Winter 2017 TRF Trail Magazine

Winter 2017

The Members’ Magazine of the Trail Riders Fellowship

Electric Reality?

Are we there yet?

Will battery leasing and subsidies make ePTWs viable?

“Part of the solution?”

TRF Chair Mario Costa-Sa puts our case at the House of Lords Directors’ Report on year-end business and pleasure Morocco Bound – you don’t have to ride all the way there and back A Quick Leg Over a… Gas Gas 250 Contact on the trail Black Sea to Gibraltar Race 2018 – affordable adventure for anyone Somerset TRF Group’s activities and intrigues Tyres and emotions – a new Michelin Enduro tyre and tyre tracks under scrutiny

THE TRF TEAM Conservation Director: Dave Carling dave.c@trf.org.uk 07586 325 260 Financial Director: Michel Sabatier finance@trf.org.uk 07801 187304 Heritage Director: Steve Neville steve.n@trf.org.uk 01474 742705 Marketing Director: Mario Costa-Sa mario@trf.org.uk 07721 480000 Membership Director: Carla McKenzie carla.m@trf.org.uk Technical Director: John Vannuffel john.v@trf.org.uk 01323 898847/07730 796215 Membership Secretary: Sharon Connor sharon@trf.org.uk TRF Membership PO Box 4829 SHREWSBURY SY1 9LP 07958 316295 Press: pr@trf.org.uk 07812 402021 IT: Adrian Allen web@trf.org.uk Equestrian Events Liaison: Mark Holland equestrian@trf.org.uk Creative Communications & Website Editor: Greg Villalobos greg@trf.org.uk IT Director: Wil Linsen wil.l@trf.org.uk Governance: Stuart Bosworth stuart.b@trf.org.uk

Editorial WELCOME TO THE Winter issue of Trail. This is the season that appeals to serious trail riders – the saying “when the going gets tough, the tough get going” couldn’t be more appropriate when it comes to our favourite pastime. Some of you will already have had snow but be careful what tracks you leave.

Our environmental footprint, or tyre tracks, are very much in the spotlight at the moment. Read Technical Director John Vannuffel’s tyre test ”Treading Lightly” and our launch story on the new Michelin Medium Enduro tyre. The most high profile TRF activity of late has to be Mario Costa-Sa’s appearance, backed up by John Vannuffel and others, at the enquiry into the effect of the NERC (Natural Environment and Rural Communities) 2006 Act at the request of the House of Lords.

This was an illustration of the fact that the TRF is gaining extra clout as an organisation and is part of the solution when it comes to multi-user access and conservation of the countryside.

We’re all assuming that the transport of the future, personal or otherwise, will be powered by electricity and it’s just a question of when, not if. In our “Electric Reality?” feature, Paul Blezard gets on his battery-powered hobby horse for an overview of the ePTW industry. TRF directors Carla McKenzie and Steve Neville have already succumbed to kilowatt power.

At this time of the year many people’s thoughts turn to holidaying in warmer climes, as indicated by post-festive season advertising. Well, this issue of Trail contains its own winter warmers. “Morocco Bound” is an account of the fly-and-ride option for instant sunshine. Or, if you prefer to get competitive on an Adventure bike, then have a look at “Gibraltar Question”, an account of the 2017 Black Sea to Gibraltar event.

The festive season approaches and I hope all members have a blast and manage to get some trail time too. The Trail website – www.Trail.TRF.org.uk – should be launching anytime soon and the next issue of the magazine will provide a welcome respite from chocolate eggs and bunnies over the Easter break.

Rick Kemp rick@trf.org.uk Trail is published quarterly and is designed and produced by Rick Kemp Media Services, for the Trail Riders Fellowship.

The TRF is registered in England & Wales No.05884933 Registered Office, 218 The Strand, London WC2R 1AT. All advertising enquiries should be sent to rick@trf.org The views expressed by individual members in Trail are not necessarily those of the Trail Riders Fellowship.

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ISSUE #2 WINTER 2017 The Members’ magazine of the Trail Riders Fellowship

CONTENTS

Cover image: P Blezard/Zero Inset image: Jonathan Bentman/RUST Magazine This image: TRF Archives

03 Directors’ Report: Year-end facts and figures from the Fellowship including contributions form Marketing Director Mario Costa-Sa, Membership Director Carla McKenzie, Technical Directo John Vannuffel, Financial Director Michel Sabatier and Heritage Director Steve Neville 18 TRF Groups List: Contact information on where to go and who to call in your area 20 Morocco Bound: Cut to the chase with the fly-and-ride option 24 A Quick Leg Over a … This issue it’s a Gas Gas 250 Contact, a trial on the trail?

30 Electric Reality? Fancy a spot of assault with battery? How dirt ePTWs are developing 40 Gibraltar Question: Are you ready for a cut-price Dakar?

44 Somerset Levellers: Somerset TRF Chairman outlines the Group’s challenges and opportuniti 50 Michelin gets a Grip: Enduro Medium tyre launch 52 Treading Lightly: Our Technical Director gets to grips with a hybrid tyre

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ies

The NERC Effect?

In his role as Chair, Mario Costa-Sa heads the team representing the TRF at the House of Lords Select Committee enquiry ON 21ST NOVEMbER, the TRF attended an enquiry into the effect of the NERC (Natural Environment and Rural Communities) 2006 Act at the request of the House of Lords. TRF members may recall that the NERC Act extinguished Motor Vehicle Rights for a large part of the green road network in 2006, and turned many Roads Used as a Public Path (RUPPs) into Restricted byways.

The team involved had a simple objective for our meeting – to demonstrate to the Lords that the TRF is part of the solution to any perceived issues on green roads and not part of the problem. Using some of our more recent initiatives as well as long-established ones, we believe we accomplished this simple aim. The proceedings were recorded on Parliament TV and to view, visit https://goo.gl/ND1mzY

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Directors’ Report

L-R: Andrew Knightly-Brown (Chair LARA), Alan Kind (Secretary LARA), Christy Burzio (TRF Counsel), John Vannuffel (TRF Technical Director), Mario Costa-Sa (TRF Chair and Marketing Director)

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In addition to engaging the Lords with the “TRF part of solution” approach, we also covered our established and fast-developing relationship with the Police, our position as responsible people, our focus on changing behaviours of the wider trail-riding community, our positive and courteous attitude to other users and our proactive approach to dealing with perceived issues on the trail.

It was also clear that the TRF needs to be doing these “presentations” more often to get better at it. Not all points were covered in the time/format allocated. The size and critical mass of the TRF was not made clear. Our influence as the largest ACU club was not utilised. More importantly, we need to be better prepared at giving evidence when addressing basic issues of concern.

These include: Being clearer on our view of the issues around wear and condition of green roads and the TRF’s motivation for green-road clearance The TRF’s policy on irresponsible and anti-social riding and what we do about it.

Our view on peace and tranquillity on green roads Our view of how we help with disabled access on green roads Above all we need to move away from the narrow focus on specific issues and on to seeing the positive bigger picture of “multiuser access” and “share the trail” and the TRF’s place at the centre.

The threats to conserving green roads should be clear to trail riders viewing the recording of proceedings. These include: An indicated desire for a complete ban on m/c use of green roads The myth of the horse-and-cart creation of green roads and John Vannuffel’s strong argument against this myth.

Perceptions of damage to green roads attributed to motorbikes whilst choosing to

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The Wessex Wanderers event, the Fosse Way, Wiltshire

ignore other causal factors.

Thank you to all of those who volunteered their time and expertise in the preparation of our response, particularly John harvey and Devon TRF, our counsel, Christy Burzio and Jonathan Dingle as well as the overall response strategy of the TRF Technical Director John Vannuffel.

Moving forward we will be taking up opportunities for positive actions arising from our participation in the Lords’ enquiry.

Follow up information from the TRF – letters and actions addressing specific concerns engagement & advice of a potential Patron for the TRF on approaches Thought leadership from the TRF – White papers needed that build on our web articles and can be used as evidence.

The next goal would be the Lords’ awareness, of, or even engagement in the Green Road

Conference – date set for 14 June.

I look forward to keeping you informed and if you wish to assist me with this work, please contact me at mario@trf.org.uk

The TRF AGM The TRF AGM is now provisionally booked as being on Sunday the March 4 2018, to be held at the hand hotel, Church Street, Chirk, LL14 5eY. The official AGM notice and agenda will be announced in due time but to coincide with the AGM we are pleased to announce an offroad fun day for all TRF members at Wern Ddu quarry on Saturday the March 3. https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=wern%20ddu%20quarry This day will encompass riding skills training, group leads around the quarry, refreshments and food, and we are seeking attendance by local motorcycle shops, Michelin Tyres and most importantly the Police have expressed an interest to join us. Further information will be updated via Facebook and Trail in the coming weeks.

I would ask that members e-mail dave.c@trf.org.uk with the subject ‘’Wern Ddu’’ or ‘’AGM’’ to let us know if you are going to attend, as we need to organise and confirm numbers for the events.

The Hand Hotel - Brief History The hand hotel was built in 1610 during the reign of James I. This hotel is one of the oldest in Wales, at more than 400 years old, and has recently been tastefully modernised after years of neglect. The hotel was initially a coaching inn serving the Shrewsbury to Betws-y-Coed section of the London to holyhead coaching route and has strong links to Chirk Castle.

When you come to The hand hotel you become part of that history.

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Membership Matters Membership Director Carla McKenzie updates us on the latest activities Membership Director Carla McKenzie makes a shocking decision regarding her personal transport!

SeASON’S GReeTINGS TO all our members and your families. The Christmas period is a good time to reflect on the year’s achievements.

TRF groups up and down the country have worked tirelessly to raise money for good causes this year: prostate cancer research, hospices, air ambulances, mountain rescue, wounded soldiers and Blood Bikers to name but a few; and, of course, the TRF “fighting fund”. The membership team are happy to support any group initiatives that actively support and make a difference to the communities in which we live and through which we ride our trail bikes.

Plans are already underway to continue our fund-raising efforts next year. In the summer of 2018 one of the TRF’s youngest members, Jake Case, will be attempting to complete the entire Trans-european Trail (TeT), 34,000 km from Africa to the Arctic Circle. The five-man team will raise money for “Pikallily”, a motorcycle charity based in Tanzania, and the Army Benevolent Fund. Jake, we wish you the very best of

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luck. (Instagram: transeuropeanexpedition; www.trf.org.uk/the-trans-euro-Trail/) In October I picked up my new Zero DSR electric “dual sport” motorcycle. A huge thankyou to Michael Pollitt, chairman of the XM655 (Vulcan Bomber) Maintenance and Preservation Society, based at Wellesbourne Mountford Airfield in Warwickshire, for allowing me the great honour of completing the first outdoor charge of the bike from the cockpit of this iconic aircraft. Next year I am hatching a plan, with some TRF colleagues, to undertake a pioneering electric adventure on unmetalled roads from London to Paris. At the same time the aim will be to raise money for young people’s motorcycling projects, which seek to support both able-bodied and disabled riders in deprived areas. The Wessex Wanderer team, led by Keith Johnston, have announced that the Blood Bikers will be their chosen charity partners for next year’s event.

Please let the membership team know if you are planning any special trips or fund-raising activities. “Bravo” to members up and down the country who have helped to change lives by contributing to these many great causes.

Membership growth As of the middle of November 2017, our membership stands at 4,864. This represents a 12 per cent growth on last year. There have been notable increases in the numbers for Hereford, Northumbria, the West Midlands, Hertfordshire, Loddon Vale, Southern, Peak District, Bristol, Sussex, Wiltshire, High Peaks and the Potteries. Congratulations to these TRF groups and thank you for your hard work. We are still on target to be a club of over 5,000 by early 2018, making the TRF one of the most important and persuasive voices in the movement to preserve and conserve green roads.

The new Membership Card Becky Burbridge (Wilts TRF), and Lynne Studley (Devon TRF) have kindly agreed to be the subjects of our 2018 membership card, in a photo which shows them riding their bikes on Stonehill Lane in the Gloucestershire parish of Ashley during the 2017 Wessex Wanderer event.

The 2018 Ride shirts In November we launched a poll on the national Facebook page to judge the designs of the new TRF Ride shirts. Wayne Large (Manchester TRF) modified the design and won the hearts and minds of over 130 members! Each Ride shirt will bear the member’s name and group, so if you’re looking for a present for the trail rider who has everything, see ad on p.28!

Unsung Heroes

Stuart Metcalfe- TRF London Vale For your contribution in helping to bring ‘Peace in Our Time’ to the TRF. Nicolo Panigada – TRF Central Bristol For his ‘Spanner Night’ concept. Nicolo has gone to incredible and timeless lengths to make the evenings work and often personally hosts them, but there are always guest presentations. The sessions are designed to give members the confidence and training to maintain their bikes at home and repair them out on the trails. It’s been a fantastic alternative to the sometimes boring committee meeting scenarios, and it’s given club members a great platform to not just talk, but also get down and dirty working on their bikes, making sure that they have a better chance of riding safe and getting home in one piece.

