The school of riding

The first motorcycle launch I went to — the BMW nineT Scrambler — was intimidating to no end. I was — excuse the cheap pun — scrambling to keep up for most of the ride. And subsequent launches and rides that I found myself on weren’t that much better. Without fail, everyone else had been riding for many years more than I had.

To be honest, at that first launch, I had been riding consistently for about a year.

While it feels like the majority of motorcyclists around simply bought a motorcycle and started riding, my route was slightly different and strangely unconventional, it seems. To begin with, the first time I got on a motorcycle proper, I was 39 years old — an age where the consequences of a fall linger. It was at BMW Motorrad’s Rider Academy at the Zwartkops racetrack — I completed their novice course and, six months later, completed a two-day beginner’s course with Harley-Davidson, getting my learner’s licence in the process.

It still boggles my mind that, to be able to buy and ride a motorcycle, which you can do with a learner’s valid for two years, all you need to do is complete a multiple-choice theory test.

Learn to ride

When I bought my motorcycle, I completed a refresher, an advanced cornering and a proficient safety skills course. A few years, I completed two off-road courses with Honda at the ADA Outdoor & Training Course in Hartbeespoort.

I can comfortably say that these courses have saved my behind multiple times and, as a result, one of my goals is to get proficient with each motorcycle riding style from road and adventure to trail. I have also learnt that it is important to regularly update one’s riding skills which is why I was both excited and a little anxious to attend two riding courses, organised by Triumph SA, two days apart.

Adventure

First up, on a Saturday, was adventure training run by iRide Adventure in the Hennops area of Gauteng. A full day, on a scorching day, learning how to how brake, take corners, navigate varied and roof terrain, etc.

Before we started the day, we were all reprimanded for our choice of boots — at least I was wearing ankle-high road riding boots, with one or two of the other rides wearing ordinary boots and even sneakers — and were told that, for the duration of the riding, we would be standing on the pegs. It was at this moment that I realised how unfit I am. It is all about where you put your weight, what you do with your arms and your feet, which brakes you use, throttling, etc.

The instructor

I did relatively well until the outride when I had a right-old-tumble, which ended up with my foot trapped under the motorcycle on a rocky slope.

Cornering and Braking

On the following Monday, I woke up early and headed out to Redstar Raceway for the Cornering and Braking Course run by Andy Biram from The Adventure Academy. It was a combination of theory and practical covering a range of things including foot, body and head position, corner path prediction, emergency braking and much more.

There was a photographer out on the track and, after each session, the instructor would go through the photographs pointing out what each rider was doing right and wrong.

In some ways, riding track involved doing the opposite of what I was taught for off-road, which messed with mind a bit, especially the leaning into corners. I also came to the realisation that I am not a particularly gung-ho rider and couldn’t get my head around the heavy braking required to prepare to go into corners. I did get the emergency braking right each time.

The 2022 Triumph Tiger 900

I did both courses on the same motorcycle — the 2022 Triumph Tiger 900 — and it handled the adventure course, the 75km ride to Redstar and the track with aplomb, even with the broken lever following my adventure fall. Agile and nimble, even with traction control off, I never felt anxious or uncomfortable — it is definitely a motorcycle for all seasons and all terrain. You climb on the ride knowing that the only limitations it has lie in you and your ability, and not the motorcycle.