Trials Training; Standing Press

17....18.....19....20 WHEW, glad I started with something light!

My First Trials

File Photo - But Big Red's Twin

It was late spring (I’m pretty sure) in 1975 and I’d gone to work with some guys who were just getting into off-road motorcycle riding. I was pretty young and had been riding on and off road all my life, these guys were old men (they were close to 30) and were just getting into it. One had a little SL100 Honda and another, a shiny new TL125. There was also a brother-in-law who had a new TL, as well as a really nice SL175 Honda that he was willing to part with. I had a street bike, but nothing to ride the trials with them, so I bought the 175 and we set about riding the hills every weekend. It was a blast; that big Honda weighed about a ton, but would climb a mountain if you had a good run at it. This brother-in-law had been reading about and relating all these tales of something called “Observed Trials” to us and of course we were interested. Heck, I was up for anything and even though the TLs were supposedly designed for the sport, I figured that a real “hot-shot” rider like me could wipe the field of a bunch of those sickly little scooters. I mean really, they only had one cylinder and didn’t weigh nothing! Consequently, when an actual trials event was scheduled (relatively) close by and the others decided to give it a whirl, I was first in line too load up and hit the road. We got there, entered, set through the rider’s meeting and finally got started, I was really anxious so I left the others and forged ahead on my own. It was the last time I saw those other guys that day and the last time I saw any of them riding in a trials, ever. It had rained for a couple days, the terrain consisted mostly of scattered logs strewn all over a sea of gray, clay mud. 10 sections, 4 loops and I completed a whopping 14 of them before everything conspired to beat me totally senseless. I think I pushed that Big Red (that’s what we called it) monster twice as far as I rode it that day. I was exhausted, I was demoralized, I was humiliated, and I was HOOKED! As I drove back home that day, I began plans: I’d strip the 175 of everything it didn’t need, and then maybe move the pegs back about a foot, I’d take the seat off completely and get a fresh knobby. Yeah, I could make this work. I had to because even though I’d failed miserably, I’d had a blast.

You might wonder what became of the others in my group; I found out the next day that one of the guys had gotten stuck at one of the first sections. He’d slipped to the ground and wasn’t having much luck getting the TL he was riding out of the hole he’d fallen in. The guy scoring the section jumped in to help, grabbing the bars and walking it out. My buddy thought he should be doing something, so he scrambled up and began pushing from the rear. He taken only a few steps when his feet slipped in the mud, causing him too fall forward. He caught himself on his hands, but unfortunately one of them landed between the chain and the sprocket. He lost parts of two fingers that day, along with any desire to ride trials. The whole crew (with the exception of me) witnessed the accident and came away similarly inclined. Who knows, if I’d not left them in the beginning, I might have pulled the plug myself. Jeez, that would have saved a load of time and money over the next 5 or 6 years. But then, I wouldn’t have been inclined to start back riding a few years ago. I’d have missed the fun I’m having now and the time spent seems well worth it at the moment.

Posting Frenzy

A short mention here of my very oldest friend in the world, my brother Joe. A lot of the guys who (may) read this know him; he’s usually with me when I’m riding trials. We first started riding together back in the 70s and have come and gone in the sport ever since then. He missed the ITSA event this weekend because he’s currently working out of town and couldn’t get back. There have been many periods of time during the last half-century, that we’ve been apart. This includes episodes when our interests have gone in different directions and there’s nothing unusual about that really. Never the less, we’ve always been able to fall right back into a level of comfort and confidence that has been a constant thing all our life. He’s a good trials rider and pushes me to be better. He’s a better brother than anything else and even though he can get a little testy when he’s not riding well, I miss him when he’s not there. Maybe he’ll be around for the next ride and he can push me beyond the poor performance of this past Saturday. I really stunk

My Daughter’s World

I’ve made reference to my son here several times since starting this Blog, but let me tell you a little about my daughter. My Leslie is 21 and a junior at Eckerd College in St Petersburg Florida. She’s there studying marine geophysics and doing very well. She’s a very driven person whose remarkable success is due to a good gene pool (her mother, mostly) and an incredible work ethic. She’s been all over the world, studying in her field and throwing herself into the different cultures she finds. She’s spent weeks at sea on research vessels and sailing ships, beginning when she was still in high school. She’s explored the rain forest and volcanoes of South America, the Serengeti in Africa, and the corral reefs of the Fiji Islands. There have been other trips as well, all of which have helped mold her into a remarkable young lady (please excuse the parental pride). Most of these adventures come as the result of her work at school, as a part of her scholarship, or simply the fruits of her tireless labor. I’ll share some of her experiences here from time to time, even though the subject may not interest those who don’t know her. I can tell you this, though; if you did know her, you’d love her. Everyone does.

