Trials practise areas are at risk and are diminishing in numbers as builders buy up land to develop, old colliery

Edited February 26, 200719 yr by Andy

I think the days of "practising" , unless at an official site with the SPECIFIC approval of the land owner are gone.

There is a bill going through parliament to have ALL off road vehicals, that includes road racers moto crossers trials bikes quads etc, "registered". You will be required to have documented proof of ownership along with display of a registration number. This may not entail the vehicle being road legal but without the necessary docs and number displayed then the police will have the legal right to confiscate and prosecute for just owning the vehicle never mind using it. Even if it is on your drive!

The situation you describe is very dodgy as riding along a bridleway unless a Vehicle right of way you are breaking the law no matter that your bike is road legal. It's not a road. As for the land. Do you have specific permission from the landowner to be on his land? If not then you are trespassing and liable for prosecution.

Thats the way it is now and the more people go "practising" without the legalities being tied up then the more ammunition THEY will have to get our sport stopped, that will include official organised events. One venue i know of is under threat because the only access to the land is not longer a Vehicular right of way so riders have no way of getting to it.

People have brought it on themselves. Polititians are looking for any opportunity to win votes and there are more out there that dont like us than do. No ammount of sod em i will do as i like will make it better

Edited February 25, 200719 yr by Old trials fanatic

I agree with some of you views ... you old fart. But it's not us trials riders that are going to get the sport banned .... it's mini mx'ers , in a court of law they are all the same 'off road bikes'. I dont think sod it i'll do it attitude will help either but the summer is coming and some of us like to have a few hours out during the week on a week night when trials arnt on..... My original post was - what is the legal positon, and whas this section 56 or 59 whatever mean

Sorry what i meant was that people riding illegally have brought this on. A lot of those people adopt a sod em attitude.

You are doing your best to stay within the law. Unfortunately because others havent done the same it looks like nobody will have a choice soon.

I am sorry if you feel i have hi jacked your thread.

I suppose i am an Old Fart and you may be too some day

sorry, the 'ol fart' commet was tounge in cheek and ot ment to cause any offence ........ i love the opposing views you often provide in these forums..... keep it up

As far as i`m aware,if you are riding on land without the owners permission,the cops can take your bike,without even asking questions.Not sure what happens next,i think its a fine to get the bike back,but if its not paid up,the bike gets crushed.

I would say that you are better off keeping away from places that are full of idiots flying round,you just get tarred with the same brush.At leas if your on your own somewhere quiet,i think most cops will tell you to get lost first,before taking your bike.

I have mentioned this in another post, but here are a couple of things to beware of when riding your trials bike.

Section 59 of the Police reform Act allows Police officers to serve you with a warning if they consider your driving/riding actions to be causing a nuisance, 'alarm or distress' to members of the public. The warning is issued to you (in the presence of a responsible adult if you are a kid) and the report is placed on the Police National Computer and remains there for 12 months. If you are caught again during this period, your bike can be removed by one of their authorised recovery agents and you will need to cough up

Remember if your riding your trials bike with a Brazilian football shirt on and the Police shout for you to stop......STOP.

Remember if your riding your trials bike with a Brazilian football shirt on and the Police shout for you to stop......STOP.

Especially if your`e wearing a rucksack

in English unless your at a 100% legit fully legal practise tracks i could think of one of several bits of legislation to prosecute you under

as above the first key step is the police reform act of 2002. a section 59 notification will be issued if you cause alarm to Joe public (ie breath) - ie you can't ride your bike anywhere including your garden

this is because 2ndly you can only use any bit of land (not in national park or SSSI) for 14/28 days a year (GPDO - General permitted development order) - ie that with the land owners consent.

even then if the place is a "public place" (no definition in law, presumably any open area anyone could walk into - so it would need to be fenced off to be excluded) then you 3rd party insurance (which is why you pay entry fees at events) - they could chuck the book at you for not having this

obviously the landowner would need public liability insurance

then if your going somewhere your not meant to be then the landowner could do your for trespass, and maybe criminal damage for cutting up their land, etc

as above, if you were on any part of the highway including paths and bridleway with a non road registered bike they can chuck the book at you, and even it was road legal footpaths and bridleways are illegal

under the 1993 (?) Road Traffic Act (RTA) you need to notify the police of any "event", by getting an ACU or AMCA (or some others) permits you can get out of this), but I'm sure having a few people practising might be classes as an event and you could be done under this

I've probably forgotten a few, and i bet the coppers don't use many of these (that why everyone gets away with it normally), and even then you could go all the way in court with some top notch barristers and cause grief (if you had more money than sense...)

As mentioned above under section 59 of the police reform act 2002 you may be given a warning by a police officer in uniform if :- 1/You drive your vehicle in a manner likely to cause harassment, alarm, distress

Sorry! I will learn to type property and finish this post! Under section 59 of the Police Reform Act 2002, a police officer in uniform may give you a warning if 1/ the driving of your vehicle is likely to cause harassment, alarm, distress 2/ you a guilty of careless driving OR 3/ you are driving on ANY land without the land owners SPECIFIC permission. If you are given another warning within a 12 month period then your bike can be uplifted by a contractor employed by police and stored by them. It CANNOT be immediately crushed and you dont pay a 'fine' to have it returned, however you will pay the cost of removal and storage (as mentioned about

i have recived a section 59 for 12 months for riding off road they told me if they catch me again in the next 12 months on road or off the bike will be impounded and have to pay 150 pound to get it back as im road legal with a sports bike as well it means if they catch me playing about they will take the bike

Was your trials bike road legal ?

i was on a kawasaki 636 on the road all legal they caught me doing a extended wheelie lol