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Hecho en Mexico
By Kent Taylor
Motocross, as defined by the wise journalist-turned-Catholic priest, Paul “The Bazzer” Boudreau, is like a phonograph. The earth, he said, is God’s LP, a vinyl landscape of sorts, and when we are on our motocross bikes, we are the stylus, playing the music of the Creator’s terrain.
The melody may be a ring-ding ditty or it might be a suck, squeeze, bang and blow ballad—but it is a composition that has been playing a beautiful melody for many years. It is also a chorus of many nations: Japan, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Canada and even the USA have all sang in the choir at one time or another. For a brief time, our brethren to the south in Mexico lent their voice to the anthem of motocross, with their brand called “Carabela.”
Were the Mexicans on pitch? Off key? That depends upon the ear of the listener, the personal taste of the racer. As a philosophical Cycle News scribe wrote in the November 20, 1973 issue “One man’s motorcycle may be another man’s bilge pump.”
It was in that same issue that Cycle News put a ’74 model Carabela 125 to the test. CN, it seemed, had taken exception to a monthly magazine’s (Dirt Bike) “thoroughly negative opinions” on the Mexican machine in a recent test. The staff had seen the bike in action at local tracks, with solid results, and decided that the motorcycle deserved a chance to redeem itself. In those days, the motorcycling media carried a very big stick; a bad motorcycle, along with its manufacturer, could be pounded into history by an unhappy magazine staffer.
Carabela’s 125cc MX’er, according to CN, was “a high-strung racer that needs judicious breaking in and proper tuning” in order to compete in a rapidly growing field of 125cc machines, including Honda’s Elsinore, Yamaha’s MX and Suzuki’s TM 125 models, along with European offerings from Bultaco, Sachs and Husqvarna, all lining up behind forward-falling gates at tracks across America.
Like some Euro bikes, frugal engineers at Carabela saved pesos by sharing the 125’s running gear with its bigger brothers. The little Carabela really wasn’t so little, at least when compared to its competition, tipping the scales at over 200 pounds. The Carabela rider had better be a flyweight fighter, because they had spotted their Honda Elsinore competitor a full 40 pounds before the race even began!
Outsourced components were a mixed bag. The CN staffers were pleased with the Betor forks and the Filtron filter element. The rear shocks, however, bounced like a bad check and the damping was equally as nefarious. But aftermarket shocks for MX bikes of this era were often the next purchase after the motorcycle itself, so the Carabela didn’t lose many points here. The handlebars even featured a loop of sorts, welded right there below where your hands throttled and clutched! Why? For the tie-down straps, of course. It may also have been an unusual form of a crossbar. Regardless, CN gently suggested that these also be swapped out for a different bend.
The bottom line for any motorcycle, regardless of its weight, wheelbase or whatever is always about performance. Can a rider compete on a Carabela?
California rider Scott Brown, who raced this very same model at famous SoCal tracks like Indian Dunes and Escape Valley, offers a strong testimonial for the Mexican racers. “When Carabela entered the scene, it was an unknown,” Brown recalls. I remember having the bike delivered in a crate. I unboxed it and was amazed! It was a beautiful motorcycle—fit and finish all looked perfect.
“What the Carabela did well, with proper setup, was the way it handled. It did very well against the other makes during that time frame. The key was setup, as well as a disciplined maintenance focus, including piston, rings, carb, etc. I never experienced any shifting issues—the only DNFs I experienced was my fault—rider error!”
Carabela’s presence on the national motocross scene was little more than a cameo. In 1978, the company sponsored Billy Grossi for part of the season. Grossi’s race bike, however, was not a Carabela, but rather a rebadged Italian-made Moto Villa. After a few good finishes and many bad breakdowns, Carabela said “adios” to the AMA circuit. Production MX machines were still being made into the 1980s, but very few were seen in the U.S.
Scott Brown’s fondness for the Carabela brand continues to this day, 50 years later. “I was able to locate and restore to original condition a 125 Carabela,” Brown says. “Set up just as I raced it!”
The Carabela motorcycle company still exists today, though their machines bear a stronger resemblance to Chinese-based products than to the motorcycles the company produced in the 1970s. At a time when the Europeans and the Japanese were crossing MX swords, the small Mexican company had a faithful, albeit tiny, following that gave them a voice in the motocross choir.
“We were a small group,” said Brown “but we proudly flew the Carabela banner in a very competitive time in local motocross racing.” CN
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