Cagiva Wmx125
CAGIVA WMX125
CYCLE WORLD TEST
Foreign motorcycle magazines are full of pictures of trick little 125cc motocrossers with brand names we're not familiar with. Many of these have watercooling and other exotica. Cagiva is one we have seen only in magazines. An American firm called Slater Bros. has changed that and now imports Cagivas. Cagivas are built in an Italian factory previously called Aermacchi then AMF Harley-Davidson. Harley sold the plant to Cagiva, a large Italian hardware firm, in 1978 and the bike tested on these pages shows the progress Cagiva has made since then.
The importers didn’t know much about the new 125 waterpumper and things like internal gear ratios simply weren’t available, but one lap around the Cagiva will quickly tell any motocrosser the bike is built from many expensive parts.
The engine is watercooled but doesn’t look like the waterpumpers we’re used to seeing—the Cagiva has air cooling fins as well. The radiator is aluminum and mounted to the top triple tree. Water flows back and forth through a system of metal tubes and rubber hoses. Water leaves the radiator from the bottom via a short hose that connects to a metal tube that’s welded cross-ways through the front downtube. Another tube continues flow, delivering the water to the center of the primary drive-mounted
water pump. Water leaving the pump travels through another tube to the rear of the head and upper part of the cylinder, exits from the front of the head with a hose into a steel tube welded through the frame’s backbone, and a U-shaped rubber hose completes the circuit to the radiator.
The pump is mounted over the primary drive gear and a two story gear furnishes the power for the single impeller pump. Total water capacity is 1 qt. The radiator is closely mounted to the front of the fork stanchion tubes with tubular steel brackets. Rubber grommets isolate it from shock.
Fast,Light,Well Made,and Outrageously Expensive
Both cylinder and head are aluminum and have rough outside finishes for better cooling. Water passages in the cylinder surround the chrome bore to a point about half way down the cylinder. Drain plugs are located on each side of the cylinder at the bottom of the water passages. The head is riddled with water passages. Water surrounds the combustion chamber and the sides of the spark plug in the area of the threads.
The cylinder ports show a great deal of hand alignment; all protruding lips etc. have been carefully blended and the castings are aligned. The cylinder appears all ports when viewed from either end. The exhaust is a large oval; the intake is wide and bridged. Two transfer ports are used at each side, and a boost port is centered over the intake. A 34mm Dellorto carburetor feeds fuel through a huge six-petal fiber reed that’s large enough to work on an open bike. Dual O-rings replace a conventional head gasket; the cooling water keeping the temperature low enough to prevent melting.
Engine cases are small but not as compact as Yamaha’s 125G. A six-speed transmission is standard and the ratios are perfectly spaced. The clutch is large, uses seven friction plates and six compression springs. It never slipped or caused us problems. Our only complaint is it’s hard to pull. Primary drive is via straight cut gear. Ignition is furnished by a Japanese internal rotor CDI with the magic box placed on the frame above the carburetor. The Cagiva has primary kick starting and the chrome-plated kick start lever has a ribbed end and tucks out the way nicely when not in use. The kink in its middle places the starter’s foot clear of the bike.
The bike can be started in tennis shoes without hurting your foot. The large swing arm bolt is recessed in the frame so it doesn’t rub the rider’s ankle and doubles as a rear engine mount. The engine bolts to the frame at the front and under the engine as well. The bolts are big, hardened and short. Thus four short bolts are used instead of two long ones; short bolts are> stronger than long ones of the same diameter and hardness. The countershaft sprocket is placed quite a distance from the swing arm pivot and two frame mounted rollers, one over, one under the pivot point, take up slack from suspension movement. The shift shaft is placed at the rear of the cases and requires the use of a long shift lever to put the end at the proper distance from the footpeg. The lever is aluminum but doesn’t fold.
