Brief History of The Isle of Wight MCC
The following article was written especially to accompany a bunch of trials photos and will be published in The Vectis Viewfinder very soon. I thought this may be of some interest and to publish it here too.
The Isle of Wight Motorcycle Club:
The origins of the sport of Motorcycle Trials can be traced back to the early 1900’s. The sport developed partly for the necessity to ride off road due to the limited road network at the time.
Many trials clubs were formed following the end of World War 2 when returning servicemen were looking to maintain their sense of camaraderie, which they had come to rely on during their time in service.
The Isle of Wight Motorcycle Club is a good example of this - the Club was formed in 1945. Service members returning from the war were afforded a 50% club membership fee discount.
By this time, the engineering and development of motorcycles, along with the road network, had progressed considerably since those early pioneering days.
The motorcycle driving licence rules in force at the time also played a big part in shaping the evolution of the sport of trials. It was legal to ride a bike of up to 250cc using only a provisional licence and therefore there was no requirement to pass a full motorcycle test.
Between them, all the major motorcycle manufacturers developed a good range of 250cc machines based on this legislation. This kept the sport open to riders who did not need to hold a full motorcycle driving licence.
The IOWMCC trials of the time all included roadwork – meaning there would be several groups of 2, 3 or 4 sections at various venues across the Island, as many as 17 sections per trial and riding between the venues, using public roads formed part of the trial. The sport became known as ‘Reliability Trials’. The roadwork between the sections helped test the machine’s reliability, both on and off the road. This reliability element is still part of modern-day trials – in that a rider must finish the trial on the same machine they start on. If the bike malfunctions during the event and can’t continue, the rider is retired from the trial.
In the early 1960’s and into the 70’s, the IOWMCC also held all off-road events, known as ‘Scrambles’. These were different to trials in that riders were racing each other on a predetermined course. It is widely accepted that scrambles were the inspiration that led to the modern disciplines of Motorcycle Enduro’s and Motocross.
In 1967 the club introduced the Wight Two-Day Trial. Unlike the regular club trials which were restricted to Southern Centre club members, the 2-day trial was open to riders from all mainland clubs including international clubs, and at its peak attracted an entry of over 250 riders, mostly from the mainland.
1983 saw the motorcycle driving licence rules change significantly. Provisional licence holders were now restricted to 125cc machines. This had a massive impact on trials riders throughout the whole of the UK. Motorcycle manufactures switched from producing 250cc machines to concentrate more on the fast-developing 125cc market.
This change in legislation led to most clubs organising all off-road events. This was the only way for riders to continue in their sport, with their existing machines, without first having to pass a driving test. In place of several different venues – all the sections would be set out at the same venue – typically, 8 separate sections and there would be 4 laps. This format remains in use today by the IOWMCC.
However, the club continued the ‘on road’ format for the annual Wight Two-day Trial until after the 25th anniversary event. From 1992, the Two-Day Trial also became an all off road event. The roadwork format was revived (for some riders) for the 50th Anniversary Trial in 2017 which saw an entry of 134 riders, the largest entry at a Two-Day Trial since 1980.
The Club is very proud of its heritage, and to complement that - in the modern era, three IOWMCC members became British Youth Trials Champions (Becky Cook, Chris Stay and George Gosden). Becky went on as an adult to win no fewer than 9 British Ladies Trials Championship Titles and in 2012 Becky also secured the European Ladies Trials Championship. Chris Stay, after a break from the sport, returned to secure the 2019 British Expert Championship Title.