We chatted to Jordi Tarrés in the context of our new interview broadcast format and trial podcast, Trialworld Talks. Tarrés, in addition to being a living legend of trial, is a partner and technical director of TRS Motorcycles, so his current vision of the moment that trial is experiencing in all its areas was especially interesting.
We started talking with Jordi about the situation of TRS Motorcycles and its market context: “we are in the context of how the market has responded to our brand, always with the vision of continuing to evolve and improve the product, with a consolidated and high-performance motorcycle.”
DIFFICULTIES IN THE SECTOR
By now we are all aware that the offroad motorcycle sector is going through a difficult situation in the commercial field, with a significant drop in sales across all brands, to which Jordi told us: “These last two years have been incredible, with 40% growth every year, and now it is slowing down a bit due to market saturation, to which is added at this precise moment the seasonality of the year, which does not help especially, since it sells more in winter.”
NEW TRS MOTORCYCLES RANGE 2024
Last February, coinciding with the TRS Lovers, the brand presented two prototypes: the TRRS ONE 80cc and the TRRS ONE RR with electronic injection. According to Tarrés: “The TRRS ONE 80 will be released at the end of this year, which will allow us to complete the entire displacement range, although with a higher expectation than what the market currently offers, as it will have an aluminum chassis and will be derived directly from the “large” ONE range in all respects, with a different philosophy than Beta.”
The electric starter is another of the key points for TRRS, since 40% of its sales come from models with this type of mechanics: “we have made a very reliable system that is well integrated with the motorcycle, which has been improving year by year and can be easily industrialized”.
HOW DO YOU EVOLVE A TRIAL BIKE?
The customer of the trial bike is demanding and we demand that each new model incorporates novelties for which it is worth making a change of model. For brands, this is a key point and we asked Jordi about What criteria do you follow to evolve the different ranges: “We work to improve small details that generate greater reliability, but normally they are not drastic changes, as the bike is already at a good level. Other changes such as injection, aesthetic restyling, bodywork or some aspect in this line may come in the future.”
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO RRT WITH INJECTION?
In the same TRS Lovers, the brand brought its electronic injection prototype, still looking very handcrafted, but working. We asked Jordi about the advantages and challenges of this feeding system, as well as the next steps.
“The injection will be the future. It is what the public will end up demanding, since it provides more stability, although on the other hand we are clear that we will not release it until we know that it works as well or better than the current carburetion model. For us it is important to see how technology evolves, as other brands are working along the same lines and this development benefits us all over time. Little by little the injection bike is going to be superior in performance to the carbureted bike.”
FUTURE APPROVAL REGULATIONS WHAT?
In 2025, Euro5 plus homologation will be required, which will complicate and make trial bikes even more expensive, as they will require a series of technical components that are capable of restricting emissions and performance to comply with the law.
According to Jordi: “I don’t think any of the manufacturers can afford to homologate all models and displacements, because with the few units that are manufactured in trials, we will all opt for injection, as well as for the future, because it will help us improve these performances for homologation.”
As for the future of trial bikes, we asked Jordi if trial bikes could become non-homologated:
“40% of the motorcycles we sell are not homologated, this is in high demand in countries such as the United Kingdom, Japan, the United States and others. In the future I don’t know if we’re going to pass the Euro5 homologation and the second thing is that I don’t know if it’s going to be interesting to pass it because of the costs involved, both in manufacturing and for the user in the final purchase price, for something that we know they won’t use. In other words, it could be that explosion trial bikes end up being used only for closed circuits and only electric trial bikes can be homologated.”
About Jordi Tarres today
- 7 times Trial World Champion
- Technical Director of TRS Motorcycles
- Team Manager de TRS Motorcycles Factory Team
- TRS Motorcycles Partner
