Trying out Trials

Since it went on for a few model years I’d say it’s more than a batch.  
Worse is the fact that GG/KTM doesn’t stand behind their product. Pretty much everyone I know  who has a later model GG has had to split the cases with no warranty at all and parts haven’t been easy to get. 

Many bikes have issues, but how the manufacturer handles that problem makes a big difference. 

In my experience the trials guys are very eager to try to recruit new blood and will happily let you demo their bike. Check out the District-6 trials or the Mid Atlantic Vintage Trials groups and go to an event. The Tri-State Trialers put on a trials event in north Delaware each year. 

The used trials bikes never get put on public market place from what I’ve seen, they just sell them to another buddy in one of their riding clubs. All my enduro buddies who got one sold it a year or two later (to another enduro club member) after realizing they were the only one in their riding crew with a trials bike and it wasn’t as much fun to be the only one.

Would love to find a good condition used Scorpa. Good luck.

Beta is #1 for trials nowadays.

GasGas = KTM = Bajaj. 'Nuff said.

Sherco is too small, may be here next year, may be not. 

Unless you're 5'5 and 120 pounds, a 200cc or 250 would be best. 

Stay away from 300cc, it's actually much harder to ride (high compression, stalls easier etc). 

Only Pros put a lot of time and wear on trials bikes -- anything less than 10 years old is OK.  

That's how I got mine. 2014 GasGas in 2019. I think I paid $4000 Canadian pesos. 

Speaking of Delaware ….. Maryland / Delaware AMA District 7 had great district D7 organized trials events so trials was fairly popular.. I rode a couple of the D7 trials events years ago and Aquasco was My 1st one and also rode one White Rose in PA where they did hill climbs.

In 1984 A guy I worked with at the Dirt Shop in College Park MD had a trials bike and he got me interested and when a 1974 TL125 Honda popped up for sale for a couple hundred $ and when I went to buy it the guy was charging the carb on a TY250 Yamaha that he was also going to sell. I went home and rode the TL around for a couple days (very quiet so no one even knew I was riding) and went back and bought the TY250 and that way when anyone wanted to ride they could plunk around with me. They were great bikes but they had a lower ground clearance that the newer bikes with longer suspension so getting over obstacles was more difficult.

After moving to the Carolinas I picked up a newer TL350 Yamaha but I just never really felt comfortable on ergonomics with the way the bike felt with foot pegs being a lot further back on the bike so you always were leaning forward. 

If you ever went to a Gary Bailer MX school Every morning the first thing he did was a slow 1st gear ride over obstacles like riding trials where you learned balance and clutch control And Like trials if you dabbed a foot you went to the back of the line.

I learned a lot riding trials about body movement and balance and control with my feet on the pegs. Racing MX I had guys ask me how I could do turns and not put my feet down and it was from the trials technique. Every now and then today you will see top MXers doing it today.

My long time friend Ben that just became a Bata dealer in Maryland and he is still big in the trials bikes. Back when we were kids in the late 70’s or early 80’s he had a neighbor that was part of the army band that had a couple trials bikes and got him into trials.

You could rent a bike if you want to try trials before buying a bike.
https://www.tryalsshop.com/tryals-park/

Whoa Lumpy, you used to work at the Dirt Shop?? That used to be my go to spot for accessories and stuff, but that was back in the early 80s. I think I bought some street helmets from them in the late 80s.  

Where in MD is your friend’s Beta shop?

My .02

Ride an event.

Moto background here. Got into trials as an adult, 25 years ago. Several state championships over the years.

Still race moto. 

The fun in trials is the competition. 

It shows what you know and dont know.  Riding around by yourself gets boring quick.  And you cant do "real" trials for 20 minutes straight... it like boxing. Short spurts and rest. Competition allows you to push your limits in an extremely safe and fun way while having all day comradery with your fellow competitors. 

You may get to a point that you think you know how to ride one, but an event will open your eyes. A simple off camber around a tree, with the competition tape up becomes a 3 or 5 very easy.  It looks easy, until you are in section.  Thats what so great about it, it SO hard, yet very safe.  Rewarding to clean sections.

What I was trying to say, just in way fewer words... 

Well put.

If I were in your position I'd shop (call) around for a leftover GasGas TXT at a dealer. I know a few people that picked up new TXT's for $5500 OTD. Clapped out bikes that are 10+ years old are still selling for $3k. Might as well start fresh 

I Worked for Ralph and Carol a couple times over the years great place with great employees. I don't know how they did it but The tiny little Dirt Shop was the only employer in the MC industry that I know of that paid 100% for all of their employees medical insurance! They even refunded you after paying the deductible!

Ralph was the one that mentored me into going into the hose business. We still meet up with them when ever we come into town.

Ben is a Honda automotive specialist and motorcycle enthusiast and built championship winning auto cross CRV’s

Daisey Import Auto Care  
2878 Daisy Road
Woodbine MD

Trials is awesome and any bike made in the last 30 years is good enough.  The key is to get something with good current support.  Generally that means buying a current generation machine and one from a current manufacturer.  Don't buy a pre-Austrian gasgas for example.  Don't stress over the bike too much.  They hold value well and don't easily wear out. Get whatever is easy to get your hands on that's in good shape and fo ride.  Definitely take a class.  Ryan Young is fantastic. 

Fwiw I've got a Montesa 315r and a couple recent Beta 300 factories.  

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1ALYwX1SYx/

The first Gary Bailey school I attended was at Baldwin, Kansas, and Gary set up several trials sections and had us ride them, while his wife kept scores. At the end of the day, I had tied for 2nd, and he had the two of us do a shoot-out on a tricky virgin 30 foot drop-in to a creek, 180° turn, and back up the near-vertical hill, with a protruding ledge at the top. I made it, and the prize was a refund of my fee + free entry to the next days mx, where I won my first-ever moto (my 5th race ever) in the 125 junior class. That fee refund was really appreciated, as a 16 year-old who rode his new first-fiberglass-tank street-legal Penton to school and work, and hauled it to races with bumper racks on the back of a Mercury Park Lane, ropes tied to it, running through the rear "Breezeway" window to the front seats. The next time that I attended his school was at Lake Sugar Tree. No trials that time, and we spent a lot of the time working on a double - if you cleared it, you had to try again until you didn't clear it... 

I've often wondered how Gary collected all those crash-and-burn scenes on his videos.  Oh, wait....

I have a 2012 Scorpa 280 originally owned by Chris Cullen. I'm in R.I. if your interested.

131 pounds, 4 power settings on the fly and it has a clutch

Well holy crap that is my old bike!  Looks to be in great condition after all these years!  That bike was awesome with the original Scorpa frame and Sherco motor 👍

Beta Try Trials event this coming weekend in North Carolina.  Pretty sure it’s full.  I spent last weekend prepping all the bikes for it while we were at a national.