Darth Speede – TRF Central Bristol Thank you for using your sharp negotiating skills and time to secure supplier discounts for TRF members.

To all our ‘Unsung Heroes’, a massive thank-you from the members of the TRF.

Our unsung heroes are TRF members whose volunteer efforts have gone ‘above and beyond’ the call of duty in their contribution to our organisation.

Joining this roll of honour in the last quarter are:Keith Johnston - TRF Wiltshire For all your hard work as group treasurer and your outstanding dedication organising the Wessex Wanderer event over the years.

Ian J. Griffiths – TRF Central Bristol For the countless hours you have spent building an up-to-date forum and Facebook page that is truly fit for the 21st century, for welcoming TRF members from all local clubs into your home and cowshed, and for the monthly ‘Spanner Night’ sessions. Our Hero!

John Wedeman – TRF Wiltshire For learning the necessary skills to produce a modern, high-quality replacement website for the Wiltshire group and always carrying wine gums to share with fellow riders.

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The Membership Survey In November we issued our first membership survey. 859 (17.66%) of members from across the country completed the survey, a fabulous result.

The survey has provided some great qualitative and quantitative data which will help inform the future of the TRF. At the time of writing this report the survey has just closed and we have yet to complete a detailed analysis, however the overview of the results are as follows.

What Bike Brand ?

Leading the TRF members brand of choice are ; -KTM 28.8% -Honda 19.6% Yamaha 14.3% How many bikes do you own?

-49.8% have one bike 51.2% have more than one bike (3.7% own five or more) Membership fees Would you accept a rise in membership fees?

The membership fees cover all our rights of road work, marketing, the costs of running membership and publishing Trail, both digitally and in print.

To maintain commitment to these activities and to take on additional rights of road work, we need to raise more funds from the membership fees, at least £40,000.

Our current single membership rate is £45 which, if it had been increased by inflation each year from 2007 would be £62.

Should the TRF continue to invest in Heritage Trail ?

68.1% want a paper-based magazine 29.1% believe a digital only version is acceptable 2.3% the TRF should not have a members’ magazine How many editions of the magazine should be produced each year?

Currently, the volunteers who put together Trail are maxed out with the production of four editions per year planned .

More would be possible but it would require increased articles from the membership and more volunteers or paid contractors to get more issues out. Your answers will help us gauge how many issues are wanted.

The membership response 62.9% 4 issues per annum 18.8% 6 issues per annum 9% 2 issues per annum Attitudes towards technology and information sharing: 28.6 % occasionally log on to check Facebook pages 26.3 % use the TRF forum 27.9% welcome an online version of Trail 11.8% prefer that all communication was on line 5.4% other

The results 50.5% of the membership support a £10 increase 18.2% support a £15 increase 31.3% vote for no increase

Member benefits How do members feel about the member benefits listed in Trail magazine, which will also be listed on the new Trail website?

15.3% excellent 57% good 16.6% could be improved 1.4% poor 9.7% added comments and ideas

What did the members think of the new Trail magazine?

-86.5 rated the magazine as excellent or good -1.9% thought the magazine was poor or very poor

Rider training Members were asked to consider whether the National TRF should run member training events with the objectives of: Developing riding skills

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Increasing safety Preserving our motorcycles Conserving the surface of the trail 85.7% voted yes 14.3% voted no

leader and chair support, business skills, sound and lighting expertise for events, land for training, rights of way research, show support, webmaster support, communication management, arboricultural services, bike recovery .

Training costs Would you pay for TRF members-only training?

There is a cost to members’ training; mainly for hiring land , and or professional trainers Beginner ride training free of charge Basic off road riding skills - typically £30 to £ 50 Off-road riding skills - typically £80 to £130 Advanced off-road skills - typically £150 48.7% yes – and at the quoted price range 20.4% yes – but the price range is too expensive 3.4% yes – but only if free of charge 27.5% no

What can we do better ?

We asked what we could do to improve the offer to members; there were hundreds of ideas submitted, below are some of the key messages Rights of way workshops and training Incentivise the current members when they introduce a new member Reduce the membership fee for pensioners ACU Membership is a positive Better access to trail routes across the country Produce ‘an idiot’s guide’ to Facebook Redesign the joining process – joining is unnecessarily difficult at present.

Be more transparent when locking/deleting posts on the forum More events A technical Q & A area for members A definitive trail map for members Concentrate on using resources to preserve our rights of way Less in-fighting and bickering, ”I just want to ride my damn bike” Get some partnerships with tyre suppliers; with 5000 members we must get through a few sets each year.

Negotiate discounts for parts/tyres and maps.

Get local organisers to send out details of monthly meets and rides.

Engage a professional lobbyist to fight to preserve and increase our access, particularly in the Peak District Better communication with local groups.

Prepare a National trail riding advice booklet for new members Improve the website – it is currently (mostly) poor with very little substance Provide better advice for new trail riders

Communication from your local group Members were asked how they felt about the quality and level of communication from their local group 28.5% excellent 43.5% good 10.7% poor 9.3% no communication 8% other Communication from the National TRF Members rated as follows 14.2% excellent 63.6% good 13.4% poor 3.9% no communication 5% other We rely on volunteers to run the TRF; can you help ?

The response to this question has been extraordinary; a massive thank you. Below is a flavour of what members have offered: Film making, lane clearing, printing, rider education, rider training, run-leading, Garmin training, advanced rider instruction, survey design, event support, newbies’ training, long distance trials support, route planning, photography, lane repairs, manning show stands, landowner engagement , mechanical skills, team

Will you be buying a new bike in the next 12 months?

12.6% yes, a new bike 6.8% yes, a second hand bike from the trade 10.6% a second hand bike privately 64.5% no, I am happy with what I have

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The Board of Directors’ Interim Response to the Survey Findings THE BOARD FORMAlly thanks the members who took time to respond to the survey. your feedback is invaluable and there is much to celebrate.

Our board is made up of volunteers who give freely of their time and resources and they are supported by group offices and a whole host of volunteers. The members’ support for, and acknowledgement of, the TRF achievements is welcome.

We are an evolving organisation which is looking to the future. The board will look closely at the survey results and identify clear actions.

In the category of what can we do better, here are some of the tasks which specific board members are working on: John Vanuffel Political lobbyist Development of regional RoW workshops and conference, these can be run on request and some financial support is available groups.

Improved access for trail riders across the country Stewart Bosworth Preparation of a revised code of conduct which will be the subject of consultation and inclusion in the 2018 AGM resolutions Dave Carling launch of a new forum on the soon-to-be-launched Trail website Continued work with conservation partnerships Wil Linssen leading and launching the new Trail website Designing and implementing the new membership joining process Creating the green roads map Carla Mckenzie, Michel Sabatier membership fee review and consultation Review of TRF shop merchandise Member benefits

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Steve Neville Archiving of valuable TRF Heritage material and lane use evidence Chris Barrable TRF accredited training Mario Costa-Sa Political lobbyist Communication with local group officers The survey results will be discussed at a future board meeting and the full survey results circulated to the group officers .

In concluding the membership report, I would like to acknowledge the work and dedication of the TRF membership secretary Sharon Connor (above). On behalf of the members, thank you for all your work for the organisation across 2017; we are fortunate to have you on the team.

I wish everyone a happy and prosperous new year and just a small reminder that TRF member Steve Burbidge is organising ‘The Great Christmas Escape’ to the abandoned village of Imber on the 28th December.

Trail riders from across the country will gather in Andover to raise funds for Mencap’s senior gateway club and Rotary International; details can be found on Facebook.

Competition – Trailrider and Horserider The 2019 membership card photo prize will be awarded to the member who provides a photo judged to best demonstrate the relationship between the TRF and the equine world. As a ‘starter for ten’ Nick Robinson on his KTM on Salisbury plain! Please send your photos to: Membership@trf.org The prize is a year’s free membership of the TRF and a TRF ride shirt.

Philip Lee Harvey, Herts TRF member and award winning world-class photographer has agreed to judge the competition. The final 12 photos will be put to the membership vote.

Philip has been riding bikes since the age of 7, competing in school boy trials, he now trail rides a WR 450.

Life Members The following members have been with the TRF for over 25 years. Thank you gentlemen for your support of the TRF. In recognition of your 25 years of membership, the organisation grants you ‘Life Membership’ and no more subs to pay.

Andy Peers – West Midlands Russel Tyner – Southern Andrew Rigg – Manchester Jim Robinson – High Peak and Potteries Damon Northeast – Gloucester Jeff Hewitt - Cornwall

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WHITE

FLUO YELLOW

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FLIP FS-606 HELMET WWW.ACERBIS.IT ukinfo@acerbis.it - 0044 1582491076

Technical Directorate Report Update December 2017 from John Vannuffel TRF mEmbERs can take pride in their achievements for 2017. Your support for the Fellowship has enabled some 32 green roads to be saved from unjust restriction. Further to this, the 32 green roads saved by TRF in 2016, remain open and well managed.

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The manner in which TRF secured justice has provided objective evidence to protect the public interest. The ETRO on Hexham Lane produced the following findings. Unsurprisingly, so-called “essential traffic” for access and land management caused substantially more

damage than the low-impact use by motorcycles. That objective evidence is a major blow to those who maintain the absurd position that “non-essential” trail riding traffic is a major cause of damage to green roads.

TRF success in a case will deliver benefits across the country, not just for the local interest of the area in which the green road at issue is situated. Oakridge Lane is an illustration of this, with the ruling affording protection to all UCRs. The principle also applies where TRF does not perform well. An ill-advised Voluntary Restraint or failure to seek or support a justified temp TRO, can have adverse effects elsewhere. The likelihood of such mistakes is reduced by using an approach which respects the members’ chosen bylaws and structure, such that TRF acts as the one body that it now is, instead of the fragmented collection of bodies it used to be.

In two years – nine out of ten high-court cases won, five firsts in the field of traffic law, sixty-four green roads saved.

That is a big achievement for a relatively small organisation and is what has been required to (almost) stand still. TRF still has slightly less access than it did two years ago.

TRF’s performance is catching up in the Peaks, yet we still lag behind where we should be ahead – as we are in every part of the country apart from the Peaks.

Quantity of mileage aside, TRF activity is a major factor in delivering, for the wider public interest, a green-road network that is of much better quality than it was two years ago. For TRF to do more than almost stand still, more resources are required. The primary requirement is for funds, followed by volunteer activity.

Trail Magazine makes a welcome return at significant expense. That expense cannot be accommodated within the existing level of Technical Directorate activity. TRF does need Trail, both as a tool to inform members and as a tool to influence stakeholders. The quality of Trail and TRF media is proportional to TRF’s success. They add considerable value to TRF’s good work. Fixing a road is one thing. Fixing a road and showcasing that achievement takes it to another level.

Improved success for the year ahead is dependent on resourcing three must-haves: The current level of TRF technical activity

that is required to stand still Trail magazine A substantially increased level of TRF activity to get far ahead of those attacking the public interest At present we are only securing sufficient resources to cover the first of those must-haves.

The membership will be afforded opportunity at the AGM to choose to resource all three must-haves.

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Archiving the Archives Heritage Director, Stephen Neville THE TRF IS now 48 years old. Formed in 1970, following the threats posed to green lane (road) motorcycling, a group of stalwarts started a group in Hertfordshire at a small pub called the Valiant Trooper.

For my part my interest in trail riding goes back to the late 1970s. Having done the 250/500 road bike experience I was getting bored with tarred road roading and was looking for something else. I went for a ride around Dave Taylor’s Trail Park near Dartford. This was great fun but I wanted to do it in the real countryside, legally. I found out about the TRF in a magazine article and then went along to a meeting of the then South East Group. The rest is, as they say, history.

I’ve been active on rights of way in Kent for over 30 years and done a three-year spell as National Rights of Way Officer in the mid-1990s.

Over that time I’ve written hundreds if not thousands of letters and articles to all and sundry. Each time I’d make a copy and pop it in the ring binder whilst the original went to its destination. Eventually a reply would come

back and that too went into the archive. Tonnes of government and local authority guidance would appear in the post, which was digested, regurgitated (sic) and again filed away. As my study filled up, the older ring binders would be consigned to the loft.

Now at the end of 2017 and after 21 years in our house we are hoping to move slightly further away from the chaos of NW Kent, SE London and the Dartford river crossing, into the High Weald AONB; specifically Heathfield.

So when I started to declutter the loft I found I had almost 20 lever arches and ring binders full of TRF and green road paperwork to deal with. What to do?

I was not going to just transfer these to the new loft so I decided to scan them. The problem transpired that commercial scanners wanted 10p per page plus VAT. I tried this for 277 pages scanned to PDF but they were not searchable. Also I must have had 10,000 pages to scan in total! Too expensive by far! It was possible to OCR (optical character recognition) these files but that was a separate step. After

The threat risk posed by careless use of social media and behaviour THE TRF IS now approaching 5000 members, by any measure that is a sizeable organisation. My first task as a director was to look at generating a governance framework within which the TRF would operate.

