Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

A steeper steering angle a llo ws for tighter cornering. ha s th e big top end power. It 's a very smooth motor. The steering rake is steep. The front end, a t the steering head , is higher tha n the 3 10, but the center of gravity is lower and the pegs are moved back and hi gher. Movin g th e pegs back a lso gives more tractability. The bike turns very well. It 's a ve ry stab le, well -b al an ced mo torcycle." U te C u p winn er Bill Burgener co mpared the old and new Montesas: " The 3 10s were prett y user-friendly bikes. T he 3 11 seems a lot lik e th e o ld bik e in some ways, but th e motor is definitely stro nger. The power's right in with th e Italian bikes. I'd say the power is smoo the r than the Beta, eas ier to find traction. The 3I0 was awesome in th e slick and th e 311 doesn't seem to be any different there. The brakes are awesome. The clutch is really good. The steering is steeper than the 310. It feels good and does" ' t seem to kn ife under. The stops are adj ustable for the newer riders who prefer using less steering lock. The front wh eel seems easier to move aro und, compared to a Beta . The 311 offers a good sturdy pl atf orm. " Former Tea m Mon tesa rider Mike Griffins, wh o ranked fifth na tionally in 1977, has no bu sin ess interest in th e 311, ju st ent hus ias m for it. "I love Montesas. I'm glad to see they're making an excellent motorcycle again. T here's h istory behi nd this bike. The Spa niards rea lly made th e mo dern sport, they ma de the two-stro ke tria ls bike work. "A fter ridi ng my 310 Cota, th is bike is com p letely different . Peg posi tio ning , steering head ang le. The front is real steep . If you 'r e going downhill, you have to be carefu l, keep you r weight back, but it's great for doi ng nose whee lies to pi vo t the rear end around. You can sta nd it right up o n its nose and put the rear tire whichever way you wa nt. And it's grea t for no rmal turns. "T his bike is defin itel y set up for the new style of ri di ng. On the 310, the steering was slower, th e engine was different. This bike ha s a mu ch zappier pow er band. This is designed for th e g uys who want to load 'em up in second or third gear, dump the clutch , and slingsho t the thing. If you rev th e 3 11 up a bit, it reall y takes off." C alifornia Ex pe rt Ma rk Oldar logged time on th e 31 I. "I really liked it. It feels light. The engine 's real smooth. It feels lik e it has a lot of flywh eel which helps the smoothness. At first I though t it felt a li ttl e slow co m pa red to my Fantic, but it wasn't. It 's so smooth and electric that th e p erformance is kind of deceiving, much better than it feels. .... " The biggest p lu s: it felt absol u tely th e easiest bike to ride slow. The steeri ng's super precise. The ba lance is good. It feels like you can stop, take off slowly and pi ck your way th ro ugh things a t a cra wl. It feels so sta ble and receptive to anyt h ing you want it to do. " It' s lik e th ey took th e old Spanis h idea a n d m odern ized i t. Th ere ' s nothin g super-aggress ive about it. You don 't get o n and think this is a handfu l in any way, shape or fo rm. It really fits right. You ca n reall y feel the difference in fram e stiffness, how rigid the chassis is. The o n ly ot her bike I' ve felt that on is th e Honda RT L. "The steering, it just cu ts like a knife. The geometry is ab solutely th e steepest of any bike, but I never found that to be a pro blem. They made th e front end steep, but th ey put less weight on it so it won 't react as quickly as you might think. Compared to the "T he steering head is super steep. When you ride it, th e sus pension works well and the steep angle allows yo u to do rea r kickouts really well. The Mon tesa felts a little mid-top heavy. I'm sure it's because I wasn't used to the bike. It feels sh ort to me, even tho ug h i t has a normal wh eelbase. T he fro nt and back end, simp ly think it and they move. "Buying a new bi ke, my fir st pick would be the new Fantic becau se it's mor e aggressive for large ob stacl es. That 's the way I ride. For a second pi ck, it 'd be bet ween th e Montesa and Beta. T he Montesa does some stu ff so well . It holds pressure and it's so smooth. For a wet trial, I think I'd rather be o n the Montesa than an y other bike. That's how well that bike tracks." Southern California Expert Jared Marlmquist is shopping for a new bike. After riding the 311, he commented: " I was impressed. I really liked the rake of th e front end wh ich made the steering really quick and made the front end feel extremely light yet stable. The motor was strong. It 's very comparable to the Aprilia power-w ise. It's abo ut th e smoothes t motor I've ridden that had that much power. I found the cl utch to work very well. It