Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

; Carahela 200 Enduro III ~ Mallchego t Cheese & Lotsa Beans accuracy is to be retained. The odometer, from that time on, registered the mileage times ten, for reasons no O)le understands. The rear end hopped around more than we liked in whoop-de-doos. The Gabrie.l shocks bottomed out, and so did the Betor forks. The forks would probably have less tendency to bottom out if all the fork oil would stay in them. Contrary to popular belief, Betor fork seals are not made of cream cheese. They're made of Manchego cheese, and it's delicious. Kind of like.a heavier, richer Monterey Jack. The first really big hill saw the Carabela and rider blasting past @rger two-strokes of other makes with ease. While some unlucky soul pushed! and grunted, the Carabela just went right on up and over. Other hills proved no more c h a II e n gi ng to the Carabela. Unfortunate.ly, on one the quick litde stroker went right up and over... into some giant rocks. The rocks annihilated Los [renos necesitan mejoramiento. -.. \ Heat shields worked. The Carabela 200 we received had been stored two months since its return from a test by one of the monthly mags, and had fifty miles on the clock It apparently had not had the benefit of any set-up .. except .gas and 011,. as Just about every bolt on the bIke was loose. But the distinctive Mexican styling was still evident. Mindful of the hurried situation, we gladly accepted the bike as it sat. A few hours of tightening and adjusting before heading out for the desert, and we were ready for the ultimate test. At the enduro site the night before the bike's first competitive event, it refused to start. No amount of prods on the kicks tarter would bring the motor to life, until a representative of Cragar gave us a fresh spark pLug. One kick always fired it after the plug replacement, except after crash-caused flooding. Two things .became obvious immediately after jumping on the bike for a preliminary ride. First, it had a lot of beans for its size, being downright quick. Second, the lighting system was a bad joke. The tail light actually put more light on the ground than the headlight did. The next morning was to be the start of the big test of depe.ndJabiJity, plus preliminary handling investigations. You whip off the gas tank filler cap, and watch ~. the gasket falls in. the sand. After filling the tank, you Insert the Kawasaki key blank in the Kawasaki ignition switch, fire it up, and ride over to the start line. The right hand shift four speed works well enough, and in combination with the powerplant, kept the Carabela moving along as fast as any situation demanded. The front brakes worked as a great warning device when overtaking riders behind schedule.. ,it squeeked loudly enough to be used as a effective horn, which was good since the real horn was a weak horsefly imi talion. We're told that the new mode.ls will feature conical hub brakes to correct the problem. The resetable odometer was right on when the three-mile speedo check was reached. The excellent grips and control levers were very comfortable, and the control adjusters worked well. The Carabela was proving to be a lot of fun to ride, when the tester did a spectacular over-the-handlebars test of the bike's crash survival abilities. The crash proved that the control levers do not break off, the fiberglass fenders do break off, and that one should not smash speedometers into rocks if the front rjm, but spared the engine cases although they have no skid plate for protection. In spite of the crash, the bike and rider finished the enduro, although riding most of the second loop on a flat tire did point out that flats hamper handling performance. That, friends, was the test of the beautiful little Mexican motorcycle that needed a little tender loving care, round one. A t the time of the return of bike and tester to our office, the impression we held of the Carabela was that of a good looking, strong running motorcycle that could be a whole lot better with a little proper preparation. The Carabe.la went back to the Carabela people, who promised to repair the damages, set it up properly, and return it for further evaluation. Round two of the Carabela test started one sunny morning before another enduro. An enduro is the only logical place to test an enduro bike, so off we Wefll with the shiny conquistador again. No longer did the fiberglass front fender droop in despair...a nice new one had been fitted. No longer did the front rim look like a wooden medieve.l cart wheel missing an edge plank... a nice new one had been laced up. No longer did the speedo cable twist in tire-tormented agony...a nice new one had been installed. On the list 200 powerplant screamed when running right. goes. The Carabela looked to be in as good shape as it could be in. We had found out the night before that ·the reason the tail light had been brighter than the headlight was that we were not '!Sing the right combination of engine running, ignition switch in the middle position, and dimmer switch in the middle position. With the right combination accidently found, the lights were fair. The next morning everything seemed in order. The forks had new quality Betor cheese seals in them, and for the moment, didn't leak. The front brake still made a dandy horn, and a poor stopper. The rear brake seemed satisfactory, and the cooling fins just wailed away as the yellow streak was kept on the powerb~d. A tug on the bars and"a handful of throttle would lift the front whee.l easily. Everything was going well as we caugh t and passed some of the earlier stragglers, but then she started to load up. After cleaning the carb out we got going again, but the Carabela was soon coughing and hacking miserably, asking for a clean spark plug. But, since we had foolishly embarked without a plug wrench, we were forced to nurse it the rest of the way. The fork seals were drooling again, but that problem is certainly not unique 'to Carabe.las or to Betor forks. Beyond that, what the Carabe.la needs is better shocks and plastic fenders. The br.kes have already been improved on the latest mode.ls, and most riders are resigned to the necessity for fitting shocks of their own prefer.,nce. The Carabela factory takes genuine interest in the fe."dback it gets from the Gringo rinders, ,..nd the builders are not reluctant to make necessary changes Aunque es solamente un 200, tiene mucha [uerza. immediate.ly. With some manufacturers, it takes years. Given the proper breaking-in-time, and exact jetting and spark plugging, the Carabela powerplant is a strong item. NaturaJJy it takes more care and patience than the average oil-injected Japanese mount, but at the same time it is generally quicker and handles be tter than its Oriental counterparts. It appeared that Carabe.la had lost touch for awhile, but they now seem to be getting it back together. Next week: The Carabela 125 motocrosser, recently victimized by some malicious mischief in one of the monthly comic books. •

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