As an organisation representing a growing membership and increasingly working with others, including professional bodies such as the police, local authorities and regulatory bodies, the TRF needs to be able to present itself as a professional, self-governing organisation, with a culture and behaviours that are consistent with its aims and values.

The aim of the TRF is to conserve the green road network for motorcyclists. In

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order to achieve this and as a responsible organisation, the TRF operates to a vision or set of values. These reflect the culture of the organisation and of the membership. They are demonstrated through a set of standards of behaviour.

The proposed framework contains reference to a decision model and an approach which will be taken by directors in respect of all future decision-making.

So what does it mean for you as a member?

Membership of the TRF attracts benefits and entitlements. These extend to insurance

discussing this with some of the other Directors and friends in the Kent TRF I realised I’d best do it myself. My Epson printer has an auto-feed scanner but its slow and only single sided. How much was a more complex and faster scanner?

Surely professional ones cost thousands?

I discovered the answer lay in the amazing Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 for a mere £300.

This little machine, once set up, devours paper at an amazing rate and sends a fully searchable PDF file to the computer. Not only have I scanned thousands of pages from my cover for events, discounts negotiated with suppliers and the very best legal knowledge and advice in respect of rights of road access.

However, one must not forget that membership brings responsibility and accountability in respect of the actions of members if they create a level of threat or risk of harm to the TRF. Threat, risk and harm can be created and impact on an organisation in a number of ways including reputational risk.

The growth in social media is a good example. The vast majority of our members use it and post material on it responsibly. There is often a direct link with the activity or language and with the individual posting or those being captured on film being a member of the TRF (a sticker on a motorcycle, the post title itself, speech etc). Activity and language posted on a social media site can be shared across other

own letters but I’ve also started scanning copies of Trail since the early 1980s.

I also was given some of Norman Smith’s files and the OCR has made a reasonable job of deciphering the somewhat primitive typeface of the 1950s and 60s typewriters then in use; not to mention the tissue-like, carbon copy paper.

So is this of any use? Well, I hope so. Using a modern computer’s indexing capability it is possible to search out things like “TRO” and “Pilgrims Way” and to discover many of the challenges faced were similar to the ones we have today. We just call them different things.

However the archiving project is ongoing.

I have asked for five boxes of documents, which I believe belonged to Brian Thompson, to be taken out of the archive where they have been since about 2000 and sent to me. My aim is to put them in some sort of order and scan to PDF with full OCR and indexing. These files will be available to TRF members for rights of road research and general interest.

If they don’t go back into the archive we will save £60 per year in storage costs. sites and this has the potential on occasions to be viewed by any number of individuals both inside and outside of the TRF. Inappropriate or irresponsible posts which can be used to demonstrate that members are using the green road network and displaying behaviours which are contrary to the vision, values and aims of the TRF create a level of threat risk and harm which in some cases call into question the suitability of ongoing membership for some individuals.

Whilst we all live to ride our motorcycles and utilise the green road network, we cannot ignore our responsibilities in this regard and if we do, then we must account for it, in the event of the threat risk or harm being identified.

Stewart Bosworth TRF Director - Governance

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Finance Report Michael Sabatier, Finance Director In summary, the TRF financial situation is good and has improved since last year.

For the full year from 01/09/2016 to 31/08/2017 income has increased by 10% to £180K in comparison with the last financial year Membership costs per member (everything except RoR) have decreased slightly by 7% to £20/member We have spent £98k or 54% of our costs on Right of Roads. In fact, we spent £125k and recovered £27k of legal costs.

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We have made a small surplus of £1.4k Our total reserves have slightly increased to £191k Donations to the “fighting fund” have reduced a lot to £2.5k for the year The full accounts for 2016-17 will be published before the upcoming AGM and the directors are currently finalising the budgets for next year.

All will be revealed.

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TRF GROUPS LIST

1 Cornwall 2 Devon 3 Somerset 4 Dorset 5 Isle of Wight 6 Southern 7 Axe Vale 8 Bristol 9 Wiltshire 10 Central Bristol 11 Loddon Vale 12 South London & Surrey 13 Sussex 14 Kent 15 Hertfordshire 16 Essex 17 Suffolk 18 Norfolk 19 Cambridge 20 Oxfordshire 21 Gloucestershire 22 South Wales 23 Mid Wales 24 North Wales 25 South East Wales 26 Worcestershire 27 Shropshire 28 West Midlands 29 West Anglia 30 East Midlands 31 Peak District 32 High Peak & Potteries 33 Derbyshire & South Yorks 34 Lincolnshire 35 East Yorkshire 36 Manchester 37 Lancashire 38 Ribble Valley 39 West Yorkshire 40 Cumbria & Craven 41 Teeside & North Yorkshire 42 Northumbria 43 Tyne/Wear Teasdale 44 Herefordshire

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1 CORNWALL Regional Rep: Phillip Joyce p.joyce@cornwalltrf.org.uk / www.cornwalltrf.org.uk / 07787 522674 / Meet 3rd Thursday of the month, 8pm, The Hawkins Arms, Zelah, Cornwall, TR4 9HU 2 DEVON Regional Rep: John Heal johnheal@blueyonder.co.uk /www.trfdevon.org.uk / 01626 366 860 / Meet 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7:30pm, The Dolphin Hotel (01626 832413), Station Road, Bovey Tracey, Devon, TQ13 9AL 3 SOMERSET Regional Rep: Colin Blackburn colin.blackburn2@btinternet.com / www.somersettrf.com / 01984 640987 / Meet 1st Thursday of the month at 7:30pm, The Maypole, Thurloxton, Taunton, TA2 8RF 4 DORSET Regional Rep: John Williamson wjwilliamson@btinternet.com / dorset-trf.org.uk / 01929 553640 / Meet 1st Tuesday of the month at 8pm, The Royal Oak Hotel, Bere Regis, Dorset, BH20 7HQ 5 ISLE OF WIGHT Regional Rep: Andy Hawkins 01462 811654 / Meet 1st Wednesday of the month at 8pm, The Eight Bells Inn, Carisbrooke, Newport, PO30 1NR 6 SOUTHERN Regional Rep: Ben Plummer twine007@me.com / 07769 652656 / www.southerntrf.org.uk/forum / Meet 3rd Wednesday of the month at 8pm, Southampton and District MCC, Cranbury Centre, Cranbury Road, Eastleigh, Hants, SO50 5HT 7 AXE VALE Regional Rep: David Clegg dccjej@talktalk.net Meet please contact Group Rep via email. Any suggestions welcomed.

8 BRISTOL Regional Rep: Glen Summers - mail@trfbristol.org.uk / www.trfbristol.org.uk / 01454 619246 Meet 4th Monday of the month at 8pm, The Portcullis, 130 High Street, Staple Hill, BS16 5HH

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9 WILTSHIRE Regional Rep: Darth Speede @darths.plus.com / www.wiltshiretrf.co.uk Wiltshire TRF Facebook / 07840-352996 / Meet 3rd Tuesday of the month at 8pm, Attic Bar, Full Moon Pub, North Street, Stokes Croft BS1 3PR 10 CENTRAL BRISTOL Regional Rep: Lucy Wishart lucywishart@outlook.com / www.centralbristoltrf.org Central Bristol Facebook / 07821 652801 / Meet 3rd Tuesday of the month at 8pm Attic Bar, Full Moon Pub, 1 North Street, Stokes Croft BS1 3PR 11 LODDON VALE Regional Rep: Ian Neilson joinus@lvtrf.co.uk www.lvtrf.co.uk Meet 2nd Tuesday of the month at 8pm The Swan at Three Mile Cross, Basingstoke Road, Three Mile Cross, Reading, Berkshire, RG7 1AT 12 SOUTH LONDON & SURREY Regional Rep: Tony Rowlands - surreytrf@gmail.com / www.surreytrf.org.uk / 07772 333328 / Meet 4th Tuesday of the month at 8:30pm Ripley British Legion, 25 Rose Lane, Ripley, Woking, Surrey, GU23 6NE 13 SUSSEX Regional Rep: Andy Wardrobe - sussex@trf.org.uk / www.sussextrf.co.uk / 07414 529298 Meet last Thursday of the month at 8pm Ashington Social Club, Mill Lane, Ashington, RH20 3BX 14 KENT Regional Rep: Rod Leeming - Rod.leeming1@btinternet.com / www.trfkent.org.uk / 07875 141834 /Meet 2nd Tuesday of the month at 8:00pm The Castle Hotel, High St. Eynsford, Kent DA4 0AB. 15 HERTFORDSHIRE Regional Rep: Peter Rawl - join@hertstrf.org.uk / www.hertstrf.org.uk / Herts TRF Facebook 07958 506066 / Meet 2nd Wednesday of the month at 8:30pm Various venues. Schedule on Facebook 16 ESSEX Regional Rep: Graham Coker graham@cokerg.freeserve.co.uk / Essex TRF Facebook / 07789 922537 / Meet 1st Wednesday of the month at 8pm The Crown, Sandon, Chelmsford, Essex CM2 7SH 17 SUFFOLK Regional Rep: Colin Poutney -vraptor@ntlworld.com / 07981 116310 / Meet first Monday of the month at 8pm The Three Kings, Fornham All Saints, Bury St Edmunds, IP28 6LA 18 NORFOLK Regional Rep: Rupert Trigg info@norfolktrf.org.uk www.norfolktrf.org.uk / Norfolk TRF Facebook / 07899 918276 / Meet 2nd Wednesday of the month 7:30pm The White Horse, Trowse, Norwich NR14 8ST 19 CAMBRIDGE Regional Rep: Tony Lacey newmembers@cambstrf.org.uk www.cambstrf.org.uk Cambridge TRF Facebook / 07753 820 520 / Meet 3rd Thursday of the month at 8pm, St Ives Outdoor Leisure Centre, California Road, St Ives, PE27 6SJ 20 OXFORDSHIRE Regional Rep: Martin Welch martin@braysdene.co.uk / Oxford TRF Facebook / www.oxford-trf.co.uk / Meet 3rd Thursday of the month at 8pm, The Gladiator Sport & Social Club, 263 Iffley Road, Oxford OX4 1SJ 21 GLOUCESTERSHIRE Regional Rep: James Osborne hello@trfglos.org.uk / www.trfglos.org.uk / Gloucestershire TRF Facebook 01531 822728 / Meet 1st Wed of the month at 8pm, The Wagon Works Club, Tuffley Avenue, Gloucester GL1 5NS 22 SOUTH WALES Regional Rep: Christian James Christian@swtrf.org.uk / 01446 410073 / Meet 1st Thursday of the month at 8pm, Ty Nant Inn, Morganstown, Nr Radyr, Morganstown, CF15 8LB 23 MID WALES Regional Rep: Marianne Walford marianne@trailrides-wales.com / www.facebook.com/ groups/35441996823628401686 430522 / Meet monthly, variable date and venue. Contact rep or check Facebook page.

24 NORTH WALES Regional Rep: Neil “Timpo” Thompson timpo@bikerider.com / 07980 555874 / Meet 1st Wednesday of the month at 8pm, The Burntwood, 26 Burntwood Road, Buckley, Clwyd, CH7 3EN 25 SOUTH EAST WALES Regional Rep: Gareth Watts wattsatllan@aol.com / 07791149494 / Meet 1st Wednesday of the month at 8pm, Hafodryns Hotel, Hafodyrynys, Crumlin, Caerphilly, NP11 5BE 26 WORCESTERSHIRE Regional Rep: David Walters - 07767 204730 / Meet 1st Tuesday of the month at 8pm, White Hart, Fernhill Heath, Worcestershire WR3 8RP

27 SHROPSHIRE Regional Rep: Mike Price - alwynmike@hotmail.com 07718 902682 No regular meeting place... yet.

Phone unattended for up to 2 weeks at a time so please TXT if no answer.