Divine Intervention

Once more, I stave off the inevitable. It was close (painfully so), but I managed to emerge victorious in the classic struggle of youth vs. maturity today in Dickson as I managed to squeeze out another victory over my 17 year old son. The scene was the second round of the ISTA 2006 Championship Trials Series and the stage was set for geriatric disappointment as I dealt myself into a game with the cards staked clearly against me from the beginning. Not content with the challenge of natural selection, I (in a moment of shear madness) re-mounted my archrival on what was clearly the superior steed. Oh, it was probably ill advised from the beginning, setting my sights on re-entering the world of vintage trials on what could be the most anemic production trials motorcycle in history (at least in modern history). Granted, my Honda TL125 has received a considerable amount of well-documented modification, but still it is what it is. My son wasn’t much better equipped, set to (reluctantly) ride his much campaigned Suzuki RL. He really hates that machine, so right off the bat the psychological advantage was all mine. I needed the help too; he was nipping at my heals through the entirety of the last trials season. Fact is going into the last round of last years ITSA series, he carried a small lead. A good finish in the last event was all that saved me from an off-season of endless ridicule and a multitude of “old man” jokes. Egad! What a painful experience that would have been, but I digress. Yep, the old RL would have likely sealed his fate while securing mine. SO what did I do? I work a marathon garage session to complete the assembly of a pretty dog-gone nice Yamaha TY250. The Yamaha has a long history of success and still seems to be the clear ride of choice for those making their way into many vintage trials winner’s circle. Still, I thought that entering the event today on a bike he had no time on would have set me up for taking a quick lead. Wrong! He had me by 6 points after the first round. During the break before the second round I played the old “I got trouble with my clutch” game and this seemed to help because with 6 sections to go, I’d managed to shave a point off his lead. Slow progress (too slow) and I was beginning to really start thinking of good excuses when he upped and slipped a foot off the peg while riding though the rocky creek section. (His own worst enemy) this made him mad enough that the next pass through it, he sets a foot down again. Only this time his boot finds a hole and the next thing we know he’s standing on his head and I’m suddenly “up” by one point. Here’s where I get a little help from above; HE CAN’T GET THE THING TO START BACK UP! How’s that for living right? Oh, it cost me. I couldn’t leave him stranded alone in the deepest hole and stayed to help with the longest push back to the truck in history. Also, we both landed in the rear of the pack on points when we took 10s on the final sections, but I wasn’t at the very end. Nope, (at least for another day) the old man still RULES! Better luck next time son and thanks to all who stopped to help. Too bad nothing helped. He he he. Great trials, thanks to Bob (and crew). Also thanks to my riding partners for the day, Graham, Mike, George and (of course) Clay. I had a blast and (at least for one more time) the ride home was great.

A day in the woods

Spent the day at Hacienda fina grande de Ginder and MAN, I had a great time. I'd planned to make a trip down south today, to compete in a Modern trials event. Then out of the blue, I get an invite to clear a little brush, roll a few rocks, and (mostly) spend a little time with some guys who really know how to smoke up some woods. It was also a good opertunity to stress test the little Honda. Good thing too, I found it had a few bugs to work out. I had a seal leaking oil on my points (they don't make near enough contact when lubed like that), resulting in a little miss. Found that the shocks I put on it had all the action and dampening of two pieces of rebar welded in top to bottom. My clutch modifications needed some tweaking and a few other small, aggravating problems. Still, it beat the heck out of most anything else I could have been doing. When I got home, I spent a little time in the old garage, working through most of the items identified during the day. I think when I take delivery of the new B&J Racing assembled Falcon Shocks, Tighten the new Diamond 428 O-ring chain, install the new MSR Raptor clutch lever, adjust the air in the super-soft IRC T-011 radial trials tires, and fill it up with 3/4 of a gallon of high octane Turbo Blue racing fuel, this Vintage Big Bore powered Honda dream machine will be ready for the trail! Whew..., how's that race fans? Think of what I could do for a real sponsor. Oh well, I guess a sponsor would get tired of me hitting the ground all the time.

