The S3 Trials company - Behind the scenes in girona
Where is all your stock for the other things you sell?.
Follow me
We then walk toward the front of the huge room and walk up some metal orange steps to a high lever crammed with boxes of neatly organised racks.
From here you distribute all around the world ?
Follow me
We then walk toward the front of the huge room and walk up some metal orange steps to a high lever crammed with boxes of neatly organised racks.
From here you distribute all around the world ?
The S3 Trials company - Behind the scenes www.retrotrials.com
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The S3 Trials company - Behind the scenes www.retrotrials.com
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Yes we distribute to 41 countries where we have importers. In this area we assemble the packages to go to the importers. We make the box assembly here.We assemble the components for our customers to save them time. We also create the annodisation of the parts if required. We then make the full assembly then it goes to the customer.
You are one of the leaders in parts an accessories for trial motorcycles but you have Jitsie hot on your tail
Yes, but they are different to us. We make only S3 products . They sell their own brand and also other brand. We only sell S3. Lluis is one of the engineers here and he produce ensure the quality of the materials before go from here. This is a small quality department for us to check these things. We check all of the quality process ourselves of the critical parts. We no rely on others to do this.
You are one of the leaders in parts an accessories for trial motorcycles but you have Jitsie hot on your tail
Yes, but they are different to us. We make only S3 products . They sell their own brand and also other brand. We only sell S3. Lluis is one of the engineers here and he produce ensure the quality of the materials before go from here. This is a small quality department for us to check these things. We check all of the quality process ourselves of the critical parts. We no rely on others to do this.
The S3 Trials company - Behind the scenes www.retrotrials.com
Do you have any special requests from any of the riders ?
The S3 Trials company - Behind the scenes www.retrotrials.com
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The S3 Trials company - Behind the scenes www.retrotrials.com
Many special requests from all of the factories. We are the supplier of all of the factory teams.
Do the riders come to you with their power requirements?
They come and say “we want more torque , or less torque. What do you think about this. Can you help us . We then look at what thy ask and see if we can make for them.
Do you sometimes go back to them with different options ?
It depends but the best example is that we provide to them models with a higher and lower compression.
So where have the performance advances come from ?
In the past 10 years the advances have come from the forged pistons , from better cooling.
I know one thing…..my old Bultaco doesn’t run anything like my new J Gas.
The first thing was the watercooled engine . This was a really big step. After forged pistons , reed vale intakes through the crank case. The ignition also make a big difference . All this make huge improvement in the power can also be changed with the different cylinders as well. You can change the power to how you like.
This place is like a supermarket with the easy access boxes
Yes yes , its saves time.
We also make the flywheel weight specially for the UK market. The bikes come from Spain and they are very fast and this part slows it down a little
Do you get specific riders coming to you requesting different parts?.
Not really because already the factories have from us 5 or 6 different cylinders and combinations so that they can work to find the bets. We never stop developing these parts because everyone wants more and more torque. Faster engine. Different engines for indoor trial and different bikes for outdoor trial.
What sort of power delivery do the different riders like?
They all want the same. They want very soft power at the bottom RPM and wham big power for the steps .There is a difference between the Japanese and European feeling. The Japanese like very low torque on low rpm and the European riders want more torque on low rpm. It very different.
Michel cannot say the names of the companies he works with , because he has a confidentiality contract with them.
You can see below Amos's shirt displays the S3 logo. We all know that the S3 logo appears on many factory riders clothes.
Do the riders come to you with their power requirements?
They come and say “we want more torque , or less torque. What do you think about this. Can you help us . We then look at what thy ask and see if we can make for them.
Do you sometimes go back to them with different options ?
It depends but the best example is that we provide to them models with a higher and lower compression.
So where have the performance advances come from ?
In the past 10 years the advances have come from the forged pistons , from better cooling.
I know one thing…..my old Bultaco doesn’t run anything like my new J Gas.
The first thing was the watercooled engine . This was a really big step. After forged pistons , reed vale intakes through the crank case. The ignition also make a big difference . All this make huge improvement in the power can also be changed with the different cylinders as well. You can change the power to how you like.
This place is like a supermarket with the easy access boxes
Yes yes , its saves time.
We also make the flywheel weight specially for the UK market. The bikes come from Spain and they are very fast and this part slows it down a little
Do you get specific riders coming to you requesting different parts?.
Not really because already the factories have from us 5 or 6 different cylinders and combinations so that they can work to find the bets. We never stop developing these parts because everyone wants more and more torque. Faster engine. Different engines for indoor trial and different bikes for outdoor trial.
