The Exciting Hill Climb Contest!
A national event "BMW Motorrad Days 2019" for BMW owners was held last September 7 (Saturday) and 8 (Sunday) in Hakuba Village, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.
In the 16th year of "BMW Motorrad Days" event, BMW was newly planned to carry out demonstrations simulating drag racing in a variety of new and old genres, as well as skill improvement & time trial in the F Series Limited Edition, and touring across the 3 mountains of Hakuba. Moreover, it was fulfilling. It was a 2-day event that showed excitement more than usual.
In this way, I've been also writing on some article content, and I was able to have a good time with the BMW motorcycle owners. Among all the events, the "Hill Climb Contest" was very impressive.
A huge GS rushes like a tank
The Hakuba 47 Mountain Sports Park, where the event held every year, is one of the world's most famous ski resorts. The Hill Climb Contest is a time trial race which rides up into a steep ski slope that had been covered with snow during winter season with BMW motorcycle. It is based on a competition in Germany, the home town of BMW.
The scene that big adventure models BMW is proud of, such as R1250GS and F850GS, rushes wildly while kicking up the soil smoke, was so powerful! This competition is the most popular event to collect a lot of galleries every year. Thanks to the good road condition by fine weather that is said to be at its best in this season, the finish rate was nearly 80%. Most of the participants had climbed until the top of the mountain.
What a noble guts!
What impressed me was the "challenge spirit" of the riders. All the participants were ordinary BMW owners. Of course, I think they have a certain level of skill, because they were handling the big GS and challenging to the steep slopes, but they were not professional riders.
Even so, it was noble guts! I was also observing them as a helper staff for those who fall down, but the most important thing was the courage. Firstly, when approaching the steepest slope, there was a gap, but if the engine is not accelerated by the riders fearing to fall down, they won't be able to climb up since they are losing speed.
Secondly, taking the riding line was so difficult. Riders who were good for climbing read the riding line from the beginning, and aimed for a flat road surface with a few gap as much as possible. In addition, how to apply traction was very good. If riders don't make enough acceleration, they are not able to climb, and if they make acceleration too much, they may slide widely. Or the rear tire would float, that case the traction of the rear tire will suddenly lose, loses its speed, and fall down. Unexpectedly, riders who did a quiet run like crawling on the ground with a constant speed had been successful.
Most participated machines had block tires on the GS of R or F series. However, there were some who succeeded in climbing with OEM dual-purpose tires, and strong riders who challenged with S1000XR that has inline-4 engine and was installed block tires to front and rear 17-inch wheels, and with G310GS. There was also a female rider who dared with R1250GS and successfully completed the race.
Everyone applauded for their courage.
As we know, BMW is an expensive motorcycle. Especially the GS series should be difficult to handle because it is heavy. The mentality to challenge knowing the big risk when falling down is unbelievable. Some of the participants were actually tumbling down the slopes with their motorcycles, but the gallery and all the staff were applauded generously for both success and failure. Regardless of whether they succesed or not, everyone was praising the courage of the participants to take a step forward.
I thought that the broad-minded participant who played such aggressive games in participatory attractions were also part of the BMW brand's character, and the strength of its vitality made them feel attractive and proud. By the way, it was reported that no one of the riders was injured.
When I asked a participant what it meant to challenge a hill climb, he responded with a lot of fun, "Because it's there." He once quoted George Mallory’s words to climb Everest. What a gorgeous answer! It was a nice weekend with a refreshing breeze!
See BMW Moto Index Page
See Accessories for BMW F850GS
See Accessories for BMW G310GS
See Accessories for BMW R1250GS
See Accessories for BMW S1000XR
