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/125857
. ; NODlesa := 250VR r;lQ ..:I =The best g -.::r - stock 250 r-- C'l ~ ~ c motocrosser you can buy- better than works This 250 motocross bike scene has really gotten ou t of hand. Th ere are so man y good 250 dirt race rs available in th e U.S. right now that making a cho ice for any potent ial racer- b uyer has gotten downright difficult. The class is chock-full o f fi rst rate mach inery. ., Sitting dow n a nd loo kin g at th e Mon tesa 250 VR, I tried to m ake note o f th ings that were changed from Kalevi V eh k o ne n "s wo r ks M o n t e s a as cam pai gned during the 19732 50 Gr and Prix season. T here wer e e m bar rassi ngly few d ifference s. It is so close t o Vehkonen's Mo n t e sa , essenti ally identi cal in the major co m po ne n ts, th at it was un canny . T he wo rks Montesa had the white ny lon fe nde rs that everybody wa s using on th e GP circui t, except the CZs , who used th e pl as tic o nes. (T here is a ce rtain amount of fad dis hness even am ong the GP riders. If somebody starts u s in g so methi ng and it wo r ks, e verybody wants to ha ve it. So it was with the white fender s tha t appea red on virtuall y every works rider's bike .) T he production fenders are bl ack ABS pl astic. T he works bike had a leftsid e kickst arter ; th e production b ik e' s is on ... Russ Darnell after rid ing the VR : "'Pretty nice." • "30 the right. Kalevi had d iffere n t levers as a personal pre ference it em . The works bike had gearbox problems in th e -rnidd le of the season; the production bike had no ne at all. The works bike had sh ouldered Akront alloy wheel rims; the production .bike has the new, non-rnudcat chi ng shoulderless A kron ts . Vehkonen ran a 4.50 Span ish Pirelli knobb y o n wet or muddy t racks.ias di d virtuall y every o ther 25 0 GP rider wi th a choice, and that 's, wha t co mes stock on the p roduct ion bike . One big di ff er ence that we liked is that whil e the wo rks bike had an o pen expansion a: w ff- W :l :r Z :r a .., > In oil a fa a. -==- -' :r L __ What the Montesa VR does best. really best is lead y ou through co rners any way you want: sliding squarin g or gassing it. cha m be r, the producti on b ike has a silen ced pipe that is the quietest o f any motocrosser we 've ever te sted. It is ve ry muted . You sit there shaking you r head as you go ove r the m achine. It is a works b ike : the same frame, the same black crin kle-fin ned eng ine and 34 mm Bing ca rb, the same seat, tank, fo rks, whee ls, shoc ks and shoc k mounting o f last GP seas on. The m achin e as yo u bu y it pro vides no excus es for n ot w innin g. It is race-ready for $ 139 8 ou t o f th e crat e. We tried to think of things tha t would have t o be cha nged o r m odified befo re serious motocross co mpetitio n. Cables? Footpegs ? Rims? Shocks? T he re was nothi ng abou t th e 25 0 V R th at we co uld determine w ould have to b e ch an ged. I t eve n co mes wi th a gian t Twin Air foa m fil ter in a rede signed st ill air bo x wh ich is identical to th e o ne the works rid ers used . T he filter is sec ure d with a win g nu t and easily accessible by re m ovi ng th ree d zus fast eners th at hold o n the molded-in side number plat e. Even bett er, no chro nic prob lems o r af ter-p ur chas e brea kage items have crop pe d up in an y o f th e new Mon t esa VRs. T he tri -lingu al owner's m an ual out l in e s a n o t very demandi ng m a i n ten an cc routine that. w hen fo llow ed, see ms to have ke pt the sto ck VRs virtually tro ubl efree. Yo u roll it o u t the door, brea k it in wi th a tank or two o f pre-m ix , and you race it. T hat's it. Bu t wh en yo u race it , what are y ou r cha nces o f winning or placing wel l with t he VR in the 25 0 class ? Based on o u r evaluation, your chances are da mn go o d. T hey're even pretty good for pl acing well in th e 5 0 0 cla ss. Th e VR is that quick and handles th at well . One rid er got a fifth on an all-ou t top speed co u rse in the 500 class. Power is all there. According to the Web co d yno , m ore ho rsepower a t the rear sprocket t ha n a ny o ther 250 mo t o cr oss b ike - a n ice round 3 0 HP . T ha t is a lo t of p on ies, whi ch translate into qu ick bursts out o f co m ers tha t co m bined wi th shifti ng at th e righ t t ime will get yo u ahead o f a n y th ing else in the 25 0 class th a t hasn't been wor ked over. There is sufficient low end not to wo rry ab o u t wringi ng it to d eath to go bu t the p ower has b een co nc e ntr ated in the m id-range and t op en d of the R PM. The po rting feat ures two monst rous transfer po rts, two smaller po rts and a sma ll finger port at th e rear o f the cylind e r tha t feed s the hole in th e b ack of th e p ist on. Lots o f bl ack cr in kle firm ing seem s t o w ork to keep power from dropping o ff w hen it 's really hot, like at th e end o f 4 5 minu te s. The whole bike is geare d t o Grand Prix motocross. The new "bean" tank holds en o ugh pre-mi x for j us t 45 -4 7 m inutes (plus m aybe one false st art ) of full o u t , expert level motocross. T he sha pe is exc elle n t , all owin g unnoticed moves up o n the tan k f ro m th e longest sad d le in m oto cr o ss th at in turn al lows lots o f m o ves all over th e m achine in racing. T he tank co lor is red . T he frame is bu ilt up o f ch rome m ol y stee l a t the heavy st ress points an d m ild steel elsewhe re . A ttache d to th e fro nt are tel escopic fo rks of Mo ntesa's own d esign wh ich are exquisitely precise in pro vid ing a bou t six inch es of tr a ve l. Attache d a t th e rear is an appropriately rigid sw ingarm th at bounces up and dow n o n lightw eigh t Telesco sh ock absorbers . T he Telescos have the di stin ction of ma in t aini ng t heir d amping properties for the d uratio n o f a 45-m in u te moto. How th ey d o it with such a small fluid reservoir rem ains their trade secret. They have a lm o st four in ches of stroke, like th e Ka Ni s, and the performance difference will be not iced only if you switch immed ia t ely from one set of shoc ks t o t he oth er . The Telescos are go o d ; goo d eno ugh to be used throughou t th e G P season, and Iight in wei gh t. All the rest of th e com po nen ts and d et ailing are up to the highest co m pe ti tion st an d ar ds. The cables are th ick a nd feature bu ilt -in lube n ipples. The footpe gs d on 't look li ke they'll wo rk bu t ac tually d o; gri ps a re ridged a nd fi t a wide var ie ty of ride rs wi th out co mp laint. T he fu el taps a re un ique to Mon te sa, T hey co nsist o f little balls en cased in a rub be r shea th tha t are squeezed up or down to sh u t o ff or ope n fu el fl ow. That's Darne ll on the ou tside heading for the ape x. He was the last one in to t he turn. t he first one out on the VR.