classic trials

[aawil]

noting the problem with all the various classes and routes in a modern classic trial  why not go back to the system used when i started, we all rode the same sections no different routes, you just got on an rode the event , as a basic novice you struggled but learnt , your first clean was something to celebrate as you progressed to centre level then national trials ,my turning point was finishing a trial without stopping ,i may be an old fashioned sod but at seventy five i am still riding but now on a proper pre 65 outfit , a panther of course, cheers will

[old trials fanatic]

Because you wouldnt even be able to paddle your way through the sections on the expert route. Enter a trial and ride the Expert route then effectively there is only one route. 

There is such a chasm now between Expert and Clubman / Novice / Beginners that its impossible not to successfully run a trial with less than 3 routes. Add into the mix British Bikes, Twinshocks, ACM etc and everybody riding the same route is just a non starter.

Every club just to survive nowadays NEED at least 30 to 40 riders so you HAVE to cater for everybody. 

The days when you had a three or a five on EVERY section are gone, quite correctly IMO, and people would just not bother entering if that was all they could expect.

This is the reality of trials, even and possibly more so in "Classic" events, nowadays. 

What you need is a Tardis or possibly a Delorean with a trailer.

Sorry but thats the truth. 

[trapezeartist]

I agree absolutely, OTF. The good riders have improved far more than the bikes in the past 40/50 years. So the distance between expert and novice has grown ever wider. Just look at the experts on a pre-65 bike, beating the wobblers on modern bikes hands down.

[metisse]

The difference between the good riders and very good riders is immense too.  Classic trials both Pre 65 certainly, and ever increasingly Twinshock has evolved to something it never was in the day. The middle route in the trials I ride , is now the new hard route,  and the hard route is marked out in a modern style for old bikes. The top sections are becoming more do or die , certainly in the big European classics, the bikes are engineered accordingly and the type of riders its attracting is changing. So, there is not a cat in hells chance riders can all ride the same sections,  unless some fancy a trip home in an ambulance.

[faussy]

Because todays riders are a bunch of pot hunters. If they drop more than 10 marks they complain the trial was too difficult. They want to ride clean, keep their gear clean and take a 50p trophy back home to their wife. Theres a reason the bottom grades have the most entries. They don't make them the way they used to ???

Edited January 26, 2019 by faussy

[wuckfitracing]

I thought clubs needed new members. Im new. I don't want throwing in at the deep end.

[suzuki250]

12 hours ago, faussy said:

Because todays riders are a bunch of pot hunters. If they drop more than 10 marks they complain the trial was too difficult. They want to ride clean, keep their gear clean and take a 50p trophy back home to their wife. Theres a reason the bottom grades have the most entries. They don't make them the way they used to ???

Just because the route is easy it doesn’t make it easier to win, it just makes it easy for everyone

Also, how many trials actually award trophies?

[christian]

I went to the Talmag again this year, What a nice and fun trial for us , the "not so good riders", maybe does that explains the 220 entries only pre65 four strokes !!!!!

[scifi]

After over 50 years of competitive motorcycling, I ride the most easy sections these days.  Sometimes the route between sections is more difficult than the actual sections.  So I suppose I just ride for the fun of doing 20+ miles of off-road in the day.  I also try to have a tea break halfway around.