Cl
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The 123 pulled this little cliff climb in second gear. It was not a straight shot from the bottom
and the dirt was loose.
Any serious doubts about the pulling
power were quickly dispelled when I
came around a tough comer out of
shape, but still went up a four foot plus
rock face with a step immediately
follow.ing. What makes this impressive is
that the 125's of the past had to be kept
buzzing. Once you rolled the throttle
off in a spot like that it was allover. 1
just did it twice in the same section
without planning to. You could tell it
was loaded but it didn't stop pulling and
1 weigh 165 or thereabouts.
Sharp turns and off-cambers are
easier than on the 250s I have ridden.
The front end is so light and predictable
the floating turn is a breeze. Run the
front wheel up a bank turn full lock and
hold a steady . throttle. Apply the
desired amount of body english to turn
and roll off the throttle where you want
the front end to come down. Or, with a
similar procedure you could skip the
front wheel from rock to rock.
Off-cambers also require a great deal of
finesse. T-Iere the Iigh tweight and
smooth. tractable power is a real asset.
The ligh tweigh t allows the rider to
mancuver the bike with less effort. The
trick here is when the wheel starts to
slide, lean the bike away from the hill.
alice, I said the bike, now necessarily
the bod y. Th is gives the tire face a
better shot at the ground.
The specially designed tires, 2.50x20
front and 3.75x17 rear, are by Pirelli.
They contribute greatly to the handling
and tractability. Ground clearance of
11.6"
is not hampered because
everything is proportional. Thc smooth
power allows a rider to main lain, or
even gain speed on almost any off
camber.
To complete our test we decided to
ridc a loop of what is considered to be
the toughest Trials event in the United
States. The San Diego Scottish One
Day. This loop this year w,as 20+miles
and 22 sections three times for Master
and Expert riders. that's 60 miles with
66 observed sections and a time lintit
close enough to kcep you moving. Both
man and machine had better have their
garbage together just to fmish.
Off we went in 100 degree heat to see
what the bike could ·do. After a quick
clean ride on No. 1 we hit the first of
the tough trails: riding in a wash 1·1/2
times as wide as your bars with rocks,
sand, and 20" walls straight up on both
sides. It took 10, guys an hour to make a
way out of the wash so we could use it
in th e even t.
umber 2 was Master·Expert only
section and a two dab score was
recorded because the rider took the
wrong line and almost blew. it
comple tely.
The next part of the trail shot down
quite a few riders. A long, loose, rocky
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up·hill had riders on the seat and both
feet on the ground. The 123 went up
the hill in third gear, feet on the pegs.
The engine did ping on me once or
twice when I rolled the throttle off and
back on quickly to jump over rocks or
take advantage of traction. This was
attnbu ted later to the high temperature
and a not-so-premium batch of gasoline.
The plug color looked good so we rode
on.
We hit the longest stretch of road on
the loop: 3 miles; and were running 30
to 40 MPH. The rated 50 MPH top
speed is about right as the motor was
starting to wind up at 40.
The only time we bottomed the
suspension all day was when 1 had lard
in the seat and hit a dip at 35 or so. 1
should have been on the pegs. 1 jumped
off rocks, ledges; down rock staircases
and' back up again. The suspension
perfonned flaw lessly. The en tire loop
and sections were ridden without any
problems.
The original stiffness in
!
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Good control on a dropoff (The same cliff climbed in the opposite photo.) was helped with a
perfect front brake and rod--actuated rear brake.
begun to work its way out with the six
speeds evenly spaced. Without any big
jumps in the gearbox, the righ t cog was
only a tap on the lever away. The 64
dollar question is: Can you beat the
250s on a 123?
In the Novice and Amateur classes,
for sure. We have a bunch of real fine
young riders who just are not ready for
a 250 size bike. There are some young
ride...s who handle a 250 pretty well. But
when they get in trouble in a tough
section forty pounds is lot of difference
to a 107 or 140 pound rider. If the
whole event is tough, I have seen that
40 Ibs. flat wear out a good rider.
The machine has the ability if the
rider has the talent to be No.1 in the
Novice or Amateur class. Even some
riders who have not done well in the
past may "tum on" with this m·achine.
How about the Master and Expert
classes? At this point you could even go
into rider personality. 1 will try to sort
it out a little. Masters and Experts are
now riding and cleaning sections which,
Jumping off rocks and ledges did not bottom the suspension.
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a short time ago (2 years) were thought
impossible.
Riders'
and
motorcycles
have
improved. With this improvement,
inclividual sty les have cropped up,
Certain basic techniques are similar but
the rider picks up his own line and uses
his ability. The individual's ability to
use his equipment to the best of its
ability is t\1e difference between first
and last place.
Certain sections could be made to
favor either machine: 123 or 250. The
fact that international class riders can
.negotiate terrain -on a 123 that we
cannot on a 250 lea'les little doub1: the
machine is capable. The rider would
have to be more aggressive in some
sectiond due to the engine size bu t
could take advantage of outmaneuvering
the bigger bike.
All of this is considering you are a
serious competitor. Whether you are or
not, it's O.K. with the bike. It is fun to
ride, and I haven't had that much fun in
ye;ars.
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