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My First Go At Trials


permoman
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Well first of all im new to this site and to the trials scene so hello.

I recently bought an old Aprillia 240 Climber to see weather i like trials or not... ( i love it )

So i took it for a spin to see if i get along with it or not. I took a video and i noticed my stance seemed really strange. So just looking for advise, what to do next, how i can step it up a notch and help correct my stance

Cheers Jack

And here's the videeo

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Firstly, welcome to the most enjoyable sport you can participate in with your clothes on ! Be warned though, trials is more addictive than deep fried mars bars !

Watchin your vid I did notice one thing that would greatly affect your stance and mine too if I was there........

You're jumping over a gas bottle !!!!! Not only that, it looks as though there's a dead animal tied to it ??????

Find a nice tree or something that won't explode and see if that helps ? A more relaxed atmosphere could be all you're missing ?

GJ :rolleyes:

P.S. Bend zee kneez, bend zee kneez ( as I once heard from a foreign ski instructor)

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Your stance isn't too far of. Straighten your back a little and you'll find that your knees will automatically bend. You don't need to bend your knees when on flat ground.

Give it a little time and you'll find that your stance will come right on its own.

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I would recommend tipping your bars further forward, will make you stand up a bit more. The comment about higher bars also seems logical. Just looks as if the bars are in the wrong place, may just be the bike though. If you have some friends with trials bikes have a stand on them and see if they feel more comfortable, then have a look whats different. Even get a tape measure out and measure the distance from the end of the bars to the footrests, and then the footrests to the top of the steering head bolt to see the differences between your bike and theirs.

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Yeah move your bars so they are more forward. Somewhere between in-line with the fork to just forward of vertical. It will make the steering very twitchy at first but you will get used to it. Then you will depend on it. It will also help on downhills. It's counter intuitive but if your bars are too far back then your center of gravity will be too far forward. That's because you will compensate for the bars by standing taller and moving your hips forward. Yes your back will hurt. All our backs hurt at the start of the season.

The biggest thing to learn though is how to turn. Right now you're tooling around on flat ground at a good speed. Trials is rarely on flat ground at speed so you need to learn how to turn in balance at a crawl. The best advice I can give is to get off the bike. Now go find an incline and stand on it facing perpendicular to the fall line of the hill. i.e. one foot higher then the other. Stand there a minute and relax and bend your knees a little. Now look down at your knees. Notice one of them is bent more then the other. This is the proper position on the motorcycle for a turn. Center of gravity between your feet and no twist to the hips. If a friend comes over to push you up or down the hill you are able to fight the pressure and stay upright.

90% of the dabs in trials are dropped during a turn to the inside. The reason for this is new riders (and old riders when they forget and get back into bad habits) keep their legs straight. When you turn a motorcycle at speed you get used to leaning your body into the turn. This is OK on an enduro, MX or street bike where momentum can be used for correction. On the trials bike, riders will keep their legs too straight, lean into the corner and will be forced to dab when the slightest obstacle steals the meager reserve of momentum. This is the initial stage of a trials rider's technique. The second stage is the correction by trying to counter weight to the outside with your butt. To get a feel for this stand on the same hillside and try straightening your legs. Not very stable is it. You will naturally try to compensate by sticking you butt out and twisting your body. Not very comfortable and if your friend comes over and gives you a little push you're going over. When the butt correction is done on a trials bike you may well be balanced but your ability to correct a wheel slip or loss of momentum is seriously limited. It's best not to get into this bad habit in the first place.

When you watch a good rider they will stay centered compensating for the rise and fall of the footpegs and bars by bending their elbows and knees. That is how they can stay balanced as they lean the bike one way then the other. It is also why they can attack an obstacle from a very short distance. They don't need the momentum to feel comfortable because they are already in a state of balance.

Practice using your knees to turn and staying centered and you will improve dramatically. The Bernie Schreiber/Len Weed book on trials is still one of the best for novices as what worked on a '79 Bultaco is true today on an '08 Beta. Schreiber said that the most important skills he needed to win a world championship could be learned in a driveway and this is one of the biggest. Try doing figure eights at slow speed and getting used to hitting small obstacles while doing it. By small I mean starting with something 1-2 inches high. When you're doing it right you'll be able to stop at any point in the figure eight and balance. When you get really good you can go from steering lock to steering lock and feel completely in control. Once you can do that take it out to your practice sections and try to keep that same centered feeling as you ride.

Most importantly have fun. You're not going to make a living at this but it will make you feel like a 10 year old again and how cool is that?

Edited by Dan Williams
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