Ossa 230 Scrambler
OSSA 230 SCRAMBLER
CYCLE WORLD ROAD TEST
SOME MONTHS AGO, on a Friday — that wonderful day of the week when we receive the British motorcycling weeklies that provide us with so much entertaining reading — the early morning first-cup quiet of the CYCLE WORLD offices were rent with shouts of "He's got our bike! That so-and-so's got our bike!"
The awakened staffers quickly converged on the office from whence issued the angry shouts and discovered one of their fellows, livid with rage, holding a crumpled tabloid in white-knuckled fists, his narrowed eyes fixed upon a small photograph. Examination of the picture revealed that the outburst was wholly justified; English trials and scrambles rider Mick Andrews was shown, grinning fiendishly, with a pair of new Ossas that had obviously been delayed enroute from Spain to the U.S. They had "American market" written all over them — figuratively — with sharp, crisp lines, squared-off engine cases and barrel and lots of bright, polished surfaces. The whole matter was obviously the result of some foul English chicanery. A pox on you, Mick Andrews!
But, as we've said, that was some months ago, and in the meantime, Anglo-American relationships have mended, the plans to attend the TT, hastily cancelled in retribution for this transgression, have been resumed, and we have received an Ossa of our own and now must apologize to Mick, who is to be held blameless, for it is apparent that his actions were guided by emotions. The Ossa, you see, is, after all, a very charming little bear.
The Ossa's frame is a light but strong semi-duplex affair that, in keeping with the sensible vogue in frame design, employs fabricated, rather than forged, gussets and joints. The swing-arm also reflects thoughtful design, with a second crosspiece mounted aft of the pivot tube. The generally spindly appearance of the frame belies its flex-free performance, but much of its firmness must be credited to a hefty, large-diameter spine tube that arcs from the steering head to the main cradle.
The suspension on the Ossa, as with many current European scramblers, gives us, as testers, "fits," in that we can find little to criticize and, consequently, write about. Both the rear spring-shocks and front fork legs are made by Telesco and clearly attest to their ability as designers and manufacturers of sound suspension components. One complaint with the rear suspension, if it can really be considered a complaint, is that the rear "legs" are mounted far enough forward to cause the units to bottom out on the cobbies with a 160-pounder aboard, when the units are set at their softest of five positions. But then that's what the other four positions are for. Maximum travel on these units, by the way, is a very respectable 3 Vi inches, and rebound damping is excellent. Long travel — 6V2 inches — is also characteristic of the front fork legs, and again damping leaves nothing to be desired. Particularly noteworthy in the design of the front end are the pinch bolts on both the top and bottom fork leg clamps. Not only does this ensure constant fork leg relationship that reduces front end flexing from side loading, but it permits trail to be altered by moving the stanchions up or down in the clamps and then resecuring both sets of pinch bolts.
On appearances, the wheelbase of the Ossa is deceptive; it looks to be on the short side. We were therefore curious about the bike's good deal of high-speed stability — until the distance between the axles was subjected to the tape and we learned that the bike boasts a generous 55 inches with the rear axle midway in the adjuster slot. Still and all, the Ossa has exceptional steering precision in crossed-up slides, attributable, no doubt, to the extreme high setting of the stanchions in the fork clamps.
The Ossa's engine is decidedly undersquare (60 x 70mm) and, internally, it follows sound practice with ball bearing mains and needle big and little ends on the connecting rod. Port timing is moderate and nicely balanced with the intake and exhaust tracts, evidencing little "pipiness" — power application is very smooth without pronounced peaks and valleys.
One of the most interesting features of the new Ossa is its carburetor — a 32mm ÍRZ with some rather outstanding design innovations. This is our first encounter with this device — Ossa is the first to use it — but we understand that other manufacturers are wisely considering it for their machinery. Most significantly, it has two separate spray nozzle/needle systems — one for low and mid-range operation and the other for the upper end of the scale. This is accomplished with a single slide and a divided choke. The two needles, of different lengths, are attached to the slide in much the same manner as with any other slide carburetor. The choke is divided horizontally, approximately in half, by a partition that has its leading and trailing edges cast into the outer body and its central portion cast integral with a removable block that also contains the spray nozzles and needle seats. The spray nozzle for low and mid-range operation protrudes through the bottom of the choke, and the high-speed nozzle terminates just above the partition.
