Sidecar trials bike.
Went to a trial in Tauranga on sunday,good turnout with 40 riders - I had a good day and my class was easy,just single dabs on a few sections each round and one 5 to give me 20 points in total - but I needed half that to get a good position.The guy who won my class was on a TLR250 - looks identical to my bike,but totaly different to ride.
A trials outfit turned up for a bit of a play - I've been involved in trials for a few years but have never seen a competitive outfit...they were mainly used on the old British thumpers and didn't make the transition to Spanish bikes in NZ,although one of the twinshock riders has a 350 Bully that has a chair,but he never has it on,it's more fun to be able to ride with others.
No photos,I was competing and they left early - a late model bike,Gas Gas I think with a bigger front end and brake,although you'd need to see a stock bike alongside to see exactly what they have done.The passenger has one handhold on a wire at the rear of the bike and on the front of the chair he has a brake lever to control the sidecar wheel.Huge grippy almost spikes on the chair floor to keep the passeners footing.
They were riding on the Expert line,seriously difficult on a trials bike,but watching these guys was eye popping.Like coming down a bank at an angle keeping the chair in the air to put max weight on the bike wheels,two guys in perfect control,balancing the bike together - talk about team work! I saw them flip the thing,like they had launched it into the air and it rotated clockwise landing upside down.
I stopped to talk to them on a trail where they were having a bit of a play....''can you get up there?'' they asked me,pointing to a 2 metre vertical bank - uh,no..you need a modern bike to do that.So they took the outfit straight up,then turned around and rode it down again - shee it,I wouldn't of thought it could,but no worries.
They said they are the only ones doing it in Tauranga,but at a National meet there are about 10 of them.Good to see a lost artform being revisited.
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