Dirt-y Torque
Trail riding, dirt biking, motocross-ing or off-road riding, whatever you want to call it. The dirty side of riding seems to be the buzzword nowadays. Road riders, tourers, track racers and even newbie bikers want a piece of the action on the dirt. The adrenaline rush of riding in the dirt is addictive and leaves you wanting more. It’s an adventure for some and therapy for the others.
KTM has been quick to ride on the popularity of the sport and Malaysian factory rider, Gabit Saleh sealed the deal for KTM by taking the 2016 FIM Asia Supermoto crown. The 2017 season is yet to start but KTM and Gabit are not waiting for anything. They have kick-started the 2017 campaign on dirt.
The Gabit 2016 FIM Asia win called for a celebration, and what better way to celebrate than with a date on the dirt. Forty lucky bikers grabbed the chance for the two-day camp with a factory visit and victory celebration thrown in. The location was set close to the KTM homebase in Jitra, dubbed as the TAN Camp, the Sungai Tengas Adventure Nature Camp proved to be a great location to rough it out a little. Friday the 13th, probably was selected to make the entire experience a little scarier.
Trade My Superbike (TMSBK) tagged along with KTM Malaysia Owners Group (KMOG) for a fun-filled weekend. Gabit’s Ride Clinic gave participants a good insight into dirt riding. The first day proceedings saw the participants muscle through trials and having a go at crossing rivers. Of course, the event was filled with topples and flip-overs, but that’s exactly what riding off-roading should be. Each participant picked-up valuable riding tips from Gabit along with some battle scars.
Dirt rider and boss man of TMSBK managed to get his grubby hands on the 250EXC-F, 350EXC-F & ultimately the 450EXC-F. He got bitten so badly by the KTM bug that he has put his money down on the 250EXC-F. Talk about successful marketing conversions.
Friday night was completed with a barbeque dinner and an outdoor cinema experience. Second servings of the off-road riding action was served on Saturday, more of a trail riding experience this time. Like all good things, the Orange Day Out came to an end as weary but super happy fans of KTM made their way back to their regular lives.
KTM Malaysia has promised more of such weekends in different regions this year, keep a lookout for the announcement on the official KMOG Facebook fan page. It’s surely going to be a busy year of dirt biking as we’ll be bringing you more of the exciting stuff soon.
Visit KTM Malaysia for more information.
