Trying out Trials

Check out https://lewisportusa.com . They are in Nor Cal but ship all over.

These guys are in Scottsdale, AZ and have some used bikes https://trialssuperstore.com 

Trials is huge in the UK and the bigger shops will ship product to the US so I wouldn’t worry about part sourcing. 

 

I have had a trials bikes (on and off) since the late 70's. Bultaco and Montesa's. Had a Malcolm Rathmell 320 some thing that was fairly rare in the 90's. I was out of town and my boys got is started and moto'd the crap out if it!  Next came a series of 4RT (loads of fun) and now the Epure is my trials bike. Never competed, but have had loads of fun😍

There’s nothing like a British winter of trial riding! 

Cafe meet up for a bacon sarnie & coffee. 
Get to the venue. 
Get wet, cold, muddy. 
Laugh your tits off. 
Change in to dry civvies, And have a pub stop on the way home. 

The single best thing about long dark UK winters! 

This may sound like sacrilege, but for your intended purposes, have you thought about getting some kind of fun and nimble e-bike?  Surron or something?  Never thought in a million years that I would suggest that, but given what you are wanting to do, it kind of makes sense.

Even modern trials bikes are hard to find parts for!  
If it was me I'd stick to 2000+

 I've been competing/riding  trials for over 25 years, owned many brands and have never had a problem with parts. I prefer MX but trials is a blast and a real challenge, you'll become a better overall rider. Not a faster MX rider but better overall.

Find a Trials group and go watch an event, someone there will let you ride a bike. It will give you an idea of what thier like. 

Since you  want to Try Trials this is perfect! 

https://betausa.com/try-trials-flier/

My son works for Beta and is doing these. 
No need to pay 5k for a 2012, I’ve been selling a lot of 2-3 year old bikes for around 4,500 (I’m a Beta trials dealer)

You can find trials bikes pretty cheap, I've sold a couple low hour 10 year old bikes for less than $3000. 

Id look around your area see if there is any clubs or good areas to ride them at, everyone thinks they'll have fun putting around their house until they do it and you get bored really fast. 

Some dealers have demo bikes. 

A story as old as time!  It's tragic because all they need to do is roll their bars forward, the reach is too close with bars neutral and it makes it difficult to balance (not a lot of fun).

 Instead they usually try bar risers and that makes it worse.   
 

As I participate in Vintage MX, most of my outings result in my buddies telling me I missed the trials event, pick up the pace!  Trials takes a lot of skills. Helmet off to those who can master that.

Find your local trials club. Theres a big difference between trying to figure the basics out yourself, and learning from folks who know what they are doing. A good local dealer is a plus, too. However, Trials Superstore has a great website and stocks a lot of parts for pretty much anything. It’s easy to be spoiled by parts availability and online parts sources when you come from the big bike world, and Trials Superstore is the only thing that compares. Otherwise, find a good local dealer who won’t leave you hanging. A lot of Sherco guys seem disappointed in how the new Sherco importer is handling trials stuff. I know a guy who is having to get parts for his from the UK. The Beta program that just started sounds promising. Don’t buy a 300 two stroke… everyone thinks they need one, but only a very small number of people can actually utilize it. And if you can’t really utilize it, it becomes a hindrance in certain situations. Get a Beta 200 or some sort of 250 two stroke. Try to ride some different brands of bikes, if you can. If you show up at a local trial, you’ll usually find people who are willing to let people try out their bike in an effort to pull new riders. The trials community is extremely welcoming. 

Trials is the best kept secret in motorcycle riding. It’s separate from the rest of the motorcycle industry, which in a way is frustrating. 

I love when an old episode of Kick Start pops up in my 'Tube search. You guys were lucky to have a TV show dedicated to it.

(And C'Mon England! It's coming home!! 🏆😄)

Yup! Kickstart was a real treat to have on TV. Dougie lampkin featured on it as a kid. 

I’ll see if I can find a funny clip from one of the shows..

