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/141048
M CCM: Leader in Four-Stroke Revival t" ,... M '" " ~ ~ W Z W ..J U > U ... ..................... _ • CCM 250 prototype, pictured at the Bolton . England factory , weighs in at 200 lb. Footpegs mount d irectly to eng ine cases. frame is chrome-plate. b y Tomie G. La fon The shoe is on the o th er fo ot now th at Allen Clews h as hi s CCM fa ctory in full sw ing , T he phrase now is, "Those big o ld hea vy two-s tro kes" . T he fo u r-stroke CCM ' s re all y have a bi g weigh t advantage o ver those bi g o ld heavy ring-dings. Th e 608cc d ry weight is 211 pounds, the 500cc sh o rt stro ke 88x82 is only 209 pounds, the lower limit forthe 5 0 0 clas s. 608s and 500s have th e same bore of 8 8mm, only the stroke is different . 608 h as 100mm to th e 500's 8 2mm. Both can be bored out t o 90mm . For those wh o re ally like to think bi g, Allen . has a 6 5 0 cc sin gle 90mmxl04mm . still lighter than an y production 250cc two-stroke o n the marke t now. The first engi ne is being used for 7 50 sid ec ar motocross. . Latest CCM is the 250 at 200 po u n ds. Try that on for size. Honda. En gin e looks lik e a 250 BSA at a glance, b u t it's not. Some of th e castin gs a re the sa m e but th at is .all. Unlike Rickman , who make the frames and use someone else's engine , th e CCM. arc all put together in the Bolton, Eng lan d fa ctory . A llen Clew s d esigns hi s own barrels, side cases wi th fo ot pegs m ounted right on the co vers, pipes, valve s, fra mes , hubs, fo rks and other p arts it ta kes to make a winner. T he 250 h as th e latest d esign p ointless igni tion. A small m agn et is mo un ted on th e left sidc flywheel in side th e engine, n o t j ust in sid e th e o uter co ve r lik e others. A ho le is dri lled in th e case and th e pick-up inserted . As the flywheel magn et p asses the pick-up, a pulse is sent to th e Fu ture Tech rnatic 's tra nsistor ignitio n an d fires th e tw in p lu g head. I f o ne p lug d oesn ' t wo rk th e oth er pl ug gets tw ice th e p ower. Fo rks on the CCM ' s (C lew s Competition Mach in es) lo o k lik e BSA , ' b u t o n ly th e slider casting is th e sam e . T ubes ar e 53 1 Reynolds and yo kes arc magnesium. Yokes are thicker and on e in ch farth e r apart than BSA',. This featu re stops the forks from bending WantedlJ\ll ,~~ U~Memberll To represent in go vernmen t Mo t o rcycl e Owne rs. 'Rid ers. and Enth us iasts Send a minimu m co ntrib ut ion of $ 1 for a year' s reg ist rat ion o f your support . Reg ister eaeh memb er of yo ur fam ily . PO Bo x 2606 2, Sac ra me nto 95826 r:11111111111111111 • . forward as was co m m o n o n th e BSA mo to crossers. Th e fram e h olds th e o il, and is three inches lower th an th e 25 0 BSA. Hubs are All en's design , cast o f m a gn e sium, and b rakes are inte rch angeab le . Weight of th e rear wheel co mple te with bearings, brakes, sp roc ket an d steel rim laced up is jus t under 13 pounds. Outstanding feature of th e rear hub besid es weight is th e bearing placemen t. The hub is as wide as th e -f ra m e and bearings . are pl aced at both en ds spreading stress over a wider area. No space rs are used. Allen m achines a small am o un t o ff th e side and it goes right into a Mai co, for e xam p le , without any spacers . Hubs will fit a n u mber of diffe rent makes and now is th e ch ance for a smart outfit llke Steens to pi ck up this outstanding line , of wheel s. As on all CCM racers , no kick starter is fitted unless the bike is ordered with one , Al so two choices of ignition are offered . One is the battery powered model usin g rechargeable mercury batteries las tin g three hours t o th e ch arge ; 3 0 0 0 ch arges is n ormal life. Ch arging is done from a 12 volt car batter y or 1.4 to 1.5 amps battery charger. Other model is cap aci tor di sch arge , usu ally fitted t o th e kick st art versio n. In m o tocro ss, CC~l s h ave bee n cle an ing house . Eleven races o u t o f th e 2 0 staged at th e last Castrol Win ter Ch ampionships we re wo n b y CCM s. Bob Wri ght, CCM w orks rid er, w o n all fo ur ra ce s he en te re d and n ow is tied with J eff Sto kes, also o n a CC}'I, for first pl ace in t he se ries . A Maico ride r b orrowed Bob Wright' s CCM and took a se co nd p lace fir st t ime out . T he 500 CC M is nearly 60 p o unds lighte r th an a 500 BS:'. . T he engin e p icks up RPM s much fas te r than a BSA and p ower output is much h igh e r, being rated a l 45 BHP fo r th e 500 , 50 BliP for the 6 08 . Look out ring-dingers, th e fo u r stroke CCMs are h ere to put it on you r big o ld heavy ring-dings. llQ£C;FR of California Quality Motorcycle Accessories BOX·VV . TORRANCE , CALIFORN IA 90508 WHOLESALE ONLY NEW PRODUCTS. FOR '73" , (2131 ~-9260 _GR EEVES - OSSA HODAKA_ _ CARABELA - STEEN _ NORM REEVES ~ NI CK NICi!lOn 'C/NMOTORS ~ ~ 11573 V A NOWEN STREET ~ Now Ca rries Levi's t~O . HO LL YWOOO. 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