“We would get trapped a lot by the course judges, who enforced a 24mph average rule. “They would beat the daylights out of you.” The course would run through the woods, up hills, across streams, over logs and through mud. “I would drop 10-15 pounds every event,” Noel remembers. Noel rode in contests sponsored by NETRA, the New England Trail Rider Association. New England enduros were (and are) true tests of endurance for machine and rider.
“Cat quick and tiger tough” was the OSSA slogan, and while Jim Noel recalls that OSSAs were not very fast, they would keep going through the roughest terrain. It featured pointless solid state ignition, 6.5 inches of travel in front, five-way-adjustable rear shocks, 10 inches of ground clearance and a 12:1 compression ratio. OSSA’s beginningsĭespite being the product of a small company, the Pioneer was quite advanced for its time. “My girlfriend was upset - she liked going for rides.” And though Jim bought the OSSA in New Hampshire, the story of how he got it, and how the bike, which is now west of the Rockies, got there, is a little convoluted. I realized I was out of my element.” Jim went to a dealership and traded the Triumph for this 1970 OSSA Pioneer, which had no room for a passenger.
“I tried to follow an offroad bike with the Triumph. Jim was immediately bit by the Offroad Bug, and has never really recovered. But in 1970, “someone coaxed me into the woods,” Jim says. He enjoyed riding it, and his girlfriend enjoyed going along for rides, too. While going to school and racing his Chevy in his spare time, Jim bought a Triumph 650 to ride back and forth to school in Boston.
Most motorcycle stories don’t start with racing a 1957 Chevy with a Corvette engine, but Jim Noel’s story does. Suspension: Telesco telescopic fork front, swingarm with Betor dual shocks rearīrakes: 6.2in (158mm) SLS drum front and rear Engine: 244cc air-cooled 2-stroke single, 72mm x 60mm bore and stroke, 12:1 compression ratio, 21hp 7,800rpmĬarburetion: IRZ “DG” 29mm double needle carburetorĮlectrics: 6v, solid state ignition, magnetoįrame/wheelbase: Dual downtube steel cradle/54.5in (1,384mm)
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