Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125726
CYCLE NEWS CONSUMER TEST
1971 OSSA PIONEER
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NOTE: Unlike the road tests that
you may read in the conventional
publications, which are performed
in a day's or week's riding time and
often are conducted on special
bikes set up by the manufacturer
for test purposes, this and the series
of Cycle News Consumer Tests to
follow are owner's reports on
popular new motorcycles purchased
from a retail dealer's showroom,
just like the machine you will
eventually buy.
By Charles Clayton
The concept of a mediumweight,
all-purpose trail bike that is practical
both on and off the road has been
around motorcycling since before
Harley med Davidson. But only in the
last three or four years have such
machines begun to appear on the
market. Prior to the Bultaco Matador
and the Mon tesa Scorpion, you had
your choice of buying a road bike and
putting knobby tires on it, or else
purchasing a racer with lights and a hom
tacked on. Neither combination could
quite handle both jobs well. Trust the
Spaniards to design bikes that wear their
road gear easily in the dirt and yet go
and handle great on the blacktop as
well.
Ossa came a little later on the scene
with an "enduro bike," as such a
machine is called. Their little 230cc
Pioneer of a couple of years back had
the specifications that appealed to such
enduro freaks as Bob Hicks. He
campaigned one all season long in New
England, then shipped it to Spain for
the 1970 Six Days Trial, came through
it without a hitch and won a medal. Bob
told me that Pioneers ran a little lean in
the midrange and the ignition switch
was in an awkward place and the
speedometer was abominable, but
otherwise it was a great machine.
When I saw that tbose three flaws had
been amended on the '71's and the
engine is now a full 244ccs and a fifth
gear had been added, I decided I had to
have one.
Hurrying
down
to
Hackie's
Motorcycles in Torrance, Ca1., as soon
as the first shipment arrived, I picked
out number 301274 and bade Willie
Hockie set it up. The price, I was
somewhat shocked to learn, came to
$1,018.25 plus tax and license. 1 added
a compression release (the head is
already drilled and tapped for one) and
replaced the skinny, grey Spanish
handlegrips with fat, American black
ones along with leather discs.
Willie cau tioned me to keep the speed
under 50 mph for the first couple of
hundred miles and explained the
workings of the new IRZ 29mm
carburetor with its extra jet for
midrange tuning. The Pioneer's frame
and engine are essentially the same as
the potent Stiletto motocross racer. The
enduro bike's wheelbase is one inch
shorter, however, at 54Y.".
.
Riding the Pioneer under the break-in
speed limit is not easy. The engine
wants to go, and it will run up to 90
mph in top gear, if you let it. I p1Jtted
around my favorite dirt pile until the
police ran me off and then I rode it
around on the street until 200 miles
showed on the odometer. At that point
I returned to the scene of my crime
confiden t that I could lose my pursuer.
The bike feels top-heavy until you get
used to it. Steering is rather slow, so
you're forced to ride it with a lot of
body English through the tighter turns,
using the throttle to assist by breaking
the "rear tire loose. This isn't always
possible at higher trail speeds however,
so you have to choose your path rather
far ahead in order to miss trees, rocks
and other bad things. Fork rake is 29
degrees. It is a small concession for such
a stable machine. It plows through sand
like a train. My Pioneer's center of
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direction, for it always lands on bOtll
tires unJess you exert a vigorous tug on
the bars and shift your fanny somewhat
aft of the tailligh t. It never tries to loop
on uphill runs, wh ich is a blessing.
First gear is a stump-puller intended
for only the most drastic situations, like
the hillclimb speed test in the 6-days
Trial. Fifth gear is fine for the Ontario
Raceway or making up time fast in an
enduro. Second, 3rd and 4th gears are
ideally spaced for the engine's wide
power band. The gearbox was stiff when
new, resulting in some embarrassing
neutrals while shifting down to 2nd or
up into 3rd. But this tendency is
dintinishing with use. I found myself
getting a little bit over-exhuberant with
tltis, my own bike, as opposed to the
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First mod was the substitution of a J&R silencer-spark arrester combination for the stock
no-spark arrester muffler. Tools are carried under the little lid.
by the factory and the Senors' at Ossa
haven't let you down. The hand
controls have dust excluders, there are
rim locks in the wheels, passenger pegs,
a chain guide, enduro speedometer and,
carried in the camper section of the rear
fender, a generous tool kit.
But a common maintenance chore
like removing tlte rear wheel can be an
awful drag. It's guaranteed to while
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The ignition lock is under the head light, a
better-than-averag'e location.
In short, my experience with tlte Ossa
Pioneer proves it's just one point shy of
beIng the perfect 250cc street and trail
combination. And I can even live witlt
that rear wh.eel removal drill. Right now
, can't think qf a bener way to invest a
thousand dollars.
Note the high ground clearance, clean bottom of the Ossa. Nice for sliding over rocks and such.
cau tion I usually elLercise witlt machines
that have to be given back. Soon I was
forced to step undaintily over the
handlebars as the Pioneer pioneered a
new trail down a hillside. All that was
damaged were the handlebars, bent
several inches cockeyed by the crash.
The
sturdy
Betor
forks
and
crash-resistant plastic absorbed the
impact withoLlt harm.
The lights are battery-assisted and are
equal to the machine's performance
capabilities. Occasionally off the road
there comes a time when you have to
pick up your bike and carry it for a
distance. With tlte Ossa Pioneer this is
not too difficult. Its 235 lb. weight is
evenly distributed, so getting the wheels
in a new ru t doesn't even make one
grunt. There's a handy grab-handle on
the left side.
At 200 miles I changed from the
break-in fuel mix ture of 20: I to
Full-Bore oil mixed 40: 1 with premium
gasoline and have experienced no
seizure problems. Yes, Virginia, you
have to mix oil with tlte gasoline. The
engine runs clean on either mixture and
the Motoplat 6-volt ignition- system
hasn't missed a beat in 400 miles. It's
also completely waterproof. For a
thousand dollars, you have a ri(!ht to
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