Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·A L N E 1996 Amigo 80 TAG A C IS U er (Left) Th e Am igo's drum is primitive. but stro ng eno ugh for pint-sized ri ders. (Below) The front disc provides adequate stopping power . By Donn Maeda Photos by Joe Bo nnello h ough the sport of observed trials is currently enjoying a surge of popularity in the United States, th ere have trad itio nall y been no easy ways for yo unger ride rs to ge t involved . After all, wha t options does a m ini-sized ride r h a ve ? Rid e a fu ll-s ize d b ike ? Tho ugh we've see n it done su ccessfully by Justin Oakl ey, a p int-sized Interm ediate-class rid er in the Northern California area who rid es a Montesa Cota 250 with much su ccess, the comb ina ti on o f a smaller rider and a big bike usually isn't a great id ea. Though Gas Gas USA sells 125 and 160cc versions of the ir JT line, the bikes are not ph ysically any sma ller than a 250. . An other op tion is to conve rt a mini motocross bike. Once again, we 've seen that d on e with su ccess, but th e results weren 't pretty . Cham pionship-class rider Ma tt Moore sho we d us pho tos of a converted Yama ha YZ80 that he Jeamed on, an d the bike closely resembled some of the m achines seen in those Mad Max films. Apparen tly, Wood y Dame and Mike Komer of the Tryals Sho p saw the need for a sca led-down m ach ine, and h ave begun to im p o rt th e Am igo 80 from Spain. The bike is designed in England and bu ilt in Spai n, but is power ed by an ai r- co o led 80cc tw o-str ok e M o rin i engine from Italy. The Morin i motor is fed by a 16mm Dell 'Orto carburetor, a n d ' p u ts the T o power to th e ground through a fou rspee d transmissio n . Th e T ryals Shop adds a set of flyw hee l weights and a dif fere n t h e ad gaske t, which giv es th e s ma ll- bore m o tor m o re torqu e, thu s making the bike more trials-friend ly. The motor is nestl ed in a un ique cradle frame that wraps around and above the engi ne . The motor itself is secured to the frame with a heavy-duty p late that is bolted to the cylinder head . An al uminum skid plate pr otects the u nd ersid e of the en gine. Th e Am igo's sus pension is actually pretty trick. Conventiona l forks and a sing le rear shock With linkage handle the bu mps, whil e a front disc and rea r drum brakes d o the stopping: The bike rolls on a 19-inch front and 17-inch rear wheel. N eedless to say, none of th e testers on the Cycl e News staff fell within th e Amigo's ideal ri der heigh t or weight lim it a ti on s, bu t al most eve ryone of them tried to s neak in a ride on th e micro ma chine. In stead of punishing th e p oor little . machine under our bu lk, we recruited a 10-year-old Kawasaki KX60 rid er to try his han d at the "ballet" of motor cycling. Wit h the 55-pou n d rid e r ab oa rd , th e 80cc engine seemed to have enough po we r to pull him up most obstacles he was daring eno ug h to try. For kicks, we removed th e flywheel weigh ts to see h ow th e bike would run u nrestrict ed, and were surprised at how th e mo tor came to life. With the weights removed, the Am igo w ould make a d ecent trail riding bike - it' s pretty qui ck. The only annoya nce was the exhaust note emi tted by th e small mot or. Th e prim it ive s il en ce r ha rdly qu ie ts th e engine at all, a n d th e bi k e is m ore annoying than a gardener's leaf blower at 7 a.m. As for the rest of the machine, well, let' s just say that the bike's construction is on the primitive sid e. Th ou gh qu ite mod em in desig n, m any of th e bike's pa rts look like they' re off a vintage bike. The upper triple clam p appears to have bee n stamped from a shee t of steel, and many o f th e fa s teners look like th ey came from a hardware store. The hydraul ic front brake seemed to have good , su fficie nt power, but don't ex pect to see Junior d oin g any killer no se wheel ies. The rear bra ke s were marginal. at best . Still, in sp ite of all our critica l observations, it took more than a few requests to get our p int-sized test rider to p ark the Am igo . Aft er a ll, at 10 years old, w ho noti ces qu a lity of co nstruction? . Th ro u gh out th e res t of the af ternoon, ou r little racer see me d mo re fascin ate d with the Amigo th an h is tricked -ou t, . high -tech KX60. _ Go figure. In te reste d in .the Amigo 80? It is imported i nto th e Uni ted States exclusive ly by th e Try a ls Sho p. For more info rmation, contact them at RD 1 Rt. 38, Locke, NY 13092, 315/ 497-2904. While Cycle News believes the foregoing test reliabl , it is the opinion of the reviewers only and e should not be relied upon in determining the performance or saf ety of th« vehicle. The reader should makehis orherown investigation. Amigo 80 Specifications Ust Price $249 5 Displacement . • ... .......... 74.9cc Engine type Air·cooled . sinqle-cyhnder two-st roke Bore" stroke N! A Compression ratio 9 .0:1 Carburetion 16mm Dell'Ort o Ignition Electronic Transmission speeds .4 Starting s yste m , Kick Fuel capacity 0.75 ga l. Wheelbase .48.0 in. Seat height 23 .58 in. Front tire 2.25·19 Rear tire 3.00-17 Front brake Drs c Rear brake Drum Final drive Chain Claimed dry weight 110 Ibs .

• Cover