Our test bike was an early model and the importers weren’t 100 percent sure about some parts. The pamphlet says Corte-Cosso gas shocks are standard and Fox air shocks optional. Our test bike had the Fox units. Fox air shocks are favored by many factory riders. Two air chambers are used and varying the pressure in one or both is frequently done to tune them for different conditions. The shock shaft is very large and hollow. The upper bodies are finned and the units are completely rebuildable.
A beautiful curved aluminum swing arm is stock. It’s made from rectangular aluminum tubing and sports generous gusseting and cross bracing. Rear wheel travel is 12.2 in.
Forks are leading axle units that provide 11 in. of travel. They are the oil/air/ spring variety. The lower leg says Cagiva but they look like Ceriani forks to us . . . the importer didn’t know. Whatever they are, they work well but could use more travel. Also, the stanchion tubes are on the small side, measuring 35mm.
Both hubs are Cagiva designs. The front is conical, laced to a gold-colored Akront lipless aluminum rim with unplated spokes. Plating supposedly affects strength, unplated being stronger. The front brake is large enough to give good results and the brake arm has an external return spring so it won’t stick on during muddy racing. The rear hub has the brake positioned on the right, the aluminum sprocket on the left. The sprocket bolts to the hub in a rather small pattern but attaches with six hardened 8mm bolts. It didn’t cause us problems or come loose. Rear spokes are also unplated and a gold Akront rim is used. The rear brake is a full-floating design with a static arm and brake rod linkage. It too has a strong return spring on the brake arm. The brake pedal pivots on a shaft that’s mounted to . the clutch cover. It’s a rather strange method of mounting but from an engineering point it’s right. The pivot is placed so it’s in line with the swing arm pivot shaft and rear axle. The placement of the pivot and parallel static arm and brake rod ac-* count for the complete lack of rear wheel chatter when braking on rough down hills. The pedal itself is aluminum with a steel claw end that folds.
Most Italian motocrossers have beautiful frames and the Cagiva is no exception. It’s chrome-moly steel, painted a bright, red. Starting with a big steering head and tapered bearings, the backbone tubing is fairly conventional; a large main tubé braced and triangulated by a smaller tube below. The short, beefy front downtube splits into two smaller tubes that loop under the engine and terminate at the end of the main backbone tube, at about the front of the seat. Several smaller tubes form the seat rail tubes, add strength to the rear portion of the frame and provide a -place for the shocks to mount. It’s a strong design that incorporates many triangles and looks nice.
The Cagiva’s aluminum fuel tank has aw modern hump back shape but . . . the logos and sharkgill stripes on its side drew mixed reactions. It would look much better minus the junky decals that distract from the otherwise pleasing design. Anyway, it’s a quality tank and has a big filler spout.
The seat is well made but has foam that’s too stiff. Additionally, it's a little wide. And the two combine to amplify the 38 in. seat height.
Plastic components are first class; thick and seemingly unbreakable. The rear fender is properly shaped and works, the front isn’t wide enough or long enough, and lets mud past where it ends up on the rider. The rear-set side panels are well designed and do the job. The airbox is equipped with a quickly removable foam filter and has the air intake placed high on the bike just under the seat bottom.
The exhaust pipe is made from die stampings, tucks out of the way nicely, and is silenced with an aluminum muffler. The pipe halves are welded together the length of the seams plus small bridges are welded across the seams every few inches to add strength, The aluminum silencer isn't nearly as light as it looks—only the outside shell is aluminum, the inside parts are steel. But the unit is rebuildable and repackable.
Many parts on the Cagiva tell a prospective buyer the factory listens to its race team. Both axles are large and strong, all bolts and nuts are hardened and have self-locking nuts, the footpeg towers bolt to the frame so replacement is easy if one is bent, control cables are properly routed and don’t catch or bind on other parts and quality tires and controls are standard. Levers are six-day type Maguras with external cable adjusters, the throttle is a straight-pull Magura and the cables have sturdy housings. The chrome moly bars have a nice bend but the rise is too high unless the rider is 6-foot-2 and not many 125 racers are. Peg to seat, peg to foot controls, and position on the machine are good.