The clip where the emergency squad guys keep falling into the hole is all time. 

Agreed.  

I will buy one for the winter. Have a local club 5 miles from here where i can go ride for £50 a year , i just dont have time in summer and room has been at a premium . 

Had a lovely Montesa 315R back in the day, but it had to go , needed to pay a Supermoto tyre bill. 

I have been riding 54 years now, and trails makes me feel like a total novice. The most social of motorcycle sports for time limited people.  All you need is a bike rack, and a gallon can, they you fill every 3 rides.  And even if you suck, its great fun. 

And has been said, you can get 3 hours riding in and be home for dinner Sunday Lunchtime, 

A couple of things that are important for trials as a relative newbie (6 years) I should have listened to. I did work it all out and reached a reasonable level (Top 3 nationally). But the fun part at the beginning was more of a struggle than enjoyment.

Your weight is irrelevant, and so is your height for capacity's sake. 

1. Engine Capacity - Smaller is better by a country mile. Most riders go straight for the 250/300. The smart ones get the smaller capacity and learn to ride the bike properly without the added mistakes induced by power and relying on the throttle only.

2. Bike to buy - Ideally the best supported bike locally. However, in terms of actual bikes and the rideability. Clutch is super important. Predictability and feel are everything in trials as you progress through the basics of small rocks and logs to more technical bigger obstacles and traction-limited climbs, etc. GasGas, Vertigo, (TRRS/Sherco tied), followed by Beta (due to it being a spring and plate clutch and not a diaphragm like the rest)

    

   They all have super soft suspension, which you can and want to be able to bottom out on the driveway bouncing up and down. All you really need is springs for your weight (for initial hold-up and ground clearance, and that's it. This confuses us moto guys, but trials is a game of physics where, for example, you are trying to get over a big obstacle; you are looking for the suspension to be as close to bottomed out against the face of a big rock and all bound up, loaded against the clutch. The rpms are raised, you stand up aggressively and release the clutch as fast as possible when you're 90% stood up. That initial binding against the rock and the sudden release of inertia through the flywheel is what pops the bike up and lifts you up as well (really cool feeling).

    

   To answer some of your questions

   Gasgas, Sherco and Beta bikes from 2012-2020 are all pretty much unchanged.

   As long as the chassis is tight and the motor starts within a few kicks with no noises, generally speaking the bike will last you years. When looking at used bikes, a key component to check is the flywheel/stator area for rust. Happens to a lot of older bikes when not looked after properly.

    

   Going back to the bike size, a 125 is capable of chest-height lift, which will take years to master. 

   A 300 can be tamed effectively with gaskets, timing, jetting and slow-action throttle. 

   A 250/280 tends to be a bit sharper off the bottom and a little less power for large obstacles than the 300.

   The 200 betas are a great compromise, but the clutch is outdated.

   The 225 Vertigo is a 125 stroke and 250 bore, which gives you 80% of the 250 pull. Great compromise.

   Sherco would typically be my last pick, as they need the most work to tame down in the 250-300 capacities.

    

Great info ^
Thanks for the effort.

Thanks for starting this excellent thread 

You live in Delaware and have never heard of Delmarva?? It’s the peninsula on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay that consists of the states of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. Del-Mar-Va.

Pretty rural area, but cool.  Spent some time there in the late 90s. 

That was filmed at Easton Neston near Northampton, on Lord Hesketh's estate, he ran an F1 Team from the Stables on the land. 

Drove by it a few weeks ago, on the way to a race,the new A43 road goes straight past it .

They filmed it during the week, if i recall correctly, but it was quality telly for back then. 

6k$ will get you a new Gas Gas 250. 

I love my trials bike. I need to ride it more. You can have fun on one in a parking lot. 

Doh!  I read all of the posts but didn’t connect you were the OP. It’s probably safe to say you’ve heard of the Delmarva peninsula. 

Does that come with an extra transmission 😂

Sorry, had to🙃

Wasn't that just a bad batch of bearings?