Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

son, Austin, resum ed production in a tiny build ing that was a fraction of the original fac tory's size. Because of the se tback, CCM produced only 50 moto rcycles in 1994, most of w hich were - yo u guessed it - fou r-stroke MX bikes. And all 50 of those motorcycles were sold in England . Enter Mike Griggs. Once a used car dealership owner, Griggs has long been a motorcycle enthusiast, an d had always had a special inte rest in four-strokes. The Grand Junction, Colorad o, residen t contacted the Clews fam ily in late '93 and struck up a dea l to bring the CCM ma rque back to Ame rica. "Basically, CCM had stopped importing bikes into the United Sta tes back in 1979 or '80," sai d Griggs. "I've always li ked fo u r-s t ro kes, a nd I saw a real op po rtu ni ty d eveloping. With all of th e legislation regard ing exha ust em issions, it look s as if four-strokes w ill become inc reasingly m ore popula r. Also, th e media seems to be d irectin g more atten tion to thumpers, and I'm hoping to capitalize on the situation as a whole. "We d ecid ed to ha ve a m otocr oss race bike m a d e s pecifically for th e Ame rican market. Americans like their bikes set up differently tha n Europeans, and the idea of a specifically built bike appealed to all of us. CCM is allowing us to ta ilor-make our bikes. The basic bike is the same as the European model, but we have changed several of the components to make it more appealing in the American ma rketplace." After some negotiations, CCM America was formed and Griggs took delivery of th e first two '96 prototypes in mid-April. Thanks to one of Griggs' Grand Junction neighbors, fo rmer National MXer Stacey Cook, two-time World Champion Don n y Schmit was persuaded to take a spin on one of the new bikes . "I had never rid den a big four-stroke before, and I didn't really kn ow what to ex p ect," sa id Schmit. "I loo ked a t th e rear end - the shock has no linkage - an d I expected it to be really harsh ." But to Schmit's surp rise, the bik e perform ed exce p tio na lly, and he and Griggs soo n struck up a deal. "I retired fro m GP com petition at th e end of th e '94 season, but I s till wan ted to st ay involved in ra cin g so mehow," sai d Schmit. "Racing the fou r-stro ke seemed like a way to ha ve fun wi thou t all th e high pressure." So far, Schmit has w on the firs t two rounds of the Sound of Thunder FourStroke MX Series aboard the CCM , an d is a hea vy fa v orite to win the se ries cha mpio nshi p. It was short ly af ter Schmit won the openi ng ro u nd - held in conju nction w it h th e Hangto wn 125 /250cc MX National - that I was allow ed to take a spin on th e bike. -Schm it had already flown home to Minnesota to teach an MX s ch o o l, but Grigg s and Austin . Clews sta yed in town a few extra days ' in o rd e r to do som e te stin g at Glen Helen Racew ay - s ite of round two of the SoT Series . HANDMADE HOT ROD At the hea rt of the CCM is a very familiar 600cc Rotax engine - the same mot or used in the majority of ATKs, and one similar to those tha t power almost every 600cc dirt track machine in America. "The en gine is basically st ock as it comes from Austria," said Griggs. "We clean ed up the head a little bit a n d ad ded an Up -Tite Husqvarna cam, but ot her than that, the motor isn' t hopped up at all. The Rotax engine is tried and true." (Above) The linkage-less rear sus pen si on works quite well. The White Power sh ock has a super-plush feel , yet is firm enough to handle hard landi ngs. (Below) The C2S's narrow layout contributes to the bike's li ght and nim ble feel. Ergo.nomics are excellent. Two clutch spring options are available from Rota x, and CCM op ts to run th e heavi er units . A 39 mm Del lOrto flat-slide carburetor ha ndl es the fuel mixing duties. Cradling the classic powerplant is a new single-backbone, single-down-tube chrome-moly frame. Past CCMs have used a double-down-tube design . An aluminum swingarm is mated to the frame, and a White Power shock is affixed to the middle of the swingarm, sans linkage, Marzocchi Magnum 45 conventional forks grace the front of the machine, and the bike rolls on Spanish Morad wheels. As a matter of fact, though the bike is designed and assembled in Great Britain, it is actually a conglomeration of parts from around the globe. The Acerbis plastic, Ma rz occh i forks, Brembo brakes and Domino controls come from Italy, the Rotax mo tor from Austria and the Wh ite Power shock from Ho llan d . CCM manufactures its own fra mes, fuel ta nks, seat foa m and graphics in Grea t Brit ain . THE SOUND OF THUNDER Bef ore I eve n threw a leg ove r th e bike, Griggs warned me tha t"th e C25 was jet ted far too rich for our Southern California locale. Because the bike used a relatively new-style Dell'Orto carburetor, fin di ng su ita ble jets ha d creat ed a nightmare for Gri ggs and Clews in the days preceding our test session. I wasn' t wo rri ed, thou gh , as I had ridden Rotaxp ow ered motorcy cles p revious ly a nd was well aware of the engi ne's capabilities. Su rp risingly, starting the big Rotax engi ne was a breeze - even with the leftside- mo unted kick starter. After spending a good