Tank Slap - Motorcycle Forum

Well what can i say? I was in two minds as to whther to go on this as i wanted to do the Tankslap ride to Wales too and Bevercotes, where this was, is a bit further than i realised. A good 1hr 30 mins in the car.

However, it was billed as an off road experience and for the £25 it cost, it ranks as one of the best value days i have had on a bike. Once you signed on you were allocated a bike, seems those who got there first had to ride a Suzuki, but there were also set ups from Kawasaki, Honda and Yamaha and with me being one of the last there i was allocated a KTM. How lucky i was.

After a briefing and run down of the afternoon to come, we were taken to a basic loop on grass just to ascertain that we were competent enough to be let out on the full circuit., each manufacturer having their own loop own instructors. Each one being run by the off road school of each. KTM had Ady Smith, a motocross and supermotard champion, Honda was Dave Thorpe etc, all top riders.

After we had been shown the basic controls and dos and donts we were led out on a lap of the circuit, which was a little daunting as it was a full proper circuit with big inclines and jumps aplenty which you will see from the photos. The first bike i rode was a proper KTM 250 crosser which had a fair bit of go to it. It demolished the hills like there were not there. After what seemed like 5 minutes but was actually about 30 minutes we were brought in for a rest and drink. I have to say after it initially being a little daunting, it was quite quick to get a feel for the bike moving around, losing traction and then gripping and then powering it out of a bend, dirt and shale going everywhere. Definitely a case of letting the bike do what it wants within reason. The jumps were another matter though and one guy hurt himself on the first lap and took no further part and was ambulanced to a hospital at the end for an X ray on his leg. The advice were were given after that was just to take it gently over the jumps especially a certain one.

Can't emphasize enough how much fun the afternoon was, to a certain extent we were given free reign to ride as we felt comfortable in and the tuition was fantastic.

Had a chat with Ady Smith afterwards and will be tempted to try his off road school one day in Wales. He says they have 1000 acres to ride in and just keep riding through the countryside.

Cheers for who ever it was who gave the original heads up for this. Think it was St Marks.

A ktm crosser is on my list as the lanes round here deserve some off-roading, looks great matey. Expands your motor biking horizons too. Very jealous

That looks great. Would love to try that. I love my mountain biking, but hate the peddling bit, hahahah.

And at the end

Hot, sweaty, very dirty and huge smiles

Sounds good for 25quid

I will post up about next year's event if and when i hear about it.

It sold out within a couple of hours apparently.

Not surprised. I'd be up for it.

That looks fantastic, especially for £25.

Look at his smile

Sounds like a cracking day mate. Always good to learn / practice loosing traction on a bike.

Not sure I could do an off road day myself. Had the crap scared out of me on an off roader quite a few years back. It put me off to say the least.

That looks brilliant. I'd definitely be up for trying that. Duke did they supply all the gear, boots, helmet etc?

Yes they did. All I had to do was book, pay £25 and turn up.

I would guess we must have used up £15 each in fuel alone.

Here is the link to the website.

http://www.rideoffroad.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Was very tempted to do that myself and wish I had now looks bloody awesome.

Glad you had a good day Duke and photos ate great looks like you were really on it.

I especially enjoyed the first two sessions. By the last session i was getting tired and made a few mistakes and the track was a bit crowded. Once the track cleared due a a brief stoppage for a faller, i found some of my earlier mojo again.

Learned plenty of new things.

When you get both wheels off the ground, if you shut the throttle then the front will come down first, keep the throttle open and rear wheels spinning then the rear should land first...but remember to pull the clutch in before hitting the ground or the compression of the engine will cause the bike to stall.

I found the last part out before anyone had told me

We were taught to cover the front brake and clutch lever all the time.

And despite what we all initially felt was wrong, even downhill your front brake is the one to use.

Oh and dust gets everywhere....and i do mean everywhere

This is a vid from the morning session yesterday i just found on youtube.

The vid doesn't quite convey just how steep those hills were.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD0xDpjeSJg[/video]

I see what you mean about the dust.

One of the instructors told us the best conditions are when its rained a few days before but is dry on the day. That gives some mud and plenty of grip. We had grip, especially off the compacted surfaces, and loads of dust but he said if it had rained on the surfaces we had it would have been like riding on ice as they ground was hard compacted.

Too much rain turns it into a quagmire.

That looks like a lot of fun !!!! I love off road bikes but they don't like me so much they try to throw me off and brake bones. However i would be well up for some of that.