Went out laning on my Trials bike the other day and had a great time...

A few issues I came across:

Ran out of fuel twice - carry more fuel.

Wouldn’t have minded sitting down for a rest after 2 hours riding - but a long ride seat.

Top end gearing was slow on the road sections - revert back to stock gearing.

Other than that a cracking morning’s riding, and to be honest I enjoyed it more than previous enduro bikes I’ve owned (other than the above).

Any other hints / tips for laning on a Trials bike?

Might rejoin the TRF!

Boner.

Buy a Montesa 4ride!

I agree that trail riding on a trials bike would be good fun but it's not really what they are designed for. I know of someone who used a 4RT for trail riding and put a lot of wear on it in just a very short time (especially the engine). 

A Trail or Enduro bike would surely be a better option but its just my opinion and at the end of the day it's your bike.... 

*80's trials bike would be a good compromise, decent fuel tank, actual seat, good selection of gears.

Ha, ha, yeah, being a member of the TRF, this is a question I keep asking myself!

My motivation is to reduce the number of bikes in my garage. I tested the 4Ride at Dave Thorpe's Honda off-road site on Exmoor. IMHO, the 4ride is basically a Cota 4RT with a large tank and a seat; the gearing and suspension appear to be the same, although the suggestion is that the forks are different - still way off what you'd get on a green-laner.

TBH, I wouldn't have been on anything else given the riding we did. But a sixth, slightly higher, top gear would have been nice. You have to be prepared to live with the suspension travel but otherwise it's do-able.

A Beta with the long-range seat/tank unit would be very similar, IMHO. Or maybe even better, the GasGas Contact ES; I think GasGas's have six gears...? Although, GasGas don't appear to list the ES anymore...?

The gearing on the 4ride is defintely different to the 4RT.  2nd, 3rd and 4th are more evenly spaced, so there isn't the big jump from 3rd to 4th like on the 4rt. I think final drive is the same at 10:41, it will cruise at 50mph on the road, so plenty for most greenlaning. Suspension wise, the rear is the same (as far as i can tell?) The forks are 20mm longer, and have slighlty more low speed compression and rebound damping.

I suppose it comes down to what type of green laning you do, if it's all about wide open throttle and fast/rough then an Enduro bike is what you want, but if the offroading you do is slower / steeper or more technincal, then for me, the 4Ride is king. I love my 4ride, honestly the most used motorbike i've ever owned. It can happily do trials sections, streams and narrow footpaths are were it excells. For the odd time i need to be pinned on a fire road in 4th, i'm happy to just go a touch slower and enjoy the scenery, that gives me more time to spot the good stuff that needs rding anyway.