Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

N 1 o ..... TEST: en ...... ~ N ri o ~ By Ron Schneiders Z The Puch 125 is one of those special purpose machines that are becoming the standard these days. It was designed to win motocross-type races and eve,rything not essential to that purpose was discarded. Road testit;lg such a machine- is in some ways a little silly because the only test that counts is its test on the field of battle and that can't be simulated. What follows, then, is not so much a test as a description of the bike and my impressions while ri4ing it. The result sheets in the next year will be the real road test. Our first exposure to the Puch turned out to be something of a disappointment. It was pretty and shiny with its red ,and white tank and few bits of chrome, but it wouldn't ru'n right. We took it to Saddleback Park, expecting to have quite a day with it but all we -had was mounting frustration as tlte bike loaded up, four-stroked, refused to start at all and finally it stopped all together. Back to its guardian it went. Tltree weeks later we got it back, and again headed for Saddleback. This time it not only ran, but it ran very well. Starting the bike cdld was still not a one kick proposition but it did fire within a reasonable length of time and thereafter did not require more than one or two kicks. It is necessary' to tickle the carburetor for the first start, which is slightly difficult because the whole carb is sltrouded to keep out dust. For some reason this shroud does not seem to work as it should. Rather than keeping out dust, it seems to trap w W ..J () >() dust inside. When we removed the shroud we found the carb to be much dirtier than you would normally find an unshrouded carbo Riding the Pucb is an exhilarating experience. It - has a fierce amount of power in fairly wide band. Turning it on hard can produce great showers of dirt, breathtaking acceleration or a hair raising wheelie, depending upon conditions. I would rate the Puch's power as being equal to or better than that of any other stock. 125. The Puch has six fairly closely spaced gears and it needs them because out of the power band there is nothing. For this reason the bike would probably be disappointing to cross-country racers and enduro riders., Handling is a subjective topic; what one person feels is great, another thinks is stinking. I had mixed emotions about the Puch's handling, but I think most expert motocross riders would really dig it. Less expert types will find it scary. The ,bike will go in a straight line across incredibly rough ground, going diagonally across ruts and over holes and rocks with complete indifference. I don't know where its limits are: I couldn't ride it fast enough to find out. I do know I don't want to be on a bike when it hits something hard enough to bottom those front forks. This is great for motocross, but the other side of the coin is that the suspension is so stiff that riding is always work. If you aren't riding on the edge of disaster, the suspension doesn't work and the bike beats you to death. Steerinlt, as might be expected, is -raE: PUCK snaky-quick. When you turn the wheel, you had better be ready for things to happen. When the traction is good and the power can be used to advantage, the direction of the bike can be changed so fast it hardly seems possible. Just the thing for getting around somebody who doesn't want to be passed. Six feet of open ground and bang! you're by and gone. Making turns on off-camber loose surfaces is something else. The bike is skittery and tends to go down fast. Going up and down steep hills presents its own problems. To get up a long steep hill, you have to hit it fast with lots of gears left because you can't Note exposed counter shaft sprocket, magneto cover which is held in place by on three screws, typical of easy maintenance engineering. let it drop out of the power band. You get way up over the front wheel, both to keep it down and to allow the rear wheel to spin. You must go up really fast, as befits a racer. If your courage fails, or if the hill is just too long or too rough, watch out, When you run out of gears and power, it's just damned tough to prevent looping. Going down is the same thing in reverse. The,Puch likes to -be turned on and it behaves best under power. Try to go down slowly, brakes on and clutch in and you're ripe to go on your head. Engineering on the Puch, with some few exceptions, is first rate. The wheels have nice lightweight hubs ~th heavy duty spokes. Rims are steel (which I like, but many don't) and have on security bolt each, which is marginal. I would at least install one more on the rear: The brakes are more than adequate in stopping power but do not have a full-floating shoes which is the sine qUil non for motocrossers. Apart from that, the geometry is quite good and the rear wheel doesn't hop excessively. The forks are by Ceriani, which is to say the best, while the rear shocks are Girling. No complaints here, either. Control levers are Magura, complete with dust covers. Again the best. The handlebars I found to be a little low for complete, comfort, but that is an individual thing. I am happy to say that t be fenders are metal and very substantially mounted. The gas tank is fiberglass, very nicely finished for a competition bike. Moving toward the center of the bike we come to my single biggest complaint. After about two hours of riding, the insides of both legs were rubbed raw and hurting. The left leg hurt from the expansion chamber and the right one, from the kick starter. Jt's really surprising because the Puch people have almost made a work of modern art of their kick starter to avoid that very problem. Somehow, it gets you all the same. Also the folding lever sometimes unfolds and catches your calf. There's no hope for that expansion chamber; it must be replaced with either a higher tucked-in one or a down pipe. (While you're at it, a larger diameter stinger would probably broaden the power band a little.) The pegs are spring-loaded folding type, very sturdily constructed. The peg itself, though, is a rod with ridges on it. It's not the ultimate, either as a platform or from a safety standpoint. The brake lever (rear) is also a piece of formed rod and it sticks out quite a ways. I'd saw about an inch off the end

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