My Yamaha Offroad Experience

[Mellow Matt]

Some mates and I went down to Brighton area (Golding Barn Raceway) to have a go at motocrossing, we had a photographer mate come down too and take some pics, so I thought I'd share it with you lot.

I think we managed to pick the nicest day of the year! It was already really hot and sunny when we got there at about 10am. We pretty much immediately signed on, and were given the kit we needed - body armour, helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, trousers, top and boots. I managed to get all these items in different colours so I looked like a garish pillock, but a safe(ish) garish pillock, so that's OK.

We were then briefed about how all the bikes work (a couple of my mates haven't ever ridden a bike) and how to ride them. We were on 250 4 strokes to start off with, which had electric starts which made things a bit easier. We were also told that only 19 people had died so far, so don't worry.

My mate worried :
https://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z124/MellowMatt/n286100007_4774665_9038.jpg

We were then taken out onto a little practice track to get used to the bikes. The instructors were very good and even went pillion with one of my mates to help him out a bit:
https://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z124/MellowMatt/n286100007_4774662_8052.jpg

After a few stalls/drops/crashes everyone was deemed competant enough to be let loose on the big track, which, incidentally, was MASSIVE:
https://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z124/MellowMatt/n286100007_4774646_648.jpg This pic doesn't really do it justice, it was huge though, took a while to learn!

Wasn't too adventurous to start off with, just rode around trying not to fall off or run over my mates who had fallen off.

Me not falling off:
https://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z124/MellowMatt/n286100007_4774663_8377.jpg

My mate falling off:
https://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z124/MellowMatt/n286100007_4774733_2135.jpg

And again:
https://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z124/MellowMatt/n286100007_4774648_1306.jpg

I started to get a bit braver then and attempted some jumps and things, I was dead chuffed with these!
https://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z124/MellowMatt/n286100007_4774661_7702.jpg
https://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z124/MellowMatt/n286100007_4774741_2383.jpg
I think I was a bit guilty of looking directly in front of me though, and had a bit of an "Oooooooooh Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!!!!" moment with this one, where I landed almost vertically on my front wheel (can't really tell in the pic, but I was 90% convinced I was going over the top!):
https://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z124/MellowMatt/n286100007_4774743_3082.jpg

I made it down safely from that and smiled & waved at the camera:
https://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z124/MellowMatt/n286100007_4774746_4149.jpg What you don't see is that after the wave I ride about an inch away from the big wooden posts next to me and almost stack it completely!

This guy was giving it some over the jumps:
https://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z124/MellowMatt/n286100007_4774727_9993.jpg I think it was the little fin on his helmet that gave him the edge. Obviously I couldn't be outdone so I tried to up my game a bit, and pulled out all the stops.
Inevitably, predictably, this proved a bad idea - I decided it would be "well wicked" to overtake a friend over a jump, which I did rather well if I do say so myself, but I'd forgotten that going over said jump faster than normal would not only mean I land closer to the next corner, but also approach that corner at a higher speed... Thus I decided it would be a brilliant idea to stand on the back brake, leading to me snaking wildly down the track, the tail all over the place leading to me getting flicked off by a highside! Fortunately I'd slowed down a bit by then so I managed to land on my feet and run just about fast enough to stop myself from both falling flat on my face and getting run over by the guy I'd just gone past! This little accident managed to bend the brake lever into a U shape!
https://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z124/MellowMatt/n286100007_4774647_1011.jpg The instructor told me that his nan had passed that brake lever down to him as an heirloom, and made me feel guilty

We had breaks every 20ish minutes and sat in the sun in some garden chairs watching the other group fly by:
https://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z124/MellowMatt/n286100007_4774754_7225.jpg
It was really hot under the motocross tops (especially after my little highside enduced "jog") so I took it off in the breaks and now I've got a bodyarmour shaped sunburn Oh and the bodyarmour properly chafed my left nipple

I think that pretty much sums it up! The place we used is https://www.yamaha-schools.co.uk/ if you're interested. Word of warning though - it does kind of cripple you, my shoulder muscles are protesting a bit

(Sorry if this is in the wrong section btw!)
____________________
1999 GSX-R 600, 1999 TL1000R

[Graham88]

Nice! I'd love to have a go at off-roading, I can see me not getting on though, the bikes look alot larger than road bikes.

Good pics though!

[Mellow Matt]

I'd recommend it mate, for the price of a trackday without having to pay for petrol/tyres/pads/anything you break!

The bikes are definitely taller than most road bikes, but at this place they had a couple of bike with smaller wheels, which made them quite a bit shorter (same engines I think) and easier to hold up. Having said that, I'm only 5'8" and I was fine (as long as I didn't stop on a hill!)
____________________
1999 GSX-R 600, 1999 TL1000R

[mattsa21]

that looks like soo much fun!!

I did a Ron Haslam track day thing a few years ago at donington.

[amnesia]

Well that looked dull as dishwater to me...




...only kidding...
____________________
25/7 I'm a God-damn Rock Star
"Arguing about the best 125 is like arguing which Spice Girl could sing best"

[ben_wheely]

Looks good, nice of them to lend you there bikes too. The track looks very dry and not rutty, is it a proper used track or a test track ?

[Jefr0]

Think that is going on my 21st bday list, that looks awesome. You say you got there at 10am, how long did the day last?
____________________
Rides: Honda XR 125 ('03) Honda CBR 600F ('91), Ducati 916 Biposto ('95)

[Mellow Matt]

The track's mostly used as a practice track, but I think they may have races there too, I'm not sure. Sections of it were quite rutty, mostly at the bottom of slopes where water had collected, but the ruts didn't really cause any problems, you could avoid them if you wanted to.

I think it'd be a great 21st birthday event! We left at about 4pm I think, I'd estimate we had about 3 hours on the track? People weren't even bothering going for the final sessions though as they were too knackered! TBH it was almost as fun watching it as it was riding around, and you need the little breaks for the "OMG DID YOU SEE ME DO THAT JUMP/HAVE A MASSIVE CRASH?!" conversations with your mates
____________________
1999 GSX-R 600, 1999 TL1000R

[Jefr0]

Hehe fair enough, looks like a good day out.

"OMG DID YOU SEE ME DO THAT JUMP/HAVE A MASSIVE CRASH?!" - That just made me lol thinking of one of my mates who would say it because it WOULD happen to him
____________________
Rides: Honda XR 125 ('03) Honda CBR 600F ('91), Ducati 916 Biposto ('95)

[AAAthreat]

Lucky bastard and you got big baws for doing that jump having never been on a crosser before or on a track, good man! Even jumping half a foot for the first few times feels like your 4 feet of the deck, those pics make me want a YZ125 even more now .

How did your mate that was struggling get on in the end?

[ben_wheely]

How much was it anyway ?

[Jefr0]

On the site:

Per day: £175 (inc VAT)
Price includes use of motorcycles, protective riding gear, fuel, tea, coffee and refreshments. You only need to provide your own packed lunch. No motorcycle licence required.

Not sure if there was a deal he got though?
____________________
Rides: Honda XR 125 ('03) Honda CBR 600F ('91), Ducati 916 Biposto ('95)

[Mellow Matt]