01/13/2004: "Doc Wong's Dual Sport and Dirtbike clinic"

Doc Wong Dirt/Dual Sport Clinic, January 2nd/ 4th 2004.
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I had been eagerly awaiting the Doc Wong Dual Sport Clinic for some time now. I purchased my Motorcycle, a 1997 BMW F650ST about three months before, and was looking forward to taking her off-road for the first time. This would be my first time taking any bike off-road for that matter – I have only been licensed for six months, and “Harlot” is my first bike… I am just starting to get comfortable with the whole concept of two wheels, and now its time to take on a new challenge. The whole reason for getting a Dual-Sport bike was to enable me to range further a field than on a street bike, and I was looking forward to learning how to cope with the rigors of off-road riding.


Sunday morning dawned crisp and cold, but the weather looked clear. Although Harlot had been starting much better since Robbie at San Jose BMW worked his magic on her, I was still a little worried about getting her going on such a cold morning. Heading out to start her up, I saw a think layer of ice on the fishpond – it was going to be cold out there! Sure enough, Harlot lived up to her name, and after 10 minutes, was showing no sign of wanting to wake up. The battery was getting a little weak by now, so I threw on the charger, and headed in to get all my gear ready. Finally, I got an old hairdryer out and blew that on the plugs – not sure if it was that or the battery charger, but she kicked right over about 10 seconds after I started the hair dryer!

Getting the last of my layers on, I headed out on the road, a little later than I wanted. It is about a 50 mile run from my house to Hollister Hills SVRA, the location for the clinic. As I headed down past Gilroy, the roadside thermometer showing 30 degrees, I mused over my last visit to Hollister, where I had got Betty, my F250, stuck on a back trail, and had to be hauled out by a friendly rescue team (Who repeatedly told me “I can’t believe you got an F250 that far along the trail". As I zoomed along Hwy 101 with my fingers starting to go numb despite inners, leather gloves, and ski-glove outers pulled over the top, I sincerely hoped that today’s visit to Hollister would go better!

At 9:15am, I pulled into Area 5, where the “drills” section of the day would take place - a little late, but still in time to catch all the action. I quickly spotted a picnic table covered with BMW hard-case luggage, and figured that I had found the home of the dual-sport brigade! I pulled in, unpacked my luggage, and started to prepare Harlot for the day’s activities. The preparations consisted of pulling off the turn signals and mirrors, and after watching some of the GS’ers, also pulled off the windshield. I forgot to pull the rubber pads off the footpegs, but Ricardo reminded me before we got into the drills. That done, and changed into my “Dirt Bike Gear” (Army boots and jeans, my usual gloves, helmet and leather jacket, and topped off by rollerblade elbow and knee-pads), I checked out some of the other people I would be learning with.

There really were two main sorts of people there – the dirt bikers, who had bought their bikes in on trucks and trailers, and the GS’ers, who had ridden in on the Big BMW GS1150s. There were a few odd-ones out, including myself (the only F650), and even a guy on a Harley. When things got tough, that guy really gave me courage – if he could take on this clinic on a Harley, I had no excuse!

We started up the drills which you can find more about at Doc Wong’s. It was a lot of fun, not too difficult at first, and I was having a ball romping around in the mud. Pretty soon, the field started to get really slippery in places, and I quickly learned some of the limitations of an F650 with non-knobby tires. Pretty soon, some of the big bikes started to go down, and I started to relax, knowing that it was inevitable that I would fall too, but that at least I wouldn’t be the first. It was difficult for me to accept at first, but once I got used to it, falling off became second nature. And the benefit of the F650 over the 1150GS’s soon became apparent – my bike is much easier to lift back up by yourself!

