Keen to up his adventure riding skills , Stu Hunt headed to Nelson ’ s Tasman Motorcycle Training for some time in the dirt .
For some people adventure is something as simple as changing up their instant coffee brand . For others it looks like skimming down an alpine valley , metres from the ground with little more than a wingsuit and a sunny outlook . We reckon just about all motorbike riding qualifies as adventurous , but these days it ’ s the dual purpose bike and the type of adventure they offer that has really caught fire . Adventure bikes have been outselling the rest of the pack for a few years now ; they ’ re accessible to all shapes , sizes , skill levels , budgets and some are loaded with up-to-theminute tech . Plus ... most of us live within a few kilometres of rideable countryside . And unlike being a road-bound speed junkie , horsepower is no longer God . Torque has won that arm wrestle .
LURED BY THE OPEN ( GRAVEL ) ROAD Ok , so you ’ re taken with the marketing imagery , buy an adventure bike ( like my plucky little V-Strom 650 ) and you head for the hills . But here ’ s the rub , these are not lightweight twostroke greyhounds shrouding the hills in blue smoke . These are more like corgis . Not knocking corgis , they ’ re hardcore , but they are a little chunky . Just like any form of riding , to do it well , to exploit even a fraction of the machine ’ s capability and range , takes more than gravity and a can-do attitude . There is some skill required . Lonely trial and error may look like sitting beside your bike weeping because you can ’ t face having to try and hoist 200kg + upright for the fifth time , or teetering round so nervously making the same mistakes so many times that even the tiniest shred of adventure has gone home to put the kettle on .
THERE ’ S A COURSE FOR THAT Luckily expert guidance is at hand . Tasman Motorcycle Training has set about imparting some of those adventure riding skills in a slightly more progressive and supportive way . Its adventure riding course based in sunny Nelson is two days in duration . It ’ s not quite race prep for the Paris Dakar , but even Chris Birch had to start somewhere .