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/125834
; • -• . "E.C., Build me the .E Trickest 250 Around • • " • of the funniest remarks. For inslaDce: "Hey, it's a bitchin' looking bike. Feels good to me, peg height's just right and it's super light for a 250cc bike. But it has a Montesa engine in it and they break. I've got a CZ. I've rode it six months. I never use the clutch and I stomp it in to gear righ t off the start line. I had it bored once, had some ignition prohlems with it and it's a little slow but other than that, it's been a good bike." This rider admits he has had some problems bu t nothing serious. But, in his mind, he feels if he bought a Rickman it would be "Ride It and Break It" time, and more breaking than riding. Now just for the record, I'm not going to tell you that a Rickman is the only way to go but I've been around a while and feel that the bike needs a chance to kind of clean its feet; to establish that it might be a hell of a lot more motorcycle than anyone else has at the moment. "So", says the rider, "why don't you see more of the bikes a t the race track? Well if Rickman was to go out and hire themselves a Tim Hart, or John DeSoto, give them a truckful of hikes, pay them wages to ride and furnish enough mechanics to keep the iron running, I'm sure that before too long you would see a lot more Rickmans on the track. But the Rickman factory is not that flush on bucks. They are nowhere near the size of the big Japanese outfits, and just cannot afford it. I have a feeling that even if Derek and Don Rickman could afford a program like this, they wouldn't do it because mass production does not allow the quality control that they wan t in their bikes. Where did this Mon tesa engine get the reputation that it broke a lot - and why? The first impression is the one that stays with you longest. CZ started builidng bikes long ago, when they were called Jawas. ]n ]954, the market saw some of the first CZS. They were twin pipers, remember them-? There was a time just before this that CZ had a bad gearbox problem. There was also a gentleman by the name of Mr. Walter who owned a gear factory in Prague, Czechoslovakia. He was huilding bikes himself and racing them from 1933 'til 1939. Well, CZ turned their problem over to him. Mr. Walter designed them the gearbox that they still use today. They stayed with the twin pipe cylinders plumb up 'til 1968. Up until 1959, CZ was King of the Mountain holding all the world standings. But engine output was low as far as horsepower was concerned Greeves fell into this same category. They would run forever with little to no breakage. So these bikes had earned the reputation of being rock solid. The Early Montesa Engines What building a racing motor is all about - going fast in races. Mouth English gives that added touch. Making the VR-engined Rickman even quicker By E. C. Birt Does pretty red fibergl£!ss and a chrome-plated frame make a .,.. motocross racer? No, it takes -32 han d 1 i n g , power and I dependability. You throw in the red fiberglass and plated frame for sex appeal and that added touch that makes it stand apart from all the others. Still, there seems to be a hazy black cloud that hangs in the air surrounding the 250 Rickman MX, and it kind of sprinkles down over the engine chosen for the bike. Prejudices J run into these questions an4 some The Montesa factory came-out with 250cc bikes in 1966, I believe. (It was actually as far back as 1961 - Ed.) This was an engine enlarged from a 175cc engine. It had a compression ratio of 13 to I and the factory said set the timing at 6mm B.T.D.C. The factory claimed 30 horsepower at 7000 R.P.M. The J 966 arid 1967 Montesa LaCrosse sold for around $745.00. Get the picture? Here was a new bike on the market that was cheap, with more horsepower than anyone had ever dreamed of. Sales of these bikes went sky high. Everybody and his brother wan ted one of them. The dealer has no control over who buys his bikes. He has no way of knowing whether the new bike rider has the knowledge to keep a highly tuned racing bike together or whether he falls into the 95% Joe Average group who has a hard time remembering he is suppose to put oil in the gas for his new bike. Most new bikes fall in to the hands of Joe Average, and these riderS who bought the new super hot Montesa