28 WEST MIDLANDS Regional Rep: Steve Whetton -whettonfamily@blueyonder.co.uk / www.westmidlandstrf.co.uk / 01527 451089 / Meet 1st & 3rd Wednesday of the month at 8pm Wilmcote Working Mens Club, Wilmcote, Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire CV37 9XX 29 WEST ANGLIA Regional Rep: Geoff Groom ggroom1@btinternet.com / 07929 275465 / Meet 1st & 3rd Thursday of the month at 8:30pm Scott Bader Social Club (Opposite the parish church), Wollaston, Nr Wellingborough, Northants NN29 7RJ 30 EAST MIDLANDS Regional Rep: Cliff Austen www.emtrf.co.uk / 07789 483600 / Meet 2nd Wednesday of the month at 8pm Clock Warehouse, London Road, Shardlow, Derby DE72 2GL 31 PEAK DISTRICT Regional Rep: Alan Gilmore a.gilmore_home@outlook.com / 07807 818542 / Meet 1st Thursday of the month at 8pm Fisherman’s Rest, Belper DE56 2JF 32 HIGH PEAK AND POTTERIES Regional Rep: Russ Unwin russ.u@hotmail.com / 07968 770629 / Meet 2nd Thursday of the month at 8pm The Black Horse, Endon, Stoke-on-Trent ST9 9BA 33 DERBYSHIRE & SOUTH YORKSHIRE Regional Rep: Bob Morley - derbysandsyorks.trf@hotmail.co.uk / 07836 680323 / Meet 2nd Monday of the month at 7.30pm, The Royal Oak, High Street, Barlborough, S43 4EU 34 LINCOLNSHIRE Regional Rep: Nev Cooke - cookie60@btinternet.com / 07845 067047 / Meet 2nd Tuesday of the month 7:30pm, Woodys, Woodland Waters, Willoughby Road, Ancaster, Grantham NG32 3RT 35 EAST YORKSHIRE Regional Rep: Julian Mamo julian.mamo1@googlemail.com / 07583 694431 / Meet 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7.30pm, The Londesborough Arms, 44 High Street, Market Weighton, York, YO43 3AH 36 MANCHESTER Regional Rep: Phil Kinder philmancunian@googlemail.com / 07809647293 / Meet 4th Monday of the month at 8:30pm, Sycamore Inn, 4 Stamford Square, Ashton under Lyne, OL6 6QX 37 LANCASHIRE Regional Rep: Keith Westley - 01704 893215 Meet 1st Tuesday of the month at 8.00pm, Rigbye Arms, 2 Whittle Lane, High Moor, Wrightinton WN6 9QB 38 RIBBLE VALLEY Regional Rep: John Sinnett trfribblevalley@gmail.com / www.trfribblevalley.co.uk / Ribble Valley TRF Facebook / 07980 558405 / Meet 2nd Tuesday of the month at 8pm, The Petre Arms, Whalley Rd, Langho, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB6 8AB 39 WEST YORKSHIRE Regional Rep: Paul Milner chair@wytrf.org.uk www.wytrf.org.uk / 07901 381 629 Meet 1st Thursday of the month at 7:30pm, Cue Gardens, Stadium Mills, Stadium Rd, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD6 1BJ 40 CUMBRIA & CRAVEN Regional Rep: Steve Stout - 07716 956097 / sstout17@gmail.com Regional Rep: Nigel Summers nigel_summers@sky.com / Meet 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7:30pm, Cross Keys Inn, Milnethorpe LA7 7AB, 01539 562115 41 TEESSIDE & NORTH YORKSHIRE Regional Rep: Leo Crone - leocronektm1190r@outlook.com / 01325 788509 / Meet 3rd Wednesday of the month at 7:30pm, The Lord Nelson, Thirsk YO7 1AQ 42 NORTHUMBRIA Regional Rep: Greg Villalobos ride@northumbriatrf.org.uk / www.northumbriatrf.org.uk Northumbria TRF Facebook / Meet 1st Wednesday of the month at 7:30pm The Staffs Club, Blaydon, NE21 4JB 43 TYNE & WEAR TEESDALE Regional Rep: Paul Smith smip694@aol.com / 07980 144446 / Meet 4th Tuesday of the month at 7:30pm, The Golden Jubilee Pub, Yarm TS15 9XN 44 HEREFORDSHIRE Regional Rep: Graham Hutton graham.hutton671@btinternet.com / 07581 023924 / Meet 1st Tuesday of the month at 8pm, New Inn, Fownhope, Herefordshire HR1 4PF

Morocco Bound Sally and John Pritchard let the plane take the strain with the Fly and Ride option Having wResTled Two heavily laden big bikes (additionally encumbered by an ill-considered carpet purchase) around Morocco some years ago, we had always had a hankering to return on our “proper” trail bikes to better explore the network of unmade roads and tracks that weave through the country connecting remote settlements. over the last 30-odd years we’ve explored much of england and wales on day rides but the thought of going on a true trail riding journey appealed hugely; something different.

However, the prospect of two 24-hour ferry crossings and two trips across spain doing 60 mph on a plank-like seat was enough to deter us until this year, when a chance encounter led us to another option. what if the trail bikes were to be transported by road to southern spain, whereupon we could fly in to collect them? it needed to be cheap, effective, simple and secure. if achievable it would save us at least six days of annual leave, money, and importantly our sanity. Together with two aspiring trail riders al and Colin (who’d never done it before in their lives), we stumbled upon Rob Jones of Fly and Ride. a man who counts his passions in life as motorcycles and trucks, it isn’t surprising that he moves bikes for a living. what’s more, he moves them safely, for a reasonable price, and takes them to Malaga, just 70-odd miles from the popular gateway to Morocco at algeciras.

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So transport all booked, we had to think about which bikes to take. Sticking to lifelong principles of dull common sense and acknowledging an ability for trail riding that doesn’t extend beyond a desire to survive the day, I chose my CRF 250 Honda. Perfecto. Hubby John followed suit with his CRF – the 1000 Africa Twin. Rather than his Beta Alp 4.0?

Really? The wisdom of his choice pales against the choices of our trail-riding newbies: Al took a Honda CBX500 (admittedly with knobbly tyres) and Colin chose the bike on which he usually commutes up the M5 every day, his NC700 Honda complete with a soft top box, some worryingly slick looking tyres, but admittedly a very large bash plate.

Experienced campaigners, eat your hearts out. I don’t think the BMW Explorer boys on the Moroccan ferry could believe our selection, but it’s a question of use what you’ve got.

The next challenge was where to go. There are of course many experts and forums on the topic, but we went with the advice of Messieurs Michelin and a map that showed almost none of the roads we used, a variety of sat navs (which bravely attempted to direct us along roads albeit with about 500 m accuracy), and the most excellent words of Chris Scott and his 2013 book Morocco Overland. (The 2017 edition came out the day after we flew to Spain. Hey ho.)

Our route took us south to the Middle and High Atlas mountains, although you would do just as well heading further south for the sands of the Sahara. With nearly all minor roads remaining unsealed, it isn’t difficult to “warm up” to the challenge of some of the more ambitious routes, and you can bank on fuel, thick strong coffee, and the ubiquitous tagine being available in pretty much every settlement. If you can’t see any fuel, just ask the locals for “essence”; they don’t run their mopeds and Dockers on donkey poo, and

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are always interested and keen to help.

If the impression given by Morocco is one of sunshine and sand, it falls a long way short of the real diversity of weather and terrain. October is a great month to visit, with the hottest places slipping below 30 degrees C and the cooler ones seeing us reaching for the thermals and waterproofs. We enjoyed the cedar forest and volcanic landscape of leafy Ifrane, with its countless tracks thoughtfully marked out in coloured paint. Morocco being full of surprises, we learned that this is a ski resort in the winter and all-year-round boasts vast numbers of macaques plentiful enough to provide regular sightings as we rode along.

Amazingly, the road bikes, especially Colin’s commuter, coped really well with the sandy and rocky terrain, and all the bikes were unphased by the challenge of running slowly all day at temperatures in the 30s.

One of our tick boxes was to ride the famous Cirque de Jaffar. Although the descent to the valley floor is now largely smoothed, the valley floor itself remains a rocky jumble to navigate with the ascent out difficult to find. We ended up riding through the “Jaws of Jaffar”, an extraordinary narrow gorge, before making a steep climb up to the spectacular landscape above. It might not be quite on the scale of the Grand Canyon but we reckoned it came close and what’s more, we had it to ourselves.

The following day saw us heading for the High Atlas and the village of Imilchil. The day started at 8.00am with a search for breakfast, which proved largely fruitless bar the discovery of a few packets of fondant fancies in a garage, but we set off anyway. Sunny and warm to start with, the clouds gathered as we ascended, and by midday we were

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pleased to be on track to reach Imilchil by nightfall. Flash floods are a feature of the area and we nervously progressed through growing amounts of debris, washed down from the surrounding hills, to find that the road had been washed away leaving a massive drop down to the river below. No signs, no tape, just a massive drop. Circumnavigation skills exceeded all others and we embarked on a diversion of immense proportions in failing light. With little time to stop, we rode on to find extraordinary floods across washed out roads, rocky river beds concealed by bubbling water, and queues of hapless travellers staring at the torrent. While river crossings hold relatively little fear for “real” trail bikes, we did wonder exactly where the air box breather was on the two road-going Hondas. Quite amazingly, nothing missed a beat and we hauled into Imilchil in time to see the sun setting over the horizon. Spurred on by adrenaline, petrol (still no food) and a desire to once more be warm and dry, we descended from the mountains in the dark to find what we recognised as a hotel around 11.00pm. Sadly the restaurant was shut but the nightclub was open. Here, surrounded by a few businessmen, considerably more hookers and a horrendous noise, we gratefully sank several bottles of the local beer. A rare find in Morocco and pricey. However, good effective value when all you’ve eaten since 8.00am is a couple of fondant fancies. Roll on breakfast.

A mixture of tarmac and gravelly tracks took us back to Tangier and the ferry to Spain.

All in all a grand trip. It exceeded expectations for sights, adventures and fun, but above all else it truly underlined the amazing qualities of modern motorcycles and how you don’t need a trail bike to trail ride!

Respect to Al and Colin, and thanks to Rob Jones of Fly and Ride (www.flyandride.co.uk) for making it possible. We would recommend it to anyone.

Winter 2017 Trail 23

A Quick Leg Over a...

Gas Gas 250 Contact

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Phil Kinder assesses the potential of the gasser as a trail iron. Phil has been the chairman of the Manchester group since it was started over ten years ago and has a background in enduro, hare and hounds, and Classic Trials. Current rides include a KTM 640 Adventure and a honda Transalp, and he is a regular run leader. As if that wasn’t enough, Phil uses a mountain bike to keep fit.

The firsT Thing you notice about the gas gas Contact is its size, or lack of it. it’s not like your typical trail/trials hybrid, for instance a Beta Alp 200 or an early gas gas Pampera 250. no, this is basically a trials bike that we are dealing with here. A fully roadlegal one with a magic button and a bigger tank. To the untrained eye it looks just like any other pro trials bike here at gas gas Motors in Buxton. The very polite and chatty proprietor, shirty as he’s known, gives me a quick run-down on the bike and then fills it with fuel. Tap on, choke out, quick stab on the button, and it starts first time from cold and ticks over nicely. shutters open, choke off and i am pleasantly on my way. setting off on the road for the lanes of the Peak District nearby, the engine pulls smoothly through the gears and all the controls feel nice and light, just as you would expect. The switchgear for lights, indicators and horn are all very well laid out and easy to use, and the little digital speedo is clear to read. The brakes feel wellbalanced and precise, and the Mitas trials tyres feel good on the wet road. The only thing i didn’t like was changing gear whilst sitting. While going up through the gearbox, sitting on the seat wasn’t the easiest thing in the world to do, particularly with motocross boots on and knee braces. however, this was the only niggle and could just have been down to my choice of boots and my six-foot height.

After meeting up with my pal Wayne on his Dr350 just down the road, we headed off onto some of Derbyshire’s finest trails. first off, Macclesfield Old road. standing up on the pegs over the rough stuff, the bike performed exactly as i expected it to, rolling with ease over loose, rounded, slippery rocks as though they weren’t there. next a little bit of roadwork near the Cat and fiddle, then on to another iconic lane, Cumberland Cottage. setting off from north to south down the lane, we were both stunned as a herd of wild

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deer leapt across the trail in front of us. There must have been about 15 in total, appearing as if from nowhere and then vanishing into the distance. Stopping to take a few photos gave me the opportunity to ride the bike repeatedly over some of the more technical sections of the trail. I found it to be effortless both up and down hill, on everything from loose rocks to deep mud, off-cambered bankings to high-angled steps – even when I thought I’d misjudged it or got it wrong, the bike thought differently and just “did it”, with very little rider input.

A little more tarmac, then through the river at Clough Brook, with slippery, biggish rocks that you can’t see and fast flowing, very cold water. The gasser could easily be compared to an enduro bike, but only once you’re up on the pegs and “on it”. Next, a little more road work at speed, which highlighted the big gap from fourth to fifth and sixth gear, not really a massive problem just something that needs getting used to. On to another famous trail down to Three Shires Head – the bike makes good pace on technical lanes like this due to its extremely light weight (70 kg) and precise geometry. It goes exactly where you want it to, and even if it ends up going where you don’t want it to it gets out of there with very little fuss. The suspension feels plush but firm with it and well damped, and far more capable than a trail ride should ever demand.

A quick brew now at Flash Bar Cafe and then we head back on the road towards Buxton. The seat is marginally more comfortable than a fakir’s bed by now and I’m wondering how long it will be before it runs out of the fuel almost invisibly tucked away in its 3.4 litre tank. Dropping down into the charming Victorian town I wave Wayne off, who has selflessly taken photos in the rain all day – big thank you, Wayne – and head back to Gas Gas Motors UK. Splutter. The music stops as the fuel hits reserve, precisely

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40 km to reserve, which is about another thimbleful at a guess. This sees me emptying the fuel can I’ve been carrying in my backpack all day. To be fair that was further than I expected and much further than a standard trials bike tank would take you.