deal of time .trying to kick start a stu bbo rn Husaberg a few weeks ea rlie r, the CCM was a breath of fresh air. Unfort unately, not enough "fresh air" was ge tting to the top end, and the motor ran just as poorly as Griggs had sa id it w oul d . While the low-end a nd midrange throttle response was excelle n t, revving the bike out produ ced unimpressive resul ts. On top, the engine sputtered and blubbered, much like m y three-month-old daugh ter . To compensate for the incorrect jettin g, I aba ndoned m y usual ma ximumrevs riding preference and opted to s ho r t-s h if t the bik e. Th oug h n ot a s thrilling , riding the bike in such a manner p roduced acc eptable results. Eve n th ough I never rode the bik e with the co rrect jett ing, I d on't d oubt that the CCM's Rot ax p owerplant is a runner. And th anks to severa l American d irt track hop-up s hops, find ing go-fa st goodies for the .bike will not be a pr oblem . In addition, Griggs reports that since m y test rid e, he has repla ced th e flat slide Dell'Orto carburetor with a roundslide Dell'Orto d esign ed specifically for four-s tro ke u se. "The bike is so mu ch fas ter n ow, " he s ai d . "You wo u ld n' t believe what a d ifferen ce the new carburetor mad e." Transmis s ion ac tio n a n d fee l is superb. On to the chassis . The b ike loo ks quite tall on a stand, but while stra d dled, loses its skyscraper image. On the tra ck, t he re is but only one word to d escrib e the CCM's ride: plush. Being no stranger to the Marzocchi Magnum 45 conventio nal forks, I ex pected the Italian fo rks to d eli ver a co mfortable ride, jus t as they d o on th e '95 KTM 5X250. Wro ng! O n the big four-stroke, the Marzocchis fee l even better. Co mbi n ed with the s imple , linkage- less White Power shock, the Marzocchis provid e the cushi est ride I have ever tak en on a ful l-on MX bike. But white the rid e was Cad illa c-smoot h ove r the small-to m edium-si z e bumps, th e b ik e n ev er exhibited a wallowy feel. Why? Because when the bumps get bigger and the susp ens ion is forc ed to compress fas te r, both ends stiffen up quickly and prevent bottoming. On my fourth lap around the tra ck, I actually forgo t that I was aboard the big four-stroke and gave the throttle a halfhearted stab over a rather lar ge d ouble ju m p, ju s t as I would have aboard a more-familiar 250cc two-stroke. In the ai r I realized my error, and prepared m yself for a hard landin g an d su bsequent trip over the bars. To my delight, no such ho rrors occurred . I had expected the cushy sus pension to cave in on th e face of the second ju m p and se nd jolts of p a in throu gh my a nkles an d wrists, but ins tea d, the bike soaked u p the landing with aplomb. Wha t do you know? A pucker for nothing ... It's ha rd to believe that the linkageless rear end wo rks as well as it does. Needless to say, I was very impressed with the suspension action of the British machine. I do suspect, though, that the same sort of setup wouldn't work as well with a lighter, harder hitting twostroke engine. I'm sure that the smooth, tractable power of the big-bore fourstroke motor contributes to the good manners of the machine. As for the rest of the bike, what can be said except that it definitely felt like a one-off. It 's hard to use this analogy without sounding negative, but try to take it in the most positive way possible. Ever completely rebuild an old, tired MX bike? You know, when all the pa rts are replaced wit h new ones, but the bike just doesn't regai n that "tight" feel? That's the best way to describe the feel of the CCM. The bike worked grea t, but felt a little "loose." The Brembo brakes wor ked well, and felt just as strong as most Japanese disc brakes. The rear brake felt a bit gra bby, but I sus pect that sensation was a result of Schmit's high-pedal setu p preference. With th e exception of th e rear brake pedal, all of the controls we re excellent. Renthal handlebars provided a familiar bend, and the Domino contro ls had an exotic feel. All in all, the CC M C25 was a very im p ressive mot orcycle. Th ough not as brutally fas t as so me other prod uction four-strokes, the CCM comes ad equately equipped wit h a high-potential Rotax engine and one of the bes t-handling MX chassis aro und. Griggs reports th a t full-production units will hi t American s hores in ea rly October, and that several different versions of the bi ke w ill be availa b le. In ad d ition to the 600cc kic k-start model we rod e , CCM Amer ica w ill im por t 350cc C25 kick- and eJectri c-start mod els, as we ll as an electric-start 600. For now, it looks as if the C25 models will be made exclusivel y for the Am erican market. But give it a few months...If Schmit con ti n ues h is w inning ways and th e CCM legend is rev ived, I'm su re suc h limited marketing p lans will end up in the trash can wi th that blubbery old carburetor. C:N While Cycle News believes the foregoing test reliable, it is the opinion of the reviewers only and should not be relied upon in determining the performanceorsafety of the tehicieis). The reader should make his or her own investigation. l!'l 0\ 0\ ...... 35

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