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/125993
ccFrontera 'im p ly flo w ben eath t his long-legged Bul, It see ms, howeve r , th at the stock ho ck springs are stiffer t han many l d e rs p re fer. so o nce agai n ~I i u ra Pr oduc ts co mes t o the rescue wi th a set o f S&\\' 9 0 · 12 0 p rogressive w ound prings to replace the st oc k 130 lb . 'terns . Our te st bike had the S&W prin gs wit h the pre - lo ad set up all th e ay , It was j us t abou t pe rfe ct fo r o ur 170 lb. rid e r. Big yea fo r the long travel uspe nsion and med ium -sized boo for o t putting p rogressive sp rings o n th e i k es pur ch as ed b y m ed ium -sized copl e , Speaking o f medium-sized peop le. .. e who are shorter than Gary Baile y efi nitely h ave a problem wh en the oi ng ge ts rough and we try to padd le vith o u r feet. Th e co m binatio n of the al l sus pens io n and th e wo nderfully omfortabl e (t hick) sea t makes it a little ough to touch th e gro u nd . We' m anaged o tip the bike over more t ha n o nce vh en attempting to padd le o n uneven ro und . It 's sort o f embarras sin g. Lu ckily, th e Bul hand les excep tionally veil wi th the rider , re gardl ess of size , er ch ed prope rl y on the pegs. Good id ers wi ll stay the re m o st o f t he time yway, an d person all y, we like th e usp en sion as it stand s well e no ug h th at e'll jus t fak e it o r so m ething wh en it ames time t o p ut a fo ot d own . An other good trait tha t we reall y an't expla in , but ce rtain ly ap preciate , s th e a p pa re n tly w ell b a lanced o ns t ruc t io n o f t he ove rall bi ke. For o rne re as on , low speed t rials ty pe a neuvers are e as y to do without o n s t a n t ly figh t ing to balan ce th e ac h in e . It's strange , but ne at. Whip ping the Bul thro ug h a tight o o ds section is a real trip . Just stan d p a n d s la lo m like a ski er. Th e ombination of a quick turn in g fro n t nd a nd th e wi lli ngness o f th e bi g sin gle torque alo ng makes life easy . All co n tro ls ,' bo th hand an d foo t, a rc 'e ll lo cated and eas y 10 use . Th e shifte r !e cts yo u r cho ice of five cogs at ommand and the brak e p ed al (ro d c t u a t e d ) fee l is p o sit i ve a n d o nt ro llable . The b rakes arc good , th ough a strea m crossing wea ke ns em som ew ha t. The m otor is fed through a new u are s lide Spanish Arnal carb ure tor, ub bed "Spanish Mikuni " by wits wh o p p re c i at e its cl e an fun ctioning ra racteris tics . The powe rband is wide o ugh an d strong t o co m pe nsate fo r mi st ak es in gear se lection . It 's eas y t o rid e an d (s urp rise) also easy to start. Th e d r ill is simply to open both pe tcocks, dow n the c ho ke lever . and ki ck th r o u gh w itho ut turni ng the th rottl e. On ce it sta rts, usu allv on th e first o r second kick, im m edi atel y sh ut o ff th e cho ke and ke ep a hand on th e thro ttl e until it's warm e nough to idle alo ne . Ve ry n ice. T he air cleaner draw s fro m und er t he sea t. We pu lled off the side co ver a fte r an afte rnoo n 's rid e and found so m e dirt inside t he b ox beside th e foam element. Th e b ox has b oth sides open , se aled o n ly b y a rubbe r bead between it and t he sid e co vers. We had no p roblems, but st ill wo rry about the co nse quences o f inadvert ently hi tting re aIly de ep water . Un like ai r b o xes th at are open on ly at th e to p , we 'r e afraid th at a nyt hing m ore th an sp las he d wat er co uld find its way into the box and in to th e mo tor. We sugges t sm earing the side co ver/ air box sea l with h ard grease to fill an y leak s. T he ligh ts, b oth front and re ar, are ade q ua te . Or in o the r wo rds, ju st great fo r an end u ro b ik e . T he tan k top t o olbo x and hand lebar m ounted air bottle seem m ore c o sm e tic t han pract ical, but n ow we 're just nit-pi cking. Both se rve a purpo se; they just d on 't m eet ou r ow n p ers onal n eed t o hav e he a vy-duty co mpone n ts. Both see m on t he ligh tweight side . The tri pm et e r is rese t table and reads in te nt h s of a mil e. The h andleb ars, 29" wide . w ere t o o n arro w fo r everyone wh o t rie d th e b ike . Th e idea is good , t o use n arrow b ars to ge t through tight woods se ctions. but it se em s to h av e b een ov erdone . Another I 1/2 o r 2 " o n each e nd would provide m ore leve rage and w ould also permit th e rid e r t o sit b ack fur th er o n the sea t, thus affo rd ing better con t ro l o f t he LTR suspensio n . It tends to buck . with t he rider's wei ght forward, and different b ars co ul d help t he rider a c h ieve a·· ~ ne utral position. The gas tank hold s three gall ons o f pr e -mi x , which sh ould provide en ough m ileage to m a ke it to th e ave rag e end uro gas chec k . T he final quest ion tha t should b e ans w e re d in any te st o r "im p re ssion " o f a b ike (Is it worth th e m oney?) is easil y answe red in th is case. Yes . The Bu lt aco Frontera , at $162 5 list , is o ne of th e few bikes th at we fee I is w orth every penn y o f its co st. We'd buy o ne . • mp o ...... (Clockwise from above) The square float Spanish Amal carbo the so-so air box with foam filter. these grab bars have been removed on new models. and the light front wheel w ith new trick fork dust covers. Frontera facts Eng ine .. ... . . . . . .. . . .• . . . •... ... •... . . . . .• Single cylinder, two-stroke Displacement .• . •• . . • .• • .. .• . ... • .•• • • • .• . .• • • •• •• • • •• • • • • • • 363cc Bore X stroke . . • • . ..... .. ...... •. . .. . .. . .. . • ••. •. • • • • •• 85 X 64mm Compression ratio • . . .. .. .... ..... .. . .. .. . ...• • • • •• • • . • . . • • • 10.5 :1 Bhp @ rpm . .. .. . . . .. ... • ..• . . •• .•• .• .• • ••. .• . ..•.. • •. . 33.5@7ooo carburetor .. . . .. .. ...• .. ..•.. .. . . .. . . ... •. . 36mm square float AMAL Primary drive . .. • • •. . ..... ... ..... .... . . • • • . •. • • .. •.•..•• • •• Olain T ransm ission . . . .. . .. .. .• ... .... . •• • . •• . ••••• •• • • • • • • • • • • • •!>-speed Clutch . . •• • . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . .. .. ... . •. . ..• ...•• .••• • Wet, multi-plate Suspension t ra vel f ro nt/rear ... •. . .. • •. •. ... • . • .. • . . . • • •• •••• 75"/6.3" T ires f ront /rea r . . . . .. . . •. •. •.... •...•.. • . , .. ..•• 3.00·21/4.50-18 Pirelli Wheelbase • . . . .. . . . . . . . . .••• . .• . • . . . . . . . . . . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 54.7" Saddle height • . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • • . • . . • . • • . . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 35.4" Ground clearance . ... • .... .. • . ... . ... . • .. • ... .. •. • . • ..• •• •. •. 10.2" Dry weight .. . ... . .. . .. . .. . . .• . . . • . ..• . . . . .• . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 231 lb . List price . . .. . ... . . • . ... .. . •. . . .. ... ... . ..• .. • • •. • ••... ..•.$1625 9