So you want to be a Dirt Rider test rider? Of course you do! From the outside, a gig testing for the magazine appears to be one of the cushiest jobs in the industry. Where else do you get to ride the latest bikes on private tracks while wearing fresh, free riding gear? Yet despite all the apparent perks, being a test rider for a magazine like DR is actually a tough job that requires dedication, persistence and more than a little luck. The purpose of this article is to demystify some of the false notions surrounding the gig of the Dirt Rider test rider and to tell you how to become one-if, that is, you're still interested in doing so after hearing what getting in those glamorous photos really entails!
The Four Myths Of The Test Rider
As you may have guessed, there are several components of being a magazine test rider that aren't exactly understood by those yearning for the job. Here are some of the big ones:
Myth #1: Testing for Dirt Rider is easy work. While you may think that a bike test involves simply cruising out to the track, throwing a few big whips for the camera and being back in the swimming pool by 2 p.m., this couldn't be further from the truth. Testing is hard work, and at DR we do a lot of it! Most of our test days begin early in the morning to take advantage of the good lighting for photos, and we typically don't finish a shootout day until we run out of light in the evening. It's fun the first few times, but more like a real job the more you do it. Longtime DR test rider and multi-time cover rider Kris Keefer tells it like it is: "The toughest thing about being a test rider would have to be the long days we put in at the track. To evaluate a motorcycle in a comparison you have to make sure you give equal time for each bike, and that could be up to five motorcycles! So, it is definitely a full day. Your body is tired at the end of the day right up to that last bike you get on, but you have to make sure you're in the right frame of mind when you are testing at 5:30 in the evening and you have been there since 7 a.m. You have to make sure you are fair and not in a rush to leave the track just because you're tired."
Myth #2: DR testers get paid the big bucks. Believe it or not, we don't pay our test riders a red cent for their services. At best, the most a test rider can expect to earn out of a day of testing is access to a cooler full of cold drinks during the day and maybe a few tacos after the test session. While this may seem unfair, consider the flip side: Our test riders get to ride the latest bikes weeks-sometimes months-before the general public even knows about them. Not only that, but they end up getting a lot of time on the bike, which makes it a great gig for aspiring pros or those who desire a lot of training. And who can forget all of the coverage in the magazine? Seeing your photo in print is great, but for a professional test rider scoring good-sized color shots can earn sponsorship that local racing would not. Still, when all is said and done, test riders aren't in it to get rich. AMA pro and loyal DR test rider Ricky Yorks sums it up: "You are at the track all day on different bikes and sometimes by the end of the day you have huge blisters on your hands and monkey butt so bad it hurts to drive home. At the end of the day, you do it because you love riding."
Myth #3: You have to be a pro to be a test rider. Being a high-level competitor certainly makes someone a good test rider on paper, but this isn't always the case when it comes to track time. Many pros are very adept at gauging what is going on with their equipment; conversely, some pros can't even tell if they have a flat rear tire. Speed is not directly related to having a good sense of what a bike is doing, and as such we use test riders of every skill level. In fact, having multiple opinions helps broaden the evaluations we bring to our readers, since not everyone out there is Johnny Anaheim Supercross. This is also why you'll see 135-pound teenagers testing in our 450cc shootout alongside 210-pound vet riders; diversity only enhances the value of our testing.
Myth #4: Test riders get to trash bikes. While we can't say the same for other magazines, there is no denying that the Dirt Rider testing crew spends almost as much time in the shop as they do on the track. Why? Because we adhere to one simple rule: treat a test bike as if it was your own. One look around our shop will reveal well-worn Mac, Makita and Motion Pro tools, a muddy wash bay, multiple projects in various states of completion and an updated dry-erase board that shows the location of every bike under our control. We take great care to not only keep our bikes in solid shape, but also to know what makes them tick, and this transfers to each of the test riders who work for us. On the track or at the trails, testers are encouraged to ride a bike to its full potential, but this in no way includes thrashing it. You'd better believe that if Lewis catches anyone needlessly trashing a bike just for grins, they'd be out faster than baggy riding gear. Plus, we consider all of the shop guys for the various manufacturers to be buddies of ours, and we'd essentially be making their jobs harder if we never did any maintenance ourselves.
So now that we have some of the major misconceptions out of the way, how exactly do you get to be a magazine test rider?
Right Place, Right Time
If you really want to test for the magazine, the first thing you need to do is to make yourself accessible. Like "free on any weekday" accessible, and on short notice, as in the night before a test. The magazine is always up against strict deadlines, and we often have to plan test sessions without much warning. As a result, many of our test riders earned their jobs by simply being in the right place at the right time. We've literally grabbed riders at the track, plopped them on test bikes for photos and found that they are really articulate when it comes to explaining what suspension is doing. Boom, instant test rider!
Know The Bike
Which way do you turn a clicker to speed up the rebound? What does a bike do if it is running lean? Do you care where your sag is set? Do you know what sag is? These questions-and more like them-all need to be answered by the ideal test rider if they're to get to ride with Dirt Rider. We're not looking for super freaks when it comes to bike knowledge, but a test rider needs more than a rudimentary idea of how a motorcycle works and how certain changes affect its performance. A test rider needs to be picky enough to know how he likes his setup, yet open-minded enough to be able to try something different. He (or she) cannot be afraid to try new settings and setups, and to be vocal when something isn't working. Most importantly, a tester needs to distinguish between what effect the track is having, what the bike is doing and what the rider is causing. This comes with either a natural ability to read a dirt bike, or lots and lots of practice. Luckily, most of our testers have both.