In operation, when the slide is in any position from fully closed to halfway open, only the low and mid-range needle and spray nozzle are exposed to incoming air; the high-speed nozzle and needle are isolated from the air stream by the partition and the slide body. When the lower edge of the slide body is lifted above the partition the high-speed nozzle is then exposed to the airstream, and it, too, begins to siphon fuel from the float chamber.
Sound arguments could surely be raised against this design, with reference to restrictions in the air passage, for all-out performance. But, for clean, full-range performance — and this includes starting — this is one of the slickest carburetors we've seen. We feel pretty safe in betting that when this carburetor becomes widely known to the English and European trials set, it will become as scarce as the proverbial hen's whatchamacallits. And, as if the staged intake were not enough, the IRZ has a float adjustment scheme that in itself is newsworthy. The center section of the float chamber is a separate ring which contains the float, shut-off needle and fuel manifold. Float level can be simply adjusted by backing off the float chamber cover retaining screws and rotating the ring clockwise or counterclockwise. Five reference nubs are cast into the float chamber body and are indexed by a nub that is cast into the main carburetor body.
Electronic ignition is nothing new to Ossa, but the unit in the new 230 scrambler is from a different manufacturer — Motoplat — than their previous units. The sending unit is located in the flywheel and the epoxy encapsulated transistors and the high-tension coil are tucked neatly under the fuel tank. The encapsulating block in the Motoplat system is a sturdy item and should protect the delicate electronics very nicely, and output is strong and consistent.
Transmissions, like suspension, are becoming so highly refined that we meet with increasing frustration when we try to find fault with currently offered gear systems. The Ossa's gearbox is so good, however, that we wonder if we might be getting a bit soft in our assessments. During our carcass-picking round-table, we discovered that not one of the testers could boast of having caused the little bear to miss a shift, up or down, with clutch or without. No higher praise can we accord it than to say that it works faultlessly — without qualification. And this is particularly noteworthy, when it is considered that there is nothing exotic about the gearbox — it uses bushings as well as needle bearings. Quite simply, it just reflects a great deal of care and good workmanship.
Coming to that all-important point of how the bike relates to the rider, we find that we must probe beneath the surface to honestly assess the Ossa. The handlebars on our test bike were abominable. And we're told that the importer has sent a set to the factory so that they might duplicate them! Whatever for? The bars force a rider of any size back onto the seat and discourage, rather than encourage, a comfortable, controllable standing position. Pegs and foot controls are well positioned and relate nicely to the amply padded, comfortable seat. One thing that particularly impressed us in regard to rider comfort, while not specifically involving seat and control layout, was the tightly tucked in expansion chamber. This is the nicest midships exhaust system ever.
Styling of the Ossa is first rate. In the past year or so, we have witnessed the transition of the fiberglass molder from the role of sensitive artisan to that of essential technician in the field of motorcycle design and construction. That this chap is integrated — and welcome — with the nuts-and-bolts engineers is manifest in the Ossa, for it sports some of the handsomest and most functional glass components extant. And we feel that this is praise, indeed, because the fiberglass components have to overcome an industrial-looking grey hammertone that is not — happily — in the gel coat. And the finish color is further magnified by the superb die-cast tank emblems that have been carefully detailed in white, black and green, for the Ossa shamrock.
On endearing details the Ossa scored well, with an attractive and effective skid plate, a side stand, easily serviced air cleaner, invulnerable fenders, alloy wheels, and a compression release that will be offered in kit form. Overall, we certainly give it the nod. There are fractionally faster 250-class machines available, but the Ossa 230 is sufficiently competitive, with its 20cc deficit, as to place the burden of proof on its operator.
OSSA
230 SCRAMBLER
SPECIFICATIONS
$749
PERFORMANCE
