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/125840
Three Grand Prix Motocrossers You may be able to buy the replicas sooner than you -think. The new Mon1ltSll engine. It looks, and is, purposeful. Belgian works rider Jean·Claude Jobe usually rides a 250, but adapted to the big bore power. Montesa360 By John Huetter Photos by Art Friedman Lean it way very the turns and then still give you the choice of changing your line even when you think you're committed. You can tighten up or let it slide out with control that is possible only from such a no-compromise motocross-bred racer. The Montesa is one very fine cornering machine. Very few others, if any, will outdo it in the turns. Both ends do what they should and you never know about it. The shocks have been moved up the swingarm and frame, according to latest practice. The production model, when it comes, will probably have the same design and new Telescos with 150 lb. springs. Their position gives a very long effective rear axle travel. Telescos on previous Montesas were too soft for many riders but they maintained their original damping properties for a full 45-minute moto. The current design approach is to make them stiffer and still last after they get heated up. The correct shock is not sorted out, yet. Like most of the other GP bikes, almost everything has been tried during the year's suspension search. KONls were run for most of the TransAMA series. The forks are the same as on the VR, i.e., good. Excellent straight line stability is there over rotten, hard bumps and whoop-de-doos. The fron t end just won't wiggle from side to side. Until the shocks are sorted out. the protorype rear end wants to kick up with the altered swingarm. The result is to put more motion into the front forks than they normally encounter but they still handle very well. The gas tank is very low, as on the VR, with the new ub~an" shape proven on the '73 GP circuit. Your bod slides up over the tank and actually drops down a bit from the well-designed seat, which seems to have more effective padding than last year's YR. It is a very comfortable place for the duration of a moto even if you're not sitting on it all that much. Like most GP bikes, the front end is quite light in feel and responds quickly and predictably to weight and power transfer. Wicking on the throttle in any of the bottom three gears brings the front end up controllably to about shoulder height and it stays there, not coming over any further. This is obviously a neat thing to do when charging across small whoopdies, ripples, and other impediments to smooth forward progress. On the Montesa, it's also easy to do. Power to the ground is dependent to some extent on suspension and when that is completely sorted out, the Montesa will have plenty to put there. Horsepower has never been a problem to obtain from Montesa engines. It is available from the 360 in quantity and, seemingly, for reliably long periods of racing operation_ If Montesa can improve even a little on the radical suspension for the production model, it will be· a very competitive and acceptable 500 class MXer; in fact Incorporating more up-to-date technology than their competitors. The frame is right now. It is super stable, allows forgiving handling, and doesn't break. The engine has Motoplat ignition. Montesa is working with Motoplat to introduce an even more improved electronic sparker in their next line of production bikes. Gas-air mix is through a 34mm Bing with jetting larger than the 250 YR. There is a 4.50 MX Spanish Pirelli on the rear which is just about the best rubber for muddy or wet courses. It is acceptable but tends to wear fast on the hard-packed adobe of SoCaI tracks. There is a 3.00 x 21 Pirelli on the front. There are also unbreakable fenders to keep the mud off the rider and a Twin Air filter in' a still air box under the seat to keep it out of the engine. The Twin Air filter is Dutch-made of excellent quality, with twice the mtering surface of any U.S.-made air cleaner. All of the shoes in Europe run them because they seem to do a job of keeping water out of motor internals. The engine responds to a less than half-tum throttle with enthusiasm. There is no power below 3000 RPM, but when the power comes on at 3000 it builds to what feels like eight grand in a smooth, non-pipey surge. It is fairly torquey coming out of comers even in third and fourth gears and a predictable stump-puller in the lower two. Once it comes out of the comer on the power band it gets going fast in a hurry. Perhaps acceleration and comer handling are its strongest features which, thinking about it, are damn good features for motocross. There is no idle, of course, and it is the usual high compression ubear" to kick start. The distinctive flat black crinkle fin engine cylinder looks massive compared to the very small cases on the lower end. It looks, well, very "works-like" which of course is exactly what it is but production machines will be the same. A silencer is built in to the low pipe which is not out of the way of the well-tucked in leftside kickstarter, or offending rocks. Design of the pipe placemen t will probably change. There are plenty of useable horses available from this particular engine-pipe configuration. Change would be just a convenience item for the rider which the Spanish are paying more attention to since American buyers go for the easy way as on Japanese bikes. All up weight of the bike with all the proper fluids in it except gas is 209 Ibs. That is as light as you can get and still race legally in 500 class Grand Prix. With the center of gravity as low as it is, it feels even lighter. There have been no gearbox problems and no chronic engine breakages. When this machine starts coming off production lines (we hope not too far in the future) it will have a lot of motocrossers waiting for it. :# You can do just about anything in a corner and get away with it so _ did. 31