The Ossa factory has done an
outstanding job in the appearance
department. Everywhere we went
it got attention.
One of the foremost features of
the Ossa Enduro is its ability to
put the power on the ground in all
types of terrain.
More power, another
gear, excellent quality
control and superior
electrics show that
Ossa is trying harder
In recent years more development
work aimed at upgrading production
motorcycles has taken place than in the
previous two decades. This goes for just
about all motorcycles made today re-
gardless of origin Some of the manu-
facturers have made improvements in a
slow and lackadaisical manner, while
others have put the R&D departments
in top gear Ossa, in particular, has
shown more interest in upgrading and
improving their products than most.
The early Ossas of a few years ago
were plagued with electrical problems,
so the factory replaced the whole sys-
tem with a highly dependable elec-
tronic unit rather than trying to fix the
old one. Not being satisfied with the
carburetion system, the Ossa engineers
again came up with an entirely new
and improved unit, and have been us-
ing the IRZ carburetor with success
ever since.
A few of the other manufacturers
have made concerted efforts to better
faulty equipment also, but Ossa has
gone beyond this to further improve
their existing components to the point
of being almost flawless. From an ap-
pearance standpoint, the new Ossa
250 Enduro is the finest looking Span-
ish mount we've seen. Everyone who
saw the machine invariably had to go
over the chassis and body parts from
one end to the other, and comment on
what an attractive machine it is The
front fender, gas tank and seat/rear
fender sections are made of very mal-
leable and well finished fiberglass. The
The front forks were a little soft in
spring tension. Damping is good.
Speedo cable should be attached
to fork leg.
chassis is another high point of con-
struction, with the fabrication and
welding not showing one spot of sloppy
workmanship Ossa always has made a
concerted effort of having good weld-
ing, and the new Enduro is no excep-
tion.
The quality of the painting and de-
sign is the high point of the Ossa's
appearance. It's quite different from
any other machine. The steel parts are
all chromed for appearance and dura-
bility. and the alloy pieces have all been
polished excepting the cylinder and
head that have been painted black.
Overall, if the Ossa Enduro was to be
graded on the basis of the quality and
appearance of its exterior components,
it would get a grade AA.
As the machine comes out of the
crate it is designed as a dual purpose
on/off road machine, but with more
emphasis on dirt riding. The generous
use of alloy, chrome and fiberglass
components go a long way to improv-
ing the durability.
Other little items also point towards
off road usage. The long and thickly
padded saddle provides reasonable com-
fort. The saddle is long enough to carry
two up. and the buddy pegs are also
standard. The air cleaner is surrounded
by a vinyl tent that snaps on and off for
easy access. The tent keeps a good
portion of dirt, dust and mud from the
air filter and therefore helps to better
waterproof the engine. Underneath the
engine is a skid pan that protects the
vulnerable cases from boulders, logs,
and rocks.
The Ossa factory has stayed with
producing the 175 and 250cc engines...