Re: Summer 2012 - Simon Crafar offers Tuition!!!

Chatting with a number of people at the Crashfest there was considerable interest in doing a trip abroad with a track day(s) thrown in and because I organise a trip each year for a group of mates i was asked to start a thread to gauge interest.

What we might do is something similar to a trip a did a few years ago on my road SD:
Ferry to Caen.
Ride through central France, down through the Massif Central (mountains) and on to SE France and do a day at, say Ledenon.
(Ledenon has to be the best SD circuit in Europe)
Track time would be inexpensive as we could hire the whole place ourselves.
Spend a couple of days in the Pyrenees and then ride back.
Costs would be kept low by staying in inexpensive but interesting hotels etc , keeping off the tourist routes as much as possible and eating local food.
Routes would be SD friendly as much as possible - i.e. twisty and sub 110mph.
Target would be to cover 300 - 400 miles each day.
Normally these trips are for a long week (Friday to Sunday) but can be adjusted for the group.

Alternatively we can meet at Dover, cross the channel and get the car train down to SE France overnight and maximise our time in the mountains and on track.

Let me know if there is any interest.

I would be 100% interested dude yeah......more info needed obviously, times, dates and rough costs but yeah sounds like a go'er for me!

keep us informed dude.

Depending on the exact timing / schedule / cost details I could be interested.

Speaking just for myself the ferry / train / mountains / track option appeals more than a long slog (wearing a high visibility vest which I hear are now compulsory in France) down the auto routes. Some good mountain roads, some track time, some booze in good company sounds like something worth doing.

I think the motorail idea really works, personally, especially with SDs.

Carrying a hi-vis vest is compulsory in France (not wearing it) in case of break down.
the only thing I've ever carried in France that is compulsory by law is a 1st aid and bulb kit.
never even heard of a biker being asked to produce their stuff.
motorcyclists are 2nd only to cyclists in France
so long as we don't speed madly through french villages there never seems to be a problem once we're off the tourist routes.

Hi Dave,
Train option sounds good to me as well. Rather burn fuel round a track than on french roads.

On board at Ledenon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dngGLfY ... detailpage

A Superduke at Ledenon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqAfctJA ... detailpage

I'll be up for this Dave.

I'd be interested Dave, sounds good.

I'm Interested

Got to say I'm really pleased by the response so far!
Check this out:
http://www.casaguilla.com/
This is an example of a place we've stayed at in the Pyrenees a few times.
Originally an outpost against the Moors in about 850AD it is now a guest house with a swimming pool that is a cube with about a 1000m drop off the side.

Question for all those interested: should we open this up to SM owners as well?

Yep I would be interested too - join somewhere on your way down through france.

And anytime anyone fancies practice run this year let me know

I'm interested.... as long as you don't mind an RC8 tagging along?

I have no idea if I will have a road bike (I hope so!) but I could well be interested.

If theres enough interest then sort it all out and il let you no when its all a definate

I'm up for this. I'm moving house next year so it all depends on dates fitting in with cash flow but if I can make it hell yeah. Sounds superb!

Good vid of the track here too. Boy seems a wee bit handy

I'm on a trip of my own around that time so I may be interested in joining you on track depending on the dates...

If you do not have a bike you can always ride Pillion......Need a Blonde wig though


http://www.gaskrank.tv/tv/motorrad-fun/ ... -14669.htm

dont knock French roads. Some of the best roads I ever rode were in Normandy!

The trip sounds good imo!!

OK. I'll put a couple of options together and we'll see what works for everyone.
As August is out for a couple of people would it be ok to aim for late July as just inside the school holidays works for me as Tom is likely to want to come along?

July ok by me

July is good for me too..... Getting excited already!!

Would it be ok with everyone if my mrs came on her 675 Street Triple 'R'......she rides at a good pace ...all day long

OK.
I've done some preliminary work on this.
The autorail has been discontinued by SNCF because they are a bunch of assholes.
Brittany Ferries on the other hand are offering a much better service than they used to and much quicker sailings.
For example we could catch the ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao at 16:30 on Friday 20th July which would get us in at 17:30 on Sunday 21st
We could then catch the 20:30 Ferry from Bilbao on Saturday 28th which would get us in at 19:30 on Sunday 29th
The cost for 4 people sharing, 4 bikes and an en-suite cabin would be a not unreasonable £182.75 each.

