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/126077
wonder the fron t wheel had co me up so easily un der power. Then came the rear: 117 pounds. Eighty-seven plus one seventeen makes it a total weight of 204 pou nds. W e were immediate ly impressed, but skeptical at the same ti me. Bathroom scales are not known for pinpoint accuracy. We need ed to create a standard , a reference point to co mpare our findings to . As it turned out , the answer was only ten feet away . An R.1\I250 Suzuki, probably the most popular production 250cc MXer on sale today, was just around t he corner -- we, wheeled it o u t. With the front wheel o n the blocks, o u r makesh ift w e igh l ng device proclaimed a fro nt end weight of 11 0 pounds. The rear wheel missed matching the Ossa's weight by a single p ound : 118. Total? Two hundred twenty-eight p o un ds; an extra twe nty-four pounds, and twenty-three of 'e m were on the fro n t wheel! Magnesium, or titanium, or so me othe r wo nde r me tal , we figured" m ust ex p lain this incredible bantamweigh t 250ccproduction mo t ocr osser. We as k ed. We scrutinized the O ssa broch ure . A lu minum, th ey told us, was the only ligh t weigh t alloy on the entire mach ine. "I'm bummed," the Suzuki rider said, "I wish I ha dn't ridden this thing now." "You mean , you wish you hadn't seen this weigh-in," his buddy laughed. Two hundred and four pounds is exactly t he figure that Ossa clai ms for the GP II in their ad literature. Can it be hat we have come to th e end of an era and entered a new one where bike man ufacturers actually print accurate info rmation in their ad material instead of j ust listing the figures they know you want to hear? Not too likely. But Ossa certainly see ms to have come up with a how , no B.S., approach that bears ooking into. We never did figure o ut for sure why t didn't weigh any mor e than 204. We ooked first at the frame, and that's where (we think) most of the weight aving is to be fo und. The tubes are small diameter, and the frame itself is _ compact and intelligently design ed , Let's smoke it over from the bottom up . Pirelli knobbies, a 4.50 -18 I Motocross on the rear an d a 3.00-21 Mo tocross up front , are both mounted on the new "good" shoulderless Akront alloy rims. The front wheel is laced to a small diameter full width brake drum. In actual use, the front brake seems effective, but the pressure req uired to ' o p erate it forcefully is excessive. Here would be a good place to make the first change from stock Ossa parts. The floating brake is the only way to go . Power f rom t he alloy p e d al is transferred to the brake cam through a straight ' s t e e l rod (wit h no monkey-motion be nds) to an alloy brake arm that attaches to the cam 's splined shaft. Resting o n the swingarm are both a chain guide and a chain tensioner. Bo th work fine, which is more than any .of GP I I Specificat ions Moto r ~ two-stroke, single cylinder Bore X st roke, " , , . , , , . . , .. , , , ., . • , . , 72x60 Displacement ' 244cc Compression ratio ....... . .. .. •. .. ..... . . . . .. ...... ... •. • . . . 15.6 :1 Carburetor ... . ... .. . ........... . .. • . .. .. , 38 mm Bing Transmission five-speed Ignition Motop lat Gas tank, •. ..• .. , . . ', , 2.7 gal. Weight , • .. . . ,. , . . , •• " . • " " . , • • . • . • , . •.. • ,.,., •••••• , .• , 204 Ibs. Wheel base (claimed/measured) .•. . .. . . . . .. .. ... . . .. . . . ... 57.2/56.5 in. Tires Pirelli 4.50-18 Pirelli 3.00-21 List price • . .. ,." • .. , . . . . " , .. , .. _.. . , • . , • . , .. .. .•. .. . . .. .. $1648 substitution of Magura p ower lever s in place of the o nes that come on the bike sho uld provide easier, mo re contro llab le braking. The back brake is a large r diameter, sa me w i d t h unit mo unted in an .Iuminum conical hub . The brake backing plate is ancho red directly to the swingarm by a tab and slot arrangement. It's obviously th e lightest way to do it (although many people believe a full the testriders could say for the shocks -Gas Betors. They may be O K for short motos, but they're not the hot set-up for forty-minute - p lus - two lap events. They just don't last. They're replacable _ by any 13 ~ inch shock on the market, however, and the lay- down de sign gives over eight inches of rear wheel travel. (Ossa claims nine inches.) The front forks ; also Bet ors, work well. They're neither spectacular in trick design (no magnesium or leading ax les) nor in excessive travel (they offer eight useable inches) b ut they do the job. The Ossa motor comes on steadily th anks to the factory's effort toward providing a greater power band with no surges or fla t spots. It's fed through a 38mm Bing carburetor, the one with a choke, and discharges burnt gasses through a through - the - frame pipe. Noise was a major co mplaint_ It was one of those deals where, when the first rider kicked it over, everyone just stared at each other in ,d isbelief. Our test machine was missing a "deflector" that nor mally attaches to the end of the pip e where it exits up under the rear fen der. The deflector , an Ossa representative t old u s, wo uld ma ke a difference. Must be one 'h ell of a deflector. The pi pe, like everything else on the bike, is tucked in and doesn 't get in th e way at -all, In fact the entire motorcycle is one of the b est planned machines we've ever seen. Excellent engineering. Both fe nders are made of plastic ; great , considering it's a Sp anish machine. The tank is still fiberglass as are the two side number p lates. The front plate 's plastic. , Ossa's seat must rate as one of the finest on any prod uction MXe r. It 's super comfortable, plenty th ick with paddi ng, long, and we ll shape d . Absolutely no complaints her e. I m pressions: It's tall , like all compet itive MXers, with a bunch (12Y2') o f ground clearance to give the susp ension roo m to work without gro u n d i ng out. Standing b ack an d look ing at it b roadsid e gives the impression of a caricature MXer -- a tiny frame-m o tor-seat unit suspended h igh above t he wheels. Footpegs are the toothy, folding loop type; excellent for gripping boots an d scarey in a crash. The motor has a "head brace" which cu ts vibration noticeably o ver older model Ossas. The alloy shifter lo oks, and is, trick . The h ead is drilled and tap pe d to hold two spark plugs. The 33" h an dlebar s di dn't suit any of our three test riders; wrong bend. Resetting them d idn't hel p m uch . The stock grips don't need to be changed : There's a little ru bbe r loop attached to the cylin der t o hook over t he kickstarter to ' hold it in p lace while riding. The cases are co mpact; like the rest of the bike, well thought o ut. Somehow" this collection of parts -most good, some not quite primo -- has been asse mbled iri the fo rm that very closely resembles a works motocrosser, It's super light, fast and highly effective in vth e right hands. And yet, there 's no , reason for a beginner not to ride it: It's a bike you can live with ...reasonably . An d when you 're ready to win, so's it. . ....': 11