was quick and predictab le. The chass is felt very ri gid. T he bi ke feels sho r t, ligh t, nimble. It 's a good bi ke. "I hav en ' t decided what to bu y yet. It 's between the Montesa and th e Beta. I'd say the 'Montesa feels a lot like a Beta. T he Montesa has more power which seems useful to the h igher class rid ers. I prefer the Beta 's sus pe nsion overall, bu t the clu tch , the wa y the rak e feels, and th e motor o n th e Montesa. . . The Montesa's very stable for stra ig h t line riding. For turning I prefer th e Beta." An electric type of power is p ro d uce d by the 258cc motor. o ther bikes, the pegs are back, close r to the rear wheel. That takes some weight off the front, so by steepen ing the front end it kinda brought th at preciseness back. " T he bike has th at Japanese finish look to it. Very well made. No thing cobby about it, technology-wise. I' d say the Montesa is right there wi th Beta, Aprilia, Fantic, but th ey've done it their o wn way. The ot her bikes, chassis-wise, they're all prett y clos e." Pa ul Webster, three-tim e ru n ner-up for the sou the rn California cha m p io nsh ip, rides a Fantic. He spent ti me on NOTIon 's bike: " I can compare the 311 with my brother's 310. The new mo del feels "s ma ller " th an the green model. The brakes are considerably better and th e fro nt and rear end move much better. The rear suspension must have a lo t more adj us tment on it. There's a lot less brake sq uea k with the new o ne. " I think th e 311 has a ma rvelo us eng ine. T he pow er's extremely smooth through all th e gears. T he cl u tch works as well , if not better tha n a ny clu tch I've tried . You can sli ngshot third gear easily. You can do spla tters with it. I can' t do th at on my Fantic. It holds pressure to the ground marvelously. If an old-timer wants to ri de the way he used to, witho ut wo rkin g th e cl utch , the Montesa is abso lutely best for tha t. It 's so forgiving . You can ride hi gh ,gears like the Beta , bu t it seems easie r. I th ink the Montesa is a notch above the Beta in some areas. It shi nes in hill climbs because the en gi ne is so smoo th . It 's more for givin g th an m y Fa n ti c. Th e 3 11 is extremely good in wet stuff. What's Euro Sport's master p lan for 1992? According to Dave Burke, " We' ll be a t a ll th e Nationals an d we'll probably spo nso r a rider we can' t tell The .09 gallon fuel tank sits inside the perimeter frame. you about yet. " As far as more immediate pl ans, Burke added, " We hav e o ur first shipment of bikes and parts and we're a ll read y to rock ." Burke's enth us ias m is based o n having a qua lit y p roduct to se ll. Montesa lagged behind in recent years, but the 311 puts th em ri ght in the middle of things. The en ginel cha ssis approach is different from , yet equival ent to Italian execu tio n . Those wh o still remember big smooth bottom-end mo tors w ill sense a trace o f th at performa nce. Yet th ose wh o prefer the modern sli ngs hot techniques wo n 't feel sligh ted. The bik e is balanced, an excelle nt turner. It comes from people who helped p ioneer two-stro ke trials technology, but reflects modern awareness and Honda atten tio n to detail. And it's avai lable from three pa rt ners wh ose lives ha ve centered around tri als for many years. Overall, th e 311 is an interesting blend of th e new with a trace of the old. Those wh o once p rou d ly spo rted gear proclaiming " Viva Montesa " ca n do so again . Those interested in an up-to-date yet traditional con nection to th e sport can say "v iva " for th e first time. CN The 311 delivers a stabl e and pred ictabl e ri de, Specifications Mon tesa 311 Engine type .... Liquid-cooled, twostroke, single Bore " stroke 74 x 60 mm Displace ment 25&c Compression ratio 10.1 :I Carburetor PHBH 26 CD Sta~~ng system Prim ary ki~k Ignition electro me Primary drive 3.42 Final drive (10/ 40) Gear ratios: 6th 0.64 5th 0.84 4th 1.3 3rd 1.8 2nd 2.41 Ist 2.91 Fram e wrought al um inum twin spar dia mond, alumi num sub-frame and skidplate Front suspension inverted telescopic fork , Marzocchi Fork tube diameter 35mm Front wheel travel. .. 6.8 in. (170mm) Rear suspension Marzocchi progressive single-shock (PRS2 system), swinga rm Front brakes Brembo (185mm disc) Rear brakes AJP (150mm disc) Front wheel 1.75 x 21 in. , Akront Aluminum Rear wheel ... . . 4.00 x 18 in., Akront Aluminum Front tire Michelin X-I Rear tire . . : Michelin X-I tubeless Claimed dry weight 184.8 Ibs (84 kg) Wheelbase 52.2 in. (1325 mm) Fuel capacity 0.9 gal. (4 liters) Gro und clearance 14.6 in. (370 mm ) Seat height 30.1 in. (765 mm) Color red Retail price approxima tely $5495 Distributor Euro Sport Motors, 520 Alter Street, Broomfi eld, CO 80020. Phone: (303) 465-2848, FAX: (303) 460-0591 3]

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