Hecho In Mexico
HECHO IN MEXICO
A little-known Mexican factory makes three machines for the home market
THOMAS FIRTH JONES
MOTO ISLO BEGAN making a 175cc scooter in 1958, using Italian controls, electrical parts, and two-stroke four speed engine gearbox in their own frame. This machine continues practically unchanged, except that the original 12-inch disc wheels have been replaced by 14-inch wire ones, and the engine is now made (hecho) in Mexico. The central frame section is a larger tube, to which most of the other members are welded directly, without lugs. No attempt is made to grind the welds smooth, but the high quality of paint and hardware gives the machine a finished look.
With its sturdy frame, motorcycle suspension, and large wheels, the Islo handles well. It may be seen all over Mexico in varying states of decrepitude, but its lowrevving engine keeps on running, and its long wheelbase and two big solo saddles assure comfort for both riders. It is often used with a sidecar (also made by Islo) which carries everything from people to refrigerators and other motorcycles. In terms of utility, it may well be the best scooter in the world.
More recently a cycle has been made, using the same engine gearbox and suspension as the scooter, but with 16-inch wheels and a conventional single downtube frame. I rode this cycle on the Islo test track at Saltillo, which is like a bad section of an enduro. The machine is high geared and slow off the line, but subsequent gear changes are close, and the Mexican engine (still equipped with Italian carburetor) pulls well through a wide power range. The soft, long-travel suspension will hot bottom, even on jumps and holes, and the handling is perfectly true and reliable. The controls are not quick, unlike a real sports machine, but they do what you expect them to, and do not get ideas of their own. And at 242 pounds, with well placed pegs, seat, and bars, the machine is easy to throw around. However, the seat is less than comfortable; the sides are too stiff or the center is too soft, I’m not sure which. It is rather like riding a toilet seat.
Moto Islo also makes a 50cc machine. The two-stroke engine gearbox is Italian, with three-speed hand change. Islo hopes to replace this with their own engine later this year. The Islo 50 may be the only machine ever made with swing arm rear and girder front forks. The forks are sturdy, a necessity for Mexico’s country roads and even for its city streets, but the unsprung headlight-speedo must shake apart very quickly. The double-tube backbone frame looks strong and is very light. Like all Islos, the 50 uses magneto ignition and direct lights.
The factory is interested in racing and can boast of some local successes, even against 250cc foreign machinery. There is no factory team, but private entrants are encouraged, especially one rider who works in the plant’s experimental department. Sr. Raol Perales of the sales department says cheerfully, “He always wins. He is crazy, crazy.” I was not allowed to meet he, nor to enter the experimental department. From some blurred photographs, it appears that he uses a stock Islo frame stripped down and with larger wheels. His engine, says Sr. Perales, is the same but “made to go faster.”
Moto Islo has competition now; the Carabela factory in Monterrey is turning out a lOOcc machine. There are rumors about what Islo is doing to meet and surpass this competition, but I was asked not to spread them, and my information may not be reliable anyway.
No exports are planned for the moment. Islo says it cannot satisfy the local demand now, but that when it does it will think first of the Central and South American markets. At present, the prices Islo must charge are competitive only behind Mexico’s tariff wall. Production is small: one rider tçsts every machine before it leaves the factory.
I hope that if Islo does reach the world market, it will not sacrifice its quality control (every engine is bench-run for five hours; every machine is rigorously tqsted) nor soup up its engines until it loses the reliability and long life for which it is noted.
The following statistics are given by the factory (prices FOB Saltillo in U.S. dol lars):
