Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

..... -- - -------------~-~-_:~:~~-=:-:: ~ 'v l r .. ------ * . ------"'.... .. -------------------------------.. •• -......... . 'f.,( - r Monam .. go III J l1. .... '" '" ",' a. . of Sweden' '" '" w == Z W ..J U >U .~ -~~~~~~ ....~.~~. ~ __ ~-:"':~r.3 ~~~~~ the USA has long been an established marque in Europe. The other Swedish motocrosser, just recently introduced int.o by John H uetter When we began this idea of taking a brief look at the ligh tweigh t racers, the Monar k 125 hadn't even been introdu ced into this country . At this writing, they are already winning races and building up both a followin g and interest . Keeping pace with the state of the art and the develop men t of compet ition machin ery for motocro ss is getting to be a full time job. The Swedes have laid another piece of sturdy well-en gineere d racing machin ery on the Americ an market and it is good. If delayin g the introdu ction of their produc t in to the US of A for so long (As everybo dy should, by now, be awafe, Monark haSbee n building hikes for many moons.) was a result of waiting to get it right, the delay paid off. There just aren't that many detail faults or any gross design errors inheren t in tlte Monark . At least, none that become obvious . in the course of our brief exposur e. The finish is really excellen t, on a par with some of the best street machin es.' The frame is coated in a thick, almost pearlesc ent blue which covers straight , long, even welds. The chassis is a sturdy, good 100 king piece of hardwa re buil t around a large rectang ular backbo ne, which also serves as the air inlet duct to the filter. The subfram e that holds the rear fender borts on to the mainfra me just behind the shock mounts , so that it can be replaced if you endo (That's usually the part of the frame that gets bent in a racing crash.) rather than having to reweld, rebend or re·b.uy the frame itself. The bike has sturdy basic geomet ry with support ing gussets at stress points. Swedish nationa lism is reflecte d in the tank and number plates which are yellow, thereby making the Monark a motoriz ed version of the Swedish flag. Kind of like having Harleys come only in red, white, and blue. I think the combin ation is a bit gaudy but others liked it and, there are very few MX racers who don't like to be colorfu l. But paint doesn't tell the story of a bike. Suspens ion, power and handlin g do. Cerianis (of the smaller sizes) are standar d up fron t with Girlings at the rear. There were never any compla in ts from either end of the machin e or any of the riders. If you don't notice it and it does what it's suppose d to, it's got to be right. The relative ly short wheelba se makes for a light front end and very quick handlin g around comers . All the CN staffers that rode it, liked it. The super-q uick handlin g was not twitchy or unpredi ctable and was judged an asset by riders whose style is, to say the least, variable . So it should fit the 'shoes even better. The ~ike does want to go where you point it "righ t now" and you really MONAR K·Y DETAI LS AND DIMEN SIONS 52" Sachs "B" Type 122cc Motopl at Pointles s _ Front: Ceriani Telesco pic Rear: Girting w/75 lb. springs .27mm Bing Carbure tion 190 Ibs (dryj Weight Metzele r 3.00 x 2 Tires Metzele r 3.50 x 18 2.25 Gal. Fuel Capacit y ...• .$975 Retail Price (Sug.) ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... Wheelb ase Engine Ignition Suspens ion '. ; The Sachs "B • engine on the Monark was the best out of the crate motor of any of the machines tested using the Sachs powerplant. Good carburetion and shifting. can't get too sloppy. Howeve r, the Mona rk seems to encour age concen trated, precisio n riding rather than punish the rider by spitting him off if he does get careless . It didn't seem to like the sand as well as tacky or harder -packe d courses , but they probabl y don't have all that much desert in Sweden or on the Contine nt. Monark could be "the" machin e on some of the sh.ort, twisty MX courses . Almost any problem s encoun tered with the machine on an MX course could be cured with a control led twist of the· throttle . The Sachs "B" engine that Monark uses was the most spot-on of aU the HB" engines encoun tered so • far. Wheth er by coincid ence or prepara tion, (this' bike, was as most of the other lightwe ights tested, barely out of the crate.) the motor was perfect. . First kick starts, no loading up, no carbure tion problem s, perfect smooth shifts, and surprisi ng power from the low end all the way up for an engine with only two tanks of gas through it. Almost everyth ing that can be said about this engine has already been. noted since it powere d three other of the ligh tweigh ts tested. This particul ar mill was just amazing ly tractabl e. It would be interest ing to fmd out, for sure, if Monark really prepare s the engines after they buy them. It's been rumore d both ways: they bluepri nt them; they don't touch them. Even with the stock gearing, which is hair tall, the' Monark 's lightwe ight combin ed with the power availabl e gets you moving very quickly up to a top end over 60. Americ an Motocr oss has equippe d their shop racers with a 13 x 56 sprocke t combin ation with good results. {There' s a hot tip for you privatee rs.) Detailin g on the bike is general ly high quality , with Magura control s and cable Iubrica ting holes in the transpa rent cable sheaths , for instance . A kill button is missing and so are some decent footpeg s. Levers and grips were comfor tably unspect acular. The footpeg s emerged as the single biggest flaw of the machin e. Your feet come off the pegs and the pegs come off the bike. One peg was retighte ned three times and still insisted on loosenin g and falling down into an unusabl e position or off. Some riders don't like the pegs because your boots get stuck in them. At any rate, replace them. The Monark s are not importe d with a silencer but most respons ible shops are welding them on before the bikes get off the floor. The supplie r of our test bike is taking the same approac h with the foot pegs: replacin g them with some superio r items. The still air box is really just a fJ.1ter elemen t holder in front of the rear steel fender, but air intake is ducted from under the tank through the frame, as referred to earlier, so it's pretty hard for anythin g except clean air to get in there. Actuall y, the Monark would make a very good, though expensi ve, playbik e. It is light, maneuv erable, easy to start, has a broad power band with good response from the "B" engine and is fun to ride. Not that great for packing two up, though. The Monark is just making the choice harder for the motocro sser who wants a 125 racer. Now there's another no-eom promise , high quality racer for him to conside r. Maybe the Monark won't suit everyon e, it isn't a bike that's intende d to. It will enable a lot of motocro ssers to find themsel ves going very rapidly with quick, control led handlin g and that should suit them just fine. American Motocross in Buena Park, Cal. carries the Monark and made this one available for the eN lightweig ht review. Indian Dunes and Saddleback Park saw 'the bulk of the ridjng on the Swedish 125 and their cooperation is appreciated.

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