Motoventures Gary LaPlante ride clinic

[robertaccio 406]

I'm signed to do the 2-3 class(edit) on Feb16 up at the Motoventures compound in Anza.

I've done clinics with other great riders* in the past and felt it was time for a different take on riding from Gary's angle coming from trials into offroad/MX.

My main goal for this day is to raise my balance game at raising my front wheel (wheelie with a purpose as he says) with better control and less fear, to get over obstacles (and maybe just to show off a little too).

*Marty Smith, Ryan Hughes, MSF, and 2 Italian World Champion ISDE Trophy Team riders as well. And used Gary Semics regimen/book too.

[dirt dame 559]

Sounds great. Wish I could afford a class....maybe the level 2 though.

[bikeslut 1]

I expect a full report after youre done, robert...

[robertaccio 406]

Decided to ride the new bike (TXC310R) for this class, been hustling to prep the thing for this saturday. still have more work, typical night before event rush. This should be a good adventure, I can't wait.

[robertaccio 406]

Just for a start, Gary's school is a value added school. It is a good school in a good location. I expected a number of classmates , when I arrived it was me and 2 beginner's. The instructors were Gary and Rob, Rob is a senior class former pro mx guy and both are friendly and knowledgeable. Rob went off with the 2 young guys for a start from zero class. The school is a Yamaha sponsored deal and they have WR250F, TTR230s and WR450s, the boys were put on TTRs to start but for the later session were on WR250s.

For me we did a 1 on 1 all day with Gary. First Gary went out and I followed, this was his way to gauge my speed in his labrynth of twisty single track. We stopped a few times and analyzed my feeling while riding, he is a very technically astute motorcyclist after spending so many years with both Honda and Kawasaki as a pro test rider.

One of my focus points was to do those Graham Jarvis (et al) wheelies from an almost stop and with no fanfare, we did a bunch of runs to start that in the open area, for me a 1/2 dozen times then I need to move so we kept revisiting that technique through out the day, and during my training runs nthrough the trails, I would stop and practice my slow rise wheelies , which are still one of my most fear factor techniques, I always feel frozen and like my chair is going over backwards even when the front is fricken 2 feet off the ground.

Thats all I have on that wheelie thing, its still a work in progress after all these years. For me one day will need more days but I now have the tools to do it and the close quarters vision from Gary's instruction. PS Mr trials Gary is a wheelie king and if you go to his class ask him about if his wheelies ever caused any issues...

As for our analyzing sessions we cmae up with a set up (that one of my trophy rider friends used in exagerated form) we rolled my bars forward to carry more weight over my front, note also I removed the OEM 5.6 rear spring and installed my 6.4 which keeps my tank arse from sackiing out the rear end. My cornering speed instantly got better with the ergo change, my legs also started burning an other spots due to the change of body position. Gary has alot of very precise and some non-common thoughts on ergos. When I say non-common I mean for the common rider, if you observe the top tier guys they are well within his ergo concepts, many of which are trials based. Watch Mike Brown for one example we discussed in corners you can find his head almost in front of his freakin wheel. alot of process was very slight tweaks to me, truth is I've been very fortunate to have been out riding with many world class level rider my (slow) style is and was pretty good in bike rider position and many ergo mistakes he sees with riders were not evident in my case. The main thing was the even more front wheel bias in my position, which I have even known as I find myself too far back alot of times. Ryno stated the same. Adding a word to this is very proper bike set up so you do have big confidence in your front.

Gary is a big proponent of the rider movement around the center axis of the bike and this movement needs to be constant. Not to be a nag but when I hear about folks putting on "harley" seats to their racing chassis dirtbikes or mantioning how hard the seats are (we discussed this), fact is that the design of the machine is like a racing bicycle you dont really "sit" on it, if you want sit, sit on a cruiser bike that cups both your cheeks and holds you in one spot and doesnt split the crack (hope that was not too harsh.

