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/127413
eINTERVIEW e ..... National Trials Champ_io_n_y'-- Ull-"g"----------'-R an_y_o_ three-time Na tio nal Champion , and it's hard to keep the 150% fig ht. After I go t beat twice , I went ho me for a month and rea lly thou gh t about it and I put my 150% in the last five events, and I won a ll of them. Was the bike you rode this year like the one Diego Basis (an Italian World Championship rider) rode last year? Yes, the bikes we rid e here were just lik e the p re-production models that they rod e in Europe the year before. Trials is a display of balance and coordination. Why do you think it hasn't reached the level of participation in the U.S. that it has in Europe? Well , th e U .S. is ver y large and com petition between th e best in California, the best in Col orado or whatever, just doesn 't happen but five or six times a year. In Europe, the best in Spain, Ita ly, France, England, Belgium, all those p laces, they're .competing against each ot her every weekend and they jus t push it to the point where th ey progress much quicker than we ever wi ll. What woul d you do to make tri als pop ular in this country? I would think that we wou ld have to start an indoor series and get it on television a lot more so that people can get an idea of what trials is and learn Streaking into the record books By Michael Sny der bserved trials is often referred to as th e " ba llet" of motorcycling. It is also a sport that is still dominated by the Europeans at the international level, while almost every other form of motorcycling has American s filling the victory rostrum. R yan Young is the four-time National Ch ampion in this unique sport and is one of th e very few American riders who has made a living from it since the ear ly days of Honda 's participation with Marland Whaley and Bu Itaco and then Italjet-sponsored Bern ie Schreiber. Over the past few years, the Williamsport, Pen nsylvania, resident has been the most dom inant figure in the AMA/North AtlanCouncil National ti c Trials Championship Observed Trials Series, winning th e title four years straight. He discussed his success and the sport of trials with us following the '91 season. O • 12 ***** You wra pped up th e National Championship for the fourth time this year. Consi deri ng you changed from Beta to Aprilia at the beginning of the season, is this a reflection of your talent on th ese u niq ue ma ch i n es? Was the switch to ugher than it appeared? No, it was real easy. I rod e an Aprilia two years ago, then I rode a Beta last year, so when I got back on the Aprilia, the swi tch wasn 't hard a t a ll. It probably took three weeks before I felt comfortable on the bike, but that was way before the Nationals started and it's just a super bike and reliabl e and works great, so it 's been reall y easy. Was there any ri der who surprised you this year? Oh yeah , Geoff Aaron. He won two of the first three events , so he had me worried. I was kind of casu al about those events because I was already a _ to enjoy an d ap preciate the amount of tale nt an d skill that it takes to rid e trials. Do yo u prefer stadium trials or do you prefer natural terrain? I prefer "natu ral terr ai n , but I enjoy bo th . As lon g as I' m co mpe ting , I'm ha ppy. You are making a living at competing on the National level. Only a few others, such as Marland Whatley and former World Champion Bern ie Schreiber, have been able to do this. How did you achieve this? H ow do you compare with championship -level European ri ders? . The way I did it, I just quit work an d said I'm going to try to promote trials schools, which have been goi ng very well. I do at least a dozen of those all aro u nd the United States, and in Canada, Mexico and Central America, whic h are real good mo ney for j ust one day of tra ining or two days of school. I also have a rea l good co ntract with the Aprilia factory an d the T ryals Shoppe in Florida, the U.S. importer of Aprilia motorcycles, so it work ed out real well . This year I made more money tha n I ever did working as a mechanic for four years. I now make twice as much money, just because I can dedicate my