My experiance at The Honda Adventure Academy Sunday 20th

[Cave Girl]

Johan Gray from The Honda Adventure Academy invited me as a guest to attend a course for Dual Purpose  riders which is held at Gerotech near  Pretoria. I unfortunately could not make the first date but they were kind enough to extend it to the 20th April â?? Nice birthday present ;-)
Sunday morning I got up really early as I thought I had to be there at 8am and just as well â?? got on the bike with only 94km on the odo so plenty of petrol,  my bike does 200km before I fill up â?? usually 2 or 3 Liters before I need to switch over to reserve so had over 100km to spare and decieded I would  fill up just outside the entrance to make sure I would have enough petrol for all the training I was going to do.
About 2Km from the 4way stop outside Pelendaba (SP??) the bike cut out â?? checked the odo â?? just on 167km â?? SH one T it canâ??t be petrol and it had done this to me before just that the last time when I tried to restart it there was NO LIFE â?? this time it just made funny noises and would not kick over â?? Mmmmmm quick phone call to Johan to say I have a problem â?? he says â?? NO PROBLEM WE WILL COME FETCH YOU â?? but just check the petrol â?? Shake the bike no liquid sounding noise â?? Strange â?? switch over to reserve â?? try to start it again and success!!! YAY I am not stupid of course itâ??s not fuel. Phone Johan back and say not problem I am on my way. 3km later same story â?¦.. Tried the putting the helmet behind the back wheel â?? sign of distress â?? no luck several bike and cars just wizzed on by â?? eventually I managed to flag down a cop car and the very helpful cops went and got me 2l petrol â?? when I got to the petrol guarage 15min later the bike took 15.37L â?? I then realized the reserve switch was in the on position instead of the other one. Hard lesson â?¦
As I turned onto the R104 Marcel (sorry if I got the name wrong!!!) from the Academy pulled up next to me â?? they had started to worry and come to look for me.
Finally arrived to find out I only had to be there at 8.30 for 9am so had a few minutes to have coffee and a muffin provided.
We then went into a  conference room and Johan took us through some basic driver etiquette, correct gear and a whole lot of other important stuff â?? fortunately we got a booklet with all the info in so the bits I have already forgotten I can read up about!!
It was then off to the â??trainingâ? ground â?? we were put through some interesting training with the emphasis being on balance and control with me getting some special attention cause I am a scaredy cat and just canâ??t figure out how to get my head around the standing up thingy let alone climbing over the seat and  ending up on the other side of the bike all while riding round a track that was by no stretch of the imagination smooth.
Once I had been given the chance to perfect a few of the more interesting disciplines â?? my best achievement being able to now turn my bike in a circle in less than a double road space. Okay donâ??t laugh I started off needing a 6 lane highway â?? I have to admit at one time I thought I was going to fall off as Marcel walking round in circles with me following his clicking fingers to get it rite â?? WHAT PATIENCE!!
Just before lunch it was off to the sand tunnel  thingy â?? The sand was really thick and no I did not make it all the way through without falling off but I did learn how to get my bike out of the sand once I had buried the back wheel all the way up to the chain.
Then it was back to the hall for lunch â?? not sure what I enjoyed more the training or the lunch which was fantastic â?? after lunch back into the hall for another verbal training session -  I didnâ??t realize you used your back brake for so many things other than stopping the bike.
I am defiantly tempted to buy the new Transalp if only to go back for another training session which was most enjoyable, fun and most importantly informative â?? defiantly would recommend it to anyone new to dirt riding â?? actually anyone new or otherwise  to riding would benefit from the course.
THANKS Johan and Hein for the opportunity !!  I defiantly feel a LOT more confident and  canâ??t wait to try out my new found skills.
Their contact details if you are interested:
Honda Adventure Academy
Megan Horak / Heine Engelbrecht
Tel: 086 146 6328
Fax: 086 621 6541
Email: [email protected]
A list of dates for courses  till the end of the year if anyone is interested.
Off-Road Bikes and Quads                10 May 08
•        Dual Purpose Bikes                        11 May 08

•        Off-Road Bikes and Quads                07 Jun 08
•        Dual Purpose Bikes                        08 Jun 08

•        Off-Road Bikes and Quads                19 Jul 08
•        Dual Purpose Bikes                        20 Jul 08

•        Off-Road Bikes and Quads                02 Aug 08
•        Dual Purpose Bikes                        03 Aug 08

•        Off-Road Bikes and Quads                06 Sep 08
•        Dual Purpose Bikes                        07 Sep 08

•        Off-Road Bikes and Quads                11 Oct 08
•        Dual Purpose Bikes                        12 Oct 08

•        Off-Road Bikes and Quads                01 Nov 08
•        Dual Purpose Bikes                        02 Nov 08

•        Off-Road Bikes and Quads                06 Dec 08
•        Dual Purpose Bikes                        07 Dec 08

Training also presented in (dates available on request):
•        KZN (Mid-Illovo)
•        Mpumalanga (Baberton or Nelspruit)
•        Limpopo (Polokwane)
•        North West (Potchefstroom)
•        Free State (Bloemfontein or Bethlehem)
•        Northern Cape (Upington)
•        Eastern Cape (George or PE)
•        Western Cape (Cape Town)

 

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