Trailing, With A Purpose

TRAILING, WITH A PURPOSE

OCCASIONALLY the effect of what CYCLE WORLD has to say about 'a given subject receives more than ordinary notice. This is not a situation we are unhappy about, quite the opposite. We tell the stories as we feel they should be told, with honesty, truth, and with the intelligence of our readers foremost in our minds. In our August issue we published a staff-written article on the pros and cons of various machines for trailing, in which we said flatly that most motorcycles were superior for this excellent form of motorcycling fun.

We haven’t changed our minds, but this is a short story of a strenuous weekend that forces us to revise our estimate of the most recent addition to the cycle world; trail scooters. A short time after the article appeared the Editor received a call from Mr. Bill Berry, Assistant to the President of Trail Scooter Division, the American Motor Scooter Association, at his headquarters in Provo, Utah. Mr. Berry invited the Editor, Joe Parkhurst, up to Provo for a weekend of trailing on their home ground aboard one of the more successful examples of the phenomenal trait scooters, a Side Kick, made by the Side Kick Sales Co. in Denver, Colorado. A round trip jet ticket was furnished by Mr. Harold Miller, Sales Manager of the company, and off he went, armed to the teeth with Levis, gloves, boots, and a firm determination not to give an inch in his biased enthusiasm for motorcycles. On his return, this is what he had to say:

WOW. What they are doing with trail scooters in Provo is almost too much to believe. I had a wonderful time as Bill and Side Kick’s guest in the beautiful high Provo country; we took a two day trailing trip into the spectacular Wasatch range through the Unita National Forest, and I came away firmly impressed.

Our guide for much of the trip was Mike Wright, District Ranger of the Unita National Forest, a dignified and intelligent man who is truly dedicated to his work. Mike rode a Tote Gote trail scooter which is a standard part of his, and other Forest Rangers’, everyday equipment. We were also accompanied by John MacDonald, a motorcyclist and trail scooter enthusiast par excellence.

I was greeted at the Salt Lake City airport by Tom Korologos of the Utah Tourist and Publicity Department who gave me a brief rundown on the area, before I took off for Provo in a Cessna 180 piloted by Bill Berry. The barrage of enthusiasm for trail scooters started the moment I met Bill and went on late into the first night, as we spent several hours watching Bill’s movies and slides of some of his trips into the wildest and most inaccessible areas of the Southwest. I began to realize that I was dealing with a man who wouldn’t take no for an answer and would try virtually anything on a trail scooter. And has, often.

We spent the next two days riding into the fabulously beautiful mountains behind Provo. We rode on Jeep roads, horse and hiking trails, fire roads, and into many places I would previously have thought no machine, cycle or trail scooter, could ever go. (Or should go, for that matter). Often the “trail’ ’was no more than a 12-inch wide path up, down and across precipitous slopes of rock, shale, sand and just plain old dirt. We toured into such unusually lovely places as the Alpine-height peaks overlooking the winter sports area of Alta, deserted mines, hidden lakes, ghost towns and many of the delightful picnic and camp grounds that abound in the area. I realized at the time that in order to write this article it would be difficult to prevent its sounding like a tourist’s pamphlet; the farther I get into it, the harder it becomes to avoid because the scenic country we rode in is some of the most incredibly beautiful mountain wilderness in the country.

It was one month before the hunting season was to open so the many deer we saw were a bit frustrating for the outdoorsmen I was with. If your tastes are for the outdoor life, with hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, etc., I can seriously recommend the mighty state of Utah. You will find all that you are looking for.

But, to my reasons for being there. The trail scooter is a machine I must admit to having slighted somewhat. My mount for the weekend was quite well designed, it is light, a feature not to be considered casually when choosing a scooter, and it handled very well under the worst conditions. Trail scooters fill a gap in the available machinery and most certainly serve a substantial purpose. We traveled on trails that had we been on full-sized cycles, we could not have managed due to the bigger machines’ size and weight. Some of the grades we ascended required a large degree of assistance from the rider so the scooter’s low seating position and overall smallness is a vital factor for the average rider of average strength. Several times they had to be lifted and carried over places where the trail disappeared or became so steep that traction could not be maintained. Logs occasionally blocked our paths and these, too, had to be crossed by lifting or dragging the scooters over them.

And, finally, the trail scooter can be ridden by someone with little or no experience on two-wheeled vehicles in a relatively short time and with a large degree of control and adeptness. So, what we said in our previous article on trailing still stands, but with a few amendments. I am certain that some of the expert riders I know of could have made it through our route on any number of powerful and properly geared motorcycles, but the average hunter, rock hound, nature lover, etc., is not an expert motorcyclist, and would be far better off and safer on a trail scooter. This, of course, I have to preface with the fact that we were riding into territory few pure trailing enthusiasts would attempt.

I feel certain that most of our readers will agree; a full-size motorcycle will climb faster, handle better, is more tractable, and is more comfortable. Aha, you trail scooter fans say, there he goes again! I’m not finished. A motorcycle costs more and it must be mastered before venturing into the unstable and sometimes dangeroils areas of trailing. We here at CYCLE WORLD hear a great deal about the safety of motorcycles and we feel quite strongly on one point. Anyone who rides a cycle, no matter what type it might be, on the streets, for pleasure or transportation, should learn to ride first off of the highway. If everyone riding a cycle could learn the quick reflex actions, the tricks of avoidance, and the mastery of the machine necessary to ride well off the road, he would be a far better rider, and a safer one.

So again, I am right back where we were when we finished our last trailing feature to wit: “Hence, we leave it up

to the readers. We reached a conclusion of which we were quite conscious before we started; trailing is a hell of a lot of fun, no matter what your reasons for being there, and no matter what you are riding.”

“In the end we are merely happy to see so many people discovering this, one of the most enjoyable aspects of the finest sport in the world.” I shall now sit back and contemplate our next trailing feature, an off-the-road test on the Honda Trail 50, a machine in yet another category of trailing machines.