This pic was taken by Mike Phillips a couple of years back, up on Vernon Mountain – It shows just what a beautiful valley we live in and a rare pic showing both Kalamalka and Okanagan lakes. -I was out on one of the fantastic TRS estart Xtrack models.
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Answer to the last quiz was – Photographer Neil Sturgeon, who always posts some really good shots of Trials in the UK. – Bob Clark and Roger Boothroyd got this.
Quiz today. Another of Neil’s Scottish pics – but who is the Beta rider?
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Yesterday we started loading the van for the trip to the Shuswap – the weather looks a tad unsettled, but as always this will be a fantastic weekend and very special this year, being the 40th anniversary of the Outlaw Trial.
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Also on this weekend, is the WTC event in Japan, usually a very muddy affair, but the huge costs involved will keep a lot of teams at home this year, including Vertigo.
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I watched an interesting video on You Tube, regarding Motorcycle sales or the lack of such, and the forecasted demise of 13 factories. – Although many of these names come as no surprise, the names of Suzuki and Honda might be a shocker – the reasons given for Honda is that they have been subsidizing the Motorcycle division for a long time – -KTM also listed, but also Ducati, Moto Guzzi, and Triumph.. – Of course the Trump Tariffs have created a big problem in the market place, for many of these factories.
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Here is a neat pic of Sammy Miller sitting on a Vincent grey shadow – the first motorcycle to feature a Cantilever style suspension – the Vincent used two small shocks seen here under the seat,-( the design later perfected by Tilkins in the Netherlands and sold to Yamaha used one long shock) – It was on one of these bikes that John Surtees made his solo debut into Motorcycle road racing, after he had acted as a “Passenger” on his Dad’s road race Vincent sidecar outfit.
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The annual Fun event put on by the Vernon Club goes this weekend for the Enduro Crowd – Obviously we will not be there as it’s the Outlaw Trial – but we do help with sponsorship.
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Some early info from Japan
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We watched some clips of the enduro style high speed qualifying section – while it looks exciting for spectators – my opinion is this is out of place in Trials competition, and could very well result in a season ending injury for a rider. ( Japan is a long way to go, and very expensive)
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