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/127962
By Lane Leavitt and Mark Kar iya Photos by Feet Up! Magazi ne and Mark Kar iya IT A a ~ ~ 22 his has been a tr ansition al year for trials. As the sport moves fro m.the static stop-and-hop style to the nee-n o-stop fo r ma t, the bik es a lso wi ll h a ve to evolve for the new pa rad igm . All fou r of th e bikes in thi s comparison - the Beta Tec h no 250, Gas Gas TX270 Co nt ac t, Mon tesa Cota 315R and Scorpa Easy 250 - have their roo ts in sto p-a nd-ho p, so the transition has ye t to be completed from an eq u ip me n t s ta nd poi nt. H o w ev er , most of the Un ited States hasn 't ado p ted th e interna tio nal rul es, so we haven 't felt the pin ch yet. Let's tak e a closer look a t these wildly d iffer ent bikes that ar e all designed to do the sa me thi ng: rid e w here no other bike can be ridden. TECH NICAL OVERVIEW Unlike m otocross bik es , wh ich a re quite similar to each othe r, tr ials bikes have ver y d is tinc t d esign s and a da zzli ng arra y o f di ffer ent com po nen ts. Tak e, for exam ple, the br akes: All four bikes have AJP rear calipers. However , all four calipe rs are differen t! There ar e eve n t h re e differe n t rea r r otors employed among the four bikes. All four en gi nes are liqu id -cool ed , reed -val ve tw o-st rokes, and all excep t the re ed-val ve-induct ed Scarpa ha ve case-reed in ducti on . Beta and Ga s Gas manufa ctu re their own moto rs , w h ile Montesa uses a Japan ese HRC power plant and the Scorpa is powered by an A ustrian Ro tax engine. Th e Be ta, Gas . Gas an d Mon tesa m ot ors are stro ng ly oversquare designs, but the Scorpa. has a nea rly s qu a re bore-to-stro ke rati o. Dell'Orto supplies 26m m carbs fo r the Ga s Gas a nd Mo nt es a, and there's a 28m m Keihin on th e Scorpa and a 26mm Miku ni o n the Beta. Hy d ra ulic clutch es ha ve been stand ard for years on trials bikes, an d each machine uses AJP master cylinders. The Montesa has a five-speed tranny, com·pared to six-speeders on th e Bet a, Gas G a s and Sco r pa. It ' s a ri ght -s id e kick /left-sid e cha in on th e Gas Gas and Mon tesa, w it h the o pposite design on the Beta an d Scor pa . . The Beta and Mont esa are twin -sp ar alu m inum fram es with removab le alu mi num s u b fra mes . A c h r o me- m o ly perime ter d esign is used on the Gas Gas, wi th a nonr em ovable stam pe d chromemo ly su bfra me , Going against the flow, th e Scor pa h a s a s ing le ba ckbone ch rome-moly fram e with a sing le- tu be, fi xed chro me- mo ly s u b fra me . In a ll cases, skid p lat es are u sed instea d of bott om frame tubes, and th e eng ines ar e (Above) As tr ials con t inues to evo lve , t he sport 's " Big Four" manu fact ur ers ti relessly labo r to bring ri ders the latest tech no logy in their new mo torcycles . The exten t to wh ic h thi s has been done creates distinct character in each of the bikes, thus choosing the right one for you means first deciding what kind of bike you want. (Right) Based on the bike Dougie Lampkin has won baek-to-back World Championships w ith , the Beta Techno 250 is best-suited to talented, aggressive riders like former high-school champ. Michael Bryant who now contests the Championship class at Nationals.