Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

A well designed m ot orcy cle, t he Honda M R175 hits t he m ark as a fun mac hine but lacks up-to-date lo ng travel suspe nsi on co mponents required on today's serious enduro cycles . Power, likewise, is better suited for play than f or acce leration spe cial test s. Impression:Honda MR175 " Mild mannered fun from ·the .folks who brought you ATC and Odyssey By Charles More y Honda builds toys. That's not to say that their motorcycles, three-wheeled ATC or fourwheeled Odyssey ar e not suitable for full- sized adult people; it's more like a con: fession that all our bikes, O RVs. vans or what have you, are grown-up versions of the things we enjoyed as kids .- toys. ' Some of us think of our bikes as "serious" machines. and some of them indeed are meant to act more as tools than as toys. 'T ricked out MXers, for ' exam ple, or well prepared woods bikes are among the "serious" ones. The emphasis is on performance -- speed .. and they're generally too expensive to fall into the toy category . 18 But there are other bikes on the market that are intended not to win races. but to provide the owner with a grin, good feelings and a little exercise. In other words. fun. And that's where the MRI75 -- like the ATC three-wheeler and the Odyssey fourwheeler -- fits into the scheme of things. You could use the MRI75 for an enduro bike. Many people do . But in order for ~t to compete with other specially designed enduro ma chines, some modifications would be in order. In fact , to make it competitive with the current crop of long-legged enduro ' machines , a lot of work would be required. Suspe nsion is the main area where the MR firmly establishes itself as a fun bike. 'Rem em ber when people used to ride din bikes with the shocks pointing almost straight up and down? The Honda still has 'em like that, and now as then suspension travel is severely limited. The front forks are a little better. They, like the rear shocks are taken from the older model Elsinore MXer, and they offer adequate if not excessive travel. The action is fine unless you're tuned-in to the feel of fine Marzocchis , Cerianis , one-off Kayabas or whatever. As a fun bike, the Honda needs neither the extra 'a bilities or expense of those units. Honda's MR models (there's also a 250cc version) don't pret~nd to double up as part time Toad machines, either. They bear the; "Intended for off-road use only' vsticker, and they don't meet roadworthy legal re quirements. The main reason for ·t h a t choice is probably so that Ho nda can,equip the bikes with knobby tires , but they've gone a step further by not including a brake light. There's a small metal headlight and a neat rubber mounted taillight. Bu t no brake light switch or double filament bu lb is included. In order to make the machine street legal .. as is req uired in most eastern en duros -- the owner would have to wire his own brake light. It's no big deal. The parts can be purchased 'a t your Honda dealer; the simplest switch to use is their front brake unit. ~ The MR l75 's power also qualifies it as a fun machine. There's not all that much of it , and it certainly doesn't come on in anything like an uncontrollable surge when it hits the pipe. But it's right there. Adequate, but not impressive would be a fair description. Let 's set performance criticisms aside for a moment and look at the basic bike. It has good wheels with small, strong hubs and Akront alloy rims. They're fitted with kn obby tires and the brakes are great. No com plaints here , The MR is a "swimmer" . The airbox . while it's metal and doesn 't con form to the latest trick standards of the lightweight plastic models, does' have a high , very well protected inlet up under the seat. And it has a good foam element. The Honda will cross a (Contin ue d on page 20)

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