michael_t

still too bad ... as he is a great resource to answer these sorts of questions when allowed. Just glad he hasn't been kicked off other sites. When you think of all of the videos he has created and free technical advice over the years to support the maintenance of trials bikes it can really only be seen as a loss to this forum in the bigger scheme of things... but hey rules are rules. I guess it isn't an issue posting diagrams that he has created such as the one above "rising sun" was his company after all.

In that picture the lever is off - up would be on.

I believe the key to being really good at rear wheel hops is being able to engage the clutch just enough to put pressure on the bike to keep the tire in the air but not so much that you are moving forward... kind of like holding a car on an uphill by engaging the clutch enough that you don't need the brake but the car doesn't roll backwards (sorry to those that don't drive a stick shift as you might not know what I am talking about). here is a video that you can see that clutch finger hard at work...

You also need to keep in mind "cover the rear brake" doesn't mean "slam it on" often a little pressure will create enough drag... just realizing brakes and clutches are not on off switches can raise most peoples skills to a new level - people typically figure out the throttle isn't an on off switch fast enough, although I used to ride my street bike that way WFO "on" to go and no throttle "off" for braking - pretty sure my son drove his 50 that way as well LOL!

This might help...

A little tough to tell but doesn't seem like you are using your clutch to hop? try keeping your throttle open (not necessarily full open) then drop your clutch and jump at the same time... pull in your clutch in the air and when you land drop the clutch again on the rebound... it seems to me that is the way the top riders do it hoping from rock to rock... The trick is in the timing and the comments above about body position... letting the power of the bike kick you into the air is a great skill to master (I have yet to master it myself so take my comments for what they are worth and don't blame me if you end up on your a***).

Canoe polo ??? didn't see that one coming. We thought it would be popular here bought 10 boats set up 2 nets on the lake then this video hit you tube and they have been gathering dust ever since but trials is really starting grow...

I saw this on ADV I guess the thief sold it to somebody who was not aware it was stolen... once they figured it out the new owner gave the bike back to its rightful owner Even more amazing is the trials community has pulled together through crowd funding to make things right... https://www.gofundme.com/stolen-trials-motorcycle Makes me proud to be a trials rider... got to say $1,500 for that bike was one heck of a deal !!!

It gets dark pretty early here so I have some experience with this. I have found that the light on the bike to be of very little use especially if you are doing a lot of work on the back wheel as the light end up pointing into the sky so tough to see where you are going. A light on your helmet tends to be a bit better as it points where you are looking you can get some that fit to a go pro mount. I usually just try to light up the whole area that I am practicing with either a string of lights or a few 400 W lights shining down on my practice area (backyard). A real advantage of being able to practice trials in a smaller space compared to MX or enduro riding... riding under the street light in the front yard works well also :).

Hey no worries! Always enjoy introducing people to the sport of trials. I used to post more stuff on this forum under the Canadian section but have been a bit lazy lately :). I look forward to seeing you out at events and the offer is always open... if you want to borrow a bike we can usually get a demo from Honda / Beta / Sherco / and hopefully GG now that our GG dealer is starting to bring GG back under the new GG company. Cheers, Michael T.

too bad Jim got kicked off this site but he does post on ADV rider in the trials section so you could try posting your question there.

It was 4 years ago... but I think I still have it in the back of the barn someplace unfortunately the trailer belonged to somebody who doesn't ride anymore so I don't have it to measure. If I get out there this weekend I will measure the ramp to give you some idea of the size... I do remember it being pretty steep maybe around 45% ?

The issue we had was we had to move everything between shows each day so the trailer was handy for that. The big ramp in front covered up the hitch. Here is a video of it in action...

One year we used a larger dump trailer made a top for it and a big ramp on one end and a kicker ramp on the other plus a few options for hitting it from the sides...

I have used trailers for indoor demo's before I took some inspiration from this video... for me it was more about how you get on and off the trailer than it is about what obstacles are on the trailer.

AWESOME !!! Great to see such an amazing turnout. I had a great chat with Jordan when he was in Halifax last summer about growing the sport - you guys are obviously doing things right !!!

According to dirt rider he got a 3 in section 10 for "dragging his foot" as I read it...http://www.dirtrider.com/smage-leaves-texas-with-us-mototrials-point-lead The caption above the video suggesting it was a 1 is hopefully wrong. A 3 would count for the right foot dab as well. I know crossing the tape is easy to see on the video but I could see how it may have been missed by the observers in the heat of the moment (given all the dabbing that was going on). Rolling back is also a tough call made much easier by video but when people are hoping around it is a fine line... kind of like stopping in no-stop trials. Wouldn't it be great if our sport got full TV coverage and the observers could request a video play back when things got tight... :).

You obviously haven't tried racing cars, off shore sailing or flying your own plane as hobbies or simply getting married for that matter - LOL

Crossing ribbon (might have been hard to tell if there was space between tire and ribbon without the video as we are allowed to ride on the ribbon just not on the other side of it) or Rolling backwards with a foot down is a 5 according to our local rules. Moving the right foot around would be a 3. Left foot dab after right foot would be a 2. Typically we don't get video evidence, so it depends more on what the observer observes... and we depend heavily on the honor system as often riders know better than the observers... which actually works well at our local events but we are in Nova Scotia not exactly expert level riders.

Might be best to PM Dave or send him an email... my guess is the video was on tape not on-line. BTW - Dave has a great blog that he updates daily - always a good read! http://www.outlawtrials.com/wordpress/

I was wondering about that, I figured it was just rolling backward but would that mean it had a clutch that disengaged the motor. Do EM bikes roll backwards that easily when the clutch lever is pulled in?

Ho Lee Schitt.

Not sure how many UK riders read the US On The Pegs magazine but in the latest edition they have started a new series of videos that could be a big help to all... the magazine can be found here: https://www.joomag.com/magazine/on-the-pegs-january-2017-volume-2-issue-1/0680952001482523943

Direct injection 2 stroke looks like it could be a bit of a game changer ... see Guy's thread / video on the matter.