One of the big drawbacks of the F650s design seems to be the front fender – it pretty quickly fills up with mud, and as soon as the going gets really slippery, the front wheel just locks up – not a good thing! Not sure if the best thing would be to take it off for mud-running, or to somehow raise it to give more clearance over the tire. In the end, the only way I could get through the slickest section was to go dead slow, and use my feet as out-riggers. Certainly not a technique that Doc Wong covered in his clinic, but it was the only way I could manage to keep the bike right-side up.

The drills got progressively harder, and I decided to sit out the “wheelie” drill – we’ll leave that for another day, and perhaps for other tires! Then we broke for lunch, and a hard earned rest – the drills were pretty tiring, as was lifting Harlot back up each time I dropped her! After lunch, the GS’ers headed off to the “Lower Ranch” to try out some trails, led by Ricardo on his sleek looking 1150GS. Ricardo had been demonstrating the drills for Doc Wong during the mornings practice, and really knew his stuff. Heartwarming indeed it was to see that even he could drop his bike when the muddy trail refuses to co-operate! The trail was not too bad, but with some nasty boggy sections. We all tried to put the morning’s drills into practice, but the worst of the sludge still defeated most of us, and the bikes were dropped and picked up with regularity.

My first close-up experience with dirtbiker mentality came shortly afterwards. I should point out that we were on a “Green” trail here, the easiest and, obviously, the one with the most beginners on it. The guy in front of me had just dropped his GS on a long muddy stretch, and as I tried to line up to navigate past him to safe ground, mine went down too. As I could lift mine up easier than he could, I left mine there, and went to help him get his bike up, knowing that there was another of our group behind us motioning people to slow down for the trouble ahead. Before I even got to the GS, two dirt-bikers came roaring past, hardly slowing, and one firmly clipped the handlebars of my bike! I rushed back to see what had happened, and although the damage was minor, my clutch lever had been pushed four inches along the handlebars, and was sticking straight up in the air.

They stopped about 30 feet ahead, and asked if I was OK. I said “Not Really”, and with that, they took off up the trail, blowing past the rest of our group with little regard. I got Harlot back on her feet, and doing some fancy low-rider clutch work, got out of the boggy section. I pulled out the trusty tool-kit, and a few minutes later, was back on the trail. Things continued to get boggier, and at one point one of the more experienced guys recommended that I turn back. Not one to push my luck, I took his advice, and myself and two of the GS’ers headed back along the easier return loop.

Several slips and slides later, including one fall at a bit of speed that bent my foot-brake so it was sticking straight up, we finally made it back to terra-firma, with much whooping of joy. A few minutes before, the temperature light on Harlot had come on, and just as we were easing along the pavement past the Ranger station, heading back to the main road, she coughed a few times and died. I tried a couple of times to restart her with no luck, and as I am starting to learn her idiosyncrasies, I just pushed her 50 yards to a good spot, and let her rest for a bit, while I pulled the front fender off and emptied it of the solid mud cake that was blocking the front wheel.

This took about five minutes, and I hopped back on, and she started right up. I did notice that the electric fan never came on even when the temperature light did, so it looks like I have some problem-solving to do. At least I know the temperature light works now! I headed back to the field and caught up with the others, and there were hearty congratulations all around at having survived relatively unscathed. Considering the big grins all around, I would say that the day was an enormous success! I started the process of getting Harlot dressed for the road (thanks to the guy who walked past and pointed out I was putting my turn signal on backwards!), said my goodbyes, and started the road home, tired and aching, but also with a huge grin on my face.

The amount I learned that day is incalculable. There were times on the trail when I completely failed to apply it mind you, but at least I now knew what I should have been doing. I also learned a lot about the limitations of a Dual Sport bike with street-bred tires, and I know that both Harlot and I have a long way to go before we become really trail-worthy, but it is a journey that I am very much looking forward to.

Many thanks to Doc Wong, who seems tireless in his organization of such events in the Bay Area, and to all those people that helped me out during the day. And to the guy that clipped the handlebars of my bike – I just hope that when one day you find yourself face down on a trail, that the bikers behind you show you more consideration than you showed me…