There are a number of circuits we could use but Ledenon is still looking like a great bet for, possibly, the Wednesday.
They are working on a quote for us right now.
If we ran 3 groups : 2 KTM groups assuming we open this trip to other KTM owners and 1 group for foreigners I think we might be able to break even on the track day (i.e. it would be free to Superduke.net)

This would give us 3 days of some of the most amazing roads to get there and 3 days to get back for the ferry.

I have been playing with routes already it might work something like this:
Day 1 Picos de Europa and Pyrenees
We would overnight outside Bilbao and make our way into the mountains traveling Eastwards 'against the grain' of the great valleys that run into the Pyrenees enjoying some fantastic ascents and descents as well as some superb runs up and down some of the valleys including one run in a tight limestone gorge with the Sds exhaust notes bouncing off the walls and caverns.
Overnight in a 9thCentrury farm house.

Day 2 Through the Pyrenees into France
Taking in one of the most amazing roads in Northern Spain: 50 miles of the best road in Northern Spain (for SDs anyway) where the bike doesn't get out of 3rd gear and is on its side almost all the time. Cross into France over one of the high summer passes and then a spectacular run down into France using some of the routes taken by the Tour de France. Overnight in Limoux - some would say spritual home of sparkling French wine staying in a C15th merchants palace.

etc.

For budgetary purposes I would suggest we allow £100 per person per day including fuel, food and accommodation plus a set of tyres and the ferry.
There would be maps, route cards and contact details provided.
I would assume that everyone going would be capable of following a route plan / navigating themselves if the group gets split up and every one would have insurance including medical and have break down cover to include repatriation of their motorcycle should the worst happen.

How does this sound?

Ace, i'm in

I'll see how this goes but prob not my thing,

The touring with luggage etc just doesn't appeal to me yet

But I may attend in some fashion, I'll just have the bike in the van for the boring bits !

Subject to confirmation but it looks like Ledenon is a mahoosive £1,550 to hire for the day.
Which is clearly crazy money.

what about perpignan track?, cost us approx £40 pp all day, might be a bit tight for the SD's though?

Jody
I didn't mean it! £1550 sounds really cheap to me especially when compared to the UK.
If we had a decent group of SDs and other KTMs go we could get to maybe 20 people plus opening it up as a 3rd group to locals we could get 40 or 50 bikes there which is only £30-£40 for the day which is nothing.

OK I need some help and advice now.

The situation is as follows:

There has been an amount of interest from people outside the forum including people who have been on trips I've organised before.

I met up with Simon Crafar at the show (like 666 i know him from Focused Events gigs, beers, curry nights, etc)
He has offered to do tuition for us at Ledenon if we would like and there are enough numbers. He lives in Andorra which is about 450miles away.
Those who have yet to buy his book/video it is really excellent: www.motovudu.com

Kev at Projex would be up for providing us with a support van to provide:
luggage transport,
tyre fitting
general repairs etc

What I want to know is:
do we still have people who are keen?
can i throw this open to the general KTM population (and guests)?
which forum / forae are used by other KTM people and does anyone have contacts with the forum organisers?
does anyone have a contact at KTM (UK) that I could talk to about getting some endorsement?

Dave

I'm still very interested...so is the mrs (but she does ride a Street triple)...is that ok

I think we should be clear about the 'rules' up front: this is simply a trip organised by some people from the Superduke forum.
Can we agree that anyone is welcome provided that they are coming to have a good time?
You don't have to be fast and you don't have to ride a Superduke or, for that matter, a KTM.


I will say this, however, we are all grown ups so although maps, routes and locations will be provided, a support truck will accompany us, hotels and ferries will be pre booked and organised we, the organisers are not responsible for the members of the group. Whilst I'm sure we will all do our best to help our com-padres at the end of the day each individual is responsible for themselves - navigation, break down and recovery insurance, etc. It is not reasonable for someone to ride 200miles in the wrong direction and then expect someone to ride out in the dark, find them and guide them back to the hotel. (this has happened!) If you can't read a map or follow a route card then buy a satnav!
If this sounds like a bit of a rant: sorry. Its just that even if this does turn out to be bigger than originally envisaged I'd still like it to be a holiday for the people involved in the organisation.