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/1547449
I t's the break between Hal- loween and Thanksgiving, a perfect time to recognize some scary motorcycles and then be grateful that we didn't buy them: the Ducati Indiana, the Can- nondale MX400 or perhaps the Cooper 250 Enduro, a south-of- the-border two-wheeler that lived a life muy interesante! ¡Perdóneme, señor! There was nothing scary about the Cooper 250, an angry reader noted to the Cycle News team way back in 1974. The unnamed Cooper apologist loved his machine, which he rode in local enduros and "always did well." He was sick and tired of folks dissing his bike, and his affection for the machine prompted the staff to get their hands on a Cooper, which they then tested in the March 26, 1974 issue. The terms "dual sport" and "adventure bike" had not yet been coined, so such motor- cycles were puzzlingly named "enduros" in the early '70s. Most of these bikes, like the Suzuki TS and Yamaha DT models, weren't really enduro-ready, and the CN crew noted that the "Penton 250…Jawa 250 and MZ are all super quick [and] handle well… but won't pass on the streets in most states." The Cooper, it seems, was both a solid enduro competitor and a motorcycle that could be ridden on the streets. In the dirt, the staff found the Cooper was fit for battle. "Compared to almost every other bike," wrote CN, "both two- and four-stroke…the Cooper had more speed and acceleration. It's fairly light for an unstripped (lights, speedo, etc., still in place) enduro machine and the lack of weight helps it move out." It handled much like the company's motocross model, which was no surprise, as it appeared to be the same motorcycle, with only a battery, turn signals and a silencer/spark arrestor added to make it street legal. "The handling reflects all of the things said about its moto- cross cousin: excellent through CNIIARCHIVES P126 BY KENT TAYLOR COOPER 250 ENDURO F R O M M E X I C O W I T H L O V E Made in Mexico, the Cooper 250 Enduro (dual sport these days) was a pretty good motorcycle during its short life in the 1970s.