Castrol R conquers the breeze of a cold damp February dawn with the raucous sound of competition four stroke motors reverberating around the woodland – it can only be the Talmag trial!
Words: Rich Orriss
Photos: Rich Orriss
The UK has been battered by rain in recent weeks – biblical, but without the ark. Where most people hole-up and toast marshmallows in front of the fire, a certain breed of men and women have a very different mindset. Rain = entertainment in their world.
This world is motorcycle trials.
I must be honest before we move on – this was the first trials event that I have ever attended. I have no idea why, as I love motorcycles, and I love extreme sports. But why ponder when you can move forward. This article, therefore, is a novice-eye-view of a classic motorcycle trials event.
So, what is the TALMAG trophy? Well, let us start with the Territorial Army (London) Motorcycle Club. After the Second World War had simmered down, the TA Motorcycle Club was formed by a bunch of enthusiastic dispatch riders who met – come rain or shine – in the Barley Mow pub in London.
An alliance was formed with a handshake to keep the off-road scene alive into the future. So where does TALMAG come from? It was in fact the title of the club magazine which was published at the time – TA (Territorial Army) L (London) MAG (Magazine) – a slogan that continues to this day.
The alliance did a great job to keep it all buoyant and in the seventies, the TALMAG became a four-stroke only event for both solo and sidecar outfits. This was in a bid to keep the heavy British machines alive and kicking at a time when it was all about the two-strokes. Rules were drawn up to make sure that bikes entered into the TALMAG were as close as possible to those that originally came from the factory, and had been used in competition either before the war, or in the period after – up to 1965.
Before 1965, Motorcycle Trials were a conversation between man, machine and terrain – not a display of acrobatics. There were no specialist frames, no trick clutches or telescopic excess; just road-based motorcycles stripped of the unnecessary and asked to perform far beyond their comfort zone. Feet-up riding mattered, but becoming “at one” with the mechanical oddities of the bike mattered more. Observed sections were courses marked out of hills, banks, ruts and watercourses that existed long before motorcycling and would remain long after.
And that is exactly what the TALMAG embodies. The 2026 event was held at Hungry Hill in Aldershot where fifteen sections and a special test were spread across the old MOD training ground that provided riders with daunting climbs, rutted routes, and lots of mud.. plenty to carve up at least!
A quick look at the motorcycles rolling out of the back of vans revealed a mix of machines – some rustic and well used, others immaculate restored versions. And of course, there were a handful of motorcycles with the old-faithful Gider Forks. Girder forks were the backbone of trials machinery through the sport’s formative decades, from early AJS and Matchless machines to the rigid-framed singles that defined the pre-war and immediate post-war era.
A stand-out bike that received some serious attention was a 1920 Indian Scout ridden by Holger Schönknecht. It is a motorcycle born for the wide US roads, so quite an unusual spectacle as it kicked up the dirt. Mind you, the roads of the US in the 1920s will have involved many furrowed and unsurfaced tracks, so maybe it was at home after all?
The other old bikes included an Ariel Red Hunter, an Ariel Colt, a BSA M19, and a couple of Triumph 3HWs. The 3HW was a popular bike in wartime Britain and served as a despatch motorcycle in WWII – it was one of the lighter motorcycles available (by the standards of the time) and therefore lends itself well to off-road work – an ideal mount then for the TALMAG.
The bikes were wheeled up to the scrutineering bay where machine examination took place by the officials – this included a check to make sure that the bikes were mechanically safe, not excessively noisy, and conformed with the requirements of the class under which they were entered. Spot checks then took place throughout the trials to make sure that no cheeky rascal had swapped in non-permitted components.
Competitors are sent out in pairs to tackle the various pre-defined sections, which vary from twists and turns (to test the riders balance), and some pretty hairy climbs that test man-and-machine. It became quickly apparent that you need nerves of steel to tackle some of the ascents which appeared near to vertical!
The TALMAG runs very much in the old spirit of Trials rather than the modern stop-and-hop style. Riders start at intervals and follow a marked road route linking a series of observed off-road sections spread around woodland and heath of the military training ground. Competitors ride the route under their own steam, keep to the time schedule, and stop at each section where an observer marks the attempt which is laid out by small flags dug into the ground. The sections are ridden non-stop, feet-up where possible, and penalties are given for dabs, stops or failures – no hopping, no trick riding, just steady progress and skilled judgement. As a mate put it “it’s a problem-solving exercise” – not a race.
So, what are Girder Forks like off-road? Well, I did have the same question, which I then posed to a couple of the riders. I think I had an answer (albeit I am yet to try it out!).
It turns out that girder forks on uneven ground provide a very direct riding experience. Because most girders rely on short-travel springs (and often basic damping, if any), they don’t soak up repeated bumps the way telescopics do. Instead, they tend to follow the shape of the terrain, dropping into ruts rather than skipping over them. That can actually be a good thing in slow, classic trials riding – the front wheel tracks faithfully and feels planted – but it does demand commitment and a smooth throttle, and that could be seen on the faces of the riders.
The flip side is that deep, square-edged ruts and braking bumps can feel busy and heavy at the bars. You get more feedback through your hands, and if you fight it, the bike will wear you out quickly. If, however you let the front wheel find its line and keep momentum, Girders will happily chug through terrain that looks far worse than it feels. They’re not plush, they’re not clever – but in the right hands they are surprisingly capable.
The sections were covered twice through the day, before the rain-drenched riders wheeled their bikes back into vans as the results were tallied up.
In the Under 300 cc class, Neil Bowker took the top spot with just 1 mark lost and a special test time of 31.4 sec, ahead of Robert Faulkner and John Hawthorne. In Over 300 cc rigid machines, Geoffrey Herbert led the class, while John Potter achieved a clean sheet in the rear-suspension class. The Open (Blue) route was won by Richard Webster, and in the Girder Fork class Adrian Mountain finished first. Alan Brown topped the Clubman class, Stephen Jones was the best in the Over-65 category, and among sidecar crews, Jake Pope & Harvey Allaway posted the best score.
Is classic Trials worth it? Absolutely – well from a spectator point of view at least! The TALMAG captured the spirit of pre-65 Trials perfectly. The rain reduced everything to essentials. Sections deteriorated, lines vanished, and the ground took on that familiar Hampshire sheen that offers grip only as a rumour. The girder-forked machines, mud-laden and purposeful, looked entirely at home, as if the decades between their manufacture and the event had simply collapsed.
For me, it has sealed the deal, and next on the bucket list is a trials-capable Girder Fork machine, and a Trials club. I will leave it there…
an article by The Girder Club
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