December 24, 200817 yr Greetings from the foothills of California. New to trials (been riding dirt/street 40 yrs) and after riding a friends trial bike, I've been bitten. Been watching Toni Bou videos and figure I can at least start my bike as well as him, but that is where it would end. Have rocks on my place that beg to be ridden on so figured I'd have built in practice area. Might get a friend's backhoe over to roll some rocks and obstacles together to built up more challenges at I improve. Looking to get a good starter bike, might trade a DRZ400S for one if the deal works. Suggestions welcome on what to get. Thanks for this forum which has a wealth of knowledge, now to just get through all of it.
December 25, 200817 yr Welcome. Any well maintained machine of the past decade is an excellent starter bike. We all have our favorites and the opinions and brand loyalty usually come pouring out in a torrent of good natured ribbing. The one thing I'd suggest is making sure there's healthy dealer support for whatever bike you get. There's no substitute for a good supply of parts. Don't stress about the Tony Bou videos. We can all do that in our dreams but... The simple truth is trials is all about the little personal victorys. Getting over the rock you've never made it over, cleaning that nasty section on the last loop, beating your buddy that you know is a better rider just once. That's what makes it worth doing. It's all about feeling like a ten year old again. If only for a little while.
January 9, 200917 yr Author Dan. Thanks for the welcome. Just picked up a 04' Beta Rev 3 so I'm off to the rocks to practice. I agree, little victories are what makes this all worthwhile and being able to ride around the house and having a blast is priceless.
January 9, 200917 yr These are the boys you want to contact http://www.atatrials.com/ They are a great bunch of lads and I had a great time riding with them when I lived over there in the early 1990's
January 9, 200917 yr These are the boys you want to contacthttp://www.atatrials.com/ They are a great bunch of lads and I had a great time riding with them when I lived over there in the early 1990's The ATA guys are a really good group to ride with, I've ridden a few "down south" at times. If you are in the upper Central Valley area, give my old club, PITS, a look. They have a lot of Trials going on all over Northern California and you might be able to attend a couple: http://www.sactopits.org/ . Jon
January 12, 200917 yr Author These are the boys you want to contacthttp://www.atatrials.com/ They are a great bunch of lads and I had a great time riding with them when I lived over there in the early 1990's The ATA guys are a really good group to ride with, I've ridden a few "down south" at times. If you are in the upper Central Valley area, give my old club, PITS, a look. They have a lot of Trials going on all over Northern California and you might be able to attend a couple: http://www.sactopits.org/ .Jon Thanks for both referrals. I'm closer to the PITS guys and after a bit of practice, I'll probably try to humiliate myself in public. Might even pay an entry fee to further the pain! Funny thing with trials bikes, I've been riding for many many years and these things let me know how much I've been missing and how much I have to learn about finese and balance. It's a hoot!
January 12, 200917 yr Dan's words of wisdom , Priceless ! " Don't stress about the Tony Bou videos. We can all do that in our dreams but... The simple truth is trials is all about the little personal victorys. Getting over the rock you've never made it over, cleaning that nasty section on the last loop, beating your buddy that you know is a better rider just once. That's what makes it worth doing. It's all about feeling like a ten year old again. If only for a little while. " I beleive thats about 75% of the reason I ride , it's for me ... Glenn
January 21, 200917 yr Greetings from the foothills of California. you will probably be riding with Sacramento PITS right? i used to ride with then until i moved outa cali, its a great club and just about every one there will want to help you out. make sure you go to one of their clean up days and schools at the PITS property, great learning experience and you get to help make the area better, fire resistant and go riding in the same day! the second day is the school, and if you do the work day you get the school for free.
February 3, 200917 yr Author you will probably be riding with Sacramento PITS right? i used to ride with then until i moved outa cali, its a great club and just about every one there will want to help you out. make sure you go to one of their clean up days and schools at the PITS property, great learning experience and you get to help make the area better, fire resistant and go riding in the same day! the second day is the school, and if you do the work day you get the school for free. PITS it is. If I get some practice time in, I'll go to one of the first trials of the year this month. Roger on the school, I'll gladly staff the business end of a shovel to get some free schooling on what the heck I'm supposed to do on my Beta.
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