What sort of power delivery do the different riders like?
They all want the same. They want very soft power at the bottom RPM and wham big power for the steps .There is a difference between the Japanese and European feeling. The Japanese like very low torque on low rpm and the European riders want more torque on low rpm. It very different.
Michel cannot say the names of the companies he works with , because he has a confidentiality contract with them.
You can see below Amos's shirt displays the S3 logo. We all know that the S3 logo appears on many factory riders clothes.
The S3 Trials company - Behind the scenes www.retrotrials.com
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The S3 Trials company - Behind the scenes www.retrotrials.com
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The S3 Trials company - Behind the scenes www.retrotrials.com
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So the bike that you sell and go to Japan have a difference torque setting to the European bikes ?
No , just for the racing teams
Do the sponsored riders come here to collect their parts or go elsewhere?
Yes, we have many riders come here . We have all the French guys come here just yesterday and the Italians because they are going to the Spanish GP.
Other than trial what other motorcycle disciplines are you involved with ?
We supply parts for the scooter industry but our main markets are Trial and Enduro bikes. We have 2 separate catalogues of parts . One for each. We have one separate trials distributor and separate Enduro distributor in each country
What are your future plans for the company ?
We are expanding the range. We already have many parts for the trial bikes and so we expand out endure range. We do this slow because the market must accept us and the new parts before we make many more things. We will stay in these two areas so that we can concentrate well and maintain our good performance. This is why we concentrate on the core of our business which is the OEM cylinders. We will continue in this way for another 1 or 2 years before we expand .
Isn’t there a contradiction and conflict between you making OEM parts which are billed as being the best and then also producing parts labelled as offering better performance. Does this conflict exist ?
No , just for the racing teams
Do the sponsored riders come here to collect their parts or go elsewhere?
Yes, we have many riders come here . We have all the French guys come here just yesterday and the Italians because they are going to the Spanish GP.
Other than trial what other motorcycle disciplines are you involved with ?
We supply parts for the scooter industry but our main markets are Trial and Enduro bikes. We have 2 separate catalogues of parts . One for each. We have one separate trials distributor and separate Enduro distributor in each country
What are your future plans for the company ?
We are expanding the range. We already have many parts for the trial bikes and so we expand out endure range. We do this slow because the market must accept us and the new parts before we make many more things. We will stay in these two areas so that we can concentrate well and maintain our good performance. This is why we concentrate on the core of our business which is the OEM cylinders. We will continue in this way for another 1 or 2 years before we expand .
Isn’t there a contradiction and conflict between you making OEM parts which are billed as being the best and then also producing parts labelled as offering better performance. Does this conflict exist ?
The S3 Trials company - Behind the scenes www.retrotrials.com
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The S3 Trials company - Behind the scenes www.retrotrials.com
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Yes but its also something positive for the factory because f people don’t know that the JGas racing bike has a different silencer on the bike , the racing bike people will think it’s the same and no pay the extra money for this. This helps to sell the bikes. This is an upgrade which is clear to see to the customer. It is a choice. Standard or Racing. Its quite complimentary. Normally the parts do not change and increase the power output of the bike , they just adapt the power for the different riders. Most riders are must the standard level. We must always make a bike that is good to ride at a normal level . We all have the image of the world riders but in reality we have the power for the customer more smooth and easy bikes to ride. It’s not just about more performance. There is also the market in personalising your bike and protecting your bike so that it can be different from the others.
Are you working on many new parts at the moment ?.
Are you working on many new parts at the moment ?.
The S3 Trials company - Behind the scenes www.retrotrials.com
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The S3 Trials company - Behind the scenes www.retrotrials.com
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Always we are working on other parts. At the moment we have many new parts ready to go but we must be ready for this and ready to invest in the tooling and sometimes we prefer to wait. Some of the time we send the parts different to the factory and we no sell to the public. Sometimes we make and sell to just one factory .
Is there anything that I have missed ?.
No , I don’t think so ….ah yes. Cylinder replating. We take the old cylinders from the customer and re nicosil to make good again with new piston. . If the customer wants the part taken back to OEM , it comes here .We also make the big bore cylinders and pistons for old bikes
Is there anything that I have missed ?.
No , I don’t think so ….ah yes. Cylinder replating. We take the old cylinders from the customer and re nicosil to make good again with new piston. . If the customer wants the part taken back to OEM , it comes here .We also make the big bore cylinders and pistons for old bikes