Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125991
What Miller-san nath wrought Trials in Japan By Denise Bo lden Two years ago when I first came from Southern California, trials was just beginning here in Japan. There were only about 30 to 40 riders that entered a tri als then. I rode Kid s class in the states and when I came here, I said, "Wow, look at all t hose kids' traps , give me a bike an d I'll rid e 'em." The bikes t hat t hey we re riding then we re highly modified trail bikes and enduros. There were only two ureal" trials bikes at that time , one a Bultaco .an d the other an Ossa . Up until Honda sent the first three riders to Scotland to participate in the Scottish Six Days Trials, sec tio ns were similar to Novice secti ons in the States. The traps now are equ ivalen t to o ur Expert secti ons. Un like trials held in Southern California, yo u a re required to wear helmets, and lon g sleeve shirts . Many of th e rid ers wear Bellstaff style plastic sui ts fr om Eng land. T oday , most trials in J ap an dra w at least o ne hundre d riders, at least he re in th e To ky o area , bu t we have heard th at the turnouts in Kob e are just as big . T he t rials he re ha ve th ree clas ses: Novi ce , Junior. an d Exp ert Junio r. 1"0 matter how many firsts a No vice or Junior wins d uring the y ear, he ca nno t tr ansfer to ano t he r class until t he end o f th e y ear . The mo st popular b ike is the Honda TL 125. Next is t he Yamah a T Y 25 0, Su zuki RL 25 0, and there are a few Kaw asaki 250s an d Honda TL 250 s. Recently , they have st arted usin g t he new littl e Yamaha TY 125, and there are hal f a do zen ot her types such as the Montesa, Bultac o, and Ossa. . Abo ut 2 5 percent of the rid ers ride their bikes to the trials and re move the lights to particip at e in the even t, then ride th e ma ch ine back ho m e. To rid e a trials in J ap an , y o u must have a Mot orc ycle Fed erati on of J apan (r-IFJ) license. T o obtain an M~] license, y o u must have a regu lar driver's license , therefore, all trials riders in J ap an m us t be at least 16 years of age . In add itio n to the M FJ Trials, in whi ch riders qualify to ridc in the AIl-Japan Trials, t he lo cal de aler periodi ca lly p ut on a trials and d onated merchandise for prizes. Prize s such as leather gloves, sweat shirt au tographe d by the one and only Sammv Miller and Mick An d rews, Rentl,;1 handleb ars , fiberglass gas tanks, soc ks, and Honda Wallets, are not unusual. Every participant entering in th e trials receives some so rt of gift : a screw driver , brushes, and oil ca ns. A very special prize is a shavin g kit . T he J ap an ese go ape over Sammy Miller and Mick Andrews (who doesn't) . Bo th o f t hese men have ap p eared in J ap an several times. It is not unusual a ft er o ne of these p ubl icity ftest ing tours to see J ap an ese with either o f these men 's signa tures on so me article o f the ir ridi ng appa re I. Besides the l\IFJ license y o u must have to particip ate in trials, you mus t sign up tw o o r th ree we eks in advanc e. The cost is abo ut $6 per person, a portion o f wh ich go es fo r medical insuran ce. Che c k in tim e is at nine, rid ers' meeting begins at 9 :30, th en th e trials starts at 10 , br eaking for lunch at 12 or 12 :30, fo r a o ne ho ur lunch. No ridin g ta kes pl ace during lunch , for y o u will find the checkers eating their O-Bento, (O-Ben to is a small boxed lunch co ntaining two rice bal ls wr apped in seaweed , and so me J apanese pickles). z w o .J o '" w v, Z ~ ... ili _ See, it's not all wall-to-wall people. Japanese jealously guard the ir remaining"green areas." The sco ring system is 0, 1, 2, 3, 5,10 (refusal or failure to ride a secti on ). There are two types of sy ste ms us ed in checking, one th e rider carries a card wit h him and has h is points m arked down by t he checker o n th e card, o r th e obs erver ha s o ne sh ee t with all th e riders' numbe rs o n it and the scores are turn ed in during the lunch ho ur and aga in at the end o f th e me et. While they figure out wh o w on. th ey have a wh eeIie co ntest, balance co ntes t, o r a slo w race . Tro p hies are given for mo st cle ans, be st performance, and fi rst through l Oth (first cl ass award ), 11 th thro ugh 20 th (second class awa rd ). The trop hies are really medals with eagles' heads on th em, inscrib ed with th e word " Victo ry . " Most trials are abo ut 10 secti ons long and co ver three loop s, two b efo re lunch and o ne after lunch , fin ishing at about 2 :3 0 in the af tern oo n. TI,e time sch edules are usually quite lenient, except when there is a bottleneck at severa l sectio ns when there is a large tum -out. As " as "American " trials go , t here far are very few . Those that we have attended were he ld by o ne of th e Military Motorcycle Clubs near Tokyo, Yokota Motorcycle Club. • - - - - - - - Bizzorro says : "Th e onl y w ay to le t th e world kn ow of y our com ing eve n ts is to pub lish a listing in the Cy cle New s Calcndar . Woul dn'l it be just p eachy to h ave a team from New Zealand show up at yo ur next Dat e of Event I CALI DAR ILISTIIG All even ts m ust be rece ived b y noon Thursday to appear in the up comi ng week's Cycle News. No listings can be accepted by p ho ne. Fill o ut b lan k at right and mail to : Cycle News CA LENDA R, P.O . ~49 8 ' Long Beach, Ca. 9080 I. I Pok er Run? And th e bes t thing of all is it's FREE, FREE , FREE. Just fill in th is handy co upo n (natch) and m ail it. Our crac k ca lend ar editor will d o the res t Thcn s ta nd back and watch the cr owd. Ti me of eve n t I I I T ype of even t ( IT, AtX. End uro, etc.} En try fec Sanct ion Locat ion Mailin g add ress How to get th er e Additional in fo rm a tio n . You r nam e - ---'--- - - Nu mber to call fo r info (with area code) - I ~ 41 ~