Little Thumper, Ready to Roll

Well, after a long day of final touches the TL project is complete. I think it turned out pretty good. It starts easy and the modifications all seem to have the desired effect and after about a half hour of riding it around in the back yard, I'm ready to chalk it up as a success. There's an AHRMA trials event next weekend and I expect to see then if it's up to the task. In the mean time, I'll begin the process of getting the TY250 ready for the road (or off-road, actually). I suspect that it'll emerge as the premier vintage steed in my two-wheel stable and putting my son on it to compete against me, is not going to help forestall the loss of my place as the alpha male trials rider around here. He's breathing down my neck anyway and I realize it's just a matter of time before he moves past me completely. Putting him on the superior machine, then going head-to-head, is just asking for it. Man, is that going to hurt! The smart thing would be to put him on the Honda, but he might beat me anyway and that surely would be the end of everything. Besides, it's way to pretty a machine for him to beat up on.

TL-166 Gettin' Close

Here's a photo of the nearly complete TL project. It started life as a 73 model 125 that I bought new in 1976 (the TL wasn't what you'd call a hot seller). I rode some trials on it back in the 70s, but mostly just playtime. It was a very good little all-around trial bike, but for competing, it had problems. Among them, a weak motor, a weird "wishbone" triple-tree arrangement, and it was a 4-stroke. This one sat for a long time before I resurrected it a couple of years ago, so my son could ride along in the vintage trials events I'd gotten involved in. He quickly progressed as a rider, to the point he needed something without the inherent problems of the Honda. I set him up with a RL250 Suzuki (whole new set of problems) and set the Honda aside. While back I stumbled on a NOS big bore kit for a SL125, so I scooped it up and started the project, which I hope will lead to a machine that can be (somewhat) competitive in the Intermediate AHRMA class. In the picture above, I have the exhaust fabricated, the shocks changed and relocated, the engine rebuilt with the 166cc kit. This last made possible by some excellent machine work to the cases, by none other than the legendary Bob Ginder at B&J Racing. A big valve SL head (and carb) was necessary, to make room for the big dome-top piston. I also have changed the front-end to one removed from a 77 model XL125. The straight trees should take care of cause for the problem (noted TL pilot, Dustin Ginder) described as "...the front-end not knowing what the rest of the bike was doing". We'll see. The forks would hit the tank, so I'm in the process of painting a "TL" scheme on the tank from a XL125. It's shorter (by a little), but still required some loving touches with the trusty, rusty, bondo hammer. More to come later on this; it won't be long now.

You have to start somewhere

Well, here I am. Diving off into something else that I don't have time for. I really don't have any time to spare, but I know that the public is just dying for a peek into my life. Clamoring for my insight and destined to hang on my every word. So with that in mind, I begin.

This little trip into contemporary Americana will include a variety of things that interest me. Being of average inclination, I'll share experiences here relating to Motorcycles, Cars, Wildlife, Friends, Family and a host of other things that I might stumble on in my spare time. I'll likely venture off into left field occasionally and even climb up on my soapbox from time-to-time (everyone needs to vent, right?).

One thing I greatly enjoy doing is tinkering in the garage, on…well, whatever. Currently I have three ongoing motorcycle projects that I’ll be reporting the progress of. I really don't have time for three projects (or even one), but I've got a moderately severe case of Attention Deficit Disorder and the ensuing chaos plays nicely into my natural confusion. All three bikes are of the vintage trials variety; that is vintage as defined by AHRMA (American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association), pre-1980. They consist (more-or-less) of one 1974 Yamaha TY250, one 1973 Honda TL125, and a 74 Yamaha TY80 that belongs to the son of a good friend of mine. In the next few days, I’ll post some photos and histories of these machines and we’ll see where it goes from there. That is, if I can find the time to spare. Later then. American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association