Phil's views from the BVM test day.....

At the BVM test day I bumped into Heath and he asked me to put a few words down about the bikes I had a quick go on. I am 37 ( 13 stone ) and have been riding trials bike on and off ( mainly off ) for 20ish years. I would describe myself as a novice to clubman rider that rides for fun.

The first bike I rode at the test day was the Scorpa TYS175. This is a pukka trials bike powered by a 163cc air cooled four stroke Yamaha engine. The first impression you get is the striking new yellow, black and white graphics reminiscent of the Yamaha Europe race bikes of the 1970,s. This retro look appealed to me a lot. Compared to my Twinshock bike it bounced around nicely and had a light quality feel to the suspension and controls. The bike gripped very well but lacked the punch needed to climb the longer climbs with confidence. For clubman trials and riding for fun I think this bike is excellent, however I feel the bike should be a lot cheaper when compared with the highly developed 2 stroke powered alternatives of a similar price. Put one in the showrooms for £2500 and I could see myself buying one.
The Second bike that I rode on the day was the Montesa 4RT. I have not had the opportunity to ride this bike before and found the bike to have a very planted weighty feel to it. When forced to change direction on tight bumpy sections I found the bike coped very well and I was less inclined to put my feet down when things did not go to plan. I enjoyed the ride and it sounded wonderful.
Ride number three was the 125 Beta rev3. The bike unsurprisingly felt very light after riding the other two larger capacity four strokes but this did not feel like an advantage as the bike felt very flighty. The power of the bike also felt very snappy. When testing tight sections the bike had a tendency to be thrown off line. I am sure if I had longer on the bike my riding would adapt to the bike, however this is not the bike for me.

The last bike I rode and the bike I really wanted to try was the Beta 200 Rev3. Talking to John Lampkin before the test he said that people starting out in trials come on quicker on the 200 than the 250. This bike is the same size and weight as the 125 but the power delivery makes the bike feel completely different being a true 200 as opposed to a bored out 125. This is my favourite trials bike. It still has the power to make big climbs and at the test I overcame my big climb phobia after injuring myself two years ago (compressed fracture of the spine riding a time trial) however it never feels intimidating to ride. I really do like this bike and if I was in the market for a new trials bike this is where my money would go. I feel that lots of people new to trials or content to ride at clubmen level would become better trials riders riding this bike over a 250 cc bike.