Returning the bike I have a good chat with John Shirt Junior, the head honcho at Gas Gas UK. He listens to my comments and adds that he expected as much due to the nature of trials bikes in general, and the fact that this isn’t a “hybrid” as such. No, it’s a trials bike with electric start, indicators, horn and a “seat”. I suppose that when you bear in mind this bike was straight out of the crate with zero miles (or kms) on the clock and hadn’t really been set up as such never mind run in, it performed very well indeed and gave no trouble.

Geographically not everyone can just pop out to the importers in Buxton to buy a Gas Gas, or get parts or work done, but there is a network of 38 approved dealers up and down the country, and let’s face it they are pretty established in the trials world.

Summing up, you could have a lot of fun trail-riding on this bike, it will go places an enduro or trail bike won’t, and you don’t have to be a trials rider to ride it. It is quiet, gentle, inoffensive and very low impact, and it has a known, reliable engine that’s been powering Spanish trials machines for years at all levels. Its fuel range isn’t massive and its speed on the road is restricted somewhat by its gearing, about 40 mph I would say (that was in the running-in period), but you could alter that, particularly if you had no intention of doing competition trials on it.

Both beginners and the more experienced alike could benefit from the ability of this bike, but perhaps in different ways. My only concern for novices is that the “standing up, elbows out” stance is often the hardest thing to grasp, and this bike doesn’t really work unless you’re up on the pegs and moving your weight around naturally, with a certain amount of confidence. It’s very precise and quite powerful. Also, as some will already know, on all modern trials bikes the gear lever is a good way away from the foot peg to keep it from inadvertent interference. This means taking your foot off the peg to change gear is essential when both sitting and standing – will a beginner be comfortable with

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that on and off-road? Certainly it will take some getting used to, but then those shorter of leg would find the low height and light weight of the bike a massive advantage off-road, so I suppose it’s all about what’s most important to the individual. And at the end of the day you get used to VITAL STATS things being different, and some want to be different.

Engine type: Single-cylinder, Good experienced feet-up riders would really be liquid-cooled 2 stroke able to get the most out of this bike and hone their Capacity: 247.7cc (72.5 x 60mm) enduro bike skills to boot, not to mention be able to Gearbox: 6-speed Clutch: Hydraulically operated enter a local trial competitively. Again, it has some diaphragm type limits but also many advantages.

Starter: Electric For me, as a trail bike it’s a great package for anyone Fuel capacity: 3.4 litres (0.75 gal) but it is, shall we say, “not conventional”. If you’re the Wheelbase: 1320mm type that likes to moan about little niggles, then the Seat height: 660mm sitting-down ergonomics and tiny fuel tank won’t Dry weight: 69.5 kg (153 lbs) SRP: £5199.99 plus OTR suit you, nor will the fact that you couldn’t attach a Contact: GAS GAS Motos Ltd tool bag or extra lights. However, if you’re a little 33 Harpur Hill Business Park more adventurous and like to be different, this bike Buxton, Derbyshire SK17 9JL will stand out – and so will you amongst the Tel: +44 1298 766813 still-rising sea of orange.

We are on the hunt! for the Raffle, 2018!

Raising much needed funds for two brilliant causes

Freewheelers Emergency Voluntary Service and The TRF Fighting Fund We are looking for companies and individuals to donate prizes for the draw at our wonderful event.

Please contact Carla McKenzie if you can help, and lets ‘Rev It’ for the 2018 Wessex Wanderer Raffle! carla.m@trf.org.uk Further information about the Freewheelers can be found at: www.freewheelers.org.uk

The 2017 Zero-FX seen here in sunny California

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Electric Reality?

The Past, Present & Possible Future of Electric Dual Sport Riding by long-term TRF member and international journo Paul Blezard UNLESS YOU’VE BEEN living in a cave for the past few years, you must be aware of the existence of electric scooters, motorcycles and mountain bikes and have probably even heard of Zero’s dirt-friendly FX and DS models and KTM’s FreerideE. But you might be surprised how long electric vehicles have been around and what some people have already achieved with them, on road, track and dirt. For example, the first electric two-wheeler was designed before 1900 and for the first decade of the twentieth century electric cars outsold petrol-powered ones.

I first rode electric powered two wheelers (ePTWs) back in the 1990s although I didn’t ride an electric dirt bike until I got my hands on a Swiss-built Quantya in 2008. The following year five Quantyas raced head-to-head against five Zeroes in the first all-electric motocross race in Las Vegas – Quantyas came first and second. Zero got their revenge a few months later when a single Zero MX beat four Quantyas and several 450cc petrol-powered machines to win an event in France.

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2009 was also the year of the first electric TT race (won by a British-built Agni) and in 2010 there were Zeroes and Quantyas demonstrated alongside a vast range of all-electric vehicles in a cordoned-off Mall in front of Buckingham Palace. I also rode the first Mavizen electric production racer, several electric scooters and a Zero supermoto during the first of the Belgian ‘Clean Week’ electric events at the Zolder former F1 circuit in the Spring of 2010.

The 2011 Trade Expo at the NEC had an ‘Electric Zone’ for the first time and there were Quantyas available to ride, along with many other ePTWs. One dirt legend who tried one was ‘Big Arfur’ Browning, the ageless scrambler. With the help of Arthur, the Quantya importer was able to put on an all-electric Quantya race up the famous Red Marley hill climb a few weeks later, in April 2011.

The Spring of 2011 was also when I first visited Zero’s HQ in Scotts Valley, California and had the pleasure of riding their full range of five models on road and dirt. I tried the street-legal versions of their trail bikes on a trail through the woods and their electric MX model on a miniature motocross circuit. Suffice it to say that I wore myself out before the batteries ran flat and the Zero team performed an impressive series of very quick battery swaps to keep the MX machines running all day long.

Back in London, I borrowed a 2009 Zero DS to help Long Way Round cameraman Claudio Von Planta explain, in a ‘webinar’ how he had shot much of the footage for his Bultaco’s Brinco, a kind of ‘mountain bike on steroids’

Boris Johnson, then Mayor of London had a quick spin on the Quantya and Zero

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‘Big Arfur’ Browning took this Quantya Evo1 to the top of the legendary Red Marley hill climb in April 2011

Blez seen here riding a Zero DS out on the trail

superb film Racing Green Endurance, a documentary shot from the back of motorcycles, including from a Zero, while in the San Francisco area. I was the official photographer at the launch of the new electric branch of the Motorcycle Industry Association at GLA HQ in June 2011, and there we had six electric scooters and motorcycles including a Quantya and two Zeroes lined up in front of Tower Bridge for the occasion. As a surprise bonus, Boris Johnson, then Mayor of London, turned up unexpectedly and was persuaded to have a quick spin on both the Quantya and a Zero. At the Silverstone MotoGP that year I discovered that the Pramac MotoGP team were using Quantyas instead of the traditional petrol-powered paddock bikes.

The 2012 London show, at Excel, provided any visitor with the chance to try an electric trail bike when Quantyas were used in the Moto Gymkhana ‘in and out of the cones’ competition within the main exhibition area. Good fun, fume-free and almost silent.

Quantya also had a whole series of ‘Quantyaparks’ on the Continent, but in a strange deal they got sold to Zero’s US rival Brammo and were renamed ‘Brammoparks’ before disappearing. Brammo was bought by Polaris in January 2015, Polaris rebranded the Brammo Empulse as a Victory, then axed the Victory brand after purchasing Indian.

By the time I returned to the Zero factory in January 2015, the firm had dropped their off-road only MX model in favour of the heavier but street legal FX machine, although it retained the MX’s ability to swap both batteries in seconds. While in the area I also got the chance to ride the heavily modified 2012 Zero on which Terry Hershner had done an ‘Iron Butt’, covering more than a thousand miles in under 23 hours.

2015 also saw the long-awaited arrival of KTM’s FreerideE electric trail bike. I had the great pleasure of riding one at the UK launch, held, appropriately enough, at Stuart Rutter’s superb E-scape all-electric trail park in Cheshire, where he also keeps a fleet of

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Quantyas, OSETS and Kubergs. When launched, the FreerideE was lighter and more dirt-capable than the Zero FX, and available in both off-road only and street-legal versions, but had a smaller range. It has one big jerry-can-sized battery instead of the Zero’s pair of car battery sized ones, but it can also be swapped in well under a minute.

2015 was also the year in which, for my sins, I got heavily involved with helping to prepare Carla McKenzie for her John O’Groats to Land’s End (JOGLE) trail ride and shared with her my knowledge and enthusiasm for electric PTWs of all kinds. Carla had her first taste of electric motorcycling riding a KTM on the ‘pop up’ trail park at that year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed and a few weeks later we went to the all-electric day run by Stuart Rutter at Nantmawr Quarry, near Oswestry, where we both had our first ride on EM electric trials bikes. We also watched young kids on Kubergs, OSETs, and electric mini-BSAs and bold men racing KTM FreerideEs. Little did I know what mad electric plans Carla would soon be hatching…

In the autumn of 2015 I went to the EICMA show in Milan for the first time since 2011 and alongside a host of electric scooters from a dozen different marques, and children’s electric motorcycles from the likes of Beta and Torrot, I was surprised to discover a new Italian electric brand that I’d never heard of: Armotia. Armotia showed both a trailbike and a supermoto version of their new machine, and both came with two wheel drive, much easier with electric power than with the fluid drive to the front wheel of Yamaha’s Kids having trail fun on Osets

Czech company Kuberg’s Freerider, no relation to the KTM Freeride...

34 Trail Winter 2017

EICMA 2015 again, and the launch of Italian company Armotia’s 2WD trail bike

EICMA 2015 and EM launched a road-legal electric trail bike

pioneering 2-Trac 450. EM also launched a road-legal electric trail bike at the show.

Surprisingly, the Italian Tacita brand were not at Milan that year; they were the first company to enter an electric bike in a rally, way back in 2012!

In 2016 I made the acquaintance of two people who further widened my electric horizons, both using Zero Dual Sport machines. Andy Marsh is an Australia-based Irishman who contacted me via our mutual friend and ePTW guru Steve Labib. To cut a long story short, Andy borrowed a Zero DS from Streetbike of Halesowen and rode it to the Isle of Man for the electric TT, but went via his home town of Dublin both ways!

We met up at the TT and Andy had so much fun with the Zero that he bought his own as soon as he got back to Oz. He’s since set up an owner’s group and done some pioneering long group rides.

Trui Hanoulle is a tri-lingual and very bold Belgian woman who rode a 2015 Zero DS all the way from Ghent to Istanbul and back – 4,700 miles in all – completely on her own, including 50 miles of dirt tracks in northern Albania! The furthest she managed on a single charge was 273kms – that’s 170 miles – without running out!

In September 2016 I helped Carla McKenzie to borrow the same Zero DS from Streetbike that Andy Marsh had previously used, to ride to a conference in Dublin, and then rashly agreed to join her as far as Holyhead on a borrowed Energica Eva electric superbike. It turned into one hell of an adventure which there isn’t room to describe here. Let’s just say we both learned a lot from the experience and Carla’s enthusiasm for electric bikes grew rather than diminished as a result. Thus it was that last May she persuaded Jason at Streetbike to lend her his demo SR to ride to Manchester and back, via the Peak District, for a trade conference at which the bike was on display for two days. Carla mentioned our adventure briefly, in her report in the last issue of Trail, along with our visit

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to the inquiry at the Peak District National Park offices, but there are a few further things about our jaunt worth mentioning.

On the plus side, it was pleasing to discover that the road-tyre-shod SR was perfectly capable of coping with an easy green lane. On the down side, it was annoying for Steve Neville when his more trail-friendly Zero DS suddenly stopped charging half way through the first day of what was planned to be three days of electric riding. Apparently it’s a common problem with the built-in charger on the 2015 models and it was later cured with a straightforward replacement. Poor Steve’s problems multiplied after he trailered his DS back to Streetbike in Halesowen. He naturally accepted the offer of a test ride on their FX model, only to clip an oncoming car in the heavy rush-hour traffic, which resulted in a broken elbow! Carla deserves a medal for driving Steve’s car all the way back to Kent with her R1200GSA on Steve’s trailer, when she’d never towed anything in her life before.

Another plus point about our electric trip, thanks to Carla’s research, was charging the Zero (for free!) at some interesting and unusual places – at the Crich electric Tram village on the way up, and at the UK’s only cable car ride, at the Heights of Abraham, near Matlock Bath, on the way back. However, it was notable that even riding the SR in Eco mode for most of the way back to Halesowen from Matlock, it still used 80% of its ‘juice’ in not much more than sixty miles. That did include riding at 70mph down the A38 for about twenty miles, but it also included a lot of crawling through Friday afternoon rush hour traffic right across the West Midlands – we deliberately avoided using the M6 and M5.

Nevertheless, I know that Steve Neville and others have already enjoyed the best part of a day’s gentle trail riding on their Zeroes, and that the key to good distance on an electric bike is gentle use of the throttle and low speed – both of which are eminently compatible with green-laning. I also know that plenty of improvements are on the way – along with lots of new rivals.

In addition to the other marques already mentioned there is also Alta in California, whose full-on MXers have already beaten a lot of petrol motocross bikes in head-to-head competition. And Alta have just announced their first road-legal electric trail bike.

