WORKSHOP TRP Rear Shock
You will always be able to witness a major happening in the workshop areas at the Trial World Championship. The technicians, mechanics and riders will all be focussing on two areas of machine performance: the engine and the suspension. The rear suspension setup has a multitude of settings, along with the front, and to find out more we spoke with the TRP people, who can build a rear shock to suit the requirements of each individual. It was our regular test rider Phil Disney who brought the TRP to our attention after he fitted one to his Montesa Cota 4RT. After some more research we found that aftermarket hard-parts specialist Jitsie could supply the TRP rear shock for many of today’s modern trials machines. It was time to find out more from the TRP owner Patrick Nelissen.
The original company ‘Motorhuis Thys’ was founded back in 1962 by Jean Thys, who is Patrick Nelissen’s father in law. Jean started out as an official dealership for Honda, BMW,Yamaha and Suzuki motorcycles. After the torch was passed to Patrick and his wife to continue with the company they also took on the dealership for Montesa trials motorcycles, continuing a tradition as the official importer for the last 25 years. Back in 2005 the brand TRP was created.
Being the importer of Wilbers and Matris shock absorbers, the quest for a specific trials shock started which quickly turned into a homemade product, with the name TRP as result. The first rear shocks were available for the Montesa models, and this was followed by producing them for the
other motorcycle brands. They were very well received and soon gained a reputation for excellent build quality and performance. Now they can offer a standard rear shock as a direct replacement or their own range of rear shocks, which can be suited and tuned to each rider’s requirements, offering an à la carte menu of adjustments. In general TRP shocks are 1cm longer or 1cm shorter than the original ones when built. This gives more ‘springway’ and is generally appreciated by the average rider since it makes it easier to handle and move the rear end of the machine. For high-level riders that do a lot of their riding on the rear wheel the shock can be shortened to make handling easier for them as well.