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Trials is a motorcycle sport based on skill rather than speed. It is probably the cheapest form of motor sport and can be enjoyed by the young and not so young. Our riders range from 6 to 60+ and are a very sociable bunch.

Before you can ride in an ACU trial you will need to:-

  1. Join an ACU affiliated Club/s in the Centres in which you wish to ride.

  2. Apply for Trials Registration/Licence with the ACU, cost £10.00 forms available from Club Secretaries on membership

  3. Acquire a suitable trials motorcycle which complies with current regulations.

On registration with the ACU you will receive an ACU Handbook which outlines all the rules, regulations and other useful information regarding motorcycle sport.

CLASSES

Cambridge Matchless Motorcycle Club trials normally cater for the following classes:-

  1. Novice - adult riders who have not won awards in open trials.
  2. Intermediate - adult rider who has won 4 best novice awards in one year.
  3. Expert - adult rider awarded this status by the South Midland Centre Trials Committee.
  4. 50/50 - a relatively new open class for riders wishing to ride 50% hard route and 50% easier route sections.
  5. Clubman - this class is for riders who have at any time gained expert or intermediate status but do not wish to ride the hard route.

NB Newcomers to the sport should ride as Novice not Clubman

Not all clubs run events with all these classes and some have others e.g. over 40, twin shock, pre 65 etc. All types of trials machines are accepted at our events in the above classes

  1. Youth D - Youth age (approx) 6-8yrs riding machines upto 50cc mono 80cc twin shock

Youth C - Youth age (approx) 9-11yrs riding machines upto 125cc until 31.12.06 then 80cc

Youth B - Youth age (approx) 12-14yrs riding machines upto 125cc

Youth A - Youth age (approx) 15-17yrs riding machines upto 250cc until 31.12.06 then 125cc

ROUTES

Normally our trials incorporate three routes.

  1. Hard route - ridden by Expert, Intermediate and normally Youth A.
  2. Easier route - ridden by Novice, Clubman and normally Youth B.
  3. Youth C/Beginners - ridden by Beginners (non award) and normally Youth C & D

Any rider can with permission of the Clerk of the Course upgrade to ride a harder route and can down grade to an easier route on a non award basis NB At some of our events it is not possible to include a beginners/youth C route.

SECTION LAYOUT

Each section has a 'BEGINS' AND 'ENDS' card normally common to all routes. A HARD route is marked by white stakes with red and blue tops. (Red on right of section Blue on left) The EASIER route follows the same markers as the HARD route until there is an alternative easier path and this is marked with yellow stakes with red and blue tops. Alterations for the YOUTH C/BEGINNERS   route are marked with plain white stakes. NB these markers are not common to all clubs.

PERMITS AND ENTRIES

Before a trial can be run it is necessary to obtain a permit from the local centre of the A.C.U. There are six types of permit depending on the status of the event - these are:-

 
  1. Closed to Club (CC) - This permit allows only members of the organising club to take part. Our Summer Series, Friday evening trials are the only club event run under a CC permit.
  2. Restricted Invitation (RI) - This permit allows members of the organising club plus up to 12 invited clubs to participate. The Meteor Group run most of their events under such a permit. We are not a member of the Meteor Group (mostly London Clubs) so you would need to join a Meteor Group club to ride in such an event.
  3. Limited Entry Permit (LEP) - Open to all clubs in the South Midland Center limited to a maximum of 80 riders. Most of our trials are run under this type of permit.
  4. Open to Center (OTC) - Open to all clubs in the South Midland Centre with no limit on numbers. Our Brian Stonebridge Trial is an OTC event.
  5. Regional Restricted (RR) - Open to a maximum of five centres. None of our events are RR but since the introduction of The Sporting Motorcyclist, which includes Regulations and Entry Forms for events in three centres - South Midland , South Eastern and Southern Centres - there are a number of events which are run under a RR permit and are open to all three centres. Unless it is a RR event it is open only to the centre of the organising club.
  6. National Permit (NAT) - Open to all centres.

It is important to read the regulations carefully before filling in the entry form to make sure that you are eligible to ride in that event.

With the exception of the CC evening series, which is entry at the event, regulations and entry forms for all of our trials are published in The Sporting Motorcyclist and available on our website. Every effort should be made to enter before the day as it is so much easier for an organizer if the know the number and status of riders before the sections are laid out.

The new style entry forms in The Sporting Motorcyclist are not easy to read or fill in please make sure all relevant boxes are completed, particularly club and class in which you are riding.

RULES OF THE SPORT

All rules and regulations applicable to trials regarding machines, clothing, method of marking, etc. are contained in the ACU Handbook.