At the other end of the electric trailbike scale, there is the range of Brincos being made by the revered and revived Spanish marque, Bultaco. The Brinco is a sort of ‘mountain bike on steroids’ which was first launched in a ‘private land only’ R version, capable of 60kph (37mph) and then, in 2016, in fully homologated moped-class 28mph version. It’s great fun, and, at barely 40kgs, super-light by motorcycle standards, but personally, I am much more likely to buy a pedelec-class Haibike or Wisper full suspension electric mountain bike. I think the restriction to 250 watts of continuous power and 15mph of assisted speed is worth it for the lighter weight, the lack of licensing and above all, the right to use any bridleway just like a pushbike, not to mention all the old RUPPs that were wrongly re-classified as Restricted Byways. Electric mountain bikes provide old trail riders like me with our revenge for the NERC Act, but they deserve an entire article of their own!

Bringing things right up to date, Kuberg have a full-sized adult trials bike in development, which will be designed to have the option of a proper seat and road legality.

E-scape are the UK Kuberg importers and the first prototype was shown on the E-scape stand at Motorcycle Live 2017 alongside the little electric motocrosser which young Logan Bennett rode to third overall in the Auto 50 championship this year against all comers, and he won one race. Talking of Kubergs, the Czech company’s Freerider, (not to be con-

36 Trail Winter 2017

Stuart Rutter’s all-electric day at Nantmawr Quarry, near Oswestry saw 6 Freeride-Es put through their paces!

fused with the KTM Freeride-E!) although aimed at young teenagers, is capable of supporting the weight of a fifteen stone adult, as I discovered when I had a quick spin on one at the extraordinary Hyper-Trax indoor electric riding area earlier this year, before switching to a KTM FreerideE. You may not be aware that the junior classes of schoolboy trials have been dominated by electric machines, mainly OSETs, for several years now.

KTM have just announced that the 2018 version of their FreerideE will have much improved range, and a leased battery, which should make the initial purchase price at least £2,000 less than the 2017 model. Of course, if KTM were prepared to offer more than the paltry 28 days ‘competition use’ warranty, the bike might be eligible for the government’s £1500 grant, which all the Zeroes and many other makes get already.

I’ll end with a little electric wish-list which I’d like to achieve before I’m too old and Zero American-built Electric trailbikes, decrepit, starting with the easiest: the FX, DS and DSR: To do a day’s trail riding, in company with http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/eu/ fellow TRF members on petrol bikes, without The new KTM FreerideE-XC: holding them up unduly except for spending http://www.ktm.com/gb/e-ride/freeride-e-xcenough time to have a decent pub lunch 2018-ng/ while recharging To complete one of the MCC’s classic E-scape, the all-electric trail park in Cheshire: http://www.e-scape.org.uk long distance trials, keeping to the standard time schedule, with charging rather than Hyper-Trax, Scotland’s indoor electric trail battery-swapping within that schedule park: http://hyper-trax.com To complete the Dawn to Dusk enduro Quantya Swiss electric trail bikes: event on a Zero or KTM making good use http://www.quantya.com/2017/index.htm of their quick-swap battery facility If I don’t achieve all three, I’m sure someList of motorcycles and mopeds eligible for the £1500 or 20% Plug-In Motorcycle Grant: one else will soon. Meanwhile, Ms McKenzie https://www.gov.uk/plug-in-car-van-grants has some electric trail riding plans of her (NB: The Bultaco Brinco moped does not own for 2018, having finally taken the qualify because it’s too light!) plunge and bought herself a Zero DSR.

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In aid of

Wessex Wanderer Weekend

The W Wessex essex Wanderer Wanderer rer is a great tr trail ail riding e event vent open to any member of the T Trail rail Riders F Fellowship. ello owship. It consists of a w weekend eekend of guided ded trail trail rides in Wiltshire, led b byy e experienced xperienced perienced leaders in groups of no more e than six riders.

It is suitable ffor or both h no novice vice and experienced e xperienced riders with the emphasis on gentle and scenicc tr trail ail riding

12 & 13th May

We will be continuing We g our tried & trusted fformat ormat from m 2017 and rraising aising Freewheelers Bloodbike f d ffor funds or the h Free F wheelers h l heelers Bloodbike Group and the Wiltshire hire TRF Green Conservation Road Conserv ation Fund.

W What you y ou can expect: expect:: ˾ Ex Exclusive xclusive use of tw two o fields at The Black Blackland land Lakes Lak akes Camping p g & Holidayy Centre near Calne ˾ Inclusive Inclusiv nclusive weekend weekend ticket ticket option ption ˾ Option Option to arrange arrange yyour our o own wnn accommodation ˾ Staffed Staff taffed bar on both evenings evenings ngs ˾ Raffle prizes Raffle at the BBQ with fantastic fantastic tastic priz es ˾ Option Option to pay and enter onn line

WEEKEND PACKAGE £110

SHARING PACKAGE £80

NON-RESIDENT PACKAGE £80

Includes: Pitch at campsite, two full

For those sharing a weekend

Includes: Two days guided riding,

breakfasts and evening BBQ on

package pitch in one van or tent with

two full breakfasts and the Saturday

Saturday plus guided rides on both

a friend or partner.

evening BBQ.

Saturday and Sunday.

NOT multiple tents on one pitch!

Note: there are a limited number of electric ric hook-up points ffor caravans (and electric r trail bikes!).

Full details and a booking bookking form form will be published through the national TRF Facebook Facebook a page and the national TRF Forum Forum um in the first week weekk of January.

January aryy. For For more information information see: ee: www.trf.org.uk/the-wessex-wanderer. www.trf.org.uk/the-w -wessex-wanderer. The venue: venue: ue: www.blacklandlakes.co.uk w .blacklandlakes.co.uk www co.uk For Freewheelers Bloodbike For further information information on about the Free wheelers Bloodbik e Group please visit: it: www.free-wheelers.org.uk www.free-wheelers.org.uk .org.uk

Gibraltar Question 40 Trail Winter 2017

“What’s not to like?” Says 2017 Gibraltar Race winner Mark Kinnard The fiRST Time, i told myself it was the trip of a lifetime. i have always followed the Dakar and wanted to have a go. Deep down i know i don’t have the talent, funds or the stamina. i’m a good clubman rider, maybe a struggling Mark Kinnard seen here in the expert. This event seemed to be centre, looking pleased with targeted squarely, at the man in himself after winning the event! the street with an adventure bike. i would describe the Gibraltar Race as a european Dakar (the same 14 days and 9000km) but for mere ‘mortals’ at an affordable price. it’s as competitive as you want to make it. if you trail ride, own an adventure bike, race or you’re an ex-racer/biker looking to get back on a bike and want an adventure or challenge, this is for you. Don’t be put off by the 7/14 days riding or the 4500/9000km, it flies by and the mix of on and off road really works. it is very much suited to big adventure bikes and does not seem to take its toll on man or machine. having finished 5th overall and 3rd in the big bike adventure class on the first Gibraltar Race in 2016 (Athens to Gibraltar – 9000km) on my basically stock, except for a set of enduro rims spoked on to the original hubs with michelin desert tyres and mooses, KTm 1190 Adventure R. in June 2017 i found myself on the start line again (luckily) on a new KTm 690 enduro R. After thinking the first time was the trip of a lifetime, i managed 1st in Class 2 and 1st overall, my team mate Alistair Allan was 1st in Class 1 and 6th overall. A huge thanks to our support team of mark Bradford, Roger Bradford, mike Brown and Donna Gray, without whom we would not have been able to get the results we did.

The 2017 Gibraltar Race ‘Black Sea to Gibraltar’ saw our company, Adventure Trail Riding, shipping five bikes, we fed 15 riders plus our four support crew. fifty-three riders started the event and 43 finished. There were 14 riders from the UK with five of them doing the Gibraltar Race express 2 from Barcelona to Gibraltar. italy provided 20 riders and there were six Dutch, five Swiss, two french, two Austrians with the balance coming from four other european countries.

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The start of the 2017 event had the prologue held on sand at the edge of the Black Sea in Bulgaria. I managed equal 4th with ‘Heli’, last year’s winner, a good start I thought.

Racing on the second day from Burgas to Tsigov Chark, Bulgaria, across open farmland, dry grass and ruts. Ali, myself and another Brit had big crashes – exuberance of the first day. I broke my seat having ended up in the bottom of a deep land-drain ditch and Mark Bargery cracked some ribs.

Day 3: Tsigov Chark, Bulgaria to Skopje, Macedonia. High-mountain trails 2950m. Day 4: Skopje, Macedonia to Dhermi, Albania. Mountain-plateau trails, huge descent to the coast and views to die for (hopefully not, Ed.) followed by a great ‘bivi’ on the beach. Day 5: Dhermi to Durres, Albania. Huge ascent and circular ride to overnight ferry to Italy, hot, rocky, dusty trails. Day 6: Ariano, Italy. Endless rolling farmland, bread basket of Italy. Days 7 and 8: L’Aquila, Civitavecchia, Italy. Rolling mountains, fast flowing spectacular trails with forestry on the tops. Day 9: 24-hour ferry trip to Spain. Day 10: Rodellar, Spain. Huge mountains, big drop offs, tree-lined passes. New riders start the second half of the race.

Day 11: Sacecon, Spain. Flat fast desert tracks beside canyons and small hills, terraced corn fields, hard to navigate. Broken gear return spring. Day 12: Plasencia, Spain. Low mountains covered with olive trees, dusty, slippery fast trails. Cameraman broke his arm.

Great pool. Day 13: Moura, Portugal. Great monastery bivi with pool, blown rear moose, flat, desert-like, dusty and hard to navigate, super-fast farmland trails. Day 14: Aznalcazar, Spain. Very fast open countryside, tighter in the tree line, hard to navigate, feeling the pressure, finish through the blow-up arch and Prosecco out of the boot! Day 15: Aznalcazar, Spain. Procession to Gibraltar leading a large group, off road by mistake! Stung by a bee! Lunch and riding on the beach. The ROCK. After 14 days racing, nearly as many countries and two ferry crossings, we arrived in Gibraltar to a huge welcome from Gibraltar Motor Cycle Club and were escorted by the club members on their bikes to Gibraltar Point and then on to a great after-race party Adventure Trail Riding that went on into the small hours. packages for 2018 After each day’s riding you will find Shipping to Brasov & back from yourself at a new bivouac, generally in a Gibraltar plus assistance: €2,250.00 new country. You can camp (included in Food & Welfare package: €450.00 your entry) or take the hotel option provided Hotel Package: €1,000.00 by us. You can fend for yourself on the food Full Service (plus shipping & front or take our food and welfare package, assistance): €560.00 the organisers also offer food packages.

Gibraltar Race Express ½ Race We also offer bike shipping, assistance Shipping to Brasov & back from and maintenance.

Gibraltar & assistance: €1,780.00 Next year’s Gibraltar race has a minimum Food & Welfare package: €270.00 weight limit of 145kg. This will exclude Hotel Package: €600.00 enduro bikes entering and make the event Full Service (plus shipping & a big-bike race. I think this is a great idea, assistance): €340.00 I’m tempted to ride my 1190 again.

Contact: However, I have managed to obtain the Tel: 01371 830272 last KTM 690 Enduro R in the UK. mark@adventuretrailriding.co.uk

42 Trail Winter 2017

Winter 2017 Trail 43

Somerset Levellers

44 Trail Winter 2017

Martin Keswick, Somerset TRF Chairman, outlines the group’s challenges and opportunities Many oF The Somerset historic roads are as good as you will find anywhere. There is a great network that covers West Somerset (Quantock, Brendon and exmoor) and South Somerset, in the yeovil area, going down to Dorset and east Devon. Most of the lanes in the West and South were classified for decades as RUPPS (Roads Used and Public Paths) as well as in some key busy areas like the Quantocks; these lanes were marked to show the correct vehicle routes. They are under the responsibility of the Rights of Way Department of Somerset County Council rather than the highways Dept.

Somerset County Council, over the decades prior to neRC, have been incompetent (and still are) in making any discernible progress in determining the true status of these historic lanes. STRF placed 186 compliant DMMo applications for these RUPPS to be correctly classified as BoaT (Byway open to all Traffic) between 2003 and 2007. at that time the view from the RoW Department was that these lanes could all justifiably be changed to BoaT status – happy days. Then came the Winchester Case, and the bottom dropped out of our position, as like many other groups we did not include the evidence with the applications (as directed by the RoW Department at the time). To cut a long story short, not all of these applications were processed, then the timespan of neRC hit, and the whole picture changed. and whilst we have re-submitted 30 claims back to 2010, based on five-year Main User evidence (the only clause open to us), not a single one of these has got anywhere near the top of the pile!

