US Motorcycle Trials Association

Hi, I’m Dan Brown of the Trials Training Center, one of the instigators of this new association. Welcome to the website of the US Motorcycle Trials Association (USMTA). I hope everyone who enjoys this great sport will take some time to see what this is all about and then consider joining the USMTA and participating in our activities.

Over the past few months, I’ve spoken with many of the folks in the trials industry about the need for us all to get organized and do some things to improve and promote the sport of trials across the entire US. Many people have told me that they were unaware that trials even existed, or that clubs were putting on events in their area, or that there were places to buy bikes.

When we get people visiting the TTC and giving trials a try, they usually get hooked (especially if they’ve ridden other kinds of motorcycles). Trials is such a fun sport that can be enjoyed by the whole family (as evidenced at the Youth Nationals), is relatively quiet and safe and easy on the terrain, can be ridden on a relatively small parcel of land, and is a spectacular show of “extreme” riding at the Pro level. Every club event I’ve ever been to (and even nationals) are like a social gathering of friendly people who enjoy the ride and the get-together.

But, we are a relatively small sport and the relatively few numbers of us limit the availability of bikes and dealers and resources and riding opportunities close to home. Many of our European brethren can attend a wide variety of trials meets and riding opportunities within a short drive from their home on any given weekend (or weekday in some cases). In a bigger sport, there would be more opportunity for pro riders to actually have sufficient financial support for their sport and trials related businesses to survive and thrive. Perhaps there could be more TTC’s around the country where people could take a riding vacation the same way people take a ski vacation in winter.

So, I made a few phone calls…

and had some very good discussions with all the importers and we agreed to have a meeting. This meeting took place at TTC on Friday, July 1, the day before the Youth Nationals started. Attending this meeting were myself, Shan Moore of Trials Competition magazine, Brad Baumert and Ryan Young of Sherco, Ron Commo of Beta, Dale Malasek of GasGas, and Bill Markham of Int’l Trials Schools. I had spoken earlier with Mike Komer of Scorpa and Martin Belair of Montesa, who expressed their support for the meeting but couldn’t physically attend. Subsequently, I spoke with Geoff Aaron of ERE who expressed his strong support but was unavailable on the meeting day.

We all agreed that we need an organization that is national in scope and that has as its mission to increase the visibility and enjoyment of the sport of motorcycle trials. We have all been involved with the North American Trials Council (NATC) and have great respect for that organization and its mission, which is to organize the national championship series. The national series is excellent and the volunteers who make up the NATC do a rider survey and take that seriously and really work hard to make the national series competitive and fun. But, the national series is the sole mission of NATC. The American Motorcycle Association (AMA) does a great job of supporting the entire sport of motorcycling across the U.S., but their mission is so broad that we won’t get the attention we need from within AMA without having a group of dedicated trials enthusiasts speak with one voice to represent the interests of the Trials community.

So, we agreed to form an organization to provide that voice, and to be a point of focus for all trials enthusiasts in the U.S. to participate in shaping our sport. At our first meeting, we discussed many initiatives that we’d like to try to accomplish, and frankly we thought of way more great ideas than we could possibly hope to accomplish in a reasonable time. But the important thing that was accomplished was the vision to do this. Some of the key things we agreed on were:

• The USMTA will be an inclusive association welcome to all trials enthusiasts who are passionate about our sport and interested to see it grow and prosper. We want to tap into the passion of the many trials fanatics across the U.S. and provide the organizational framework to coordinate activities.
• The USMTA will work cooperatively with the NATC to support the national championship series and with the AMA to be an integral part of American motorcycling.
• We will define some specific tasks that deserve our attention and energy and invite member volunteers to participate in working on these issues. To do this, we’ll establish some committees, each with a committee chair and volunteer members.

Check the “about us” page for our official press release and a more concise statement about who we are.

The highest priority tasks are reflected in the description of these committees, which are presented on the committee page. These include efforts to help publicize trials (places to ride, clubs, dealers, etc.), provide club resources on how to organize riding opportunities (and maybe even work with AMA on club guidelines, classes, riding rules, etc.), and to organize the paddock at our premier events to improve the experience for the spectators and make it inviting for them to become participants.

Between Shan Moore and I, we have called all the members of the executive committee of the NATC and they are totally supportive of the USMTA. In addition, we’ve had contact with the AMA and have a meeting set in August with Chuck Weir (AMA Sports, coordinator for trials), Doug Neubauer (Director of AMA Sports), and Rob Rasor (AMA President). AMA appear to be supportive of our efforts. We intend to establish a good relationship to work with AMA to increase the visibility of trials and position our sport as “a great way to start” in motorcycling and a fun and safe way to learn the basics of balance and control of a motorcycle that will serve you well whatever you ride. After all, that’s been proven by Kevin Schwantz (World Roadrace Champ), Roger Decoster (World Motocross champ, Belgian trials champ) and Jeff Ward (AMA Motocross and Supercross Champ), all of whom got their start in trials!

Sorry if I’ve rambled on too long at this, but as you can see I am enthusiastic and I think there are many more people out there who share my enthusiasm. I hope you will all join us to help make our sport even better.

