VOLUME ISSUE SEPTEMBER , P137
125 (or the 250 or even the 360),
and your knees would almost
touch each other. The 1.7-gallon
fuel tank seemed a little longer
than others, which might help ex-
plain the slender feeling. Oddly,
the little Montesa weighed in at
209 pounds, nearly 20 pounds
heavier than the Suzuki RM125A
of that same year. Even drilling
out the rear sprocket with every
bit in the garage couldn't help
the Montesa when it sheepishly
stepped on the scale.
A great-handling motorcycle
that is slow isn't going to get
you anywhere near that trophy
girl, but the Montesa was a
player with its 21 horsepower.
It did have a wide powerband,
according to the report, about
twice as wide as the Honda
CR125. Shifting gears here, the
transmission was good, with the
only complaint being a pretty big
gap between first and second.
A 125cc rider will spend a lot of
time in both of those gears, so
this was a definite detriment.
Cycle News reported that only
50 of the 125 VA models would
come into the U.S., and most of
those were supplied to dealers.
Montesa wanted feedback from
them, hoping to make suggested
changes and incorporate them
into next year's model. It was a
pretty good little racer in 1976,
so 1977 should've been the year
of the Montesa VA125 Cappra.
Which, of course, it wasn't. Ya
-
maha revamped their YZ125 and
made it great, second only to the
also-revamped Suzuki RM125B.
Both bikes were available at a va-
riety of local dealerships. Finding
a Montesa dealer was like look-
ing for a good head shop: you
had to know what you wanted
and who could get it for you.
The company actually made a
strong run at the AMA Nationals
that season, hiring the talented
Mickey Kessler to pilot the bikes.
Montesa's top-20 placing in
the 125cc class is recorded at
Midland, Michigan, where Mickey
turned in an impressive seventh
place in the first moto. He would
have other good rides that year
on their bigger bikes, too. Monte
-
sa pretty much disappeared from
the MX scene and would eventu-
ally partner with Honda, in the
same way a school of mackerel
partners with the smiling jaws of
a Great White Shark, and today
they make trials bikes. Good
ones, too. Viva Montesa!
CN
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(Left) The Cappra
125 VA was in line
with other European
motocross bikes in
terms of cost at the
time but was pricier
than the better-
performing bikes
from Japan. (Below)
Mickey Kessler, here
with the later "VB"
model, was hired to
race the Montesa
Cappra 125 in the
AMA Nationals, and
he had some success,
but not enough to
convince Montesa to
keep building it.