In 2007/8 all of these 186 fantastic lanes were re-classified overnight as Restricted Byways as per neRC, new signage was put up on all lanes, and as you can imagine this resulted in a very unhappy and frustrated Somerset TRF group (STRF), which had invested a lot of time and money into the lane application process. It became increasingly unclear as to where we could, or should, ride. on one group ride in the Quantock region, a number of riders had a Police visit and summons to the Magistrates Court, following number plate photos by a person who had purchased a house at the end of a lane and decided they did not want bikes passing their expensive home. Following our STRF group’s engagement of one of the larger legal firms in Taunton, this summons was dropped by the Police the day before the first Court hearing. anyway, enough of the negative woes of Somerset. a small group keen to ride but with limitations on where in Somerset we could safely go, we actively started to do away rides with other TRF groups such as those in north Wales, the Peak District, Surrey and

Winter 2017 Trail 45

Cornwall, as well as overseas riding with Bike Normandy, Enduro Portugal, Good Time Romania and more recently with Off-Road Orange (Spain) and Enduro Greece. All with the aim of keeping members riding and the group alive.

Exmoor ride days With all those black clouds hanging over our traditional riding areas, we needed to find a way for our members to have safe and enjoyable riding in Somerset, and in mid-2010 Mark Brazier and I organised a meeting with one of the largest private forestry owners on East Exmoor to discuss the possibility of using his land for a non-competitive “fun” day. Luckily for us, the landowner was very supportive of the idea and is always looking for additional revenue streams for the forest, but very much on his terms. Over the last seven years, Mark and I have built up a strong trusting relationship with the landowner, with 14 of these Exmoor Ride Days completed and further 30+ other “club only” events.

One stipulation we agreed with the landowner from the outset was that people would use block- pattern trials rear tyres. This proved a bit of an issue for riders early on.

However, there is good reason and logic. The land is not chewed up anything like as much as would be the case with an enduro tyre, and it will put off the motocross boys with the 19-inch rears. And the reality of it is that you can do just as much, if not more, on the trials tyres through these rooty, stony forests as you can on a knobbly. A lot of us ride all-year-round with the Maxxis Trialsmax – a brilliant tyre that is standard fitment on the KTM Gayride.

The concept We want everyone to have as enjoyable and safe a time as possible, without the “hassle” we get on the lanes.

The event is for people with road-legal bikes, quads and outfits. We set up a “Main Loop” with one- way traffic that is clearly marked around the forest and “should” be achievable by everyone, regardless of level (this at times can be challenging if we have had a lot of rain the night before – as was the case with the last event in October 2017!). The length of the loop will depend on which forest we use, but typically between three and four miles.

Off this main loop we set up sub-routes of varying difficulty that are marked as moderate, severe or extreme, initially assessed by the person who set up the route and confirmed by me as Clerk of the Course. These sub-loops leave and return to the Main Loop in a “safe”,

46 Trail Winter 2017

signed manner. These will include river runs, enduro-style tracks, hill climbs, trials sections, whatever we can find of interest to set up.

We have a pit area where our members can have cooked food and drinks, and where the 4x4 ambulance, first aiders and toilets are located.

From a small start For our first event in October 2010 we had what we considered an incredible turnout of 120 bikes and everyone had a great time. In the early days a lot of the riders were from Somerset and notably Devon (they have always given us strong support), but pretty early on in the events we had a contingent of TRF guys from Kent. These lads have come to every one of the events and stay in local B&Bs – I think the peak on one event was 16 from Kent, a hell of a long way to come, but as they keep reminding me, they don’t have hills there!

Back then, we did not have an ambulance and relied on first-aiders from within our group, but for ÂŁ185 for the day, having the ambulance and a first-aider is a relief for all concerned and is money well spent.

We decided to hold two events a year, one the weekend before the clocks change in October and another the weekend after the clocks change in early April

Winter 2017 Trail 47

(Easter-dependant). The numbers taking part have grown over seven years to between 260 and 320 riders (April is generally the busier event of the two).

It is the STRF members who make these events happen. Over the past seven years we have all learned a great deal and we see ways of improving things at each one. These events take a lot longer to set up than you might think, but the team knows what is needed and is self-sufficient, which means that we can set up more option tracks and challenges. The setting up of these forest locations makes for a really enjoyable Saturday (the day before the event). New members get to work with experienced people and to socialise. We do the set up the course on bikes with bags for the arrows, tape and stapler and, of course ‘proving’ the trails.

On the Friday night prior to the set up we have a group meal to recognise the efforts put in by everyone, and this is normally for about 20 members plus their partners.

Preparation Mark and I have found that the key to ensuring these events work smoothly is to keep everyone well informed, and Mark is excellent at doing this by letter and phone. We will advise any home owners, farmers, or game keepers who are near the site of our planned activity, as well as organising the toilets, car parking, ambulance, food supplies and access.

We also do a Christmas run to key locals with some bottles and chocolate to keep them sweet for the future!

As the event grew, we became increasingly concerned about liability, both ours and that of the landowner, and I found a liability insurance policy that appeared to cover our STRF needs. This was in place for a couple of years. I was then pleased to work with Mario on moving onto a stronger group insurance platform that requires us to complete a Risk Assessment for the activity and submit in advance. As I said earlier, we learn from each event we do. However, there are still things we can improve on including reducing risk.

48 Trail Winter 2017

I am pleased to move towards an ACU-accredited approach, where we can have people trained by the benchmark organisation and this in turn adds credibility to our standing with our insurance providers.

The day From day one we pushed for advanced entries as a way of knowing how many to cater for. For the last five years this has been through PayPal and that is a great way of managing the entries. A good number pay on the day, but they are charged quite a bit more and non-TRF members are charged at an inflated rate as well.

Formal signing-in is a part of our insurance process and everyone, including all STRF guys, pays for entry and sign-in, and is marked as entered. We do give a food voucher to those that help on the day or on the set up.

We use riding marshals with bibs to assist any people in need and we have 4x2-way radios that are also linked to the ambulance. At every junction or sub-loop entry and exit on the Main Loop we have a number between 1 and 25 that allows us to identify where on the course map anyone in trouble is located. From this we can determine the quickest route for the ambulance to get to that point. We will escort the ambulance with riding marshals and temporarily close the Main Loop as we proceed. We have had occasion to do this over the years with some broken bones and back sprains, and the system has always worked well. The 4x4 ambulance would take the casualty to the main road entrance and rendezvous with an NHS ambulance. The key issues are to know the grid references and postcodes, and that there are phone signals to enable calls to the NHS ambulance.

Lessons learned For Somerset we needed to have safe places to ride without conflict, and the use of these private forests has assisted in that aim. The two main events we run allow us to fund the use of these forests for other local club events and rides, using the same range of forests throughout the year.

The continued success of the events has proved that the model is liked – non-competitive but with a variety of routes, some which are as technically challenging as you would want, even for those regular guys who have completed Red Bull Romaniacs and other extreme Enduros.

We work in a friendly club atmosphere where we welcome everyone personally and keep the supply of food for our own team. We only outsource the ambulance and first aid.

We hope you will be able to make one of these events in the future, or see some pointers that may be of use to your group.

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Michelin Gets a Grip Michelin has developed a new enduro tyre range to replace its current offering. Trail’s James Higgs got the opportunity to try them on a variety of new KTM models at the 2017 Dirt Bike Show.

WaTching a coMpuTer presentation about tyres when a dozen new KTM dirt bikes are parked outside your classroom doesn’t make for the best teaching environment, though Tony charlton (a high peak & potteries TrF member) did a thorough job of explaining the considerable development behind the new product, which is marketed using claims that have stood up to both independent scrutiny and race-rider approval.

The new ‘enduro Medium’ tyre replaces current ‘competition’ iii, Vi and MS models and is available in both eighteen and twenty-one inch dimensions, with an additional ‘hard’ compound available for front tyres though its use is only recommended in hot, rocky environments such as Spain and portugal. i managed to test the tyres on three different bikes, starting with the fuel injected 250 eXc Tpi which i had read so much about over the summer. pottering from the classroom to the test track allowed the bike to warm up enough to nearly eliminate the characteristic effluent of the oil-burning engine in a way that seems long overdue to anyone who has spent hours fiddling with carburettors in the hope of improving the manufacturer’s settings.

The narrow, twisting woodland course was a good replication of any typical hare and hounds course and rarely required me to kick the bike into third gear, which really put its slow-speed tractability to the test. Mercifully, the engine powered me up the steepest dirt trails at all engine speeds and throttle positions without the bogging i would expect from my own archaic, twenty-five year old two-banger. having been overtaken by the rest of the testers gave me the opportunity to try a few of the hill starts and slow speed climbs typical of a difficult trail or long-distance trials section, enabling me to establish these new tyres are astonishingly good. no spin, no slide – just grip. after a few laps i realised that i had started to overtake the other riders who had been resting at the refreshment point – so much for their initial enthusiasm! eventually i stopped for water

50 Trail Winter 2017

and was rewarded with comparisons to the Duracell Bunny for my efforts, enabling me to nab a 150 XC-W that had caught my eye.

With a weight of just 93kg the 150 was well suited to the course and had a surprisingly nice turn of speed when kept in the power band. I found it easier to handle around the tight bends than the TPI and just as tractable at low revs, making it a very capable trail-riding machine.

As the only tester left out on the track, I had the luxury of choosing my third bike from a near-complete 2018 range of KTM enduro motorcycles corralled at the refreshment stop.

Opting for a 250 EXC-F Six Days, I immediately noticed the reduced steering lock in comparison to the previous models as I messed up turning the bike around to face the course.

Two laps later saw me being ushered off the track and back to the classroom, having established that on such a tight course the EXC-F felt just like any other 250cc four-stroke enduro bike.

About those tyres: Better grip in the wet and a 15% improvement in tyre life thanks to a new silica-based compound, revised tread block shape and improved internal structure.

Available in 90/90-21 and 90/100-21 (front) and 120/90-18 & 140/80-18 (rear).

Thanks to Ady Smith, proprietor of the KTM Off-Road Experience, the only official KTM off-road school in the UK. Ady’s business provides a great way to properly test current KTM models while learning how to improve your riding.

Editor’s note There’s a pair of Michelin Enduro Mediums in the editorial workshop destined for my CCM C-XR 230E (no hooligan KTMs here) waiting to be fitted as soon as this issue has gone to the printers. By the next issue of Trail in March, I will be able to report on the available grip throughout their extended longevity in the downland, chalk, clay, beech forestry and back lanes of The Garden of England.

Winter 2017 Trail 51

Treading Lightly

52 Trail Winter 2017

Technical Director John Vannuffel goes in search of the eco-perfect tyre print ThIs yEAr MArks my first decade of trail riding and ten years of tyre testing. None of the tyres tested have been fit for purpose because I’ve fallen off the bike with all of them. Clearly this is a case of equipment failure as opposed to human error. “Wrong tyres” happens to be one of my favourite falling off excuses – it even extends to being late for work.

Wrong tyres or right tyres, those in common use are comfortably sustained by the green roads we ride on. Only a tiny percentage of the network has issues of sustaining use by motorcycle and this generally occurs in circumstances where the road cannot sustain use by equestrians.

There’s also a sense of achievement in using a tyre that can be ridden in a manner which has substantially less impact on the road surface than a horse. A perfect tyre print is shallower and less obtrusive than a hoof print.

The majority of the green road network has been robustly engineered to accommodate vehicular traffic. hard road surfaces of stone, inlaid flint, gravel, or which were engineered by cutting down to bedrock, are common place. soft roads are comparatively rare, soft roads which are entirely natural (i.e. without any engineering for drainage) are rarer still. Most networks in a local area will comprise a mix of soft and hard roads, with a greater mileage of black roads linking the green ones. The local networks vary considerably as to composition of the green and black roads.

The tyre chosen with a view to least impact on the most fragile road in a network, will often be the wrong tyre for the more robust green roads and blacktop.

0 Miles Least impact has to be tempered with other considerations, minor factors such as directional stability, rear wheel braking, side grip, and the ability to withstand A-road travel without disintegrating. Tyre choice will therefore require a compromise on best suitability for some parts of the network.

Road legal MX tyres These have long been a popular choice for trail riding. Tread depth is deep and the pattern is open on many models. The volume of the tyre tends to be lower than FIM approved Enduro tyres and the sidewalls stiffer. They are designed for harsh acceleration on MX tracks and landing big jumps. The lower volume and stiffer sidewalls give greater directional stability and sap less power through tyre flex.

Winter 2017 Trail 53

is riding considerately. An MX tyre in the hands of an irresponsible rider will have the highest impact of all tyre choices.

A disadvantage of an MX tyre is that its low volume and stiff sidewalls are not conducive to its conforming around uneven road surfaces – rocks, tree roots etc.

150 Miles The intended use is far removed from trail riding, so why use them?

Enter the real world of practical application and road legal MX tyres lend themselves well to the civilities of trail riding.

A significant factor in this is durability and tread depth/pattern. Trail riders do not change their tyres as soon as the edges are rounded off the tread. MX tyres have a deep tread and accommodate greater wear before the tread is worn to the point where it is prone to spinning. Wheel spin results in terrain being thrown out behind the bike.

An MX tyre ridden at trail speeds where the throttle is used with discretion will grip as opposed to spin – especially on soft roads.

