Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

·T • -' is for Trail, not tria'! (but don't let that fool you) ~~T" By Lane Campbell Wow! What a handsome motorcycle! That was .our first Impression of the "T" 'series Cota , and after weeks of off-again, on-again test riding, it was still a handsome mot orcycle (something of a record for a Cycle News test) , Mayb e th at's because the bike was just 12 too pretty to throw in d iscri m ina tel y onto the ground. More flattering is the assumption th at the bike was too sure-footed and forgiving for th at kind o f horsepla y. (Not to tall y true, but o u r more sp ectacu lar " fives " were of th e co n t ro lled-c ras h variety, rather th an steadily deteriorating dis aster. ) Mechanically, the "T" is simply a Cota with a " bi g tan k, big seat, rudim entary ofT-road lighting, a nd one-tooth-large r countershaft th an the pure "trials" Cota. It re tai ns the basic COla geo met ry, frame, suspension, engine, and internal gea r ratios. The apparent rationale o f the " T " is t o provide the borderline tri als enthusiast with a versatile trailbike at little or no sacrifice of trials capabilities. In this, Mo ntesa has achieved qualified success, for the 247 "T," (there's also a 123 "T") is, o u t of the box, a purely del ightful trail bike, a nd needs only" lower gearing and a ta d more st eering lo c k to be a truly competitive Beginner/ Novice ride. Or even a pukka Am ateur ride, for th at matter. Th e ki ckst arter has a n uncomfortably short, but surprisingly effective throw, which brings the engine stuttering to life from co ld , provided it has been sufficiently ti ckled first, A single "VR-type" ball valve lets fuel out of the tank, and the Amal 627 Concentric remains drool-free when the bike is left on the stand with th e gas on. (Maybe th at particular problem with Spanish bikes is finally dead.) The most noticeable thing about the Cota's engine is its flywheel effect. To the uninitiated, it makes the engine sound and act asthmatic when the throttle is snapped open, because the engine seems to suck wind an awfully long time before something happens. Having a lot of flywheel inertia in an engine does slow down throttle response, but it has no effect on the steady-state torque output. The beneficial result in a trials or trail bike is terrific traction in loose, scrabbly soils and it 's a particular blessing for keeping momentum up on those soft, snotty uphills that have everybody else digging holes in the bank. This motor alone is so fine , it makes the cycl e feel as though it has wings. You gas it briefly at the bottom, roll off the throttle when the traction begins to get spotty , and a magic hand keeps shoving you straight up the bank. No hassle, no fuss. It just does it. None of that stalling or chain snatch as you go over the to p, either. It helps on downhills, too; for the engine would rather keep running than let that rear wheel lock. You can still loft the front wheel at will, but you have to decide to do it a bit earlier than you would on a bike with more sudden throttle response. The front is light, the pegs and bars are in 'the right relation to each other, and the torque is there. The flywheel effect helps you carry a wheelie longer, if YOU'TC: so inclined. . Coupling the trials gearing (lower four rat io s very close together, then a long step to top) with higher final "drive g e a r i n g makes a very versatile, go-anywhere trail bike that wiII tap out in the 4 5-50 mph range if you're absolutely determined to go that fast. After cow-trailing and fire-roading the Cota in c o m p a n y with other enduro/trail bikes and a few pure trialers, we were most pleased with its performance envelope. Put it this way: If you had to ride an enduro loop that called for a I 2 mph average or less , you'd have about the least trouble holding th at avera ge on the 247 "T." Over the faster I 8-24 mph and up type of terrain, you're going to have to work harder and take more risks to keep up. The cobbier th e ground, the more you can kick back and watch everybody else struggle. The HT" is an optional stand-up/sit-down rider that feels right in either mode. A nice touch for getting just th e right bar-to-seat-to-peg relationship is a vernier-graduated scale on the handlebar cla m p that is a genuine help in finding and retaining a comfortable settin g. The grips were S0-50 , the pegs were less slippery than we 'd expect from looking at them , the brake pedal is nicely toothed and falls righ t to foot. Cable controls were smooth and the throttle ca b le is well sealed at both ends. These th ings , taken together with the Cota's low all -up weigh t deliver a ride th at is easy on the bod , easy o n the m ind. The major mental ca u ti o n is remembering th at the Cota has softer springing and less steering trail th an the The 250 fo r girls who are scared of 2505. No sweat, no str ain, all fun. Expa nded metal bash plate : Light , airy belt-and -suspenders protection between t he frame t ubes. Note left shift . crossover rear brake pivot, neatly t ucked-und er clutch arm . average enduro bike. Ride it to avoid bottoming it at speed, keep the front wheel Iigh t and planing in the sand, and don't try to stuff it into sweeping com ers fas t. Observing these simple safety rules (which apply to any trials bike) , you soon develop an easy, no -sweat riding rhythm that gobbles up terrain at an amazing rate - especially when the terrain in q uestion is nearly impassable to anything but a t rials bike. The . tank holds enough premix (about 2.3 ga llo ns) to st ay out a good long while, sin ce you'll find yo u rself pulling the highest usable gear at part throttle and using flywheel effect to its best advantage most of the time. The front suspension (Montes". in-house item) and rear suspension (by Teles co) worked especially well together, even when attacking rough , terrain at speeds faster th an prudent with a tri als bike. Side-to-side hop ana pitching were almost nil, uphill or down, good footing or bad (mostly bad). Now for the zinger - if they've " compromised" the Cota so yo u cantrail-ride with it , how badly did theyv hurt it for trials competition? The" answer - not too badly, if you lower the gearing. We rode the stock-geared'l Cota "T" in competition and learned righ t away th at the trail (as opposed to trial) gearing rushes y o u through tight sections far too fast; and unfortunately the organizers of this particular tri al deligh ted in tigh t sections. We regret not having time to re-gear and go out againwith it, as even with the handicap and our edge-of-disaster riding, the bike performed admirably . We fived far too often simply o ut of inability to get it to ' run slowly with the clutch engaged. Allowing for a bit of extra weight and bulk, the "T" is every bit a s sure-footed as the "pure" Cota, and only slightly less nimble. Given t ime t o plan ahead, th e front end co uld be picked up and placed an ywhere at will , skipped precisely from ro ck to ro ck , waggled confidently

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