On May 10, KTM China officially announced the entry of KTM RIDERS ACADEMY (KTMR2R Knight Academy) into China at its online launch.
In recent years, as China's motorcycle market has become more mature, its subdivided off-road field has also ushered in new opportunities for development. Coupled with the post-epidemic era, the "adventure" riding method outside the city is favored by more and more riders. The year-on-year growth of ADV and off-road vehicle users also confirms this trend, with an increase of 40% and 12% in 2020 and 2021, respectively, and motocross sports have gradually sunk from the old gun players in the early years to ordinary riders.
Different from the streets and alleys in the city, the off-road riding mode outside the city allows riders to challenge various road conditions such as muddy mountain roads, steep slopes, and deserts. But in contrast, the extreme terrain and riding environment also put forward higher requirements for the skills of riders, which is also one of the important reasons why off-road sports have not been able to get rid of niche labels so far.
As the undisputed leader in the off-road field, the launch of KTMR2R Knight Academy also means that in addition to the product layout, KTM has begun to pay more attention to the needs of a wider range of off-road riders, by providing professional and targeted learning training, so that more riders are truly "within reach" of off-road riding.
Shift from a trail leader to a popularizer
As the largest motorcycle manufacturer in Europe, KTM will continue to lead the European motorcycle market with more than 332,000 motorcycles in 2021.
At the same time, in terms of events, KTM has also been doing well. Especially in the field of off-road, KTM has become the undisputed leader, with 18 consecutive dakar championships that have created history, and have won countless championships in international top off-road events such as the WESS World Moto Endurance League and the ISDE International Six-Day Endurance Race.
In recent years, while continuing to invest in the field of events, KTM has also begun to lead the off-road culture to the public vision, successively laying out knight academies in various countries, and beginning to popularize off-road riding skills to the public.
As KTM off-road expert Brandon Youell said at the launch: "KTM RIDERS ACADEMY aims to create a safe and enjoyable experience for users and make off-road riding within reach. ”
The first landing of Knight Academy in China can be said to be a win-win situation for brands and users, and can also create more surprises and opportunities for the continuous development and expansion of China's off-road culture.
Customized professional training content in sync with the international community
Drawing on KTM's expertise in the off-road sector, KTM RIDERS ACADEMY has a world-leading and innovative off-road training content system. Its training content not only incorporates its rich experience in the field of off-road sports, but also tailors the teaching content for riders of different cycling levels by professional instructors with sports anatomy, racing experience and educational experience.
When introducing the training content system into China, KTM China has also achieved a high degree of consistency with global standards. In terms of curriculum, two major courses are opened, ENDURO and OFFROAD-TRAVEL. Whether you are a lover of off-road vehicles or adventure vehicles, you can learn in the academy. In terms of course content, it covers a comprehensive learning process such as theoretical explanation, practical demonstration, cycling exercises, and final exams.
At the same time, the official also flexibly uses the learning method of "learning while riding", integrates the environment that Chinese riders will encounter in actual riding, and tailors enhanced real-life cycling routes for students in addition to site training. Through a 1-day to multi-day on-the-spot ride, it ensures that riders can truly master the riding skills.
After the end of the course, the three levels of bronze, silver and gold certification awarded to the students by the international evaluation system can also enable the riders to more clearly understand their riding ability and better improve their targeted improvement.
Three major base layouts
In terms of the layout of the Knight Academy, in 2022, KTM deployed three major bases in North China, East China and South China - Beijing Base, Nanjing Base and Kunming Base. The three bases not only cover the different riding environments and terrains in China from north to south, but also cover the cycling life circle of most Chinese riders.
The three bases will open camps in May and June this year to start training.
At the same time, relying on KTM's strong strength in products, the base is also equipped with a complete ADVENTURE and ENDURO training models, including: 390 ADVENTURE, 790 ADVENTURE & R, 1290 SUPER ADVENTURE R, 300 EXC TPI Six-Day Edition, 350 EXC-F Six-Day Edition. Whether you are a complete beginner or an experienced rider, whether you are a KTM owner or a motorcycle rider, you can get a rich experience at the KTMR2R Knight Academy.
A team of professional riding instructors
On the team of riding instructors, the KTMR2R Knight Academy can be said to be very "top-notch". They are:
KTMR2R Knight Academy Chief Instructor & Kunming Base Manager Zhang Min
For many consecutive years, he has competed in Dakar as a top Chinese driver, a national motocross motorcyclist, and has won several off-road bike competition championships.
Ma Tao, Bishop of Nanjing Base
International certified instructor, founder and chief instructor of Nanjing G.S.A.P, with many years of experience in non-pavement riding training.
Bishop Tang Yanghu of the Beijing base
2021 ADVENTURE RALLY led the team instructor, participated in many domestic and foreign rally events, and is a well-known KOL in Beijing.
Although due to the epidemic situation, the conference was changed from the original offline experiential release to online live broadcast. However, as the first step taken by the KTMR2R Knight Academy in China, KTM China has also brought more substantive activity policies to riders.
First of all, the official announcement of its college course fee, 3980 yuan / period, including 1 day of venue training and 1 day of short-distance cycling, as well as students' accommodation and food.
Secondly, in order to allow more riders who want to try off-road riding to better experience the unique charm of this sport and lower the threshold of off-road sports, the official also brought its entry-level ADV performance car exclusive activities. Buy the 390 ADVENTURE low-seat version from now on, you can enjoy 0 purchase tax and 0 interest, for riders, the actual preferential range of the model will not be less than 8000 yuan.
Finally, in response to the current epidemic situation, KTM will also launch a series of free cycling teaching courses online.