Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Cycle News brings every aspect of motorcycling to you 50 times a year. Montesa Cappra V-75 (Con tin ued f rom page 43) Aside fro m th e su spension an d frame mods to accommo dat e it , there arc so me other de tail improveme nts on the V-75 t ha t stem directly fro m Mo n tesa 's Grand Prix exp erie nce. The exp an sion ch amber now has an in te gral silencer in the stinge r there by elim inating the fo rme r cracking pro blem of the add-on uri-no isemaker. Ironically , th e silencer blew o ut of our test bike. Even more iro nically , other V· 75 owners can 't get theirs to co me out short of b lasti ng powder or a torch . Sadl y , even without a silenc er t he Montesa 's well-designed pipe is quieter than a Yamaha YZ or a Honda CR. Yo u can he ar more no ise fr om t he background singing of the Mon tes a's straight cut gears than from th e pip e when the en gine is under load. Th e squeeze ball rubber petcocks, still unique to Mon tesa, arc a good idea be cau se they can 't be snappe d off in a crash, y ou can ' t tum them off with y o ur knees wh en slid ing back and forth over th e c on to ure d fuel tank, and roc ks flying up from a sto ny co urse won't kn oc k th em shut. Maybe that 's wh y so me GP ride rs ar e putting t hem on their tan ks no matter what brand of machine th ey ride. Shifti ng th e five speed gea rb ox was easy and miss -free to start with and felt better as it was used. Wheth er th e 34m m Bing ca rb was on the p ilot or the main jet, yo u co u ld j ust snick the shift lever a notch and y o u were there every time. Maintenance o f the machine is simp le an d straigh tfo rward. One rider was moved to co mment about th e bas ic simple "correctness" o f how all the Moruesa 's pa rts go toge the r. lt is p robabl y th e 25 0 mo tocrosser that is most co mple te and most co mp etitive as y o u b uy it. You do n ' t fin d yo urself spendi ng a lo t more on it for accesso ries or m ain ten ance o nc e y o u ge t it out the door of th e de aler's sh owro o m. There are o ther reaso nabl y clever goodies that yo u star t to take fo r gra nted, like magn esium sprockets and stay arms lo cated where wei ght matters, and ru b ber ru bb ing blocks couple d with a hefty chain guide to tak e care of the need ed three inch es o f chain pl ay. As on other simila rly -shod bikes, yo u will ha ve to sor t o ut the tire requ ire me n ts for - -- Don't miss out . . . Subscribe Now! • DEPT. SUB. P.O. BOX 498 LONG BEACH, CALl FOR.l/IA 9080 I ' 0 0 0 40.00 0 50.00 0 CYCLE NEWS WEST (1 yr .) • .•. .• • 512 .50 CYCLENEWSWEST(2yrs.) • . . •. • • 22.00 CYCLE NEWS WEST (3 yrs.l • ... . . . . 30.00 Via 151 class mail for one year Via air mail for one year This is a Renewal 0 Please bill me • . • • . • • • . . • • . . . . . . . . . . . •• I enclose check or money order Na me (PI.sllt print legiblVl Address City State Zi p 0 0 you r rid ing. The PirclIi kn obbies just do n ot work on dry or ha rd tr acks. Save the rear 4 .50 fo r mu d races. 'Then, it's th e way to go. Mo st all the fac tory riders with any cho ice in the matt er agree; not just th o se o n Montesa , Wh at 's it like to rid e ? It 's like riding a wo rk s bike. The ex tre me suspe nsio n travel, th e lack of weight , th e eyeball-po pping power at the pe ak of the rev ran ge, and th e satisfying three-fee t-from-the-co rn er sto pping and tu rn ing ability of the V-75 Montesa hav e been en coun tered previo usly only on mach in ery prepa red for factory riders. It has the look, th e fee l, an d 90% of the performan ce o f th at works machin ery. Where does tha t leave it in th e incredib ly co mpe tit ive 25 0 class mo tocr oss m ar ket ? Th e new est Cappra may . o r may not, be the be st out of the crate 250 yo u can buy. The alte rnat ives have improved trem en do usly since Montesa st o od virtu ally a lo ne with a fac to ry rep lica we co uld buy. T he " Which is be st ?" kind of pro bably beco me eva lua ti on has irrelevan t t in an enviro nmen t glu tted wi th exc ellen t m achinery. Each m ot o cr o ss er is co mpo sed of co mpromises be tween lap times and good t ime s; eigh t inche s o f susp ens ion travel and sat isfy in g handlin g feedback ; puttin g 30 horses 10 th e gro und and a usef ul po werban d; devaluating do llars and wo rld-wide inflation . Given th e co mpromises an d the co mpe titio n , a m or e ap prop riate quest ion might be u\Vhat wo rks?" Mont esa has succe ed ed , o nce again, in build ing a 250 cla ss bi ke th at works with u t losing the esse n t ial qu alities or de tai ling that made us th ink th at its fo rerun ne r, the V R, was the bes t stock • 25 0 you co uld buy.

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