Our favourite freestyle and urban Trial X rider Julien Dupont has decided to add another city to his already long list of places he’s conquered, Rio de Janeiro.

The French rider doesn’t perform his stunts in the usual tourist area, but high up in the Vidigal favela which is situated 1700 feet above sea level that offers breathtaking views of Rio’s famous Leblon and Ipanema beaches.

Everybody back home told me before I came, ‘You’re going into a favela, are you crazy? You just don’t go in there, it’s too dangerous,” said Dupont. “Now am here I can see it’s not dangerous at all. The people are very friendly, there’s a very good vibe. This is an incredible spot for the type of riding I like to do. Everywhere you look there are stairs, walls, roofs, drop-offs and step-up jumps. It’s like a huge playground.”

Check out Dupont’s Brazilian “playground”.

We’re usually used to seeing urban trial rider Julien Dupont do pretty awesome things in major cities for his Ride the World series, but seeing him with freestyle trial buddy Arthur Coutard riding around the rocky slopes of the French Alps is totally different backdrop.

Enjoy the video, and wish you were there with them.

Source | motoblog.it

Not as fascinating as taking us for a special tour of the famed Goodwood estate, Dougie Lampkin, the 12 time World Trials Champion this time takes us around Renthal Ltd (manufacturer of motocross products) in Stockport UK with his trusty Gas Gas trials bike.

Brian Cappar is a ten time South African Supermoto Champion and master of the Trials Bike (he was also the first rider in the World to successfully land a back flip on a Trials bike) and his Red Bull sponsor offered him the opportunity to do something totally different like ride over the high arch of South Africa’s spectacular Moses Mabhida Stadium.

The 350-metre-long and 105-metre-high arch in Durban is the largest of its kind in the world, with 550 steps from base to the top, and using a special 65 kg Beta Evo 300 Capper made it up the steep incline and over the top and safely back down.

“For months now it’s been a process of getting my mind around the magnitude of doing this,” said Capper. “Before today, the most stairs I’ve climbed is 20. Now I’ve accomplished it. It’s a pretty awesome feeling.”

Spanish manufacturer Ossa chose the 2011 EICMA to unveil two brand new motorcycles: the ‘Exlporer‘ (inspired by an old 1972 Ossa model bearing the same name) and the ‘Enduro‘, both of which are expected to enter the market in 2012. Let’s take a closer look to the two newcomers.

First of all there is the new Explorer, a comfortable and very light bike, designed to enjoy both the mountain and the city: basically it’s a road-legal trial bike. The Explorer uses several innovative features of the TR280i, such as the 252 cc two-stroke injection engine and the tubular Cr-Mo/Aluminium frame. However, the key element for the Explorer is the suspension, which consists of a 40 mm Marzocchi hydraulic fork (adjustable in extension and compression) on the front and an hydraulic monoshock on the rear (extension and spring load adjustable).

Ossa Enduro will be marketed with 250 cc and 300 cc units, and is a classic enduro bike with Cr-Mo two side detachable frame. As for the suspension, Ohlins took care of that: the model will use upside down 48mm TTX on TTX monodamper on the rear. Check them out in our photo gallery.

View the full Ossa Enduro 250i, 300i and Explorer at the 2011 Eicma photo gallery

The new Cota 4RT is the first product introduced by Montesa Honda for the year 2012. The new model is 300 grams lighter than its predecessor, 280 of which were taken away from the front wheel alone in an attempt to make it even more easy to handle while reducing the gyroscopic effect at the same time (all of which, obviously, are key-features for a trial motorbike.)

The 2012 Cota 4RT boasts different wiring and new stickers - that make it more fresh-looking than the previous model - and is powered by the PGM-FI 4-stroke engine with electronic fuel injection that won the last World Championships with Toni Bou, Laia Sanz and Alfredo Gomez, proving to be an extremely reliable and user friendly engine in the process. Montesa Honda’s new trial bike will enter the Spanish market at the end of the month.

Urban freestyle trial rider Julien Dupont did another of his amazing stunts on Tuesday morning and this time it was Gateshead’s Millennium Bridge that felt the wheels of Dupont’s trials bike.

