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So you've picked the right sport and now you must pick the right bike, club and clothing, not to mention your trials-riding buddies.
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To the left is a list of links. Click on each separate link to guide you in each step to getting started in the sport of trials. Each section of this page will give you useful links to find what you're looking for. | |||
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The right bike for you is dependant on a great deal of factors. The primary factor is of course budget. Trials is by no means an expensive pastime in comparison to a great deal of sports that one can pursue but your budget, initially, must account for the cost of clothing, club fees and any work that might need to be done on the bike after you buy it.
Each age group has restrictions on capacity of the motorcycles that may be ridden in competitions for that class:
It is commonly understood that a lower capacity bike is better to learn on. I started to learn trials late on, at the age of 15 and started to learn on a '92 Gas Gas 125cc. This was an early monoshock bike. The fact that it was underpowered, in my opinion, helped me in many ways.
The low power meant that it was unlikely to 'throw' me off the back of the bike if I was too generous with the throttle and was enough for me to be successful on the beginner routes of the trials. It was also underpowered enough so that when i progressed to novice, it meant i needed to accelerate earlier to get up hills and so taught me to accelerate around corners.
It is recommended that anyone of around adult size should start on at least a 200cc. The Sherco and Gas Gas 200s are powerful enough to take smaller adults right up to expert class, although a lot of riders tend to prefer the greater torque and tractability of a 250cc.
Having learnt to a sufficient degree, your final bike can be bought. With modern 2-stroke, monoshock bikes, a 250cc will be more than adequate, the Scorpas and Montesas being 250cc and ridden by a great deal of successful riders. Gas Gas tend to favour their 280cc models and the Beta and Sherco both run 270cc bikes.
Your first bike should really be second hand. Second hand bikes are a much smaller initial investment and tend not to depreciate so much which removes some of the cost if you decide that trials isn't for you. It is advisable to buy a bike from an authorised dealer. It is true that you would be paying a 'premium' rate and that you could find the same bike for less through private ads but shops offer some guarantee that the bike is in good working order and has at least had one good service.
The ACU is the governing body for all motorcycle sport in the UK. The ACU sets the rules for motorcycle trials and so if you want to compete in any form of organised trials, even just club trials you must respect their rules - luckily, they aren't very strict.
You can get a list of the ACU's rules concerning motorcycle trials on the 'handbook' section of their website. The ACU website is a great source for any information you might need concerning clubs, rules, competitions etc. The most useful part of the site is probably the rules section of the website. It outlines clothing requirements, bike requirements and explains the scoring of a trial.
The basic requirements for clothing in trials are as follows: