sideup

Ray, Why don't you just ride with the Spokane area Club?: http://inwta.com/ Good group of fellows. or even this group http://www.observedtrials.com/ farther to your west. Will be holding a National this year. Jack

Yes it could be a niche market. For the U.S. market I think Montesa/Honda could have a much more demand for the 4 Ride in the U.S. if they get the 50 state street legal certificate. There is so much competition for the off-road only market, but less for very light weight dual sports. Getting it to meet the requirements may be more than Montesa / American Honda is willing to do for a low volume sales bike. In Washington State as well as some other States one can modifiy the bike to meet the requirments on a individual basis. I am definitely interested.

Great response and very accurate. The Repsol or even the new 300rr will not make you ride any better, it is all about what you want to spend. They are all excellent bikes.

It appears that American Honda must have imported the lot. See the other post "IT's about time"... My friend contacted American Honda, special order priced at $8990. Told to contact local dealer to order.

I belong to a Search and Rescue Team in Southern Washington. The team is a ground search team that uses people as ground pounders, walking through the forest looking tracks and signs. I was pretty active for a few years and kept trying to tell my team I could easily ride my trials bike on these trails to accomplish the same mission. Many of our trails are single track that a quad could not access. A hasty search is when you send a small group down a trail looking for signs of the missing hiker, hunter, mushroom picker. I could SAFELY & EFFECTIVELY cover that trail on my trials bike in in a fraction of the time, even at night. (most searches start at night when the overdue person has not returned to their car.) BUT, get this..... being an exclusive foot trail only .... the search and rescue group would be issued a citation from the state or the federal government for using a motorized vehicle on the hiking trail, yes even if it was a life or death situation. SAR teams are primarily all volunteer and have to furnish all of their own equipment that can run into high dollars , plus pay for gas to get to the search site. Yeah they want to help people but not at the cost of getting fined. I have feet issues with long distance hiking so my ground pounding days are over. County Sheriff Departments who are usually responsible for the volunteer SAR teams are caught in the middle. They would like to send qualified volunteers to help but they also have to follow the STATE rules and SAR teams must have the proper training and certifications to be sent on a official Mission Call Outs or the Sheriff Dept. is responsible and liable for their safety. Like someone said they don't want to rescue the rescuer. Each Mission is assigned a Mission # filed with the State. That way local county governments are able to get some reimbursement for costs they incur. Most often the people they are searching for are not even residents of the county but tourists or out of area people. Oh I forgot , same going for Federal and State Wilderness areas, no use of motorized vehicles to ground search. Helicopters ok as long as they don't land on the ground.

Don't know how many people watched the America's Cup that just finished last week, but I have to tell you I thought it was the best racing and TV format I have witnessed in a long time. Any sport , any time. The sheer size of the 70 foot long Catamarans with there 747 sized double surfaced wings, up on the hydrofoils, going downwind at 48 mph and upwind at 35 mph for me was captivating. I also like the fact that it is a team sport where every member on the Cat must do their job during the racing. Unlike a pit crew that services the cars when they are stopped. Like Trials reading the course and selecting the best "lines" also was a reason i like watching the yacht racing. The crew with helmets, padded vests shows this is no longer the old blazer suit coat type sport. Not even close. This is a perfect example of a group changing the sport to prevent extinction. I am not a sailing person, don't even own a boat, but I can't imagine the America's cup even thinking about going back to single hull design boats. Granted this is not a inexpensive sport and like AutoRacing needs big dollar sponsors. But I am sure this racing will have a trickle down effect to small boat racing that anyone can do. By the way all the races can be seen on YouTube from start to finish.

Ok, I will admit having a automatic way to shut down the engine would be a good thing for any motorsport, I guess my issue, in the age of keyless entry systems for cars, smart phones, bluetooth technogy we are still using 1960's lanyard systems tied to a riders wrist. Yeah that's convenient, riding down the trail wanting to adjust your helmet, etc. It reminds me of soap on a rope, or the mittens tied together with strings so we wouldn't lose our mittens on the way to school. I observed a world round in Goldendale when a Japanese WR rider failed to get to the top of a ledge. As he fell back the throttle went full on and he dumped the clutch as he fell back. That bike shot about 10 feet into the air. This all happen well before a wrist strap would have cut out the engine. Trials can be a dangerous sport, just like any motorsport. At least this not about the merits of No-stop huh?

Just reading about the new "Factory " GasGas model. Text states: "we have integrated the CDI map and light switches into a small plastic cover on each side. With this change, on the handlebars, the rider will only find indispensable components: Master cylinder and levers for the clutch and front brake, and following the FIM rules, the "dead-man" engine stop switch system." I see a nice little wrist strap hanging from the bars. As a Clubman rider I can't say one of those might have come in handy from time to time, but to make the best riders in the world wear them? What next rubber baby bumpers and training wheels? Maybe they deemed no-stop too dangerous for machine get aways.

Martin, I understand your frustration with rumor mills. As you say you don't know everything about Honda / Montesa, but when you know somthing is not true I , for one, am glad you speak out. I always enjoy your posts. Speaking of FujiKirk, he and I rode both days this weekend. Today it couldn't have rained any harder. What other sport could you have a great time in the pouring rain with your friends, get covered in mud, but still stay relatively comfortable. Beats sitting in the house all day and watching football. Take care Jack

quote: " I wish I could have told them about this rumor. " Martin, But Montesa must understand how this situation looks from us long time trials riders, outside looking in. I still have my 06 Repsol in my garage. In December I purchased a new 2.9 Sherco and to me there is a world of difference in what has been developed in the last few years. I find the lighter bike just simply easier to ride and less effort is required, which "to me" equals more fun. I am excited about riding again. Just for curiosity we threw the 4 RT and the Sherco on the un-scientific bathroom scales front and back. The 4 RT was 12.8 lbs heavier in the front and 6.2 lbs heavier in the rear. The marketing and development guys must see the problem they have, be it perception or reality. It's almost like comparing the 4 RT to a old TL250. Almost I said. Sure at our club level the rider is the main ingredient to riding the 4 RT or the new two strokes competitively. For me I just can't deny the fun factor of the lighter two stoke. NO ONE will ever questions the Montesa/Honda quality. Montesa has to throw us a bone, cause the Bones we eaten have passed threw are digestive track some time ago, and you know what that equals. Jack B. PNW

Unfortunately I am fearful the only thing that will keep the "Greens" happy on this side of the pond is complete extinction of wheeled vehicles in "their" forest. Including motorcycles, mountain bikes, or even wheel chairs. Any mechanized travel what so ever. They will just be more upset they can't hear you coming down the trail and blame you for sneaking up on them as they hike on the trail.

Have we been down this road before? The powers that be seem to have a very short memory that this no-stop was tried in the recent past at World Cup level. The rule changes went full circle back to the current rules. What will make this cycle different? It would be nice if the governing body would list the goals they are trying to accomplish "this time round".

http://www.snopes.com/military/lighthouse.asp This "story" is so old it use to be a British Navy three masted tall ship 100 years ago.

Agreed, Way more trouble than it's worth. Look at that poor limp foot peg. Can you believe there is not one dent in the exhaust header? Amazing feat.