With the British Motorcycle Industry Association running of the National Motorcycle Week from 19 to 23 July, BMW have offered riders the chance to participate in the BMW Off Road Skills course for a discount. 

The BMW Off Road Skills course is based in Brecon Beacons at the 4000 acre Walters Areana in Wales. The site offers all types of terrain and trail riding opportunities. The instructors are led by Simon Pavey who trained Charlie Boorman and Ewan MacGregor of "Long Way Round" and "Road to Dakar" fame

Garmin has surprised the world with the recent launch of the Garmin nuvi 295W. This smartphone-sized unit is one of many new products driving the convergence of phones, computers and GPS units. 

It's that time again! BMW have just announced the dates for BMW Motorrad Days 2010.

 According to the UK motorcycle newspaper, Motorcycle News, BMW is in the early stages of preparing an all-new, super-efficient, Euro4 compliant water-cooled replacement for its traditional Boxer motor. This represents a significant break from the iconic boxer motor which has been around in one form or another for almost 90 years.

BMW are planning their second GS Trophy to coincide with the 30th Trophy anniversary of their legendary GS brand. The first event was held in Tunisia in 2008 where the team representing the USA won the event. The GS Trophy is not a race but rather an event that will focus on technical riding skills, camaraderie and team spirit and will certainly be hard work for the participants. 

Country Trax Off-Road Riding Academy today announced that they would host a training weekend in July 2010. The weekend will focus on dirt and enduro bikes of all brands but limited to a maximum engine size of 500cc.

Bell, the iconic helmet brand, has just launched the 2010 range of "Star" full face helmets. Bell engineers have worked for almost three years improving the design of the helmet in an attempt to re-launch one of the most famous helmet brands of all time. 

  My alarm went off at 5:30 am. It was still pretty dark outside and both Brett and Meyer seemed fast asleep, not stirring as I got out of bed. For a while I sat on the front step of our bungalow listening to the sounds of the morning. Birds were chirping and some of the farm animals were also getting going. I heard a cock crow in the distance as I watched the sky grow brighter until the sun finally made an appearance starting another wonderful day in Lesotho.  

Elfranco woke around 5:00am and I got up as well, making coffee for Jacques, Elfranco, Ed and Francois. We all packed up our gear and packed the vehicles. This day would be a long one in the saddle.

By 6:15 am we were re-tracing our steps along the very rocky road back to the border post at Ramatseliso.  

We all woke fairly early. I had set my alarm for 5:30 am and headed to the bathrooms to freshen up for the day. I made a quick cup of instant coffee and set about cramming everything into the small luggage role that was to be my source of clothing for the week. We hoped to be on the road by 6:00am but were not sure just how long it would take for everyone to get ready. Some of the guys set about warming up the motors of their bikes by starting them and then giving short revs to the warming engine.

I woke around 5:45 am with the alarm going off at 6:00 am. I immediately washed and started packing. Today we were to descend Sani Pass and cross the border back into South Africa. All the guys were starting to surface very slowly with some “residue” remaining of the night before.

I woke at 6:00 am and started packing up for the days activities. Because we were to go on a tour of the dam wall we left our boots off for the first hour of the day. We all looked pretty strange in long riding pants and slops! After packing our bags we headed down to the Clubhouse for a little breakfast. We were told that the buffet breakfast was R100 and that a simple bacon and egg was to cost us R75. The decision was simple. We would order two toasted sandwiches for lunch and simply have one immediately.

I woke around 5:30 am and started preparing for the day. After packing up and then packing the bike I headed down to the main part of the lodge to meet up with the others. We had breakfast at 7:00am and then left Semonkong after 8:00am heading back along the strecth of rough road that we had traversed the previous day.

I woke around 6:00 am and packed all of the kit that would go into the vehicle before heading up to breakfast. Things were a little chaotic as the Eskom crowd were in the same dining room as all of the other guests were. Food had run out and we had to wait for them to prepare more. The kitchen staff seemed a little overwhelmed by all of the people who had suddenly descended upon their facilities. After paying the bills and the bar tabs and giving the bikes a quick once over we finally hit the road around 8:00 am.