Trial Magazine Forum

With all the uncertainty in the world at the moment and the television ramming football down our throats its usually trials which brightens up my day and this week is no different with the arrival of two new “Replica” machines from Gas Gas and Sherco and the good news that French manufacturer Scorpa will have available a range of trials machines in the not to distant future.

As with every thing concerning manufacturing it’s quite difficult to go forward at the moment even if it’s electrical consumables, cars etc the world is actually quite full with every thing and technology appears to have slowed down a little but then both Gas Gas and Sherco bring us refined models, from Gas Gas we have the new “Raga” replica complete with a new design frame and from Sherco the “Cabestany” replica, how long will it be before we see a “Lampkin” replica Beta? Maybe they are waiting for Dougie to celebrate 100 world round wins, maybe sooner that we think with the world round in Scotland beckoning! Replica machines will attract the customer wanting that some thing a little bit different.

When you compare these two small Spanish factories to the “Big Four” in Japan it’s a credit to them that they keep delivering what the customer wants and also bringing innovation along with it as well. I often wonder how long it will be before we see a new trials machine from Japan. As world sales have fallen on all motor-cycle’s maybe the “Big Four” will look at the trials market again as this would be new business to them and I would imagine that any new business at the moment would be most welcome.

The news from Scorpa is very positive though I have not yet spoken to the UK importer concerning the new model range. For those of you who are not aware Scorpa came onto the trials scene with the Rotax powered machine at the famous Bercy arena trial in France in 1993 ridden by the French trials champion Bruno Camozzi. They were imported into the UK by MRS who is now the Sherco importers. Graham Jarvis had some fantastic results on the machines in the early days. Neil Crosswaite and his son Martin then became the importers as the new machines moved to Yamaha power; James Dabill actually rode one for twelve months for them. It was then the turn of Nigel Birkett who is still the current importer. The news we have came from the official website www.scorpa.fr for any of you who wish to take a look.

What more can we say to add to the excitement about the world round in Scotland. The fact that it’s almost up on us is good news but for me the return of “Kickstart” makes it even better. I am sure riders from my generation, I am nearly fifty, can remember when it was shown in the summer months during the early eighties, I think? Well it’s returning at the world round on the day before the main event Friday. This really promises to be a day not to miss and makes the event a complete package. I am informed that pre-bookable tickets for the event go off sale very shortly though you can pay on the day even if it’s a single day you want to attend. If you do not have your tickets yet and want some make sure you visit: www.ukworldtrial.com