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/125758
'" 8. ~ three inches to 50 and the new bike BMW. weighs only 202 lbs. wet. MAR riders '" won't have to worry about hanging the ,.; frame on obstacles unless they're over 101'> inches high. Hopefully, the Mick " Andrews Ossa will be available in larger -Sl numbers than its predecessor. F or every ~ Plonker plonking, there was a parade of w prospective Plonker purchasers pursuing Z a Plonker to plonk. _ ~ An enduro verison of Yankee's 500 ~ twin, in R&D for several years, should U make its appearance in the early spring. BMW entered the superbike youth market a couple of years ago by giving their sedate tourers a lot more power and style. '72 BMW's have been prettied up even more and mechanically ~ also grace the new "Wunderbikes". But the old push-pin ignition switch is still the same . JAWA-CZ CZ hit the market with their new MA ICO All the bikes that Maico sends to this country are racers. Hence, there are no yearly model changes, per se. Improvements may appear at any time as the factory constantly updates the machines. There are several such changes in the Maicos currently being shipped to dealers. New rubber-mounted handlebars should help prevent rider fatigue due to high-frequency vibration. A slightly modified frame has stronger shock mounts and is narrower at the seat. Swingarrn has been extended one inch and reworked to . keep the chain from trying to saw it in half. '72 Maicos h ave stronger front rims and a new two gallon fuel tank. In the go -power department, m o re horses have been extracted from the 250 by port reworking. Cylinders are being machined to a closer tolerance. Maico ignition coils have occasionally failed due to their proximity to engine heat. A new, external secondary coil is mounted away from the motor. Oh yeah ..,Maico's got a new tank decal. The Montesa 250cc Cota. MONTESA , For the last several years Montesa has seemed contented languishing in the background of U.S . motorcycling. One of the major problems has been getting enough machines over here to fill demands created by stateside promotion. Montesas will be in better supply this year and the factory will attempt to score a bigger share of the American market. Hoping to ma ke the 250 King Scorpion the foundation of the line, Montesa has brightened the model up a bit. No major rew o rk in g, just detail performance a nd reliability improvemen ts. Trials riding is rapidly increasing in popularity an d Montesa's 247 Cota has not been available in large enough numbers to fill the need created by the boom. A larger part of their production facilities will b e devoted to the new "goat". Cota's transmission has been reworked to shift better and last longer. An added benefit of the redesign is a reduction in overall width by I W '. Work has been done on the bottom end to improve engine balance. Up above, induction efficiency is b o osted by the addition of a windowed piston. New . rear shocks and general strengthening o f crash -vuln erable parts are features on the '72 Cota. The 50cc Cota Mini -Trails, introduced last October, should be well accepted by the I -II set in its first full year on the market. Although the grey Montesa Cappra 125 and 250 MX's were only released a few months ago , they have already gone through . some changes. Both bikes hav e sligh tly more powerful engines with the 125 picking up a beefier frame . HARLEY-DAVIDSON With the Japanese and British 750's singing "Bye, Bye Miss American Pie" to the Sportster, H-D has opted to punch out their superbike to 1000cc's. A new Bendix carb replaces the feisty Tillotson that juiced previous models. The larger displacement engine is carried in tas tefully restyled ru nning gear that makes the bike look eve n lean er and hungrier. 1972 CH's outwardly resemble the 750 XR, one of the baddest-Iooking race bikes around. A black paint job, interrupted only by a small emblem and tri-color swirl, accentuates the internally sprung forks and curved seat. Cylinder jogs are also black. Electric starter is optional on the big Harley performance bike. For those who measure out their lives in cubic inches, H-D offers the 74" Super Glide and Electra-Glide. Styling on the new Super-Glide has been toned down considerably from the "Captain America" model. New front disc brakes are now availab le on the Electra-Glide, Harley 's popular Baja 100 has a new front fender mounted high off the wheel. A new single ring piston is fitted and a flywheel magneto provides more spark for the powerplant. . 1 I 175 engine also appears in a dual-purpose model called the Trail Boss. Jawa's literature claims that when you try the Trail Boss ..... you'll want to shun your spurs and shout 'whoopee'! " Far out. updated. An option of silver or blue paint adorns the reshaped 41'> gallon gas tank and a more comfy seat is provided for long trips. Side and cen ter stands have been redesigned to retract automatically. The famous opposed motocrossers last summer. There will be no change in the yellow racers in the early months of 1972 at least, but Jawa expects to market Enduro counterparts of the 250 and 400 sometime next year. The new Jawa street roadsters will grace Maico's West Coast distributor, Frank Coop er , is producing his own motorcycle in 1972. It will be called, oddly enough, the Cooper. Only one model is slated for production, a 250 enduro with exactly the same steering geometry as a Maico. Moto-Islo's giant factory in Saltillo, Mexico, will manufacture the bike to Cooper's specs. The first production model should arrive in Bu rbank this week. Get tin' serious with the 250cc CZ. twin is now quieter because of roll pins inserted in the cylinder fins to subdue vibration ringing. Carburetor slides and jetting have been changed to make the big twins smoother. BMW's electrica l harnesses are now circuited to accept fuses . Straigh t mufflers and a wider rim Yankee cap ita list highways in '72. An identical frame will carry 125 and I75cc engines. They are priced to compete with their Japanese equivalents. The single cylinder five -speed inc orp o rates features from both the motocross models and the 350 Californian. The AND BESIDES... Several bike makers won't be redoing their machines for 1972. Husqvama, Puch, and DKW are not planning any changes. or if they are, they're not talking about it. Husky remains tight-lip ped about the future of its 125 motocrosser. Cycle News will keep you posted when Honda and Norto n release their new bikes. Well, there you have it, gang; a new playtoy for everybody. Street riders have enough superbikes to sa-turate every drive-in in town. Off-roaders can take to the hills on more powerful, reli able, and, hopefully, quieter mounts. And the guy who gets his thrills vicariously b y watching will have frosted eyeballs . THE ULTIMATE