MotoMark1 Adventure Motorcycle Training Tour

Dual-sport riding and the adventure-bike market are big these days. Even if you have no Boorman/McGregor ambitions, dual-sport bikes can expand your horizons to include both pavement and dirt roads into a single outing. Not only that but learning to ride off road is a great way to round out your skill set.

Most adventure/dual-sport riders are transplants from the ranks of pavement dwellers. The problem is that many of these hardtop riders find themselves on their head during early off-road excursions with no clue as to why they ended up that way. What they failed to learn is that some street-riding techniques do not work on low-traction terrain. The good news is that you can reduce the risk of being battered, bruised, and broken with some relatively basic training.

In the last several years the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) began offering Dirt Bike School courses for both new and experienced riders. While these courses are great, the basic curriculum, easy training site terrain, and the small dirt bikes typically provided won't fully prepare you for real-world roads and trails on a bigger dual-sport machine.

To see what more advanced training looks like I headed to North Carolina to attend the Adventure Motorcycle Training Tour offered by MotoMark1 (motomark1.com). The bulk of MotoMark1's courses are for street riders, including advanced parking-lot courses, on-street training (featuring Stayin' Safe) and motor-cop certification. Owner Mark Brown has a long résumé of moto-credentials, including retired police motor instructor for the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.

The two-day course is designed for riders who want expert guidance in handling their full-size dual-sport machines. I consider myself an intermediate dirt rider, but I have little experience on big ADV bikes. The experience of other trainees attending the weekend course ranged from an eager novice to a fellow who has ridden off road on multiple continents.

The course itself consists of classroom sessions, parking-lot drills, and two full days riding on miles of paved and unpaved roads in and around the southwestern end of North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Real-time coaching is piped into our helmets by means of one-way radios. Mark deftly narrates his thought process for managing all types of riding scenarios while reinforcing concepts that are discussed in the classroom and in the parking lot.

Our weekend starts early on Saturday with an introductory classroom session followed by a demonstration of proper 
on- and off-road body positioning. Any street rider planning to venture off road must learn how to counterweight. On the street you lean your body toward the inside of a curve, but try that pavement technique while cornering on loose surfaces and you’ll likely lose traction. Counterweighting keeps a vertical load on the tires, allowing the bike to lean and turn on loose surfaces without losing traction. Another technique that facilitates control is standing on the pegs. Standing helps the suspension absorb bumps and keeps the machine in balance as it bounces over rocks. Combining standing with counterweighting aids maneuverability and balance by letting the bike move independently underneath you.

Static drills in the hotel parking lot allow us to practice standing and counterweighting. After this session we fire up our bikes and ride to a cone-riddled parking lot to practice counterweighting and standing techniques in preparation for the upcoming dirt ride. Mark uses the radios to coach clutch control, forward vision, and counterweighting while we follow single file.

As usual, getting to the dirt roads requires some pavement miles. Mark takes this opportunity to describe strategies for managing traffic and predicting potential road hazards. Much of this on-road coaching is part of the on-street courses MotoMark1 offers.

With great anticipation, we turn onto the first of many remote dirt roads we will be riding over the weekend. Before we leave the security of asphalt, Mark reminds us to switch our minds from “sit-down street mode” to “stand-up dirt mode” and to establish a wide forward view and balanced neutral standing position. We tunnel through autumn forests for the rest of the morning, navigating gravel bends and switchbacks that provide ample opportunity to build off-road confidence.

We refuel our bodies at a local eatery while Instructor Steve holds a short course on what tools and first-aid materials we should consider when heading into the wild; items can mean the difference between a bad day and a really, really bad day.

Bellies full, we point our bikes toward more of North Carolina’s semi-remote dirt roads. After several miles, we break to watch instructor Todd demonstrate front, rear, and combination braking with and without ABS. Todd also shows how to manage load transfer and traction using a stand-up approach and then transitioning to a rearward sit-down position as load shifts forward. After the demo, each student gets a chance to practice threshold braking.

With the daylight nearly gone we head back to the hotel. But the training day isn’t over. We reconvene in the classroom after dinner for more coaching and to watch some onboard video of each student—a fun and effective coaching tool. With stars shining, we then head out for a nocturnal ride into the nearby woods to learn about identifying hazards in the dark. A trailside demo allows us to compare each of our bike’s headlights and witness the effectiveness of auxiliary LED lighting. In case you don’t already know: LEDs rock!

A brief classroom session starts day two followed by a twisty pavement ride up and over the famous Blue Ridge Parkway on our way to our next overnight stop at the awesome Ironhorse Motorcycle Resort just south of the Great Smoky Mountains. Arriving at Ironhorse, we unload some of our cargo and then head out for lunch in Robbinsville, North Carolina, before tackling the most challenging terrain so far.

The after-lunch route begins with some tight, twisty, tree-lined rural pavement in the Nantahala Forest. Mark narrates strategies for managing blind corners and hidden hazards, including locals who treat the centerline as a mere suggestion. We make a brief stop along the way to discuss tactics for managing water crossings, but national park rules prohibit us from actually crossing the creek.

Then comes Little Snowbird Road, an epic dirt road that begins with a tight uphill switchback followed immediately by a steep, rocky, mile-long ascent. My borrowed XR650L “cheater bike” handles the terrain with relative ease, while others struggle with their much larger KLR, Tiger, and GS ADV bikes. To my surprise, everybody arrives at the top on two wheels. Booyah!

The climb was the toughest trial of the weekend, but there are more challenges to come in the form of a tricky descent with tight switchbacks covered with loose dirt and gravel. Before we begin our descent, I ask a fellow student if he wants to switch bikes—my XR for his 2015 Suzuki V-Strom 1000. My logic for the swap is to learn just how capable (or not) the Mega-Strom is at handling dirt and rocks. It turns out the V-Strom does much better ascending rough terrain than it does descending on loose dirt. It takes a lot of work to keep the pseudo dual-sport front tire from tucking as it plows from one tight downhill curve to the next. Thankfully, the Strom has a one-piece tubular handlebar and a nicely shaped tank to allow full stand-up maneuvering. And the skills I picked up from the course helped keep me relaxed, one of the key elements for off-road success.

With dirt in my teeth and sweat on my brow, we finish the day with a scenic pavement ride back to the Ironhorse Resort. MotoMark1 provides lodging at the resort for this third night as well as a morning breakfast to ensure everyone is properly rested before heading home the next day. If you’ve never visited the Ironhorse Resort, you really must. John and Charlene created a top-notch motorcycle destination that is located in the heart of the most thrilling motorcycle roads on the east coast and very near Deals Gap.

MotoMark1’s course combines dual-sport training with a guided tour of some awesome paved and dirt roads. You’ll learn ways to control your big bike on sketchy surfaces and become aware of hazards unique to off-road riding.

While we tackled some fairly difficult terrain and discussed some advanced techniques, the AMTT curriculum is targeted mostly toward advanced beginners and intermediate-level riders. You’ll need to look elsewhere if you want to refine more advanced techniques like rear-wheel steering, brake turning, traversing hills, and surmounting rocks and logs.

The Adventure Motorcycle Training Tour offers a lot of substance with three nights of lodging, multiple classroom sessions, a nighttime ride, real-time coaching with radio communication, and a guided tour of many off-road gems with multiple instructors on hand. While the $1,395 tuition isn’t cheap, it is a good value and a smart investment of time and money because not being trained is even more expensive, and it hurts.