scottj

It looks like finding observers is a worldwide problem. The problem is, it is not realistic to expect people to spend hours standing in the rain, cold, sun, etc. for nothing but the pleasure of watching us ride. So here’s an idea that just may make finding observers easy—show them they are appreciated by offering monetary incentives. Active riders should be our first source for observers; and as others have said, if you’re going to participate in trials, you should help in some way. Offer riders a significant discount on entry fees for working an event. Their friends and family should be the next source and get them involved by offering riders free entry if they provide an observer for the event. This is of course an oversimplified solution; however, if properly implemented this could be the way to get and keep observers.

For what it's worth, I've had good results with All-Balls.

What does the Italian rule say--anything at all--or did they just omit the rule altogether? And just for the record, the FIM rule now reads like this: - A wheel of the motorcycle crosses its own track or that of the other wheel after doing a complete loop.

Here's what I typically do. Maybe over-kill, but, I like to keep it as close as possible to what feels right to me. Unload and adjust pressure before I go for a little warm up ride. Then adjust pressure just before my start time. Adjust pressure before start of each additional loop. Our events are usually three loops so I typically end up checking my tire pressure four times during the day. I typically have to let a little air out each time I check it--but not always. If I were riding a long single loop event, I would carry a gauge with me and check a few times during the day. I like to run around 3.5 psi in the rear and 5.5 psi in the front with my gauge--your gauge may read differently or a little more or less air may feel right to you.

It's a hot measurement.

Ah--the rest of the story. So it looks like you did the right thing in the end. It's not surprising the varied responses given the differences in the rules around the world. The key is knowing the rules you are working with. Below are the definitions of the failure in question from four different governing bodies. All of these organizations make a somewhat vague distinction between a marker and tape, but, they do all seem to make that distinction, and with a boundary being either a tape or marker. The rules are all very similar with slight differences. While reading through these rules I noticed a couple of interesting things. None of them specify a failure for having to reset the tape (only markers, flags and supports) and the ACU does not list breaking a tape as a failure. MA: The machine crosses a boundary with either wheel, that wheel being on the ground. ACU: If any wheel of the machine crosses any boundary tape or marker whether the wheel be on the ground or airborne before the front wheel spindle passes the “Section ends” sign. FIM: A wheel passes over a tape so that it touches the ground on the opposite side. NATC: In the case of running over a taped boundary, there must be ground visible between the tape and the tire and the tire must be on the ground on the out-of-bounds side of the tape.

I've seen this happen several times. If it isn't addressed in the rule book as a failure, it is not a failure. My guess is that it is not addressed in the rule book, so you have to let it go.

Allright then--let's get this party started. The idea is to run these events in conjunction with Dual-Sport and/or Adventure rides to maximize participation and to add an element of competition to these rides. The sections would need to be layed out with these types of motorcycles in mind and designed to be challenging and safe. I have a rough plan for class structure and section layout, but, the first thing to do is to find a club willing to take on the first event. If there is anyone out there willing to help get Trial-Sport up and running, let me know and I'll help however I can. There are any number of ways to handle scoring and it really depends on the stature of the event on how casual or structured the scoring is. For a casual club event peer scoring would be fine; however, for a national level event there should be checkers at each section. This can all be worked out later. northernorm, please let us know what your friends think.

There have been several discussions recently on web forums about trials that got me thinking and I would like to share an idea, get some feedback, and if others think it is a viable idea, help make it happen. Here's the thing: I enjoy going for dual-sport rides and I enjoy trials competition, so, if I could do both at the same time, that would be great and if there were organized events, I could. The basic idea is to create a new (new in the USA anyway) form of trials competition (Trial-Sport) that is road-based instead of on a closed course. The stage is already set and it would take very little work to make it happen--I think anyway. What I'm thinking is we could run trials events in conjunction with established Dual-Sport and/or Adventure rides on street legal motorcycles. The observed sections would be in the off-road areas along the route. There could be classes for all sizes of motorcycles and skill levels (three motorcycle weight classes and three skill levels within each weight class) so anyone currently riding in these events could compete in the trials portion of the event if they desired or just ride the route if that's what they want to do. To the best of my knowledge, we have never had road-based trials events in the USA--there may have been one or two somewhere along the line--I don't know for sure. Anyway, our current trials events and the bikes have evolved on a closed course system. This has made the motorcycles very specialized to the point they aren't much good for anything but trials competition. That's fine and I don't want to change that--I really enjoy my 4RT. For road-based events however, the bikes will have to be street legal, somewhat comfortable to ride, and could be used for other purposes. All the Dual-Sport and Adventure bikes could compete and the newest generation of extended ride trials bikes (maybe we could start calling them Trial-Sport bikes) would have a purpose in life too. And if someone wanted to ride their street legal trials bike for 100+ miles, they could. There are of course many other things to cover, but as I said, the stage is set, the events are there, the bikes are there, and we can make it happen if there is enough interest--let's talk about it. This is basically our opportunity to take trials back to its roots, change the direction a bit and let it evolve.

All this talk about young riders being the future of trials got me thinking and finally got me in front of the keyboard. I'm not against having young riders involved in the sport; however, I don't think they are necessary to keep the sport going. I think some people are confusing what it takes to make a world champion with what it takes to keep trials going--to be world champion you have to start early, to keep the sport going you have to have money. The young riders may or may not stay--the ones that are riding for the fun of it are more likely to stick around than the ones wanting to be world champion. Most young riders probably leave the sport when it is time for them to start paying their own way or realize they're not going to be world champion. As a few others have already stated, the future of trials is with the people with the money. Next thought: Is it possible we have started to box ourselves into a corner with our overly-specialized motorcycles and closed-course events? Could this be why entries are dropping off? Here in the U.S.A. we've never, at least to my knowledge, had road-based trials events--we have always been restricted to a single parcel of land. This makes it a more family-friendly sport and better for the young riders; but, it sure would be nice to ride around and see a little more of the countryside. Maybe the FIM and the manufacturers are onto something here. If modern trials bikes were a little more comfortable and could be used for a variety of purposes (on and off road), there may be a few more people interested in giving the sport a try. It wouldn't matter if the bikes weren't as competitive as the current lineup as long as every motorcycle met the same requirements. Here in the states we could possibly piggy-back on the already established dual sport events and really have some fun.