1969

[brownie]

http://archives.tsr.ch/player/motards-trial

This footage has been doing the rounds on other Trials sites, be a shame if any old Bully fans missed it so I thought I'd put it up here.

[David Lahey]

I reckon one of the things that this video shows is how far trials tyre technology has improved since 1969. The tyres look like they have about zero grip on anything damp, and also look very stiff in the sidewall.
Another thing it illustrates is how open the riding was back then compared with what happened during the mid 1970s. No wonder standard gearing on the M49 seems so high. They never needed to ride slowly back then.

[Stu]

when they said no stop, they mean it! None of this stop-start trials.

[sharvie]

Tyre pressures look like they were quite high as well

Classic video

[Greg Harding]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks Ross, now I see why people complained about the lever positions (one size does not fit everyone!) The bikes sound quite crisp, imagine a ride day like that now, all on the same make, sounds like fun!

[manxman]

Gee fellas, you never had it so good. Video brought back a few memories. When I started in 1964, the footwear of choice, if you could afford it, was a pair of fireman's boots, tough leather and no zip to let the water in. Still better than riding in your sneakers, Mr Harvie. At the end of the sixties (ahh, yes I do remenber every minute of it) Dunlop introduced the industrial wellie with a steel plate in the sole and steel toecaps. It became standard footwear for the next 20 years. Helmets?? not on yer life mate. A knitted beanie or a flat cap, in fact the sidecar boys wouldn't have been seen dead without the cap. A Barbour jacket was a must to keep out the rain, but as an apprentice on 3 pound 10 a week I had to save up a long time for one. Other cheapskates got by with a bicycle cape, now known as a poncho. A towel round the neck also helped keep the freezing rain from running down your back on the inside. Castrol published a handbook on trials and one on 'scrambles', and I remember the section on suitable clothing said as trials was usually held in muddy surroundings it was better if you did not wear your best tie !! I didn't have a tie, perhaps that's why I fell off a lot. Most people rode their bikes to the trial, and home again afterward, so tyre pressures were kept reasonably high to avoid punctures as this meant that you would have to change the tube, usually in some very cold and wet place in the middle of nowhere and then pump it up with a very small pump. Now, those were the days.
Thanks Andy for a great set of pics from Denman, really showed how good the venue was. Such a relief to finally get a ride in water, I thought you lot had never heard of it.

[K1W1]

I started in the early 1970's in NZ and what Manxman said was all true there.

The boots of choice were if you could afford them the Sammy Miller replica Dunlops imported from the UK. Fortunately the Wellington Fire Brigade used the same boots and those in the know could buy a pair second hand for $4!
Belstaff jackets and pants imported from Frank Matich in Sydney were the wet weather go which was most of the time otherwise jeans and a rugby jersey were the dry weather attire.
If you were really trick you wore the white Bell Helmets cap just like Mick (Andrews) again imported from Frank Matich in Sydney (until your mother washed in it hot water and shrunk it of course then you were mighty po'd).
Tyre pressures for your 4 ply Dunlop Trials Universals were between 5 and 10psi and hopefully somebody with a car and trailer also had a pump if you needed it to inflate the tyres to ride home. I carried a bicycle pump strapped to the frame down tube in front of the engine to and from many Trails just in case but fortunately never had to use it.
The Police were far more lenient about vehicles on the road, No indicators or, when I started riding mirrors required. If your light put out more than about 1 candle power that was okay. Riding 40-60km each way to a Trial was not unusual and of course that also meant carrying a 5L (one gallon) can of pre mix in a back pack or strapped to the rear of the bike because in NZ at least very few Service Stations were open on Sundays.
And of course here was the no stopping in sections rule. If the front wheel stopped rotating for whatever reason it was a 5.

Fun days.

[sharvie]

Still better than riding in your sneakers, Mr Harvie.

At least I was wearing; helmet, golves & long pants. That's a reasonable effort.