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/127650
pension, Domino controls and Dell 'Orto carburetor also come from the "boot of Europe." As for th e rest of the machine, the Co ta's aluminum radiator is manufactured by the KTM factory in Aus tr ia, while the electronics, rear fender and radiator fan come from Japan. Although only the wheels are Spanish made, it is in Spain that the bike is assembled and sold. Montesas are co-imported in to the United States by the Tryals Shop, a Land 0' Lakes, Florida, multi-line motorcycle dealership, and Martin Belair, a former National Championship Series rider. A "Honda version" is so ld in Japa n th a t sp orts a different color scheme, a Keihin carbure tor and Nissin bra kes. (Left and below) Thanks to the adju stable electronic IgnitIon , the Cota 314R can be made to suit the ridin g styles of novices and experts ali ke. Th e powerband can be made torquey and broad, or harder hitting and somewhat explosive . OKAY, ENOUGH HISTORY ALREADY.. . At the heart of the Cola 's engine is an all-new cylinder that featu res a special coating that is designed to provide exce lent wear and heat cond uctivity. You'll find no "gimmicky" power valves in this cylinder - H RC saved their tricks for later... An a ll- new gearbox a nd clu tch is designed with mod em trials riders and their m ore agg ressi ve techniq ues in mind. The Montesa's new clutch is made to offe r a precis e feel th a t will ma ke clicking through the new six-speed gearbox a breeze. Though the Gas-Gas, Fantic an d Ap rillia trials machines feature hydraulic clutches, Montesa was able to produce a man ual unit which performs comparably. Trans mission-wise, fi rst throu gh fourth gears are spaced closely for q uick response, while fifth and sixth gear are spaced wide r for riding the loop. A 26mm Dell 'Orto PHBH carburetor han dles the air/fuel mixing duties, and Mon tesa recommends that you blend your premix at a lean 70:1 mixture. The biggest news of all is a programm able electronic ignition. Designed by H RC for use in th e ex tre mely rare Honda NR750 Superbike, the CD! digi tal allows the rider to alter the Cola's ignition curve by simply changing a micro chip. The Montesa comes with two chips - a "smooth" one that produces a mellow, torquey powerband, and a "hot chip" that rea lly brings the bike to life. Most advanced riders will favor the hot chip, as it produces the more abrupt burst of power needed for toda y's aggressive trials techniques. Chassis wise, the Cota boasts a double-spa r aluminum frame. The new design is claimed to be not only lighter th an Mo n tesa fr ames of the past, but more rigid as well . The end result is a more stable ride. Italian-built Paoli sus pension components grace both ends of the mac hine. An inverted, motocro ss-style front fork offers a wid e ran ge of rebound damping and p relo ad adj ustment. Front wheel travel is 6.8 inches. Out back, a Paoli shock soaks up the bumps and jolts and, like the fork,offers a wide range of rebound and preload adj ustme n ts. Rear wheel travel is 2.4 inches. ............................. OPINIONS . .......... 'l.bM.. 1n .. Age: 25 Heig ht/weight 5'10" / 160 Ibs. Specialty: Motocross Ridin g ability: Interm ed iate nstead of making excuses about "not being a true trials rider," I'll just grit m y . tee t h and r e la te to you my extremely humbling experiences aboa rd the Montesa Cota ยท314R. Co-import er Martin Belair was gracio us enough to loan us his personal machine for testing purposes, and it was with a bit of hesitation that 1agreed to throw a leg over the saddle. After spending a da y putting aroun d on some small to medium-sized rocks near my Altadena, California, home, I headed to the Cougar Buttes area in ' Lucerne Valley, California. Cougar I Buttes is best known for its many huge rock formations . Tra ctio n abounds on the jagged formations t ha t seem to sprout fro m the desert flo or, and th e area hosts several trials each yea r. While riding the machi ne near m y home, I found that it was qui te confidence-inspiring. When I first threw a leg over the machine, a feeling of d eja vu came over me. The fit, feel and quality of the machine seemed quite familia r. A quick glance at the HRC emblem on the engine cases reminded me that the Montesa is co-designed by Honda engineers. The bike has a bulletproof, rock solid feel that has become the norm on other Honda off-road machines. Because of the machine's compact design, it took me a few seconds to figure out where the fuel petcock was. The valve is tuc ked out of sig ht below the fuel cell and behind one of the frame's main spars. Belair delivered the bike to us wit h the hot microchip installed, and I foun d the hard-hitting powerban d to be quite exciting. Not that the Montesa felt like a _motocrosser, min d you, but it did ha ve a pe ppier feel than the tri als machines I have ri d d en in th e past. Blasting up obstacles was not a p roblem, as long as traction was abundant. I found, however, that I was probably attacking my selfmade sections a little faster than I should have. I gu ess that's just the MXer in me. Armed with my recently gained confidence , I arrived at Cougar Buttes anxious to a tt ac k the infi nit e ledges a nd boulders. Within the first hour, however, I fo u nd m yself on th e g ro u nd - eyes wide and elbows bleed ing. After riding up and ove r a few obstacles wi th relative ease, I was coerced by a ridi ng pa rtne r in to trying a m ore difficu lt sec tion. Needless to say, my skills were not up to the task an d I heard an awful noise as I tumbled to the ground. "Martin's gon na kill me," were my thoughts as I eyed the wo unded machine. I had snapped off th e clutch lever, smashed the headligh t and broken off the fron t brake's hyd raulic line. A quick look through my toolb ox produced a H onda CR clutch lever an d, to my surprise, it bolted on with little hassle. As for the front brake - I ju s t made sure not to make any steep decents throughout the remainder of the day. Od dly enough, riding without a fron t b rake p roved to be good for me. Gone was my "just haul b utt and do n' t put your feet d own" riding style. Instead, I concentrated on taking my time and trying to finesse my way through the sections. It w as then that I ins ta lled the smooth micro chip. What a difference! While I'm sure tha t advanced riders would be bored with the smooth, mellow power delivery, the calmer powerband allowed me to crawl through the sections and really concentrate on what I was doing. The smooth chip made it possible for me to climb up ledges and over rocks with little or no run at all. I wished I had installed the smooth chip from the get-go.