World Champion and Scottish Six Days Trial winner Bernie Schreiber conducted his ‘ZeroBS two-day Masterclass’ on June 1st & 2nd in Newark, Ohio at Hangers Trials Facility. 

Schreiber, being the most successful Trials rider ever from the USA, shared his wealth of knowledge and experiences overseas with 34 participants attending from five nearby States. The event was supported by Trials Inc, a 50-year-old Trials club founded in 1973 and well-known across the USA.

The Masterclass was open to all skill levels from novice to expert and vintage. The weekend was designed for adult riders, and supported next generation youth riders who received an exclusive session by Schreiber on Saturday afternoon. Schreiber said, “Teaching American youth riders from a young age to set goals and create a plan to reach those goals will pay off for many years to come.” 

The weekend event raised $4,200 and all proceeds will be donated to Next Gen MotoTrials Corporation managed by co-founder Adam Blumhorst.

Schreiber treated the 34 participants and 8 youth riders to his structured Masterclass based on lessons learned in becoming a World, National, and Scottish Six Days Trials Champion, but also basic techniques from his book “Observed Trials” by Len Weed. 

Sports such as golf were used to benchmark, where direct comparisons become involved. Mastering the sport, hands on riding and the all-important mindset were covered in great detail.

Schreiber said, it’s not just skills and hard work. Everyone at the top level has great techniques. Your mindset is what makes you the winner or the loser. That’s the only difference.

Learning to ride a Trials bike, is not the same as learning to ride Trials was repeated as he continued to focus on competition successes and practicing with purpose by design. 

The best way to practice is to prioritize on the things you need to practice, and knowing which tasks should get top priority, then act to get maximum returns.

The sit-down morning sessions began first before feet on the pegs riding, by covering the most important aspect of motorcycle trials and the proper stance. 

Motorcycle trials has always been a very unique form of off-road riding which requires certain techniques that do not always apply to riding a “normal” dirt bike, especially when it comes to the fundamentals. Many aspects were demonstrated during what Schreiber calls “Impact Zones” throughout two full days of instruction.

Schreiber also covered what gave him an advantage over his rivals, that being the technique which he introduced and perfected, the floating front wheel turn. Also known as the “Pivot turn”, Schreiber used this to great effect in winning the 1979 World Championship and showed exactly why this technique is just as effective today.

During each day of the school, each individual student was given one on one instruction on the techniques of this challenging sport and an insight into what actually makes a World Champion, with attention to detail, leaving no stone unturned.

For more information contact Adam Blumhorst at: adam@nextgenmototrials.com

Photo Copyright: Stephanie Vetterly