They wear well which means the grip will be available through a considerable service life of the tyre. Side grip, directional stability and rear wheel braking are all good, though some models with especially deep tread tend to be a bit squirrelly on the tarmac.

All this is good, providing the tyre is in the hands of someone sufficiently skilled, who

54 Trail Winter 2017

Enduro tyres These are typically “FIM Approved” and road legal. They have a higher volume than MX tyres and the tyre dimensions are designed to allow the tyre to conform around roots, rocks etc. The high volume and dimensions of the tyre are designed for low pressures, which allow the footprint of the tyre to be greater. A bigger footprint spreads the load through the tyre and reduces impact on the road. The tread is shallower than an MX tyre and the compounds tend not to be hard wearing.

Sidegrip, directional stability and rear wheel braking are all good. Enduro tyres tend to be more planted on the tarmac than an MX tyre.

Rally tyres Some models are FIM approved. Generally, the same dimensions as enduro tyres but with harder wearing compounds and stiffer sidewalls. Designed for prolonged high speed use on tarmac and rough hard terrain. Tread patterns tend to be closer than enduro tyres. Good on hard packed green road surfaces but offer less grip on soft surfaces. Hard compounds can be amusing on wet rocks.

Trail tyres Tyres designed primarily for tarmac use which can cope with some use on soft roads. Shallow, closed tread patterns are prone to clogging with mud and spinning.

Running at very low pressures helps to keep tread clear and increase size of

footprint. Tyre dimensions and carcass construction is primarily designed for high-speed riding on tarmac. Can be a good low-impact choice for the skilled trail rider, especially on hard surfaced green roads. Models available for big bikes.

Trials tyres High volume, high sidewall tyres designed to be run at low pressures and low speeds.

Shallow and close tread is good for grip on all but the softest road surfaces. The tyre conforms well due to rocks, roots etc.

Can be higher impact than Enduro/MX tyre on very soft surfaces. A trials tyre will tend to spin easily on wet grass over clay, where an Enduro/MX tyre would grip and roll without spinning.

Side grip, rear wheel braking and directional stability can be almost absent (entirely absent on occasion, immediately before you fall off). Riding style needs to be adapted. Not suitable for big bikes, high speed tarmac. Popular choice for low-impact trail riding in some areas of the country.

Hybrid tyre So here we have trials derived tread with Enduro tyre dimensions. Designed to be run at low pressures. Considerably better on the tarmac than a trials tyre. High volume, large footprint, conforms well to rocks/roots. The Hybrid tyre offers the lowest impact across a wide range of road surfaces. Good side grip, rear-wheel braking and directional stability. At present there is limited availability of this type of tyre, but increased demand is likely to increase supply. Riding style needs to be adapted. These tyres reward careful use of the throttle. Grip does drop off at high speed on soft surfaces. These are a good choice for low-impact trail riding in all areas of the country.

350 Miles Tyre tested: Motoz Xtreme Hybrid Test: 7 days trail riding in Limousin, France 3 days trail riding in East Sussex, Little England, 1 Desert Rose Enduro practice day, Westfield, Sussex Tester: 1 TRF Technical Director, 40-something years old Bike: Husqvarna TE 250 2014 Control testers: Six accompanying riders of much greater ability, twenty-something year olds to a member of the badger club Baseline: Trials, Rally, Enduro, Trail, and MX type tyres have all been thoroughly tested by the TRF Technical Director on both the French and Sussex terrain.

Out of the box impression The tyre looks the business. If it was an aircraft it would be a Spitfire. Tread is more open than a trials tyre and the knobs have sipes cut into them. The dimensions are wide and deep, like a 140 section. Pushing down on the tyre causes the tread to readily flex and it clings to my hand.

Winter 2017 Trail 55

The edges are rounded after day 1 and I notice a few small chunks out of the tread.

Six days later and the tyre looks pretty much the same.

450 Miles The tyre is also reversible. The tyre fits easily and is set up with Tubliss at low pressure.

France A week’s riding in the Limousin, near Lac de Vassiviere. Not much tarmac work on the network. Lots of gradient, rocks, roots, occasional bog. Most trails are hard surfaced. Some trails are soft to very soft.

The tyre grips on everything we ride on.

Where the other riders’ Enduro/MX tyres are being deflected by rocks or spinning up, the Hybrid tyre runs true.

The rear braking caught me by surprise.

I was expecting it to be a little better than a trails tyre and hit the pedal accordingly.

The shock of finding out that it brakes better than an Enduro tyre almost numbed the pain of bashing my nuts on the bar clamps. The side grip is excellent on trail and tarmac.

56 Trail Winter 2017

Sussex Mostly tarmac network. Green roads vary from wet chalk climbs on the South Downs, through to gravel forest tracks, sandstone, and lots of clay – especially across Pevensey Marshes.

The tyre grips really well on wet chalk!

That’s never happened before, even with a trials tyre. I do an entire tour of the East Sussex loop and the tyre does not spin once, even on the most fragile green roads across the Marshes.

Much of the going across Pevensey Marshes has been poached by cattle and/or horses. On one particularly churned and wet section following a dip, I maintain a steady throttle across the undulating terrain. I expect the tyre to spin and prepare to shift body weight and temper the throttle to maintain traction, but no spin occurs.

I stop the bike and check my track. My foot sinks deeper into the poached clay than the tyre print I am looking at. The bike has floated across the terrain leaving a tyre print that is substantially shallower than both the hoof prints and my footprint.

On the tarmac work the tractors have left a deep layer of clay on the blacktop between fields. I hit a patch of this on a corner and the tyre still grips, keeping the bike on-line. I’ve done the same on a trials tyre commuting home in the dark, the trials tyre did not grip and I almost came off.

Practice day The track is clay. Horrendous when it’s wet and even worse as it dries up as it gets claggy. The day starts with rain and then dries up. Again, the tyre grips and performs

well at trail speeds. What it doesn’t do well is deliver or perform at race speeds (even my race speeds which are very slow!). The low pressures and large volume of the tyre mean a big footprint. They also mean a lot of power-sapping tyre flex. The tyre is great through the single track and over the slippy roots, along the ruts, and up the climbs. It’s not good on the wide track at speed. Any efforts to ride aggressively and use the throttle to dig for traction are wasted in wheelspin with zero traction. This is in sharp contrast to an MX tyre that does give traction with wheelspin – albeit by digging out the track surface and launching it behind the bike. As it dries up the tyre begins to clog with the claggy clay, but not so much that the tread fills and you lose traction.

Verdict I like this tyre a lot. It rewards a considerate and low-impact trailriding style with grip aplenty. It’s kind to soft terrain, and great on technical trails. The wear rates are impressive and it is safe and stable on the tarmac, even at low pressures. Side grip

550 Miles and rear wheel braking are as good, if not better, than an Enduro/MX tyre.

They are even approved for Somerset TRF events which have tyre restrictions.

The distributor’s appraisal from Greg Villalobos I have been using the Motoz Mountain Hybrid on my KTM 450 EXC for the last 500 miles. This was supplied to me for testing by Adventure-Spec.com the distributor for the UK. It’s generated a lot of comments from other trail riders, I think because it’s not common to see an 450 enduro bike running a trials-like tyre. So far I am very happy with the performance. It handles well on the rocky terrain of Northumberland and the profile of the tyre behaves well on the road, unlike the Mitas CO2s that I used to use which didn’t corner well. I run heavy duty tubes and tyre pressures high as I don’t like punctures. I imagine that I’d get even more grip out of lower pressures. The tyre did spin up in the mud of Kielder Forest during Northumbria TRF’s Hadrian Adventure Weekend, so perhaps not one for boggy enduro riding, but when it did spin it didn’t dig so I think it has less impact on the ground. As you can see from the images, the tyre is lasting very well so far. It’s also reversible but I can see me doing another 500 miles on it without a problem, and that’s including the unavoidable UK road miles.

Winter 2017 Trail 57

Conserving Green Roads...

...one T-shirt at a time To purchase any of the items shown here please go to www.trf.org.uk/ and select SHOP from the top menu

T-Shirt: Ride Green Roads £14.99

T-Shirt: Green Road Warrior £14.99

T-Shirt: Logo Distressed £14.99

T-Shirt: Logo Badge Regional £14.99

Beanie: Logo £9.99

Riding Shirt: Colour-coded to bike £39.99

Gilet: TRF Logo Front £14.99

Hoodie: TRF Logo Large £14.99

Embroidered Patch £2.05

Hoodie: Green Road Warrior £14.99

Hi-Vis vests are available in a number of different versions Hi-Vis 02: Regional £9.99 Hi-Vis 03: Marshall £9.99 Hi-Vis 04: TRF Logo Large £9.99 A range of alternative colours are also available for the t-shirts, hoodies, and riding shirts, along with promotional leaflets, feather flags and banners.

WINTER EVENTS 28 December - The Great Christmas Escape 2017 Meet at 8.30, Burbidge’s Bakery, 155 Weyhill Rd, Andover Hants SP10 3BH Entry £35.00 inc breakfast and lunch.

Profits to Andover & District Mencap’s Senior Gateway Club and Andover Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland Club.

18 January 2018 - TRF Turns Forty-Eight Meet 9.00, Valiant Trooper, HP22 5RW. A two-day event to commemorate the first forty-eight years of the TRF, located at the pub where we first met in January 1970. The event is a warm-up for a much larger event to celebrate our fiftieth anniversary in 2020 and has been arranged by our Heritage Director, Steve Neville. The event is aimed to cater for about thirty people and pre-registration with Steve is essential. steve.n@trf.org.uk 25 February 2018 - Hafren Hunt Meet at 8.50, Hafren Bunkhouse SY19 7DL. The Mid Wales TRF Group invites you to the Hafren Hunt - a treasure hunt taking place in Mid Wales and South Snowdonia. Pairs of riders or teams of 3 or 4 riders may enter - there will be prizes for best pair, team of 3, team of 4, and team on the oldest bikes. The entry fee is £30 each, and the money raised will be donated to charities supported by the farmers

Friends of the TRF 25% Discount EBC Brakes Direct www.ebcbrakesdirect.com Available brake and clutch components 20% Discount CCM Spares www.sparesccm.com The place for CCM owners quote membership number Custom Lids www.customlids.co.uk Discounts available on all motorcycle clothing Datatag www.datatag.co.uk Quote code TRF2017 15% Discount Cotswold Outdoor www.cotswoldoutdoor.com Cycle Surgery www.cyclesurgery.com Gear 4 Motorcycles www.gear4motorcycles.co.uk WM Moto (Carlisle) www.wmmoto.co.uk Available on parts and selected clothing Eurotek KTM (Ripon, Yorks) www.eurotekktm.com Applies to mail order, shop and parts fitted in the workshop

who own the land where the green lanes we use run.

Bunkhouse and B & B accommodation is available nearby.

Entry form from marianne@trailrides-wales.com or by Facebook message to Marianne Walford.

3-4 March 2018 - The TRF AGM The Hand Hotel, Chirk, LL14 5EY and a fun day at Wern Ddu quarry on the Saturday.

30 March 2018 - The Red Ride Meet 9.30, Machynlleth. Trail and adventure rides for owners with Honda CRF250 Ls. Choice of full trail ride, easy trail ride and all tarmac adventure ride. Free for TRF members, otherwise £50 for two days or £30 for one day.

To participate, please email marianne@trailrides-wales.com or phone her on 01686 430522.

27-29 April 2018 - Teign to Tamar Parkers Farm, near Ashburton, just off the A38. Visit ParkersFarmHolidays.co.uk. Accommodation is in fully equipped modern holiday homes and will be available from 3pm on Friday 27 April. Riding will take place on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29. Prices £180.00 per person and touring pitches also available at £140.00 per person. Contact teign2tamar@gmail.com for places.

The following businesses are offering discounts to TRF members

J&S Oxford www.jsaccessories.co.uk Flexiplates www.flexiplates.co.uk Quote code TRF15 The KTM Centre (Hemel Hempstead) www.thektmcentre.co.uk 10% Discount Rally Raid www.rally-raidproducts.co.uk Discount available on all custom Rally parts Zen Overland www.zenoverland.com Midwest Racing www.midwestracing.co.uk Available on parts, accessories and clothing Fraser’s of Gloucester www.frasersmotorcycles.co.uk 10% off of clothing and 5% off spare parts Premier Bikes www.premierbikes.com KTM franchise with discount applying to parts and clothing Bolt Bikes www.boltbikes.co.uk Gerbing www.gerbing.eu

Discount code is TRF10 Manchester Xtreme www.manchesterxtreme.com Quote your TRF membership number EDZ www.edzdirect.com Base-layer clothing Discount code is TRFC_10 Endurotek www.endurotek.co.uk Parts and accessories Variable Rates Centre Trail, France www.centre-trail.com 15 Euro cash back on booking Enduro Tyres www.endurotyres.com Special rates Bike Revival www.bike-revival.co.uk Shock Absorber specialist Trail Rides Wales www.trailrides-wales.com Free guides for members on selected days Redtread www.redtread.com Off-road motorcycle tours in Spain

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