VOLUME ISSUE NOVEMBER , P117
if you did, you would be wrong. A
chain tensioner, fork boots, fold-
ing footpegs and rubber-mount-
ed instrumentation were all
features found on the Montesa,
not the Yamaha. The King Scor-
pion also came with a luggage
rack. Aluminum Akront rims on
the Montesa gave the bike more
points with the staff, who noted
that the Yamaha's steel
rims added "unsprung
weight." The Yamaha
could ill afford the extra
love handles, though
the crew also pointed out that at
250 pounds each, both machines
should probably start thinking
about skipping dessert.
Suspension-wise, it was clear
that the Japanese and the Span
-
iards had very different ideas
about forks and shocks. In this
case, there were no winners.
"Neither machine was spot on in
the suspension department; the
Montesa was too soft at both
ends under heavy going, and the
Yamaha units were too stiff. A
competition rider would have
to experiment with fork oil and
spring rates on either machine."
On the showroom floor, there
was one clear winner. The Yama
-
ha DT 250 could be had for $920,
while the Montesa King Scorpion
was more than $300 higher at
$1238 MSRP, which was a big
gap. Speaking of showrooms,
there were likely many more
Yamaha dealers at that time as
well. Yamaha DT 250 machines
were as common as pop music,
while the Montesa Scorpion was
a deep cut on a bootleg album.
"In attempting to define the
two machines," CN wrote, "in
terms of their relative merits and
weaknesses, we concluded that
the Montesa would make a more
acceptable off-road machine,
used only occasionally on the
pavement byways, and that the
Yamaha would be more efficient
on the roads, with occasional
medium-speed forays into the
boonies."
No one should've been sur
-
prised. In the early '70s, Yamaha
was not yet a force in motocross,
but its two-stroke street ma-
chines were winning at Day-
tona. Montesa was an off-road
marque, and its King Scorpion
couldn't run away from its true
self. Every comparison should
net a victor, but in this test, every-
one's a winner, baby (that's the
truth).
CN
Subscribe to nearly 60 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives
At the time,
Yamaha's enduro
bike was the
constantly
evolving DT 250.
In 1973, Cycle News
compared the Yamaha DT
250 (Top) and the Montesa
King Scorpion head-to-
head. We liked them both.
