With the unprecedented news that motorcycles are banned from the Nürburgring Nordschleife’s famous Touristenfahrten (public driving) sessions, lots of motorcyclists will be asking the question;
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“How can I ride my motorcycle around the 20.8 Nordschleife this year?”
As a motorcycle riding local, who’s been riding the ‘Ring since 1999, I will answer that question as quickly and easily as I can.
There are (as of February 2025) just two ways to ride your own motorcycle around the old Nurburgring:
- Motorcycle training courses
- Motorrad Anlassen
Let’s look at these two very different events in detail…
1) Motorcycle Training events on the Nürburgring Nordschleife
Back when I were a lad… During the 90s there were motorcycle trackdays, race schools, manufacturer schools and more, all doing their thing on the Nordschleife. Every tourist day was more than 50% bikes, and the same could be said for trackdays too.
Alas, those days are gone. In 2025 there are only TWO remaining motorcycle events on the 20.8km Nordschleife, and both are only barely tolerated by the management thanks to being part of a much bigger picture… but I digress…
Here are the remaining two options:
- ADAC Doc Scholl Nordschleife (13-14th August 2025)
doc-scholl motorrad training - Motorrad Action Team Nordschleife Perfektionstraining (30-31st July 2025)
motorrad-perfektionstraining
Now they’re both remarkably similar in format, pricing and accessibility. In fact you’ll find more than 50% of your instructors and organisers are the same on each event (myself included!).
- Lead-follow training format
- Groups of up to 6 pupils per instructor
- Both are two-day events, costing about from €500-750 for one day, and €1100-1400 for both.
- If you book one day, that’s the day that it will rain.
- Always book two days.
- If you’re too slow for your group, there’s ALWAYS a slower group to slot you into
- If you’re too fast for your group, there’s ALWAYS a faster group too, trust me!
- The emphasis is on smooth and fast, in both events. That’s just how you ride the Nordschleife!
Doc Scholl is slightly cheaper if you pick the budget entry “Ride & Feel” option, but you do get less track time, as you’re on ‘Relax’ while the ‘Classic’ entries are riding 30-40 minutes of every hour.
Both events are allowed to continue by the circuit owners so long as they are very clearly marketed for road-legal motorcycles and tyres, and because of that you’ll find tyre-warmers are not really useful (or even strictly allowed).
2) Motorrad Anlassen (27th April 2025)
THE BIG ONE. But more accurately, also the ‘SLOW ONE’.
Another tradition of the Nordschleife, and one that I’ve written about plenty of times before. If you want to see for yourself what it looks like, trying to do one lap of the Nordschleife with 40,000 other bikers in about 90 minutes, take a look on my BTGMoto youtube channel:
It’s free, it’s fun, and it’s worth doing. Just don’t bring your kneesliders, or even a hint of ego, as it really is a co-operative event. Personally, when I’m in the mood for it, I love it. Sometimes though, the crowds are all a bit much. The ‘event’ runs all day, but actually what happens is that you’re parked all over Nurburgring GP track while multiple vendors and entertainers vie for your attention. Around 4pm, the floodgates open, and you all do a lap.
And the final part is the queue to get off again, and boy, is it a HELLUVA queue…
Conclusion
2025 sucks for riding motorcycles on the old Nordschleife. But it’s been getting worse for a long time.
In the same article last year, I had to try and explain how to safely ride your motorcycle through the worst kind of 4-wheeled track traffic you could possibly imagine (maximum ego, zero briefing, crazy speeds, terrible skills).
But this year, contrary to the ‘spin’ being applied by the Nürburgring’s PR wizards, there’s no ‘revamp’, there’s no ‘separation of bikes and cars’ on the Nordschleife. It’s just cars. No bikes on the Nordschleife at all.
The management is keen to point out that there are also 8 trackdays on the GP circuit (Speer Racing, Ducati 4U, et al) as well as 38 tourist sessions over there too. But that’s not the Nordschleife, is it?
Hopefully I can update this page soon, but don’t cross your fingers…
