5 Reasons Why You Need to Ride a RIDE OUT Moto Weekend

We got along to the RIDE OUT Moto Weekend down at Wangaratta recently and we had a blast! If you are the proud owner of a KTM, Husqvarna or GASGAS, here are five reasons why you need to round up the crew and get along to one of these awesome weekends.

1. This ‘ain’t your average test ride day.

The KTM Group in Australia generally don’t do things in halves. At first glance, their RIDE OUT Moto Weekends look like a mix between a trailride and a test ride day. And if your expectations are to turn up to a few straggly pop-up tents and a brand staffer with a clipboard, you’d be wrong. These events are BLOODY awesome.
They are three days and two nights of camping out with your mates, kids and family. There’s six tracks to choose from – Enduro Loop, Junior Loop, Grass Track, Fun Hill Climb, Kids Track, Kid’s E-Drive Track, and a selection of new-model bikes to demo from across the KTM, Husqvarna and GASGAS ranges.

2. It’s relaxed, & FUN

If you struggle to find a place to ride in a safe (with private paramedics on site!) and a fun environment with your kids, then this is right up your alley. The tracks are open from 8am – 4pm on Saturday, and 8am – 2pm on Sunday. And the best thing is, you can ride them as much as you like. You can ride alongside your little ones around any of the Junior loops, then come back, grab a brand new test bike and rip a hot lap on the adult’s Enduro Loop.
With 200 riders and about 350 camping out on site (you can take additional non-riding family members, support crew, or friends with you for an extra $30 each), this felt like it was just about the right amount of crew. The tracks never felt busy, you weren’t chewing dust on the loops (granted, the track conditions were absolutely prime all weekend) and there was plenty of opportunities to secure a ride on the sought-after demo/test bikes.

3. The Huge range of demo bikes

It’s not every day you have the opportunity to choose between a range of enduro, cross-country and motocross models. With 14 bikes available to ride from the KTM Group, both two-stroke and four, you were spoilt for choice. It was really interesting to be able to jump off a 300 two-stroke onto a 500 four-stroke and rip around the same loop. If you are ever on the fence about which bike to buy next, this is a great way to test them back-to-back and see if your predictions stack up with how each bike feels to ride. You never know; you might end up liking a model you’ve never had much interest in before.

4. The set-up

Bit of a disclaimer here: Transmoto has been working alongside the KTM Group to bring these events to life, mostly on the back-end. If you’ve been to one of our Enduro Events, you would know the effort that goes in to making the experience a good one. No waiting in line to sign on, well organised catering and coffee, clean dunnies, and plenty of merch and gear to check out. At the RIDE OUT events, there’s also a movie on the big screen Friday and Saturday night, free high-quality photos from a pro photographer on site, and a pretty damn good American BBQ on Saturday night for all riders. It’s definitely a step up from your average trailride.

5. The riding

With a forecasted 80mm of rain predicted to land Saturday, the RIDE OUT at Wangaratta had the makings of a wet weekend camping with the tin lids. It could have even been a complete washout. Fortunately, old mate at the BOM got it very wrong. Only 15mm dropped on Friday night and the Victorian sun emerged for the remainder of the weekend … perfect! It was just enough moisture to keep down the dust and create some tacky trails for the frothers to rip into.
This 3000-acre patch of dirt near Markwood is one hell of a place to ride. The ability to get onto a private property like this and ride tracks that are only ridden once a year is just one of a kind. And that’s probably the best thing about these RIDE OUT Moto Weekends: you can’t just roll up and ride these places on the weekend; it’s private access and with the Alpine Motorcycle Club (Trev and the crew) behind the track build, it was an epic set-up that we’ll remember for a while.

Three things we thought could be improved:

The main Enduro loop could probably be a pinch longer, at 12km it was enough to sink the teeth into, but for riders with decent fitness, it could have been stretched out to 18-20 clicks no problem.
Saturday morning check-in. To make the most of the weekend (and get value more money) it makes a lot of sense to turn up for the 3-6pm check-in on Friday, but for those who can’t get away until Saturday morning (or live close by), we thought an early Saturday check-in would be good for some crew.
More options for the moto groms who can ride well. The Junior Track and Kids Track were awesome, and a great place for the young ones and less experienced riders to get their confidence up. But a longer grass track loop for the kids who are really handy would work well. Fortunately, with the permit, these events run under Motorcycling Australia, the Clerk of Course was able to identify the really handy Juniors and give them a run on the main Enduro Loop with a parent chaperone. If your kids are still on the learning curve, then the current setup is ideal.

So, to summarise, the RIDE OUT Moto Weekend at Wangaratta had plenty to like about it and if you and the family enjoy getting out, camping, and sharing the joy of riding bikes then it’s well worth getting along to one. It just had a great vibe about it, no ego on the tracks, no one on the rev limiter at night, just great people who were there to ride bikes and enjoy themselves. If you want to get away for a rowdy piss-up weekend with the boys, this isn’t the event for you.