#WHATSNEXT
In 2018, Keith Culver and Chris Peris started working on an idea that came from Chris’ much better half, and star of ChampBody, Jennifer Peris. The concept was a retreat, originally envisioned for YCRS graduates interested in continuing to improve their skills to fully enjoy riding a motorcycle well. Keith’s wife, Tischa, a Sommelier and Certified Specialist of Wine, was looped in and the team spent a weekend in Temecula “researching” the idea while scouting locations that could host such a retreat.
- Relax, Ride, Repeat and Enjoy
The idea itself was simple: a relaxing location, yoga and ChampBody sessions in the morning, a beautiful motorcycle ride to somewhere interesting for lunch, and the twistiest ride back they could find in the afternoon. Rinse and repeat for several days, then cap it all off with a day in wine country guided by an expert in the field. The goal was a truly balanced five or so days built around motorcycle riding.
By 2019, they sharpened the pencil and started polling students to see whether an experience like this was actually viable. A resounding “YES!” Then came 2020, and Covid sidelined “ChampRetreat”.
Fast forward to 2022. Keith wanted to take a European motorcycle vacation and found a group offering exactly what he was looking for, and then some. What started as one rider wanting to experience motorcycles on the other side of the world quietly turned into a yearly pilgrimage for ChampSchool graduates and a few staff members. It became the best of both worlds, helping YCRS grads answer their own #WHATSNEXT without the need to pencil out numbers, take on financial risk, or pull focus away from the school which remains the bread and butter. Perfect.
Over the next four years, ChampSchool was organically gaining more and more experience in the motorcycle touring world as our instructors helped lead tours of mostly ChampSchool grads in Europe and Thailand. The questions started: When are you guys going to do your own tours? When are you going to do something in the United States?
At the same time, a multi time ChampSchool graduate and friend of the school, George Beavers of MotoCalifornia, a small California based tour company in Los Angeles, had been quietly expanding his offerings into Europe. After 2025, when we realized it was time for a partner change, we decided to partner with MotoCalifornia on one of the Tuscany tours, confident it would meet the level of service and experience YCRS clients are accustomed to.
- What Grads Want
Over the years, Yamaha Champions Riding School has grown by responding to what riders were asking for, rather than by chasing new ideas or markets. What started primarily with racers has naturally evolved into a rider-first platform that now serves a majority of street riders, applying the same principles used at the highest levels of the sport to everyday riding. Along the way, we’ve expanded into military, police, street, and online training, each one driven by demand rather than design. ChampTour follows that same path, not something we set out to build, but something riders kept asking for, and now, with the right partners in place, something we can finally deliver the right way.
For riders in the ChampSchool ecosystem, perhaps you’ve only experienced Champions Habits on the track, or on your local roads. How much fun would it be to street ride with other YCRS grads and instructors on America’s best roads through our country’s most beautiful scenery?
That’s where ChampTour really comes to life. You awake each morning in a wonderful hotel and breakfast with riders as obsessed with motorcycles as you are. Over coffee, the day starts to take shape. The coaches talk through the route, the type of roads you’ll be riding, how elevation plays into the day, and which ChampSchool techniques will matter most. Hint, it almost always comes back to the brakes. You can feel the anticipation building before you even suit up.
The road starts out flowing and open, the scenery easing you in. As elevation increases, the corners begin to stack up and the road tightens. Early on, you’re climbing, which feels predictable and comfortable. You find a rhythm, left, right, brake, right, left, brake. The brake pressure stays light, because gravity is helping you out. You’re relaxed, focused, and completely in the zone. When you finally pull in for a coffee stop, the smiles that were tucked inside helmets back at the hotel come out twice the size.
After a quick snack, you’re back on the road. This time, the route starts tipping downhill, but you’re ready. At the stop, the coaches remind you that you need roughly twice as much brake downhill as uphill. You’ve heard it in ChampSchool before, but now you get to really apply it. And you know what? It works. A little more brake pressure, applied lighter and longer, and what many riders find slightly nerve-racking now feels calm and controlled. The first five percent loads the tire, you hold pressure, and the bike stays on line, exactly where you want it. You repeat it again and again, corner after corner, and your smile grows the same way.
By lunchtime, you’re somewhere high in the mountains, snowcapped peaks in the distance, comparing notes with fellow riders who are feeling the same progression. Then a coach chimes in, don’t give up on your brakes, but let’s see what moving your head does for corner entry in the next section. Helmets go back on, engines fire, and you roll out for the afternoon. The rest of the day is spent layering these techniques together, making small, incremental adjustments until you find that sweet spot where everything just clicks.
Before you know it, you’re rolling back toward the hotel, wishing there were another hundred miles left in the day. When you pull in, you’re too energized to disappear into your room, so you meet in the lobby bar for a refreshment and start replaying the ride. The corners, the breakthroughs, the moments where things finally clicked.
Then it’s good food, a glass of wine or your favorite beverage, lots of laughter, and somewhere between the second story and the next sip, it hits: you get to wake up tomorrow and do it all over again with this same group of people. Just don’t overdo the wine. You do have to ride in the morning.
We’ve lived this day more than once, and even writing it down makes us want the first ChampTour to start tomorrow. If you’re asking yourself what’s next, we hope to see you in Colorado, Italy, or the Smoky Mountains.
The post ChampSchool Launches ChampTour, And More appeared first on Roadracing World Magazine | Motorcycle Riding, Racing & Tech News.
