger ably assist Roger with the instruction. I concluded that I have not seen enough and need to come back soon!
The BM guys either stayed over or left before me, so I now had the opportunity to do my route home. Nice and slow dirt ride back, filled up at Mooirivier and took the R103.
Arrived home just after dark, having really enjoyed the trip. One can never do enough of this training. Repetition is the mother of skill! I can recommend the place, the people and the course, if you have not done a course in the last year - go for it!! Next time I am exploring a road in a general northerly direction, Imbabala must be just south of off-road biker heaven..... ;D
I joined the BMW guys from Durban with permission from Peter Marshall. The down side is that they took the tar road, so I had to sacrifice the dirt route I had in mind for riding with some company. We met at Marshall Motorcycles at 7, and headed up the N3 towards Pietermaritzburg. From here the mercury took a serious pounding and we steamed into Greytown with a 3 degrees reading.
We made a fuel / Coke / Pie stop in Greytown, about 50km from the venue.
Imbabala was already quite busy when we arrived, quite a few bikes - mostly BMW and here and there a few KTM's and V-Storm / AT / KLR / XT types.
Roger and Alan welcomed the crowd and told us about the "new place" and promised that it was even better than the previous one. Roger explained that plan was to give everyone an insight of the course content and to show the facilities they have created to present the training. Imbabala has been an off-road venue for a while, there is some serious riding for plastic bikes here too - there is a story in the July Enduro World about a tour they recently did here. The farm also boasts decent chalet type accommodation, a cosy pub and they make a decent plate of food too.
Roger took us to the Oval track, where the normal Jan-Staal-invented-BMW-course-toertjies were shown and we all were given a chance to try them out too. Time was limited - we only had 1/2 day and the "real" course is 3 days.
All lined up at the track
The group listening to Roger explaining what's next
Cones - the row where the HP is, are spaced at the off-road course spacing, and the other row has the same number at the Advanced course (much tighter) spacing.
Lets try....
Some U-turns, Roger also demonstrated braking with and without ABS. (Showing that ABS is useless on dirt)
Slow Racing - here the purpose is to ride as slow as possible without putting your foot down - good for throttle, clutch control and balance.
Did some playing around too, see-saw is alway good fun, however one rider fell off here, did not see what happened - must be scary to come off from that height though. No serious damage. Here Roger does it correctly.
Some water crossings followed, forgot to take a pic there.
Then the up- and down hills, braking, and the idea is to bring the bike to a complete stop for a moment where the cones are halfway down the slope, then proceed to the bottom and up the other side. The steeper slope is for the Advanced course. Up and down is both good fun. (The slopes looked steeper in real life than they look on the pics....) ???
Generally having a good time :-*
We then followed Roger for a few km's and parked in the grass, to be introduced to the sand monster in a river bed. Small patch of river sand to start, but a turn or 2 makes it interesting.
By now it was lunch time and we returned to HQ where braai packs were handed out and the pub was open and the manne and their pillions could mingle and share some wisdom.
This little man had a great time too, pity my kids had to be at school for a sports day. Imbabala is a great family venue, something to do for everybody.
After lunch, we did some playing on the oval track which was not in great condition (bumpy and difficult-to-predict patches of "grip" and "slip"), but they do grade it before a course. Roger also showed us the "Mamba" which is a windy track with some motocross style jumps - great fun to ride! John Briscoe, (from Gear-up Biking Accessory shop in Umhlanga) showed me a bit more of the farm, whilst the others tested X-challenges, "rested" in the pub and whatever they felt like doing or not doing. John and Howard and another Roger ably assist Roger with the instruction. I concluded that I have not seen enough and need to come back soon!
The BM guys either stayed over or left before me, so I now had the opportunity to do my route home. Nice and slow dirt ride back, filled up at Mooirivier and took the R103.
Arrived home just after dark, having really enjoyed the trip. One can never do enough of this training. Repetition is the mother of skill! I can recommend the place, the people and the course, if you have not done a course in the last year - go for it!! Next time I am exploring a road in a general northerly direction, Imbabala must be just south of off-road biker heaven..... ;D
