Welcome to the Off Road Explorer Enews #9. In particular a special welcome to over a hundred participants of the 2009 BMW GS Safari Tasmania who ordered a DVD. We’ve taken the liberty of putting you on the offroadexplorer.com Enews list to keep you up to date with all things adventure bike and dual sports.
Trail Zone #23 is printed and just about to hit the news stands. This issues highlight is Popguns 101 Trail Tips to Save Your Bacon in the Bush. Sure, PG is an Enduro master of ISDE fame from way back but every tip applies just as much to adventure riding as enduro… except adventure riders do it longer. Nevertheless it’s a great list of tips.

BMW GS Safari Tasmania Video Competition

If there’s one thing about the GS Safari in Tassie is that I spotted more riders with video cameras than I saw road kill. There were handhelds everywhere and I lost count of the people that approached me offering footage. By midweek the Safari DVD was turning into a triple box set so to give everybody a shot at publishing their work we’ve turned it into a little competition.
All of you on the 2009 GS Safari Tasmania are invited to submit their work for the DVD Extras featuring participants Best Safari Moments. Basically we want you to send 3 minutes of your best Safari Moment. You can go here for more details, terms and conditions. First and only prize will be a 12 month subscription to Trail Zone and a free copy of the 2009 BMW Safari DVD. Good luck and get those entries into Design Media Communications, PO Box 934, Cronulla NSW 2230. Make sure you only send in the clip with your best piece on DVD or tape. be sure to include a self address, stamped envelope if you want your video returned.

2009 BMW GS Safari Tasmania DVD

ORE has filmed the 2009 BMW Safari Tasmania and we are currently in post production piecing the footage together for the next Safari DVD. I got to say it was a awesome trip and hopefully we've captured the experience of the ride on camera. It's not only a great momento for those on the ride but something that will inspire other BMW riders to join the ride next year. Bu it's just not for BMW riders, it's for all adventure riders and hopefully will give you the inspiration to tour Tassie. If you haven't already ordered the DVD you can download the order form here.

KTM 990 Trail Zone Test

The offroadexplorer.com schedule has been choc-a-bloc and sometimes sacrafices must be made. So I had to relinquish my test bike riding priviledges to Clubby when the small window of opportunity opened to get our hands on a new KTM 990 Adventure. Mind you he didn't complain one bit and it's only fair since Clubby sent me on the last two Husqvarna launches. Speaking of which you can read my test on the grunty Husky TE510 in Trail Zone #23 out now. The KTM 990 Adventure test will feature in Issue #24 of Trail Zone.

Condo 750

The Condo 750 is reputed as the best first event to ride to do if you want to get into navigational cross country racing. In fact, many experienced competitors use the Condo 750 as preparation for the Australian Safari. Condobolin is smack bang in the middle of NSW on the banks of the Lachlan River and there was absolutely no sign of Shannon Noll. However, we did buy some donuts from Nolls Bakery. It’s so country and the bread is so fresh they even apologise for the bread being too hot. If they’re going to apologise for anything it should be for a lack of accommodation in Condobolin meaning I had to slept in the back of the Trail Zone transporter with Clubby. Warren Jacks horror war stories now pale into insignificance.
But enough talk of trauma in the trenches of knee deep mud and gut wrenching odours you can read about the event and Trail Zones feature rider Muz in Issue #24 of Trail Zone.

Great Basin™ Saddlebag by Giant Loop

Introducing the Great Basin Saddlebag by Giant Loop, the latest addition from Giant Loop motorcycle luggage solutions. It has a large 50 litre capacity and is designed specifically for BMWs, Suzuki V-Strom, KTM 950, 990, Adventure and SE models, 690e, Kawasaki KLR 650 - and just about any other machine with the capacity to carry a passenger – the Great Basin is designed as the soft luggage problem solver for adventure touring bikes. Stock will be available in May 2009 from AdventureMoto. Call 1300 135 286 to place your advance order.

