TIBERIU TROIA

It’s hard to write something about oneself without being subjective and, since I want to tell you true stories, I will list some of my motorcycle-related accomplishments without making any comments. But you must be patient, 50 years have passed since…

1973 – my first bike – a Jawa 125, together with acquiring my driving license

1975 – I built my first full-face helmet and the first motorcycle fairings out of fiberglass.

1977 – after winning a series of selection competitions, I was accepted in the IIRUC motor team, the greatest racing club at the time, coach George Zdrinca.

1978 – the first racing season, 25 races, resulting in 6 consecutive wins
– Daciada Champion (the first edition)
– 1st place – 50 cc – Bihorul Cup
– 2^nd place – 175 cc – Bihorul Cup
– 3^rd place – 50 cc beginners – Romanian National Championship
– winning the Romanian Motorcycle Federation Cup with the IIRUC team

1979 – 3rd place – 175 cc – Romanian National Championship, making the podium three times

– winning the Romanian Motorcycle Federation Cup with the IIRUC team
– the first race in the 500 cc class

1980 – the first win in the 250 cc class
– winning the Romanian Motorcycle Federation Cup with the CSTA team

1981 – 2nd place – 50 cc – Romanian National Championship

– winning the Romanian Motorcycle Federation Cup with the new team –  IMGB, coach Traian Mihăilescu

1982 – I bought the first Japanese street bike: Yamaha XS400.

1984 – the first international racing season for the Romanian National team in the Friendship Cup, the communist countries competition, gathering teams of the 4 best riders from 8 countries.

– 19 races (out of which 8 International)
– winning the Romanian Motorcycle Federation Cup with the IMGB team
– 2^nd place – 250 cc team, with the Romanian team, at the first edition of the Romanian International Championship
– 3rd place – 250 cc – Bihorul Cup International
Motorcycle used: engine Aermacchi Harley-Davidson 250 on a Yamaha chassis.

1985 – 19 races (out of which 10 International)
– 2nd place – 250 cc – Romanian International Championship (teams from 8 countries), qualifying result for the Romanian honorary title Master of Sport

– winning the Romanian Motorcycle Federation Cup with the IMGB team
– 3rd place 250 cc – Romanian National Championship

1986 – 18 races (out of which 6 International)
– winning the Romanian Motorcycle Federation Cup with the IMGB team
At the beginning of the season I bought the bike of the East German Champion (full chassis, without engine, produced by the German manufacturer Heinz Junghans Sr.)

– elected as the only representative of the riders in the Board of the Romanian Motorcycle Federation, position which I held until 1990

1987 – 20 races (out of which 9 International)
– 2^nd place – 250 cc (1 cyl.) – Bihorul Cup International, CZ250 engine / Junghans chassis
– 4th place – 250 cc special (2 cyl.) – Bihorul Cup International, with Yamaha RD250.

1988 – 23 races (out of which 7 International)
– Romanian Teams National Champion – 250 cc
– 3^rd place – 125 cc – Romanian National Championship, with 4 wins
– 3^rd place – 250 cc – Romanian National Championship, with 3 wins
– winning the Romanian Motorcycle Federation Cup with the IMGB team
– 3rd place – 250 cc teams, with the Romanian team in Havana, Cuba, the Friendship Cup.
Motorcycles used: Yamaha YZ125 engine / RD125 chassis and CZ250 engine / Junghans chassis.

1989 – 24 races (out of which 6 International), 5 wins at 125 cc, 6 wins at 250 cc, out of 19 races ran in Romania, 1 technical DNF, the rest finished on the podium.
– Romanian National Champion – 125 cc
– Romanian National Champion – 250 cc
– Romanian Teams National Champion – 125 cc
– Romanian Teams National Champion – 250 cc
– Absolute Champion (individual national title for the highest score in the Teams’ Championship)
– 3rd place – 250 cc – Friendship Cup, last race of the competition, Timișoara, Romania (qualifying result for the Romanian honorary title Master of Sport for the second time)
– winning the Romanian Motorcycle Federation Cup with the IMGB team

– Sportman of the Year elected by the Romanian Motorcycle Federation
Motorcycles used: Yamaha YZ125 engine / RD125 chassis and CZ250 engine / Junghans chassis.

