Supersam At Saddleback
SUPERSAM AT SADDLEBACK
SPECIAL FEATURE
The Trials Champion of Champions Takes to the California Hills
CAN BART Markel lap a dirt track faster than Carol Resweber could? Would former road racing world champion John Surtees, now a driver of Honda Grand Prix cars, have blown off Mike Hailwood if the two had met consistently on equal bikes? No one will ever know the answers, yet sports fans conduct a trillion bench racing laps a year in "greatest ever" arguments.
But there is one branch of motorcycle sport in which there is simply no contest. One man has dominated the trials scene for the past decade. During that time he has won nine British trials championships, ridden to first place in five Scottish Six Day Trials, claimed four Gold Medals in International Six Day Trials (an event frequently termed the Olympics of motorcycling), and, most recently, won the first official European Trials Championship title. Yes, the man is Sammy Miller.
If an official world title existed, Sammy would own it. During his recent six-week tour of America, however, he demonstrated his mastery of other activities in addition to riding. Sammy was called upon to promote the sport of trials generally, conduct a halfdozen trials schools, followed by demonstration rides, and attend a variety of evening social functions.
Charm inherited from his native Northern Ireland carried Sammy through the latter tasks, though he is a teetotaler and a nonsmoker. Typical of the trials schools/ competitions was the dual event at Saddleback Park, among the Santa Ana Mountains of Orange County, in southern California.
Some 50 riders assembled, with a collection of machinery that varied from true trials tools—25 0-cc class Greeves, Bultacos, Cottons, Ossas, and the like-to little Hodakas. Four strokes were represented by the occasional Triumph Tiger Cub-patriotic Scottish emigrant Jack Ward had even painted a Union Jack on the tank of his.
There was even a great, hulking Matchless
Single, to show the boys what trials bikes used to look like before the nimble twostrokes swept the field. In accordance with the ancient British custom of revering obsolete mechanical devices, aging English trials buffs are prone to weep at the sight of these stout battle irons. Rider of the Matchless, Jack Milne, displayed considerable agility with the big thumper, however.
But, first, the riders gathered round for some instruction from the champion. Sammy lulled them with his soft Ulster brogue, then made the actual riding appear effortless by dancing his Bultaco faultlessly through the first section. Naturally, he neither "footed" nor stopped, both of which amass penalty marks in trials competition.
Then the pupils took over. With Sammy standing beside the section and pointing out the line, they slipped and slithered through. Some were skillful, like 17-year-old Jim Wilson, on his Greeves. A few hit the dirt before reaching the start of the section!
Sammy occasionally tried a pupil's bike, and couldn't resist a session on a Honda Twin, an unlikely trials mount. It proved less cooperative than his Bultaco, for Sammy stalled it and broke the kickstart lever when trying to restart! Honor was saved when the master pushed the Honda into life, and the owner refused to take offense at the incident.
The official trial-organized, like the school, by the Southern California Trials Association-took place the following day, a Sunday. Sammy again provided a demonstration ride, losing only 15 marks.
Teenager Wilson, from Torrance, Calif., proved how swiftly he has taken to the trials game, and emerged best of the local riders, with a loss of only 28 marks. Another Greeves rider, SCTA President Bob Grove, placed 2nd with 36 marks, and Bultaco rider Vic Boucock was 3rd, with 53.
The top three at the SCTA event are all Masters. The Experts rode an identical course, but the best of them lost 116 marks. The rider was Tom Glaister, and his machine— surprisingly-was a Hodaka; 2nd and 3rd men were Dwane Stone, on a Greeves, and Triumph rider Ron Roach. All other classes rode less difficult sections.
The value of Sammy's teaching was proved in Vic Boucock's case. In the previous weekend's school, at San Mateo, near San Francisco, Boucock had heard Sammy advise riders to drill a couple of holes near the base of the gear lever. In the event of a blow, the lever itself would break off, without the shock being transmitted to the gearbox internals. But Vic's lever had not been given the drilling treatment, and when it hit a rock, the result was exactly as Sammy had predicted. The shifter shaft of his gearbox broken, Vic took over Sammy's spare Bultaco, and completed the course with a loss of only 14 marks. This was an incredible feat, for Sammy himself had lost 10. But Vic, of course, was disqualified for not completing the course on one machine.
Wilson and Grove, incidentally, also dominated the San Mateo event. Wilson cleaned 27 of the 36 sections, and dropped 25 marks on the remaining nine. Grove lost 33, and Bob Nickelsen, on yet another Greeves, was only one mark behind.
What are the tips that an ace such as Sammy Miller passes to would-be trials tyros? Sammy himself rates throttle control as vital. That means the ability to judge how much grip a surface offers, and to translate this into how much power to apply to the rear wheel. In this respect, mud, slime, wet leaves, and similar surfaces are the most difficult to tackle. Too much throttle, and the rear wheel spins crazily. Yet the man who is too cautious finds his engine, and the bike, dying on him.
Just as a road racer plans his line round a corner, so the trials rider must plan his attack on a section. Because speeds in trials are low, this is no reason to blind through hazards without first parking the bike for a look at what lies ahead. Through every stream, over every rock, past each tree root, runs a Une that offers maximum grip with the fewest obstructions.
The experts also advise novices to decide before entering a section what gear they will use. If second gear is needed, start some distance from the section, so that the bike can be pulling strongly in this gear by the time it enters the tricky areas. And, gear changes should be avoided if at all possible. A change means that drive is interrupted, possibly during a crucial moment, and hands and feet are distracted from the task of guiding the bike along the chosen Une.
A trial is not a speed contest, of course, so a rider can take all the time he wants to traverse a section. Too many novices ride too fast, and find the rocks and mud coming up too quickly for them to cope. Experts ride only as fast as is necessary, but, at the same time, are always ready to adopt aggressive tactics for a climb that requires sheer horsepower.
Sammy actually astonished many American riders by the speeds he achieved in some sections. At times, he was traveling almost as fast as a motocross rider! He also considerably modified many of the SCTA sections before starting the school. The Californians had laid out slow and tricky hazards, while Sammy wanted them made faster. In this way, the sections would fall more in line with European practice. He proved once more that the days of the bonk-bonking four-strokes are past.
While his tips were invaluable, his riding was astonishing. Spectators and riders applauded wildly to see him hurl his Bultaco up and down vertical banks and climbs. And while advising on the course, he scaled ravines that were previously thought to be a no man's land for motorcycles!
Moreover, in addition to improving the techniques of school pupils, Sammy's tour helped trials riding as a sport. Though his trip was sponsored by the Bultaco factory, for whom he rides, he made no attempt to sell the bikes to his pupils. At times, he even offered honest criticism of the Spanish machines.
Sammy also cemented more deeply the already excellent Anglo-American relations in motorcycling. His name will become better known here, because the trials accessories he sells from his shop at 466 Lymington Rd., Highcliffe, Hants., England, soon will be available in the U.S. All his pupils will agree, Sammy is a man who will be welcome back any time.
