I have seen a couple of comments recently expressing an interest in Trials / MotoTrials / Observed Trials or whatever name you wish to use, and I know there are a number of GRM'ers who ride so I thought I would start a topic to share photos, anecdotes, tech stuff, well anything really.
Starting on a lighthearted note - the riders paying rapt attention to the briefing ...
When your buddy gets stuck in a mud bog leave him to it - my boots are still full of duck weed after the next days riding.
We oldies don't do much that's exciting to look at but there is a drop off beside the white marker that caused a bit of buttock clenching.
I probably need to get mine back out of the garage....it has been sitting for every bit of a year, and only made it out maybe twice during all of the COVID years. I got into trials pretty aggressively several years ago and built a 1985 TY350 using as much of the old "factory" information as I could find and rode it in several events...now I'm realizing the last one I competed in was 2017, then I got into rally stuff.
I did a bit more work on it and did a disc brake conversion, but mostly use it for cross training for hard enduro stuff now.
A friend sent me this following our recent trip away. The farmer's wife has a very successful boutique Gin business and yes we were both in the ginnery stocking up for another year. I don't know if she does overseas mail order but given the recent Gin thread in the off topic forum it may be worth checking - SWMBO highly recommends the Woolshed variety.
Another picture from our recent overseas (to the "other" island anyway) trip. More about the scenery than anything else. My riding buddy in the pic is 79 and finished the day on zero points lost. The snow covered hill in the background is Mt Fyffe and about 5,000 feet 
In reply to RichardNZ :
Very cool!
I've ridden a grand total of 4 bicycle trials competitions over my life. Unfortunately I've always found riding natural terrain to be much more difficult & (oddly) unnatural feeling compared to urban trials. So I've mostly avoided competing. I sure do enjoy watching it & especially moto trials though!
From the archives, probably the early '80s. There is another print of half a handlebar and throttle sticking out of the mud.
Caption was "Neil masters the log of death"
Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:Unfortunately I've always found riding natural terrain to be much more difficult & (oddly) unnatural feeling compared to urban trials.
I'm the other way round, if I have to I will but prefer some mother nature
This could have gone in the found on phone thread ... Trail riding where "dirt bikes" fear to tread a few years back (maybe a couple of bikes ago, I think i was still riding the Ossa) ...
Eenie Meenie Miney Mo, which one will I take tomorrow?
I have a 1974 Suzuki RL 250 'Exacta' trials bike, that's a someday project. Back in that era (1973-1976 or so) the Japanese manufacturers all gambled on trials being the next big thing, so they all introduced trials bikes. It never caught on so they all got out of the market, and the bikes got heavily discounted as the dealers tried to get rid of them - my brother bought a brand new RL250 back then for $300 from the Suzuki dealer down the street. We never did anything serious with it, other than goof around in the field behind our house, but I always liked the bike - it was an elegant, dainty design with a pretty aluminum gas tank. Unfortunately the tanks were easy to dent and prone to cracking, which is one of the problems with the one I have now.
Been a while, not because I haven't been riding but I've been in a bit if a funk on life in general ... It wasn't helped when I lost a whole swag of phone pics due to a corrupted SD card. Anyways rode with the old bike guys last week, had a (high scoring ball) and a couple of days later this this photo was posted to FaceAche.
TY at a recent Mid West event in Bulls. Front wheel lift is good, stance is good, prepping for the blip to push the back wheel up and over but look closely – the danger detector in my right foot has detected a disturbance in the force and has made an autonomous decision to protect me from danger … 4 times, 4 dabs, aaaaaaargh!!
And another of the day's pic for good luck
And to prove I still ride the new one occasionally ... This was the first time we've ridden that property for a long, long time. We were about a 100 yards from the sea, travel due south and the next landfall is Antarctica.
Bugger
Don't point that camera thing at me
My old Scorpa just popped up for sale on Marketplace dirt cheap. I'm really tempted to buy it back to do a little bit of trials riding.
I originally got into trials because I was tired of driving hours to ride my woods bikes. I have enough woods at home to make a trials bike fun, but not enough for an enduro bike. That was great for about six months until I decided to try a competition. I was hooked and spent the next bunch of years driving hours to compete in trials events. Funny how life works. I'm now thinking of going back to that original plan - if nothing else, for the exercise.
A great day out among the pine trees ...
This found it's way into my garage.
Concentration is not generally my strong point ...
In reply to Tom1200 :
That's nice - a friend of mine had one of those in period (bought it brand new). I didn't like it to be honest as it felt very top heavy compared to my Beta but it certainly had no shortage of power if you wound the rubber bands tight.
I've never really considered trials till now. You make it look interesting. Could be fun. My dad competed in vintage trials on relatively porky 1950s and 60's bikes that were mainly stripped down and regeared MX bikes. It amazed me that someone would even consider trials on such large machines.
I see that you're in NZ. Ever run into a sidecar racer by the name of Neville Mickleson?
In reply to Kreb (Forum Supporter) :
Sorry but the name doesn't ring any bells, I've been pretty much an off roader all my life and haven't followed the road race scene much.
We're getting towards the end of winter down here but yesterday was what the RAF used to call CAVU, ceiling and visibility unlimited. On the way to the event I could clearly see Mt Ruapehu and Mt Taranaki from about 90 miles away. We had a good turnout in a smallish pine forest, maybe two hundred x one hundred yards. I had quite a good and really enjoyable day after missing a couple of events due to some flu thing although the two hour drive each way was a little tedious.
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