Who rides motorcycles?

[oosik]

I'm not going to be able to go on a long trip like that. But, this is me(taking the pic) and my 2017 BMW R1200GSA - up and over the mountain pass in NE WA state. Left home at 6:30 this morning and got back at 1:30 in the pm. Temps were already over 98 at 1:30.View attachment 520211

 

[Code54]

Found a new sport - TRIALS

 

[oosik]

There was a form of trials started when I was in Alaska. It wasn't so much the over, around & through rocks and trees. The only thing they had was a "shaped" oval dirt track. But man could they make that track difficult, convoluted and twisty. Never tried the sport but certainly fun to watch.

It was "built" in an abandoned gravel quarry - so the entire track was always in view.

 

[PJSprog]

View attachment 520212
Found a new sport - TRIALS

I find those bikes completely fascinating. As a younger man, I would have loved one of those. These days ... not so much.

 

[ericm979]

I did trials competitions for about eight years. It's a huge amount of fun but also very humbling for people like me who don't have unusual amounts of talent. Its kind of like long range pistol shooting- every once in a while you get something right and you're like wait, what?

One of my childhood heros was Dick Mann. He's a NorCal local and in addition to dirt track and road racing has always been into trials. He makes super nice vintage British trials bikes. They're museum quality but he will only sell to people who are going to ride them. And he rides (or rode when I was doing trials), we'd see him out at our practice areas. Anyhow he was the grand marsal at an AMRHA weekend at Sears Point and I was there to ride the trials on my Montesa Cota 348. He decided to help out by checking the trial on my second loop and happened to be checking this one section that some people found difficult but for whatever reason I had wired. I did another clean and he complemented me on my ride as he punched my card. Made my entire trials "career".

At another AHRMA trial there was a really gnarly descent on the loop. I'd seen a guy crash there the previous lap so was going slow, and Montesa brakes are not that great. Dick was riding that day (and was like 75 then) on some heavy British bike. He passed me on that descent, on a heavier bike, going much faster. On the way by he gave me a look like "why are you so slow?". That was more the normal order of things.

One of the many good things about trials is that the bikes are quiet and you can practice in a small area. I started when we lived in town and could move both cars off the driveway and use that for a practice area. Part of the reason we moved to the mountains was to have a place to ride. The bikes never bothered the neighbors, they're quieter than chainsaws and leaf blowers.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Waaaay back when, I had two Kawasaki 250 trials bikes... They were a lot of fun, I got pretty decent with them...

SR

 

[RichM752]

I like the thrill of launching and winding her out.

 

[ericm979]

I find those bikes completely fascinating. As a younger man, I would have loved one of those. These days ... not so much.

The stuff you see on videos is upper category riders. Competitions have different skill categories, each riding their own line through sections. The lower level riders get easier obstacles and wider turns. With the local club the easiest lines are pretty easy. They're intended for kids, raw beginners and people on very vintage bikes. I've seen guys show up on R100GSes or vintage British MXers and ride them. Speeds are low so there's not much risk of serious injury. I used to come home from every practice session with at least some scrapes and bruises. It took me a long time to learn how to fail gracefully. I tended to ride the bike right into the ground instead of stepping off and landing on my feet like the good riders do. But I only broke a bone once, early on.

 

[dfkrug]

Part of the reason we moved to the mountains was to have a place to ride. The bikes
never bothered the neighbors, they're quieter than chainsaws and leaf blowers.

Those trials bikes look like fun.

The one posted by CODE54 looks like a 2-stroke, so I imagine it would not be very quiet. Of course,
RPM should be much lower than motocross.

There once was a big plan to put an M/C track in the Sta Cruz Mtns, not far from Skylonda.
Neighbors resisted, and the developer failed to get use permits.

Were trials bikes also available in 4-stroke?

I had an '81 Yamaha YZ125 back in the early 80s, and it was Loud.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

There once was a big plan to put an M/C track in the Sta Cruz Mtns, not far from Skylonda.
Neighbors resisted, and the developer failed to get use permits.

Many of those trails up there were put in by motorcyclists in the '50s and '60s, but that hasn't stopped the horse people and hikers from shutting them down for anybody else except them. Can't even ride a mountain bike on many that we used to ride in the early '80s now.