And that s right NOW!

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Melinda Bailey
5 years ago
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com Vice President/Scorekeeper Sam Singer

com Secretary/Membership Chair Jason Thibodeau

com Treasurer- Roger Durno Durno@newenglandtrials.

1 April 2014 President- Charles Gray Vice President/Scorekeeper Sam Singer Secretary/Membership Chair Jason Thibodeau Treasurer- Roger Durno Newsletter- Trebor Heminway NETA Website Trebor Heminway / Jason Thibodeau And that s right NOW! Advertisements in the NETA observer are only $40 for a full page or $25 for a ½ page Ad for the entire season!

2 Note from the President Well it s now spring and I m sure everyone is itching to ride after a seemingly endless winter. I would like start off by taking this opportunity to thank everyone that attended and contributed to the NETA Annual Meeting and Banquet in Mystic, CT. We had a great turnout and everyone had a good time. I felt the meeting went very well ending with a number of rule changes and programs approved for 2014 season, most all in the interest of improving and promoting the growth of NETA. A brief overview of the 2014 rule changes includes: Reduced overall membership cost and event fee for minors Junior riders will now ride 4 loops vice 3 Youth Class riders will receive awards similar to other classes and also be eligible for a year-end award. Clarification to NETA rider fund language Single event work requirement changed to 10 or less events (vice 8) Exhibition renamed Non-Competition rides to attract new riders who aren t interested in competing. The complete listing of changes with specifics can be found in the 2014 Rulebook on the NETA website ( along with all the new forms for the 2014 season. Continued on next page

Also proposed and passed was the NETA Revitalization Campaign. This campaign, designed to help grow NETA by drawing in new and past members, encompasses the following new programs.

3 Also proposed and passed was the NETA Revitalization Campaign. This campaign, designed to help grow NETA by drawing in new and past members, encompasses the following new programs. - FREE Trials Cross Training Clinics at NETA events to help introduce trials to non-trials riders. (Note: The clinic for the first event is already filled) Please let me know if you d like to assist we could use and would greatly appreciate your help! - Discretionary Marketing Fund for promotional materials. We ve have already acquired 2 new banners, 4 sandwich board signs, business cards, and NETA event flyers which have been disseminated to clubs, dealers and local shops to help promote our events. NETA schedule has been added to the Motorcyclist Post magazine event listing along with a write up on NETA in their March issue to help generate additional awareness and interest in trials. You may contact the magazine at if you wish to obtain a copy. As for the awards ceremony I would like to share with you two prestigious awards that were presented to Gary Bourque at the banquet; the 1 st Place Overall Champ award and the NETA Hall of Fame award. Congratulations Gary! Continued on next page

Intermediate Class Joey McKenna - Sportsman Ron Fraser - Senior B Class Timothy Rodrigue - Senior C Class Robert Bendix -Vintage Class AJ Nadeau - Junior Class Noah McCann - Rookie

4 Other proud recipients for overall 1 st place included: Mike Leonard - Expert Class Austin Gray - Advanced Class Joe Antonelli - Sr. Advanced Class Wayne Galvin - Intermediate Class Jason Thibodeau - Sr. Intermediate Class Joey McKenna - Sportsman Ron Fraser - Senior B Class Timothy Rodrigue - Senior C Class Robert Bendix -Vintage Class AJ Nadeau - Junior Class Noah McCann - Rookie Class Additionally, the best event of the year award was presented to the Springfield Motorcycle Club (SMC) for receiving the best overall score from NETA riders. The other clubs also did a great job and received high scores in many areas. Thanks again guys, the NETA board and membership truly appreciates all of your hard work. Continued on next page

Recognition was also given to all our NETA riders that went the extra yard by riding the requisite number of NETA and National Events (including the TDN) to become recipients of the NETA rider fund

5 Recognition was also given to all our NETA riders that went the extra yard by riding the requisite number of NETA and National Events (including the TDN) to become recipients of the NETA rider fund awards. We are proud to have you represent NETA. Looking ahead we have a total of 9 NETA events scheduled for this season with Meriden and Exeter upping the ante to host 2 and 3 events respectively. The lineup is as follows: May 5 th May 18 th Jun 8 th Aug 10 th Sept 28 th Oct 5 th Oct 11 th Oct 12 th Oct 26 th KPTR - Wrentham, MA MMC - Meriden, CT SMC - Brimfield, MA RITC - Exeter, RI RITC - Exeter, RI RITC - Exeter, RI CATRA - Northville, NY CATRA - Northville, NY MMC - Meriden, CT With all these events and only 1 work requirement I hope and anticipate that everyone will help out by working at least one event. NETA needs and appreciates your help! Continued on next page

