Trial or Trail

Article generation for the magazines comes very easily to me as I am a dedicated motorcycle enthusiast. Since the tender age of 11, when I was introduced to my first motorcycle a BSA Bantam, I have just loved riding motorcycles. I have never owned a road machine; it’s always been off-road where the attraction is for me. The opportunity to compete very much closed when I committed my time to magazine publishing which I really do miss if I am honest. In my world, you should always try and turn any negatives into a positive, and that’s how I arrived at this alternative ride article. Through my relationship with the Shirt family, the official UK Gas Gas importers, I have over the years come into contact with the Pampera model. It was basically a trials model converted more to trail use, a superb machine. Wind the clock forward to 2018 and the Leven Valley two-day trial. My good friends at Honda UK had arranged, through Mickey Oates Motorcycles, to supply me with a new Montesa Cota 4Ride to use as transport at the event.

With an official ‘Press plate’ on the machine I was very privileged to find myself riding on the Mamore Road, an iconic part of the world famous Scottish Six Days Trial high above Kinlochleven. The rain was lashing down but, you know, I was happy as a pig in shite! The sheer pleasure of feeling the open elements on my face is one I always treasure, enjoying the feeling of freedom. This new-found enjoyment of the press plate and the machine has given me a way of once again joining in with the competitors and enjoying the day’s action. Yes, I may only be taking pictures and reporting but the camaraderie amongst the trials ‘family’ is one I very much enjoy.

A new beginning

These versatile trial/trail off-road motorcycles have been around for longer than I can remember. Our sport actually started with converted road models made suitable for off-road riding. With highs and lows of these types of models from the manufacturers, they have come and gone over the years. We have seen the Gas Gas Randone model, but in fact, it’s the Beta Alp and Scorpa TY125F that seem to have been around the longest in more recent times.

In 2016, I was invited to the press launch of the newly introduced Montesa Cota 4Ride in Spain. It was very much a new beginning for the magazine in this sector of the sport. I really enjoyed the day on the four-stroke machine as it was very trials orientated, easy to ride and all-round good fun. In my opinion, the only spoiler on the machine was no electric start. All motorcycles should have an electric start; it’s a simple as that. If you stop or get stuck and stall the engine, you press a button and the engine fires back into life, and you’re on your way.

In more recent times the trials manufacturers have looked at new areas to increase sales and, off the back of this, we have seen more models become available. Owners want more out of a motorcycle than something that can be only ridden in trials events.

NEW MODELS

Here we take a quick overview of the models available for your days of adventure and fun.

Beta

Out of all the models available in this new-found sector, the Beta Alp is the only one which is not a trials-based model. This four-stroke model is very much a more trail type machine, a very good one I might add, and one we have used to cover events in the past.

The Alp story goes back to the late nineties with a two-stroke water-cooled model based around the steel frame trials machine, which in Europe was very popular. The four-stroke Alp has been around for a long time, firstly as a 125cc before the move to the 200cc since 2003, and has a very good reputation for its all-round use and versatility. It was a worldwide success story, and soon the choice of engine sizes moved to a 200cc or 400cc depending on what your ambitions were, but this single cylinder four-stroke engine comes with a superb reliability record. With the option of a mechanical start with a kick-start lever and the electric option of the press of a button, it has ticked all the boxes for many riders over the years.

I know from experience that you can purchase a ‘long-ride’ seat which fits the successful Evo trials model, giving you an option for the Italian two-stroke machines. Beta UK Telephone: 01756 793521 Email: sales@beta-uk.com Web: beta-uk.com

Gas Gas

If my memory serves me correctly, the Pampera models were made available in the midnineties, as I certainly had one before I got divorced in 1997.

Over the years, these were available in 125cc, 250cc and 300cc and had a strong reputation as a ‘go-anywhere’ machine. Trials based, the main changes with the Pampera model were a comfier seat, larger fuel tank and the gear ratios more suited to trail riding. In 2011, we tested the little 125cc Randone four-stroke model. For such a small-capacity engine the performance was quite good, but the icing on the cake was an electric start. Just like the Beta Alp you had the choice of a kick-start lever or the electric option. It was also supplied with two sets of sprockets, one for trials and one for trails.

Like the Beta, it was not based around its two-stroke trials models but a more trail-type chassis. A long-ride seat was easily removed to lower the set height to the trials seat; quite clever actually.

In late 2017, we witnessed the return of a Pampera type model, with the new Contact available in both 250cc and 280cc engine sizes. Based around the TXT trial models the Spanish manufacturer had listened to what was needed and, you have probably already guessed, it’s got an electric start option along with the mechanical one. A larger fuel tank and long-ride seat with the ‘Easy Move’ option if you want to use it as a trials machine was also added. Gas Gas UK: Telephone: 01298 766813, Email: mail@gasgasuk.com Web: gasgasuk.com

Montesa

With a production record of 50 years for the Cota model in 2018, it’s no wonder that Montesa is strong in this area of off-road. My earliest recollection of their trail-type models was the Cota 247T in the mid-seventies, which basically was the trials model with a larger seat and fuel tank fitted.