1990 – 22 races, 5 wins at 125 cc, 3 wins at 250 cc

– participation at the final race of the Swiss National Championship – coast race
– Romanian National Champion – 125 cc
– 3rd place – 250 cc – Romanian National Championship
– Romanian Teams National Champion – 125 cc
– Romanian Teams National Champion – 250 cc
– Absolute Champion
– winning the Romanian Motorcycle Federation Cup with the IMGB team

– Sportsman of the Year elected by the Romanian Motorcycle Federation

– finally I am awarder with the honorary title Master of Sport

Motorcycles used: Yamaha YZ125 engine / RD125 chassis and CZ250 engine / Junghans chassis.

1991 – together with Vlad Haralambie, 50 cc National Champion in 1980, I established the first private motorcycle racing club in Romania – Moto Club Number One, which became the Yamaha Racing Team Romania in 1996.

– I stopped the production of fiberglass items that I developed in 1976, having produced in the meantime over 1,000 helmets and 1,000 fairings.

1992 – I opened the first Moto Market shop, specialized in motorcycles and accessories in Bucharest, located at the intersection of Traian St. and Pache Protopopescu Ave.
– we brought in the shop the first new Yamaha motorcycles, imported from the Yamaha official network
– we sold the first imported Daelim motorcycles (equipped with Honda engines)
– during the first year of activity we sold 300 helmets produced in Korea

1993 – after a break of 2 years I returned to the starting grid, with Team Manager Dragoș Panaitescu, Master of Sports, 500 cc double Romanian Champion.

 – 9 races (out of which 3 International)

– 2nd place – 250 cc – Romanian National Championship

– 4th place – 250 cc – Balkan Cup

Motorcycle used: Yamaha YZ250 ’93 engine / TZR250 chassis.

The year was marked by a great achievement: after long negotiations conducted in Romania and Greece, we convinced Yamaha to open its official business in Romania, Yamaha requesting that me to close my own shop and run the Yamaha business.

1994 – we opened the first Yamaha store

Recently established in Romania, Alan Palmer, father of the famous rider Chris Palmer, 6 times winner of the Isle of Man TT race, became President of the Yamaha Motor Team Romania and brought two Honda RS125 for the team.

1995 – I returned to the tracks after a one-year break
– SBK Romanian National Champion, with 2 wins and 3 times in the 2^nd  place on a Yamaha FZR750Sp ’94 model
– winning the 1^st and 2^nd place in two races at 125 cc class on a Honda RS125 Palmer motorcycle.

1996 – 3rd place – SBK – Romanian National Championship, on a Yamaha FZR750 OW01.
– I received a two days’ visit from the President of Yamaha Motor Europe, Hasegawa-san, who subsequently contacted the management of Yamaha Greece and Arai Yamaha Motor Europe in order to support the Yamaha Motor Team Romania.

1997 – 5th place – 250 cc – Romanian National Championship, with 2 wins and a 2^nd place, with a serious injury during the qualifications for the first race, followed by 3 DNS, on a Yamaha TZ250 ’91 model
– 2^nd place in the Romanian Motorcycle Federation Cup with the Yamaha Racing Team Romania, as well as a 4^th place at 125 cc (Honda RS125 Palmer) and a 2^nd place at 250 cc

1998 – the last racing year for the seniors of the team (Vlad, Tase and me).
– we founded the Yamaha children’s team, with which we won 3 consecutive junior National Championships.
– 2^nd place– 250 cc – Romanian National Championship, with 2 wins, a 2^nd place and 2 times in the 3^rd place
– winning the Romanian Motorcycle Federation Cup with the Yamaha Racing Team Romania – Astra.

