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Saskatchewan Dual Sport Club • View topic - Off Road Training - The Wild Wild West?
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 Post Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2017 2:28 pm 
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Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2012 2:34 pm
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Had an interesting conversation last night in regards to "Off Road Training"....

And a few items came up, which I figured I would pass along for those of you who are considering upgrading your skill set.

So there are a number of Off Road Training groups around, and the prices, unlike On-Road training can vary quite a bit, anywhere from $300-ish for a day or two, all the way up to $700 or more for the same thing. Due to the nature of Off Road training it can also include a fair bit of travel time as some of the courses are held in the Mountains of B.C. which can add to the overall cost of the training when it's all said and done.

When you look at On-Road training, it's pretty standard, there's an "Official" course, a specific set of skills which have to be taught by the instructors, and more importantly IMHO the instructors themselves have to have completed an instructors course so that they are teaching to a set standard. Unfortunately at this time in North America, there is no such limitation on Off Road instruction. I (Or you) could, if I chose to do so, declare myself to be an Off Road Instructor, anyone could really. So for me personally, that's a major draw back when looking for or considering any type of training. Now that's not to say that someone does not have the required skill set to train you Off Road skills we have a number of Members here on the forums who are without a doubt excellent riders, however like all things just because one person "Feels" they have the necessary qualifications, does not mean they necessarily do.

Another consideration, for me anyway, is the distance and travel required for some of the courses. Sure taking a course in B.C. is a wonderful thing, the scenery and areas to ride are, without a doubt some of the best we have in Canada. If you are considering taking a course that is a significant distance from your home, I would be sure to ask the company giving the course about the "What If's" as in what if you break your bike, or worse yet break yourself? If either you or your machine are unable to make the return trip from wherever are there contingency plans in place to get your and your machine safely home? Also consider what would happen should the unlikely event arises that a trip to the hospital is required. Remember you are off road, learning new skills and in some instances may be pushing you and your machine to a point outside of your comfort level, this is where and when accidents happen. Again I would not wish this sort of thing on anyone, but I have personally seen it happen, others on the forums can attest to how quickly things can go sideways. @KLR - Ken can attest to that as one recent example.

OK, so enough of the Doom and Gloom. What about the other side of things? Your instructor? As I have said before it's the wild wild west out there right now as far as off road training goes. When considering off road training would you not want to know that your instructor is first and foremost qualified to teach the skills, and not only that, be teaching you a prescribed set of skills. Most if not all the schools have different course "Levels" which break down to Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. I know for a fact that the On-Road course I took in Ontario was almost identical to the one being taught here in Alberta.

Can the same thing be said for Off Road? I know that BMW does have a Instructors course, It's an intensive five day course form what I understand where they are taight the skills themselves, and then taught how to teach tem to students. Instructors are themselves "Graded" at Level's 1,2. With each level of Instructor being able to teach a set curriculum, which includes not only the skills they are allow to teach, but also limits them to number of students in a class and other things. So taking a Level 1 Off road course from a BMW instructor in Alberta would turn out to be pretty much the same course from a BMW Instructor in Ontario, Utah, the U.K. or Australia for that matter.

Again not to say that this is necessarily "Better" than an off road instructor who does not have a BMW Instructors certificate, it's just a different. I am definitely not saying that someone without said certificate is unable or does not have the pre-requisite skills to teach you how to ride off road, I now most of the Off-Road instructors (Both BMW and Non-BMW) personally and can attest to the skills and capabilities they have.

So, what are your opinions of this topic?


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 Post Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2017 2:52 pm 
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Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2014 8:51 am
Posts: 614
I think some sort of certifying body that people trust in general and is independent of the company instructing would be necessary for this to work. It certainly works world wide for other potentially dangerous sports like scuba and sky diving.

I just took some training in Nevada and I thought it was great but the guy Jimmy Lewis is very high profile with lots of reviews. Although it wasn't cheap I felt more comfortable paying more for the training since I was going so far to take it.

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 Post Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2017 11:58 pm 
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Joined: Sun Jul 13, 2014 9:50 pm
Posts: 38
Location: Regina
There's a '14 Super Tenere ES at Ffun in Saskatoon waiting for me to ride it back to Regina. I've booked a May training course at OffRoadAdventure Academy in Calgary after watching all the promo videos and deciding it was worth the money, $700 for two days. My expectations are quite modest and at this stage in my ADV education I think I will learn a lot.
Having said that, I agree that it's a bit of a crapshoot as to what you get. Luckily, I have family and friends in Calgary so the outlay is quite modest, basically fuel and food. A certifying body would be a welcome assurance of quality although the power of good references and reviews cannot be underestimated.


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