Regards,

Dan Brown

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 21st, 2005 at 8:17 am and is filed under Association news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Hi, I’m Dan Brown of the Trials Training Center, one of the instigators of this new association. Welcome to the website of the US Motorcycle Trials Association (USMTA). I hope everyone who enjoys this great sport will take some time to see what this is all about and then consider joining the USMTA and participating in our activities.

Over the past few months, I’ve spoken with many of the folks in the trials industry about the need for us all to get organized and do some things to improve and promote the sport of trials across the entire US. Many people have told me that they were unaware that trials even existed, or that clubs were putting on events in their area, or that there were places to buy bikes.

When we get people visiting the TTC and giving trials a try, they usually get hooked (especially if they’ve ridden other kinds of motorcycles). Trials is such a fun sport that can be enjoyed by the whole family (as evidenced at the Youth Nationals), is relatively quiet and safe and easy on the terrain, can be ridden on a relatively small parcel of land, and is a spectacular show of “extreme” riding at the Pro level. Every club event I’ve ever been to (and even nationals) are like a social gathering of friendly people who enjoy the ride and the get-together.

But, we are a relatively small sport and the relatively few numbers of us limit the availability of bikes and dealers and resources and riding opportunities close to home. Many of our European brethren can attend a wide variety of trials meets and riding opportunities within a short drive from their home on any given weekend (or weekday in some cases). In a bigger sport, there would be more opportunity for pro riders to actually have sufficient financial support for their sport and trials related businesses to survive and thrive. Perhaps there could be more TTC’s around the country where people could take a riding vacation the same way people take a ski vacation in winter.

So, I made a few phone calls…

and had some very good discussions with all the importers and we agreed to have a meeting. This meeting took place at TTC on Friday, July 1, the day before the Youth Nationals started. Attending this meeting were myself, Shan Moore of Trials Competition magazine, Brad Baumert and Ryan Young of Sherco, Ron Commo of Beta, Dale Malasek of GasGas, and Bill Markham of Int’l Trials Schools. I had spoken earlier with Mike Komer of Scorpa and Martin Belair of Montesa, who expressed their support for the meeting but couldn’t physically attend. Subsequently, I spoke with Geoff Aaron of ERE who expressed his strong support but was unavailable on the meeting day.

We all agreed that we need an organization that is national in scope and that has as its mission to increase the visibility and enjoyment of the sport of motorcycle trials. We have all been involved with the North American Trials Council (NATC) and have great respect for that organization and its mission, which is to organize the national championship series. The national series is excellent and the volunteers who make up the NATC do a rider survey and take that seriously and really work hard to make the national series competitive and fun. But, the national series is the sole mission of NATC. The American Motorcycle Association (AMA) does a great job of supporting the entire sport of motorcycling across the U.S., but their mission is so broad that we won’t get the attention we need from within AMA without having a group of dedicated trials enthusiasts speak with one voice to represent the interests of the Trials community.

So, we agreed to form an organization to provide that voice, and to be a point of focus for all trials enthusiasts in the U.S. to participate in shaping our sport. At our first meeting, we discussed many initiatives that we’d like to try to accomplish, and frankly we thought of way more great ideas than we could possibly hope to accomplish in a reasonable time. But the important thing that was accomplished was the vision to do this. Some of the key things we agreed on were:

• The USMTA will be an inclusive association welcome to all trials enthusiasts who are passionate about our sport and interested to see it grow and prosper. We want to tap into the passion of the many trials fanatics across the U.S. and provide the organizational framework to coordinate activities.
• The USMTA will work cooperatively with the NATC to support the national championship series and with the AMA to be an integral part of American motorcycling.
• We will define some specific tasks that deserve our attention and energy and invite member volunteers to participate in working on these issues. To do this, we’ll establish some committees, each with a committee chair and volunteer members.

Check the “about us” page for our official press release and a more concise statement about who we are.

The highest priority tasks are reflected in the description of these committees, which are presented on the committee page. These include efforts to help publicize trials (places to ride, clubs, dealers, etc.), provide club resources on how to organize riding opportunities (and maybe even work with AMA on club guidelines, classes, riding rules, etc.), and to organize the paddock at our premier events to improve the experience for the spectators and make it inviting for them to become participants.

Between Shan Moore and I, we have called all the members of the executive committee of the NATC and they are totally supportive of the USMTA. In addition, we’ve had contact with the AMA and have a meeting set in August with Chuck Weir (AMA Sports, coordinator for trials), Doug Neubauer (Director of AMA Sports), and Rob Rasor (AMA President). AMA appear to be supportive of our efforts. We intend to establish a good relationship to work with AMA to increase the visibility of trials and position our sport as “a great way to start” in motorcycling and a fun and safe way to learn the basics of balance and control of a motorcycle that will serve you well whatever you ride. After all, that’s been proven by Kevin Schwantz (World Roadrace Champ), Roger Decoster (World Motocross champ, Belgian trials champ) and Jeff Ward (AMA Motocross and Supercross Champ), all of whom got their start in trials!

Sorry if I’ve rambled on too long at this, but as you can see I am enthusiastic and I think there are many more people out there who share my enthusiasm. I hope you will all join us to help make our sport even better.

Regards,

Dan Brown

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 21st, 2005 at 8:17 am and is filed under Association news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.