The ‘Blinking Eye’ is celebrating its 10th anniversary next month and this audacious French rider rode over the tilt bridge when it was open, but his stunt wasn’t simple as he lost some grip on the surface material, but in the end he conquered the 126 metre (413.4 feet) architectural wonder.

Julien said, “I am constantly looking for interesting and unique structures to conquer as this is the challenge for all freestyle motorbike trials riders; I want to keep pushing the boundaries of this sport and this project showed that.”

Source | motoblog.it

The Ossa TR280i trial bike debuted at the 2009 EICMA show as the first model in the revival of the Spanish offroad motorcycle brand. After heading to international trial bike competitions and hitting the market last year, a new version is available which Ossa describes as the “world’s lightest trial bike”.

Updates to the TR280i make it lighter, more ergonomical and agile, with new fork settings, smoother and more progressive power delivery and a better steering angle. Better air circulation and engine protection has been achieved with a new air box cap. MCN reports that upside-down forks were considered which are included in the spec list, but which can’t be seen in the pics. According to an Ossa spokesperson, the technology is still being refined.

Mainstream USA is getting a taste of what the two trial bike riding Smage brothers can do in this season’s NBC’s America’s Got Talent, with a bikes-gone-wild act on very limited stage space.

Pat is a three times National Trials champion, while Phil is a professional extreme athelete in trials, endurocross and snowskating and a 3-time Guiness World Record holder for snowskating and the brothers have made it through to the semifinals in the competition to try to win the top prize of one million dollars.

Check out the video, they are really pretty good.

US freestyle rider Nate Adams has won the Red Bull X-Fighters Rome stop, cementing his first place in the overall classification. He was followed on the podium by Andre Villa in second place and Josh Sheehan in third place. The riders will now go on to compete in Spain, Poland and Australia and there’s no doubt that the international following of this sport is increasing. Rome itself offers the biggest track of all the stops in the X-Fighters tour, and managed to build three consecutive large jumps for this year’s round. Check out the Red Bull X-Fighters video above with Nate Adams, and pics below.

Nate Adams wins Red Bull X-Fighters Rome

Everyone knows the renowned motorcycle trials rider Toni Bou and his 8 World titles, but unless you follow two wheels that don’t have an engine, you may have missed out seeing this little 9-year old hell raiser in action and goes by the name of Gerard Trueba.

The video is awesome and as the video description aptly says the ‘future and present’ together, so enjoy.

Husqvarna took to the 2010 EICMA show with some impressive equipment and we’re not just talking the unusual Husqvarna Mille 3 concept. While we’re not sure what they’re going to do with that model, the big news for 2011 is the Husqvarna SMR449 and SMR511 supermotard models.

Both have been developed off a mix of the enduro and motocross platforms and push the limit in terms of big, powerful supermotard models. The SM range has seen some improvements to the fuel injection system for the new year, while it seems Husqvarna is particularly taken with the SMR630 model in what they call “a racing spirit in a ’street’ bike” and an “Urban Cross” model.

Apart from the technology, Husqvarna’s work on the design has paid off and we have some good looking models on our hands. The SMR630 in particular has all-Italian design and styling in a totally reworked bike. It’s definitely a dirt bike gone city cool and now includes more comfort features like double padding on the seat.

2011 Husqvarna range

More from the EICMA show included the Husqvarna TE250 Antoine Meo Replica, to celebrate the world enduro championship win for 2010, and the Husqvarna TE449, TE511 and TC449. These last three bikes have a new design with a slimmer, refined style. Although it looks good, practicality reigns with smooth side panels protecting the engine parts and preventing the possibility of getting anything caught. Access to components has been made easier and the fuel pump is transparent so that fuel levels can be checked quickly.

The new TE models focus on keeping a more centralised mass with the rear swing arm pivot and gearbox shaft sprocket combined. The engine is also mounted closer to the centre of the bike. The TC449 motorcross version has the standard MX chassis changes but has an MX-tuned engine for greater power delivery and modifications to the throttle system for sharper response.