Starting the bike is straightforward except for the choke lever. It’s a plastic bar, mounted horizontally on the left side of the carb. To operate it requires lifting the bar to vertical where it locks. Problem is, the pipe and pipe bracket are right above the bar, and a rider seated on the bike can’t see what is going on, making a simple job clumsy until the bike is used for a few rides. One or two jabs at the kick lever will usually light the fire and the machine warms up rapidly. A slight vibration is noticed when rapping the engine as it warms, but isn’t noticeable while actually riding the bike. The transmission shifts
easy and positively yet the rider is always aware the gear change has been made as feel is excellent. Ratios are perfect for the engine’s power output and the six speeds provide a gear for any situation. Clutch pull is harder than necessary and makes fanning the clutch coming out of corners difficult. If the effort is made, the bike responds by leaping from the corner. Short shifting the bike produces the quickest acceleration. Most of the Cagiva’s power is made in the mid-range. Low-end power is almost non-existent although the motor doesn’t load up or sputter if bogged. Topend power is best described as flat. Trying to wind the engine past the wide midrange (our guess is the useable power is produced in the 4000 to 8000 rpm range) results in slower times to the first corner.
We subjected the bike to several races, both pro and novice classes. The Cagiva wasn’t any faster than the competition until four tanks of gas went through it. It took that long to break it in. We put hundreds of miles on it without replacing the rings. When we tore the top end down for pictures, everything was in good shape. The long ring and piston life can be cred-> ited to the chrome cylinder bore. Wear isn't as rapid with chrome but an internal problem or ingestion of sand from a poorly seated air cleaner can mean doom to the nocket book with non-boreable cylinders.
CAGIVA
WMX125
$2295
The Cagiva comes off the starting line like gangbusters. It doesn't try to ioop or get sideways, just shoots straight out. And it will keep the lead through corners and over jumps as well. Cornering is quick but stable and confidence inspiring. Suspen sion compliance is good and the bike goes through rough terrain smoothly and straight. It doesn't twist or flex or spook the rider in the gnarliest terrain until sus pension travel is used up. The forks are the first to give up. Eleven inches of travel simply isn't enough when the competition has 12 in. We also had a problem with the forks and shocks pumping up. By the end of long motos both ends would be too stiff. The problem is a common complaint on the Fox air shocks and fairly common on air/oil/spring forks. The annoyance is worse when air volume is as small as it is on the 35mm forks. Many factory works riders are going back to spring/oil forks to get rid of the problem.
The Pirelli Gara Cross tires are some of the best and most expensive dirt tires made. They hold on all types of ground and make quick cornering on slippery rock-hard soil easy and controllable.
We were disappointed with the drive chain size, a small 428H, but it is a good quality Regina Extra and didn't stretch excessively or break during our test pe riod. Still, most newer 1 25s have gone to 520 chain and the Cagiva should have the larger chain.
It took us a little while to figure out a way to put a number on the front of the Cagiva. The plate is made from screen wire so air can pass to the radiator. Regu lar numbers can't be used. We made a stencil from paper and spray painted a number to the black screen, but it still didn't show up well until we edged the number with another color.
The Cagiva completed many test ses sions and several races without breaking anything on or in the engine. We did break one front spoke, the top chain roller went away, the clutch cable frayed and the fork stanchion tubes bent forward just below the lower triple clamp. Larger fork stanchions are needed when a pro moto crosser races on hard ground courses, common in the West.
The Cagiva drew much attention at the track. It's not often a new brand racer comes along, especially one that's watercooled and loaded with nice extras. Many people wanted to know about things like parts availability, dealers, and prices. Cur rently, Cagivas can be ordered directly from the importer by any dealer or any person (The importer's address is listed in the data panel). Discounts are available to dealers and the importer hopes some of them will be willing to help sponsor a local rider to help establish the brand. Until a good dealer network has been established, parts can be ordered direct and they claim one day service. Parts prices weren't estab lished yet but if they are anything like the cost of the bike, $2295, you'll need a rich sponsor.
