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/1546388
A short list of the cool things that we miss most from 1970s motocross would have to include open-face hel- mets, sweet-smelling Castrol R pre-mix, trophy girls and 125cc race bikes. The helmets just looked right, especially with Carrera goggles and a Jofa face mask, leaving our noses exposed to catch a whiff of the enticing aroma of Castrol R, the vegetable oil-based product that burned a scent sweeter than anything Bath & Body Works ever contrived. Tro - phy girls, well, just because, and 125cc motocross bikes because they were fun to ride and provid- ed a great step-up racer for kids graduating from the 80cc class. European factories like Husqvarna, DKW, Penton and Bultaco were among the early players in the small-bore game, but by the mid-'70s, the Japa - nese takeover was pretty much complete. Each of the Big Four had a competitive 125cc racer, and their bikes filled the starting lines at both local races and AMA Nationals. But some companies, like the Spanish Montesa brand, were still trying to play ball with Japan. In the April 20 issue, way back in 1976, Cycle News tested Montesa's smallest racer, the Cappra 125 VA, and found it to be a competitive machine. "The 125 Montesa," CN wrote, "represents a basic concept in a very pure form: a racing machine should handle well, and every- thing else is secondary. It is a concept that few manufacturers have really taken to heart. Mon- tesa has embodied that elusive quality in their new 125." How did the Montesa 125 garner such lofty praise from the hard-nosed CN crew? For start - ers, Montesa used a chrome- moly steel frame. Anybody who watched television in the 1970s knew that "soft Corinthian leath- er" seats in the Chrysler Cordoba were more luxurious than regular cowhide. Most riders back then couldn't tell you what chrome- moly was, but it sure sounded tougher than "mild steel." Betor forks provided eight inches of travel up front, while a pair of Telesco shocks sprung for 6.5 inches at the back of the bike. In the 1970s, skinny was in, and the Montesa was one nar - row MX bike. Sit on the Cappra CNIIARCHIVES P136 BY KENT TAYLOR The 1976 Montesa Cappra 125 VA motocrosser was a good- performing bike that was narrow, somewhat fast and handled well but significantly outweighed—in the wrong direction—its competition. Montesa's Cappra 125 VA of the mid-'70s was a "little jewel of a motocross machine." THE LITTLE CAPPRA