Cycle News

- 00 0') o IAbovel BernIe'. BuIt8colBKS buggy, which lbelowl_ put through Its pecea by BernIe, Fem8ndo Belllir and Mike GrIffItta, Looka Uka fun. Bernie's buggy Or, can a World Champ find happiness, given enough wheels? By Len Weed After spending eight months flying back and forth to Europe to bounce off boulders, slog through mud and creep across cambers, you'd think a fellow would want to relax some in the off-season. So what did Bernie Schreiber bring home to La Crescenta along with his world trials crown? A trials sidehack. The English-built BKS unit bolts right onto a Bultaco Sherpa T after welding a few tabs in place. According to Bernie, the BKS is the hot chair in British sidecar trials. Sidecar trials? NaturaUy. Anything tbe British do on two wheels is also pursued with three wheels and two bodies. Road racing, motocross and trials. They've even Jut chain on speedway and grasstra terrain starts moving by, it's an experience totaUy unlike any known by the soloist. Balancing a Sherpa with the sidestand up is a snap compared to trundling the three-wheeler about. One rapidly learns the value of team work. The rig constantly feels as if on the brink of tilting over or mindlessly going its own way. The solo trials rider has to learn to his revise Standard Operating bikes. Britain has had a National Championship sidecar series since 1950. They even UJed. to run them in the Scottish Six Days until the sections became too radical for three-wheeling. Obviously, three wheels and four feet complicate the scoring. Dabs by the driver count just as they do in solo trials. But monkey footing is forbidden - one dab means the maximum five points. And, contrary to the continuous forward motion rule of solo trials, a no-dab pause is not ruled a five-point stop. One would figure that anything 14 with three wheels is far more stable than a two-wheeler. But then, they used to figure that tbe Titanic was unsinkable. True, the rig feels quite stable - at rest. But as soon as the Procedure if he hopes to remain upright. The gas must be left on aU the way up a climb. The sidecar won't coast because the third wheel acts as a dragging brake. The unit starts moving toward the chair side the instant the power is shut off. But tum around is fair play. for hard acceleration finds the unit veering away from the chair side. Slow turns require plenty of clutch work. Since the rig can't be leaned ... strike that, it can be leaned very easily, often involuntarily. But lean has little affect on direction control. You have to steer to tum. This usuaUy requires some serious input at the ban, especiaUy when turning toward the chair side. Manhandling is more like it. Bumpy ground or a heavy passenger can lighten or lift the front end. This makes direction changes really interesting. Camber CI'OlISings caU for a revene of solo tactics. The chaitrnan and driver must weight the top side of the

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