Made In Mexico
Made in Mexico
THOMAS FIRTH JONES
The Motorcycle Industry Prospers South of the Border
IN THE past five years, Mexican motorcycling has been revolutionized by the growth of domestic industry. Five years ago, one saw a few big Harley-Davidsons and European bikes out on the road, and quite a lot of small European machinery (Puchs, Zundapps, TWNs and Jawas) tooling around the cities. Today, the federal police still buy Harley 74s (very handsome they look, with black frames, light tan paint, solo seats, and few accessories) and an occasional BSA or BMW still goes by on the highway. But, from 175 cc downward, the foreign machinery is all old. The new machines carry the badges of Moto Islo or Carabela.
Both of these makers have their eyes on the transportation, rather than the sports, market. Many Mexicans who never before have owned a motor vehicle have bought them. Even BMW owners have a good word for Islo or Carabela, particularly for one model or other to which they have taken a fancy. Actually, all of the models are surprisingly good, and they are getting better all the time. There are flocks of them on the roads, both in the cities and in the country. A sense of cameraderie is developing, and Mexican motorcyclists, who five years ago never waved at other riders, now often return a wave.
Three years ago, I visited the Islo factory, examined and tested the machines, and reported on them for this magazine (CW, April, ’65). At that time, they were making a 50-cc motorcycle, with three-speed hand shift, double-tube backbone frame, 18-in. wheels, and two-cycle Italian engine. The most peculiar feature of this 50 was its girder front fork, coupled with full swinging arm rear suspension.
At that time, Islo was talking about switching to an engine of its own make, but nothing has come of this plan. Instead, the firm has adopted the four-speed 50-cc Sachs engine, with fan cooling for the barrel and airstream cooling for the head. This new 50 still has the girder fork; but a deluxe version, the Maya, is available with telescopic fork, stronger frame, and larger tires-for an extra $122.
Islo also made a very sturdy 175-cc cycle with single downtube frame, 16-in. wheels, and a four-speed, two-stroke, Islo-made engine-gearbox. I was particularly impressed with the handling of this machine, and with its low-speed torque. Idle same engine-gearbox was used in a tube-frame scooter with 14-in. wire wheels. The engineering and many of the patents on both these 175s were Italian.
Raoul Perales of the Islo sales department was full of talk about a new model, “a real good one,” he said. It was to be 100 cc, and was to be so fast that the 9-bhp 175 would have to be supertuned to make it faster than the new model. But Perales asked me not to mention this machine, as it had not yet been announced, and he did not let me see it.
The Islo 100 now is out and selling very well. It uses the 8.2-bhp Sachs single-cylinder, two-stroke engine and four-speed gearbox in the reinforced 50-cc frame with telescopic fork. Like all Islos, it uses magneto ignition and direct lighting.
The 175-cc cycle and scooter are continued with little change, though they now produce 11 blip. Both sell for $598 in Mexico City. They are not exciting machines, but they are practically indestructible. They can be seen in every stage of decrepitude—everywhere. If they are completely wrecked, their engines are likely to be stuck into the frames of European machines, the engines of which have expired. I have seen TWN-Islos, and lots of Jawa-Islos.
Originally, Islo made two sidecars, one for cargo and a futuristic fiberglass passenger model. The passenger chair is continued, but the new cargo carrier is a proper three-wheeler with disc wheels in the rear, semi-eliptic leaf springs, and cable brakes to all three wheels. The rear axle has no differential, so tire wear must be a problem. The 175-cc engine is fan-cooled, and the rig sells for $688 with wooden truckbed.
Carabela got a later start in motorcycle manufacturing than did Islo. This manufacturer’s first machines were 50s and 100s, which fell apart very rapidly, particularly the 50s whose frames were forever breaking in half. Both models were delivered with hand shifts and kooky little fairings around the headlights. Carabela, however, learned fast. The firm now makes a line of machines which is sturdy and light in weight.
Carabela now makes three motorcycle frames. The smallest is a double downtube unit with telescopic fork, swinging arm rear suspension, and 18-in. wheels. It is available with three engines of 66-, or 100-cc piston displacement. All are two-strokes with three-speed foot-shift gearboxes, but there is a rumor that four speeds soon will be available in the 100. All components are Mexicanmade, except for carburetors and electrical parts.
The jewel of Carabela’s line, and perhaps the best motorcycle made in Mexico, is the 175. It has a larger double downtube frame with 18-in. wheels. The single-cylinder two-cycle engine drives through a helical gear primary to a wet clutch, as do the smaller Carabelas. The 175, however, carries a four-speed gearbox, and is capable of steady cruising at 60 mph. With its light weight, it gets off the line well ahead of the Islo 175. Within the past few months, it has been converted from iron to aluminum barrel with iron liner. With 8.5:1 compression ratio, it only pulls 11 blip, which shows that Carabela has not yet learned the carburction and porting secrets with which the Japanese have revolutionized two-stroke design. But the Carabela 175 with its beautiful design and finish has caught the fancy of all Mexican motorcyclists. Even the police on their big Harleys turn around to watch it buzz by.
The big Carabela uses the standard Jawa 350-cc engine-gearbox, with the well-known kickstarter-gearshift combination and automatic clutch. Carabela puts it in its own single-downtube frame with the 175 tank and a BMW-style Earles fork. It is the fastest Mexican motorcycle, but it does not point toward the future the way the 175 does. The price (nearly $900) is outrageous.
Carabela also makes a three-wheeler, smaller than the Islo, with 100 cc, three-speed gearbox and fan cooling. It sells for $556 with metal truckbed.
Both Islos and Carabelas are seen at scrambles, which are sponsored by the Federación Mexicana de Motociclistas. Most of the racing takes place around Mexico City, and the winners are paid in cash, though not enough to compensate them for their outlay in time and machinery. Mexican scramblers do not enjoy the protection of AMA-style rules, and there is nothing to keep a rich kid from buying exotic machinery and walking away from the field. Consequently, Mexican racing is very uneven, with the winner finishing many laps ahead of the last-place rider.
In addition, the rider of a small machine is allowed to race in the big machine events as well as his own, so long as he pays the entry fee. Consequently, the final race of the day will see everything from H-D Sportsters to Islo 175s on the line together, and the dusty race courses (it does not rain in Mexico for six months at a time) add to the confusion. However, scrambles enjoy great popularity. They often are filmed and shown as short features in the movie houses of Mexico City.
There still is no talk of exporting Mexican motorcycles. Even with low shipping costs, they could not be sold competitively in America. The Carabela 175, for example, would have to list for nearly $700, and the 350 for over $1000. Foreign bikes could undoubtedly undercut their prices in Mexico itself, were it not for Mexican tariff protection. The industry is just developing in Mexico. The day may come when Islos and Carabelas will be seen on American roads.
Neither factory will release production figures, and both claim that these don’t matter, because demand continues to grow faster than supply. However, it is safe to guess that Islo is much the larger of the two. Islo also has a better dealer network. But Carabela has shown more engineering imagination in the past three years, and I have heard people say, “Now it is better, the Carabela!”
1 believe that Islo and Carabela have yet to tap the true Mexican market. For one thing, large foreign machines continue to be sold, both for police work and for sports riding. A large domestic-made machine at a reasonable price certainly would find buyers. And there probably is a much larger market for a moped, or even for an auxiliary motor-such as the French Velosolex-to bolt onto the millions of bicycles that are seen in every town and city in Mexico.
The following statistics are given by the manufacturers. The top speed figures should be taken with a grain of salt.
MOTORCYCLES OF MEXICO
