Although some of you already know me, I would like to be able to remember my career in broad strokes. Mine is the story of a humble family in the post-war era. I started working at the age of 13, and now, at 71, I’m still active. I am one of those who have made themselves, starting a small business with hardly any resources, getting ahead based on many hours of work and very little sleep. It didn’t matter that I couldn’t go to the movies. The important thing was to never stop paying anyone
Little by little I gave shape to the dream of creating a company for the manufacture of trial bikes. When I visited suppliers and told them I wanted to make 50 bikes, they looked at me like a crazy adventurer and only changed their reluctance when I said I would pay them in cash.
From those 50 motorcycles, another 100 followed, and another 200, and following the philosophy of maximum effort and cash payment, more than 3,000 motorcycles were sold annually.
But making racing bikes is not only the effort as a builder. On weekends you had to take the van in the early hours of the morning, sometimes travel 2,000 km and return on Monday without fail at 8 to start a new week.
Of course, all these efforts have had a good sporting reward, since to date, a total of 60 national and international titles have been won. I’m told that such a track record is within the reach of very few. Maybe so, because who doesn’t remember a very young Tarrés winning the Solo Moto Indoor Trial, although that was only the spearhead of the 7 Spanish championships and 4 world championships that would come later.
Names such as Amos Bilbao, Pons, Justribo, Benítez, Cabestany, Laia Sanz, Toni Bou, etc. have passed through our house. The sporting reward has been extraordinary, but always giving our drivers a very human treatment above the commercial and that’s why when certain things happen, you feel very badly treated.
Recently, some very unpleasant events have happened. Ours is a very small company but one that always fulfills its agreements. Trueba’s last signing, which I made personally, was a young man who had no agreement with anyone. We agreed with his parents that we would support him for a year with motorcycles, material and the expenses that this entails, and so, seeing how we worked and if they were satisfied, we could already talk about a contract with very clear clauses of 5 years. And so it was.
However, when there are 3 years left on the contract, one of the big brands comes, is interested in our bet, pays without asking, and takes it. How does your face look? And the soul?
You have to have a minimum level and respect for agreements and contracts. Never mind the “dirty work” that has been done for 3 years of training and preparation with the human and economic wear and tear that it entails. Nothing matters. Because Honda doesn’t sign riders when they’re growing up and need more care. It’s easier to wait for others to work and then pull from the oil company’s checkbook that we all feed together.
Seeing the way things are, I don’t like this anymore. I’m no longer interested and I want to inform you that I’m ending my long career in competitions in which I’ve been very happy. From now on, I will only help my grandson Gerard Trueba in his transition from bikes to trial, and I hope that “it will not be very good”, lest Honda come and take it away.
I want to publicly thank all the recognitions of both drivers and fans for all these years.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart and see you always.
Antonio Trueba