Launch Helmet Cams POV 1.5

We've been using POV1 helmet cams for the past 12 months and have featured in Trail Zone 'In The Zone 2' DVD on our Flinders ride and in the BMW TS Safari DVD. To be honest they've never let us down. The VIO POV1.5 is the latest offering from VIO - it uses the same high quality recording unit that is used with the POV1 and comes with a different camera head and accessories package. The new "Red Head" is shorter than that the POV1 camera head and is permanently attached to the 1.5 metre digital cable to the recording unit that now uses up to an 8GB SD card and and comes with its own 4GB SD card, which will hold 3 hours of footage on the highest quality settings.

For those of you like us that already have a POV1 you can update the firmware so you can use 8 Gb SD card. For more info go to the Launch Helmet Cam site or to update your firmware on your POV1 go to vio-pov.com/firmware_update.

Dual Sports Riding Techniques DVD

Filmed on location in Utah and Colorado, this DVD isolates each of the skills needed to follow the road less traveled, gives specific pointers and ways to practice, and then puts them all together on the trail.

Points covered include body position, turns, hill climbs and descents, rough terrain, loose terrain, line selection and bike setup. Bonus features include suspension setup and tyre changes. Hmmm, that would have been handy on the Broken Hill ride.

Available from AdventureMoto on 1300 135 286.

AdventureMoto Online Shop

In May AdventureMoto.com will be launching their new online shopping web site which will feature their complete line of products including Safari Tanks, Pivot Pegz, Barkbuster Handguards, Staintune Exhausts, Rallye Moto - Dampers and Exhausts, SW Motech, Traxx Hard luggage, B&B Engineering, Dunlop Tyres, Mitas Tyres plus some new brands not yet available in Australia. We'll keep you posted as soon as the site comes online.

New BMW Off Road Training courses for 2009 Announced

BMW Off Road Training courses are designed for riders of all abilities, there are two great courses to choose from on the 2009 calendar, the new Enduro "Trail Bike" Skills Course and the BMW GS "Adventure Bike" Skills Course.

The new Enduro "Trail Bike" Skills Course provides participants the option to hone their off road riding skills aboard the amazing G 450 X or if participants feel more comfortable, they can bring their own trail bike (BMW or other brand). As part of the 2009 line up, Luka Bussa, BMW Motorrad's very own Pro Class rider from the BMW Motorrad Enduro Team will be a guest instructor and provide guests with invaluable advice and techniques.

The GS "Adventure bike" course is designed for those BMW GS owners that wish to learn all the skills in order to get the most out of their GS motorcycle, creating a new level of confidence.

All courses are run of two days and are held in three ideal venues throughout Australia, incorporating terrain reflective of varied riding conditions and abilities.

Course dates and locations are as follows.

Dargle (Sydney), NSW - June 2009
11-12th - Enduro/Trail Bike" Skills Course
13-14th - GS "Adventure Bike" Skills Course (Own motorcycle required)
15-16th - GS "Adventure Bike" Skills Course (Own motorcycle required)

Green Park (Conondale), QLD - July 2009
16-17th - Enduro/Trail Bike Skills Course
18-19th - GS "Adventure Bike" Skills Course (Own motorcycle required)
20-21st - GS "Adventure Bike" Skills Course (Own motorcycle required)

Werribee (Melbourne), VIC - October 2009
8-9th - Enduro/Trail Bike Skills Course
10-11th - GS "Adventure Bike" Skills Course (Own motorcycle required)
12-13th - GS "Adventure Bike" Skills Course (Own motorcycle required)

Prices

Enduro "Trail Bike" Skills Course
With BMW G 450 X supplied $895
Own bike supplied $625

GS "Adventure Bike" Skills Course
Own bike required $625

For more information and bookings regarding the BMW Motorrad Off Road Training Course please refer to www.bmwmotorrad.com.au.