Yes sitting is option that is understood, but the 2 main dirtbike positions are attack and standing "rest"(see the baja guys standing position on the non bumpy stuff)--read Garys book to get all the details and or visit the class. Its well worth the cost of admission.

sorry for the ergo discussion thats not my call Im not the instructor.

So in a nushell I got 1 on 1 all day with Gary and some time on his GasGas 280 trials bike as well, most of all I wanted time on my new TXC310R to learn her feel as the motor is waaay different than my 2011 TE310 tractor. It was for sure a successful mission up to Anza for the day. PS he stated, implored, commnanded that I must get a trials bike......

of course there is more very good stuff that reflected the views of Ryno's ergo stance as well as well

[SICVIC 0]

Pretty cool/fun stuff you're doing. Thanks for sharing some of it with us.

It's crazy how deep the details get when it comes to riding.

As of late I've been working on that standing thing. After the firm punch in the face from Matt I was shown that I may need to change my technique slightly. Or more accurately; find a technique.

I get scared going into a blind turn all way up front on the bike. Everything is more committed in that position. I like looking down and seeing my bars rather than the front axle!

I'm not a racer and have no desire to go fast. I just want to ba able to ride 25 mph offroad....CONSTANTLY!!!! lol

I'll keep watching, testing and learning. Jack of all; master of none.

Thanks again for the writeup!

[WARP9 0]

Yep, Gary has great classes. Thanks for posting.

[daijones 0]

Very good write up, have to go there sometime. And yes as discussed I know I need a trials bike, figure go to mcain with KTM and trials bike, 1 hours trials around the rocks get warmed up, couple of hours loop on KTM using same skills then another hour on trials bike to learn some more.

[robertaccio 406]

Gary has twisted my arm and wants to be sure for you or anyone to call him if you getting a trials bike (he is a G-G dealer). There is very very good sales deal they have called economy machines if you go brand new, they are basically new 2010 models, he said they use up all the non current parts in the bin to build these up @5500 for brand new machine. that was just an FYI. PS I practiced more wheelies on sunday....

[daijones 0]

Gary has twisted my arm and wants to be sure for you or anyone to call him if you getting a trials bike (he is a G-G dealer). There is very very good sales deal they have called economy machines if you go brand new, they are basically new 2010 models, he said they use up all the non current parts in the bin to build these up @5500 for brand new machine. that was just an FYI. PS I practiced more wheelies on sunday....

Hmm that is tempting...

[scubatoe 0]

I did the trials training class at MotoVentures a few weeks ago and ended up 1 on 1 with Gary as well. I also went in to it with the desire to learn wheelie techniques to clear obstacles while riding dirt. I didn't come away from it able to wheelie from a standstill like Graham Jarvis, but in ONE DAY of training, I've seen some astounding improvement in my dirt riding skills just based on what I learned about throttle and clutch control, proper body positioning, and concentrating on not putting my feet down.

Well worth the money.

Thinking of going back for the level 2/3 dirt rider training...

[robertaccio 406]

LIKE!

[SDlineman 0]

Thinking of going back for the level 2/3 dirt rider training...

Post up if/when you plan on going to it, I might join you if thats cool.

[scubatoe 0]

Post up if/when you plan on going to it, I might join you if thats cool.

Works for me!

I'm headed back to Nevada sometime around the end of June/beginning of July and would like to do it before then. But, I want to get a couple more technical rides in to refine what I got out of the trials class (really get comfortable attacking obstacles while standing), in order to maximize the benefit of taking another.

I'd like to get out this weekend, too - maybe I'll throw something up in the informal section.

[scubatoe 0]

A buddy and I are headed down from Reno/Fallon this coming weekend to pick up a couple Gas Gas Econos from Gary and get some trials training. We're heading down Friday to take the class on Saturday. Anyone know anything about hotels near Anza? Last time i attendeda class,i just drove upand back from Coronado - which i suspect most of you would do the same. I'm thinking stay in Temecula, and make a visit to the Stone Brewery bistro in Escondido.

Little help?

Thanks,

Steve

[dirt dame 559]

Temecula will be your closest large town with accommodations.