Updates

John Hoffman, Len Thompson & Don Sweet. The photos were taken in the same spot, 45 years apart & by the same photographer (Len’s father).

The weather was excellent for Round 1 of the NETA 2022 championship held at the Meriden Motorcycle Club on Sunday.  Thanks to all the riders who attended and many thanks to the NETA members who worked the event.  It was good to see everyone again.

Steve Nichols.

Improve your skill set prior to the competition season. 

Date: 4-24-22

Location: RITC, 283 Escoheag Hill Road, Exeter, Rhode Island 02817

Starts at 9:00am. Ends at 4:00pm

$20 Donation requested

AMA membership required

For skill levels from Beginner to Advanced

Free Pizza at lunch

Trials Bikes with Trials Tires ONLY! 

No camping on state land

Preregister by email at: Leeb627@cox.net

Jeff Salois and John Hoffman will be heading to Scotland at the end of April to compete. John is riding the Pre65 Scottish Trial on April 29th and 30th and Jeff will be competing in the Scottish Six Day Trial beginning on the 2nd of May.

As for the Pre65, over 300 riders apply each year for the 200 rider limit. The sponsoring club picks a certain amount of riders such as former world champions and other high profile riders. The rest of the field is picked by ballot.John’s quest to ride began in 2017 when at his 3rd trip over as a spectator he met a gentleman (Gordon Jackson) at the bed and breakfast where he was staying. They talked for a brief time and John was offered a bike to ride. Gordon had ridden the Pre65 17 times. John began applying but at that time the trial was only for riders of European Nations. Two years ago it was open for riders worldwide. John made the ballot but unfortunately the event was cancelled for two years because of Covid. Fortunately they held the rider’s spots and didn’t have to go through the ballot process again.

John and Jeff are looking forward to competing and representing NETA and the US in Scotland.

The cold and snow will soon be behind us and a new trials season will be underway. This year the season starts with the RITC trials school on April 24th. A week later (on May 1st), MMC is hosting the first competition event of the year.

Before any of the fun starts, everyone should renew their membership. For the first time, the Membership Application is available online. The new application can be used to:

• Renew your membership
• Join NETA
• Change your rider class (or any of the other information we have on file)

With the online application and Paypal for payments it’s easier than ever to renew your NETA membership.

As with last year, a number plate decal is included with your membership. This is an “opt-in” offer on the application. You can take advantage of this benefit anytime during the year by re-submitting the Membership Application as a “change” requesting a new decal at that time.

This year, you can have the NETA sticker for your AMA card mailed to you. This’ll avoid the aggravation of waiting in line to get your 2022 NETA sticker when you signup for the first event of the year.

Click on Membership Application renew (or join) NETA for 2022.

The annual meeting & banquet was held January 22, 2022. The business part of the meeting was congenial and ended early. The raffle following the banquet raised a little over $500. 72 admissions were sold.

Rule Changes

• Senior C riders will now ride 3 loops instead of 4

• Revised “hand off the handlebar” failure rule

• Revised End of year points calculation: 2 Throwaways for greater than 8 events; 1 Throwaway for 8 or less events

• Rider fund eligibility revised. NETA to match calculated rider funds.

For more information, consult the 2022 Rule Book.

Event Schedule

There will be 8 events this season. The traditional beginning of the season trials school will be held at RITC on April 24th. The first event of the season is at Meriden on May 1st. The dates and venues for the entire season are listed on the Events page.

Gary Bourque

Hall of Fame of the North American Trials Council is the highest honor of the Council.  The members are outstanding trials riders and those who have been of great service to the sport.  The motto PRAESTANTES JUDICIO ET SERVICE means outstanding trials and service.  The aim of the Hall of Fame is designed to preserve the past, honor excellence and connect generations.

At the banquet it was announced Gary Bourque has been inducted into the NATC Hall of Fame for 2022.

On Sunday, November 14th, the Springfield Motorcycle Club (SMC) is hosting a Vintage Trials Fun Ride.  Riders with modern bikes are also welcome. The event will be held at the SMC property (219 Warren Road, Brimfield, MA 01010).

NETA Sportsman level sections with “A”, “B” and “C” lines are being prepared for the event. A few sections are from the most recent SMC NETA event. Most are either new or “favorites” from years past. We plan to have 10 sections taped and gated.

This is a recreational trials ride, it is not a competition. Score cards will be available and riders are welcome to self score, but scoring keeping is optional. Finishing coins for the best scores in “A”, “B”, “C” for vintage bikes will be awarded following the ride. A rider’s best 3 of 4 loops will be scored.

The details:

• All bikes must have trials tires.
• Only vintage bike scores are tabulated.
• Signup starts at 9am (riders can start anytime after signup).
• Riders meeting at 10:00am.
• The event ends at 3pm.
• Primitive camping is available Saturday night (11/13).
• AMA membership is not required.
• Admission $20.
• Please bring a pen, this is a fun, self-scoring event.
• Call or text Bob Bertrand (413-544-5861) or David Scarbro (978-771-8672) if you have questions.
• If inclement weather forces cancellation, an email will be sent before the end of Friday, Nov 12th.

Click here to RSVP.

Here are the scoring totals for this year’s events:

• NETA Year End Standings – Re-indexed season scores with all non-qualifying riders removed. This spreadsheet shows the finishing positions for all class championships this season.
• NETA Year To Date Standings – Cumulative scores all riders that competed this season.

If you spot any mistakes please contact the webmaster.

Mike Bryant has obtained a new batch of NETA t-shirts in new colors and an updated design. The shirts are $15 and will be available to purchase at the RITC event on September 26th.

Hello NETA Members and Family,

We finally have a season underway and smiles were everywhere you looked at the great SMC kickoff event for the 2021 Season.

I am also happy to say that we can now add Oct 24th in Meriden Ct, to now get our season total up to 6 events for 2021.

I thought it would be best to mention clearly that it is our intention to count season points as usual, and work credits will be required as usual for a rider’s season points to be counted.

No doubt this is a much shorter season then those of the recent past, but it is indeed what we have to work with until the time comes over the winter for a return to our formal rule and schedule meetings as done in our pre-pandemic past.

Looking at the math 6 events should now be enough, so hopefully everyone will forgive the “late-addition” to our schedule gracefully, and with the understanding that 5 events would have been almost too prohibitive to allow a work credit for many riders.

As for the “throw away’s”. I think it best to stick with the rulebook as much as possible so one throw away would be in order for a season of 10 events or less.  The reason I say “as much as possible” in regards to this is that we are already expecting a bit of flexibilty in adding an event date this late in the season, and I am pretty sure we can all agree that we have all had to work around some very difficult and unusual circumstances these past 16 months or so to get this far here again.

I for one am very confident that our NETA family will continue to recover enthusiatically with a lot of fun set to happen for 2021 !

Safe travels always, and looking forward to seeing everyone in New York this upcoming weekend,

Stuart Preston – NETA Pesident