Raising the standard of road riding in Malaysia is the Ducati Malaysia Ducati Riding Experience (DRE) held a DRE Road class. Attended by both Ducati riders and enthusiasts of the brand, the Road class is intended to teach motorcycle handling skills for the everyday rider.
This is in contrast to the DRE Track class, which is a very intense and hyper focused day-long session teaching the finer points of track riding and race craft. For DRE Road, takes riders from the very basics of riding, emphasising safety and defensive riding.
Costing RM500, DRE Road is a one day course open to all riders, regardless of make of motorcycle. Participants on the day are provided with a selection of Ducati motorcycles, which on the day comprised of Scrambler and Monster models, plus the Desert-X dual-purpose, as well as the Hypermotard and Streetfighter.
In the class session, riders are taught the importance of riding position and its impact on motorcycle control and handling, as well as vision and target fixation. Despite sounding like something basic every rider should now, it is surprising how many riders, both old and new, take things like this for granted.
After the hour long classroom session, participants were brought to the specially laid out course. divided into three sections, the drills performed here emphasised bike handling, braking and low speed control, e.g. u-turns.
With participants separated into three groups, led by a certified DRE instructor, each group was taken through the sections. One benefit of DRE Road is the small class size, and personal attention and instruction given.
Ample opportunity was given to run the drills, and participants were allowed to do repeats either at their own request or on instruction, in order to refine and perfect their newly learned skills. Ducati Malaysia intends to hold several DRE Road sessions throughout Malaysia in the coming months, while those wanting to participate can register their interest with Ducati Malaysia or their nearest Ducati Malaysia dealer.
