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/141062
I h ad a spo t of troub le with t he me ta l front fen der . wh en I tri ed to punch a hole in a boul der with it. It bent b ack, b ut you could tell t hat so meone had bee n me an to it . That was th e o nly ite m that was Cll " '" Cl Q. M .... ~ en damaged at all in o ur vario us attempts to destrov it . Ca ct us didn't bother the 3.0 0 bv in in ch an d 3 .5 0 bv 18 inc h Pirelli knobbies nearly as mu c'h as it did me when I fell in i t. They also he ld o nto dirt fairly weU. In our various ex peditions to take so il samples. we fo un d that it was bes t to pic k i t up p romptly sin ce it would o the rw ise load up an d req uir e p ushing to restart. You might w ant to p ush anyway sin ce' o nce the kick st ar t lever go t muddied it didn ' t 'wan t to fold out unles s yo u used tw o hands. Oiling it fix ed that. Bu t un less y ou h ad j ust dropped it, it always started easil y. Levers n ever bent or brok e even th o ugh we gave them eve ry o ppo r tunity to d o so . T he re ar brake is ca bl e operated and has that mushy feel that cab le opera ted brakes do. The clutch dri ed o u t an d req uire d a fairly hefty pull whi ch lubin g o nly ligh ten ed slightly . T h e fra me is sort o f Italian-A merican bizarre. Its main mem ber is a large diame ter tube which connec ts the steerin g head to the swing arm pivo t. It is b olstered b y sma ller tubes wh ich ru n fro m th e sw ing arm , j unc tion to the shoc k to ps an d alo ng under the seat. T he engine hangs in the frame , T he swi ng ar m doesn ' t l ook like it sho uld wo r k as w ell as i t d oes. It is fla tte ne d where it piv o ts and h as attached to it a h eavy lo oking ch ain guide . The ch ain gui d e is necessary be cause o f th e large re ar sp ro c ke t. There is a smaller sp roc ke t wh ich w o uld p ro bab ly give a freeway legal to p speed if the little engine was c ap able of p ulling it . It N > '" ::;; '" ;; w 2 w ...J U >U The engine was not as peaky as some 10 0's but pea kier than many . somewhere between trailbike and race r in state of tu ne. Powerband and a very vertical balance po int made long wheelies easy and spectacular. --: r L Notice frame structure and lack of crankcase protect ion. There is 11 inches of ground clearance. - ------- PIGLET PARTS Engine type , , on e cy linder, air-cooted two stroke Bore x Stro ke ,.., 1.97 x 1.97 in. 5.98 in. (98cc) Displacement , Compression Rat io 9 .5: 1 Ignitio n System ,.., , . . , .. Magneto , , . . , Left foot, up for up, l -N·2·34-5 Shift Pattern . , Brake Diameter: front , rear 5.3515 in" 5.3515 in. ,,, , , 3.00 x 21 Tire Size : front " , Tire Size: rea r , , ,,..,..,,..,., , , . . , , 3 .50 x 18 , 52 in. Wheelbase " , , ,." , . ,. , . :., Ground Clearance , , 11 in. " , 34 in. Sadd le Height ,., , .. " Length , , , , : .78.5 in. , 2.5 gal. Gas Capacity , , . . , .. , . . , " Price , ' $6.95 Other th ings that the Baja has : Filtron air cleaner, wet clutch, lights (magneto juiced ), dual rear sprockets, a muffler, and Dell Orto concetric carbo _ .. ---..",....-- - - - - isn' t. T he small sp rocket, lik e the ligh ts, is an o ther o f th e Baja's my steries. Mo st rid er s will want gearing in th e neighborh ood of th e larger sproc ke t's cap ab ilities. T he rear en d is suspended by a p air of Zenith 'sh oc ks wh ich n obody h ad any co mme nt o n , me aning they h ad n o co mplain ts an d that th e sh oc ks w o rked satisfact oril y . T he brakes , too, got th e nod. They worked d ry o r we t , even after I fell down in Escape Co un try 's str eam. Unli ke th e 125 Rap ido, th e Baj a has n o oil injection system, Pour it in th e gas can an d shake. A lso on o ur d on 't like list was th e sta n d wh ich co uld be improved by abou t h aIf an inch of shorten ing . T he gripes are min or; th e surprise is a big one, The Baja is quite a good little playbike, T he engine is high -strung. It like s to be wo und up, No way is this a lug-around-the-woods trailbike , It ' likes to go fast . Somewhere between t railbi ke and racer : pl aybike. In many ways it is very attuned to today's dirt rider , the kind that likes t~ go out and play-race, We d id a wh ole lot of pla y-r acing during our test period with th e Baj a, If the course was short en ough and tw isty enough , th e little Harley wa s h ard to beat if the riders were equal . Bigger bikes we re alway s de feated on o ur super sho rt co urse. One rider wh o was lyi ng under his 200-clas s trailbi ke where h e came to rest after an unsuccessful attempt to catch th e Baja c o m m en ted, "What a m agn ificen t beast is th e pigle t." UHuh? " "You kn ow , a p igle t, like a b ab y h aw g." "Yeah. Pigle t, I lik e th at. " Once you adapted to the very high seat , sliding was easy and con trollable at all speeds . The 52 inch wheelbase deSerws some of the credit. .