Answer to the last quiz – The lever above the handlebar is a Advance/retard for the ignition – the old British singles had this to enable starting and it help with traction on the Trials bikes in muddy sections ( although the main reason was for starting, along with the valve lifter ( decompressor) – I remember riding my brother in law’s Ariel 500 around town on full retard !! – we rarely used the clutch in those days.
correct answers came from Neil Carter, Brett, Peter Varey and Peter Legrove. — a few others guessed decompressor. – Riders from the 60-70’s era will recall fitting a decompressor on the Spanish trials bikes , as the brakes were really bad, especially after the first water section.
Quiz today — Who is this on a Norton 5T?
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Below is a pic of the Vintage bikes at the Calgary Bike show this past weekend – the one on the far left is an old Montesa. – I wonder if any other Trials bikes were on display – Of course for many years we put on Trials demos and had a club booth to show off what the sport was all about, something which I know for sure got at least one of our regular Alberta riders hooked. ( Once the Show organizers got greedy – everything tanked) – This display has been organized by Janice Whitby of Calgary for many years, she is the daughter of our old friend John Whitby who moved to the Island many years ago.- It was John who took the 8mm video we have of that First World Trial, back in 1975 – no sound but great to watch.
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A nice pic from a few years ago when the Canadian Girls finished on the podium at the ISDE in Argentina – left to right – Victoria Hett, Felicia Robichaud and Shelby Turner – a fantastic achievement. – we had Viccy out on a Beta Trials bike a few years ago, before she got married and had children.
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We had mentioned before, how we used to print up a program for all our big events – here is the inside cover of one of them, when we had a Trials club in Kelowna. We sold advertising to pay for the printing.
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Below is a poster for the first ever FIM World Championship Trial we put on in 1975 – some incorrect info on that as I had 40 sections on a 69mile loop. ( Quite a surprise for the European lads)
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Last post – Today we have winter weather!!
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