2002 – I opened Moto Market, a shop specialized in accessories, located in the Piața Romană subway station

2003 – I opened Market Moto 2, in the Piața Romană subway station, specialized in selling equipment (motor clothing and footwear), which was inaugurated by Mr. Călin Popescu Tăriceanu.
– the Moto Market company became the Romanian distributor for Hepco & Becker (luggage and protection systems), Hyperpro (shock absorbers and components), Highway Hawk (custom accessories), CMS (helmets), IRIS (chains).
– Univers Moto magazine (Romanian version of Motorrad) was launched, with which I worked from the beginning, making moto tests and writing articles.

2004 – after 10 years spent with Yamaha Romania, I joined the ATS company in order to sign a dealer contract with Harley-Davidson

– I obtained the instructor license for A and B categories

– Moto TT School started its activity, this being the first professional motor school, equipped with new Yamaha motorcycles, full protection gear and entirely new teaching methods. From the first months, the school was recognized as being the best in the field, at a time when all the other schools had Minsk and CZ bikes.

The school office was located on Iuliu Maniu Boulevard and Moto TT School became the most powerful Yamaha dealer in Romania, until 2008, when the school ceased its activity.

– the Moto Market shops had sold during that year over 1200 helmets

– Moto Market won the first place in the national top of private companies selling bikes and accessories.

2005–2006 – Moto TT School trained hundreds of students and sold 88 new bikes, which accounted for 5% of the total bike sales in Romania

2006 – I obtained an exclusive distribution contract for the Hyosung products, the best bikes in Korea, after almost a year of assiduous requests sent to the company and I opened the Hyosung shop on Nicolae Titulescu Boulevard

2007 – I became a commentator for Eurosport Romania, first for WSBK, then for MotoGP, BSB and even motocross and speedway

– after 3 years of negotiations, Harley-Davidson Europe decided to launch its activity in Romania, with a single authorized dealer and we were invited to Oxford to sign the contract

– I attended a course in Amsterdam at the Harley-Davidson University, a business simulation (Red Line Simulation H-D) and I won this course with my team.

2008 – I attended courses in the Harley-Davidson University in San Antonio, Texas, where I met Willie G. Davidson, the Harley-Davidson Motor Co. Vice-President.

– I attended classed in the Harley-Davidson University in Budapest

– the H-D operation in Bucharest, which I led, got its best result since its establishment and up to present: 62 motorcycles sold during its first year of activity

2009 – I attended classed in the Harley-Davidson University in Washington DC, where I met Erik Buell, the creator of the Buell bikes

– I left the ATS company, the Harley-Davidson dealer

– in the middle of the economic crisis, I chose from 3 job offerings to become the Manager of the Motorcycle Department of the Dageco-Carpați group of companies, the MV Agusta and Cagiva exclusive Distributor, thus turning down the offer to become Editor-in-Chief of the Univers Moto magazine (the Romanian Motorrad)

– I started writing motorcycling articles for the Eurosport magazine for almost 2 years

2010 – I took part in the introduction to the new MV Agusta F4 model, where I was invited by President Claudio Castiglioni, and there I met one of my idols, Giacomo Agostini, 15 times World Champion and his former colleague in the MV Agusta and Yamaha teams, Phil Read, 7 times World Champion.

2011 – the Carpați company signed a dealer contract with Honda, and for a year it was the only authorized Honda dealer in Romania. Thus, I had to lead 3 separate showrooms: MV Agusta & Cagiva, Honda, Lifan and 2 service stations.

2012 – I received a visit from the President of the Honda Trading Japan, Shigeru Takagi.

– I attended the presentation of the new MV Agusta F3 model, in the presence of the company’s new President, Giovanni Castiglioni and its new CEO, Massino Bordi, no other than Mr. Desmodromic.

– I attended a several days’ training for the shock absorbers’ settings in the Öhlins’ Training Center, near the Nürburgring circuit.

2013 – I left Dageco-Carpați to deal more with my own business, Moto Market, according to the clients’ requests, which meant a higher emphasis on online shopping.

And, since 40 years have passed since bikes and everything related to them became my main passion, there had to appear a motorcycling blog, where all these years’ stories would find their place.