Most of us can ride a dirt bike, but to ride one well is a different matter. Speed comes with good technique.
So you can leave those go-faster goodies on the shelf and don’t bother calling your local suspension guru. Because if you want to ride a bike faster, your money is better spent on you rather than your bike.
That’s the thinking behind Yamaha’s Off Road Academy – the go-to place for honing dirt bike skills, and it’s run by Tradies – bonus!
“Think of it like footy training,” accredited coach and chippy Jason Cater said.
“You wouldn’t expect to rock up on Saturday and play the perfect game without running through some drills mid-week. Well it’s the same with dirt bikes.
“We always tell riders no to worry about riding fast because if you het the basics right, the speed will come naturally,” the former pro enduro rider added.
A typical weekend at the Buckenboura training ground instils good habits from the ground up. The day kicks off with an essential safety gear overview, followed by a trip to the back paddock for the first skills session – using the correct body position for braking and accelerating.
Next up, is a spot of cone weaving – using feet and knees and body weight to steer the bike rather than your hands. It all sounds pretty basic and it is – but you’d be surprised at the number of riders who reach a certain level and are unable to progress due to poor basic technique.
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“It’s easier to teach beginners than riders with a bit of experience because old habits are hard to fix,” explained coach Dean Heffernan, son of former world MXGP rider and Academy boss Lyndon Heffernan.
“We also find that blokes are generally harder to coach than women – because blokes generally have more experience and listen less.”
Hard yakka
Next up are some braking drills – locking and releasing the rear brake, followed by the same with the front brake. Dean demonstrates as Jason points out the best position to adopt and the reason for the drills – emergency braking on a dirt bike involves a human ABS scenario where braking, releasing and reapplying are crucial if you want to avoid becoming a Ford Ranger hood ornament.
Over lunch Lyndon ‘Heffo’ Heffernan explains the importance of nutrition and hydration – when, what and how much. Then it’s back to the training ground to practice cornering while standing and sitting. Dean exaggerates his body position to highlight how much you need to move your mass to get maximum traction.
Next up the group practices clutch pops – the art of lifting the front wheel to get over a log or other obstacle. Different from a wheelie because the clutch pop is a low-speed exercise. All exercises are practiced by Academy participants on a large flat field that can handle more than 30 riders at a time.
The day wraps up with a couple of laps on the Academy’s newly created natural terrain MX track. Jason and Dean – along with brother Jack – are on hand to pull over riders to offer invaluable advice and to correct poor technique.
Buckenboura is located around 45 minutes inland from Batemans Bay but features everything you could want for a weekend away on a dirt bike – currently the 360-acre property features an MX track, grasstrack, hillclimbs, single track, water crossings, logs, jumps and sand.
An e-bike flow track is in the pipeline. Campers are well catered for with onsite camping, hot showers and toilets – and the Academy team can put on a camp fire – fireban permitting – that you can see from outer space.
Sunday rolls around with the fire still smouldering, and the students are keen to put theory into practice. Some on-bike stretches are followed by more braking drills – this time riders are advised to keep the rear brake on and steer by shifting body weight. By now it’s clear that each drill leads into the next to build confidence in a logical progression.
Twists and turns
During lunch everyone gets the chance to see how the adventure bikes are going – their agenda is very similar to the lighter MX/enduro bikes and they are practising hill starts using the rear brake as a traction aid. Followed by how to turn around a bike on an incline – easy with the right technique, but good luck man-handling 250kg-plus without the knack. Next it’s our turn to conquer the two hillclimbs. One is a fair bit gnarlier than the other, but everyone conquers the pair.
Obstacles are next on the agenda – a second paddock has small, medium and large logs to practise on. There’s a surprisingly small
amount of carnage on the logs largely due to the new clutch pop techniques mastered. The right way to rail a berm is demonstrated, ruts tackled, water crossings crossed and throttles pinned in the dreaded sand – which brings a few riders unstuck. Last technique of the day is jumps – when to apply the throttle and how to pre-load the bike on the up ramp for more distance.
Participants leave the Academy with a weekend chock full of riding a wide variety of obstacles and terrain and a head full of new techniques to practice in the coming weeks. But best of all – you can visibly see speed and confidence grow across the weekend as skills are absorbed and practised. Riders leave the Academy a lot faster and safer than they arrived – all for less than the cost of a loud exhaust.
The crew
Lyndon ‘Heffo’ Heffernan: Former world MXGP rider, multiple Australian champion and event organiser. Was sidelined due to a shoulder reconstruction on the weekend we visited and when fully fit Heffo and his team also run Detour trail rides and Dirt 2 Ride event company. Heffo is a level 2 MA accredited coach and member of the national coaching commission. Organiser and promoter of many successful dirt bike races and events including four A4DEs – one which featured tests at Buckenboura – and a number of Transmoto events from 2011 to 2020. Is a fitter by trade but now works in underground mining.
Jason Cater: Chippie and former top level enduro rider who has represented Australia in many ISDE events. Has been riding Yamaha’s since the two-stroke era. Very capable MA accredited coach who is great at explaining why as well as how. Runs a tall seat due to an old knee injury.
Dean Heffernan: Builder, racer, MA accredited coach and has competed in many junior off road, desert and MX events. Also a keen fisherman, snow boarder and paddle boarder. Performs a mean slow wheelie.
Jack Heffernan: Plumber, racer, MA accredited coach and winner of many Transmoto Ironman events. Has competed in Hattah, AORC and won his class numerous times at Amcross series in NSW. Makes the Tenere 700 look small, can also pull a mean stoppie!
The Academy of Off Road Riding: Yamaha’s Academy of Off Road Riding was formed by MX legend Stephen Gall in 1978 since when many dirt bike legends have received the benefit of Academy coaching. Names like Reed, MacFarlane, Marmont, and Caroll read like a who’s who of Aussie motocross.
Heffo purchased the business from Stephen in 2002 and has been running schools alongside his Detour trail tour business and Dirt 2 Ride event business ever since. The Academy caters for all levels of age and ability and bikes from MX/enduro to ADV. The Buckenboura training venue is 45 minutes west of Batemans Bay, NSW.
A two-day weekend course costs $300, or $260 if 15 years and younger. Contact here