In the early nineties, the new ‘Evasion’ model, based off the back of the Cota 310, became available. As with the 247T model, it was very trials based. With the move to four-stroke trials machines in late 2004, with the Cota 4RT, word soon got around just how robust the machine and its engine was. Over the following years, we would witness some variants of the machine with larger seats and fuel tanks made available as aftermarket products.

In 2016, Montesa, using the four-stroke Honda engine, introduced the Cota 4Ride as a production model. Based around the trials model, it featured many small but significant changes to make it much friendlier to the all-round offroad rider. A larger fuel tank and seat along with suspension changes enhanced its go-anywhere features. Montesa’s Spanish development rider, Amos Bilbao, rode one in the 2017 Scottish Six Days Trial to show its all-round capabilities; he also won a Special First Class award.

Even though it starts easily on the kick-start, it misses the all-important electric start, which when you are tired and need to start the machine from dead is sometimes hard work for the rider. Honda UK: Web: honda.co.uk

TRS

This exciting new Spanish manufacturer arrived on the trials scene in 2016 as the brainchild of Jordi Tarres. In a very short space of time, they have established themselves as a strong manufacturer in the trials market.

New for 2019 is the X-Track. As this is an entirely new machine with no history. You can read more about it on page 32. TRS Motorcycles UK, Telephone: 01242 675015 Email: sales@trsmotorcyclesuk.com Web: trsmotorcyclesuk.com

Scorpa

As you will find on page 44 in this issue, we have had a very close look at the Scorpa TY125 F. It is because the official Scorpa UK importer, Nigel Birkett, has reversed the trend and made modifications to this trail model to turn it into a competitive trials model for the beginner or competition entry-level rider. On the two-stroke front, Scorpa over the years has also offered the ‘Long-Ride’ option with a larger seat and fuel tank on its SY range. Scorpa UK Telephone: 01229 716214 Email: nigel.birkett@talk21.com Web: Birkettmotosport.com

My adventure days started early in 2018 at the Scottish Six Days Trial. Despite the wet weather I had two good days out on the Montesa Cota 4Ride.

High above Kinlochleven on Blackwater Dam I was having a quick ‘breather’ when some of my old pals asked me about the 4Ride. And yes, they also wanted a picture taken with their machines in this remote part of the world! Magazine publishing had put an end to my competitive riding and yes, I do miss it. With the job of riding around on these adventure machines at the events reporting and taking pictures I still feel very much a part of the trials ‘Family’. These are close family members I have known for years.

Photo: Leo Caillat (WikiCommons) I actually remember seeing one of these Beta Alp two-stroke machines at a world round. They were produced around the end of the 90s, I think this is the 1997 model. Left: This is a good all-round motorcycle and is very rider friendly with its soft 200cc four-stroke power. These models have endured the test of time and with the addition of the electric starter is a superb machine to follow an event around on. Another plus point is the strong residual value, such is the demand. Right: For those riders wanting to be more adventurous the Beta Alp is also available as a 400cc model, once again as a four-stroke.

In at the deep end, literally, testing the 2017 Gas Gas Contact in March 2017. This is the pre-electric-start model. The new 2019 Gas Gas Contact model. Wow did I have some fun on this early 250cc Gas Gas Pampera! This was my first venture into this type of machine. I actually rode this from my home to a ‘Dead Easy’ trial and back home on it, the win was a bonus! If my memory is correct this picture is from around 1995/1996. Yes they listened… You can see the electric starter motor at the front of the engine.

Aftermarket hard parts and clothing manufacturer Jitsie gave a new Montesa Cota 4Ride to Dani Comas. As part of an adventure feature he rode it from Gava, Spain to the world championship round in Andorra! The choice is yours! Here you can clearly see the connection between the Montesa Cota 310 and the ‘Evasion’ model with its larger seat. This ‘Two Wheel Jeep’ Montesa Cota 348 was an early attempt to capture the adventure rider after the Cota 247T model. In early 2016 Trial Magazine was invited over to Spain for the official launch of the new Montesa Cota 4Ride model; yes, we approved, it was ace! Carrying the theme over from the four-stroke Montesa Cota 4RT on the right is a very early 4Ride in this 2015 brochure.

With a clear orange-and-black colour scheme the 2019 Scorpa stands out for its individuality. The studio shots are good, just wait until you see it in the flesh. When you have a seven-times world trials champion in charge you can expect exciting things to happen. Spain’s respected Jordi Tarres shows just how good the new TRS X-Track model is, he can still ride a bit!