6 Last but not least we have the annual RITC Riding School to help get everyone ready for the season. This school is scheduled for Apr 27 th in Exeter, RI. Please visit the NETA website for details and signing up. I look forward to seeing you all at the school and NETA events this season. Please let me know if you have any questions in the interim and if there is anything NETA can do to improve your trials experience! Kind Regards, Charles Gray Scott from MotoConnection and Stu from Jackscycles fill us in on what they ve been up to lately. Moto Connection News Spring 2014 Well things have been a little hectic here in VT for the past few months. For those that didn t know my wife (Jennifer) gave birth to identical twin baby boys on January 16 th. So now big sister Aislynn has 2 healthy brothers to chase around Declan & Kelley Armstrong! Our house seems really full and busy now, but we feel blessed to have such a wonderful young family around us. Very soon after the twins were born I got the bright idea to relocate my shop to a much newer and larger location. So with little sleep and lots of coffee I moved everything out to our new digs about 7 miles south of the old location. We have tripled our space here, with a much more energy efficient industrial building that is essentially brand new. There is a new office and lobby area to greet

7 customers and present their new motorcycle to them in a very professional manner. Then further in the building is a new fully enclosed showroom with room for about 15 motorcycles. In the middle of the building is the new 2 bay workshop. Further on towards the rear is our new parts area and also shipping and receiving. There is also a large open bay for loading the trailer or working on vehicles. Probably the coolest part about the new shop is the trials and enduro testing area directly behind the shop. Nestled in the pine trees on a hillside is all kinds of terrain and trails for testing and setting up bikes Cool! Now if we could just get all the snow to melt I could go out back and try some of these new 2014 bikes I have here! So needless to say the new location is perfect for our growing business and has also led to a new opportunity for me. The new opportunity I was alluding to is that Moto Connection has been appointed the sole US distributor of AJP Motorcycles. This is a project I have been working on since about October of last year. We have been approved to import 3 models of enduro motorcycles from Portugal manufactured by AJP Motos. These are low seat height, short wheelbase, 4-stroke, electric start, enduro trail bikes with high-quality suspension front and rear. A few bikes will be arriving in mid-april for magazine testing and demo purposes. There is really nothing quite like these bikes available in the US market they are priced about 2 to 3 thousand dollars less than most enduro race bikes, but come with a 2-Year manufacturers warranty. We are currently in the process of setting up dealers throughout North America so the coming months will be busy but very exciting. For more info on the new line bikes go to Thanks for taking the time to read about all our goings-on and I look forward to seeing you all at some of the events this year! Scott Armstrong Continued on next page

8 What s been going on over the winter at JacksCycles I'm sure we are all ready to get out and ride after the long winter, and we here at Jack's Cycles are excited for the 2014 NETA Trials season to begin! During the off-season we have been working to improve our already great inventory of Trials related items, and will be looking forward to showing you some of our newest products. Perhaps the most exciting news is that over the winter season I have been corresponding with some of the Top Trials mechanics for the European GasGas teams, and they have shared some previously "Top Secret" information on bike set-up and tuning specs straight from the WTC Championship bikes! I have been lucky enough to try some of these mods on my own #32 machine, and can tell you that without a doubt, these guys really know what they are talking about! Riders using these mods include, Raga, Gubian, Cassales, Grattorola, and Brown. Motor mods can include some machining to the Cylinder, and Head Insert, along with reed and flywheel changes that really transform the power delivery, and sweeten what was already a great bike to even higher levels of Traction, Power, Stall Resistance, and Tractability. Special machining tricks to the clutch parts, along with some optional plates, can allow us to tune the clutch into the smoothest yet most positive feeling clutch I have ever felt on any Trials bike! We also have access to the Suspension Tuning components from the same sources that can provide the best ride and control imaginable. These parts are also available from Europe by special request as well. All these mods can be of benefit to riders at any level, so please be sure to stop by for a test ride on my bike anytime to get a feel for how these changes can transform a stock machine into a WTC level weapon! All the Best, Stuart Preston Stu@jackscycles.com Advertisement Section Below:

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jackscycles.com The new 2014 Betas are IN!

10 Sales and Service for: BETA, GASGAS, SHERCO, SCORPA, and OSET We accept trade-in s or assist you with private sales via our free classifieds, low cost shipping, and bike crating services for all brands. Contact: Stu Preston Address: 72 Mountain Rd. Phone: South Berwick, Me For more info, Check our website: The new 2014 Betas are IN! We have Std and Factory bikes Shipping all month Come on up and check them out! Check out a few of our Favorite NEW PRODUCTS: Jitsie Flow Helmets Forma Boots Great Value!

NTTA Newsletter February Notable Notes

NTTA Newsletter February Notable Notes Notable Notes The 2008 Novice Cup and President s Cup event was a true test of riding AND camping skill. Saturday morning temperatures hovered around 15 degrees and made both motorcycles and riders difficult