Montesa 125 Sprint TT

1956 MONTESA 125.

The 1956 Ultra Lightweight (125 c.c.) T.T., run over ten laps of the Clypse course, was destined to prove extremely heavy on machinery, and especially so on the all-powerful Italian o.h.c. machines that were expected to fill the leader-board. But the Spanish Montesa two-strokes were to prove generally reliable and as others fell by the wayside they sped on, to finish in second, third and fourth positions. Unfortunately the fourth rider of this marque retired with a wrecked clutch sprocket and he was a member of the factory team, so Montesa didn't actually get the team award—but morally everyone in the Island knew they had "won" it by their dogged persistence.

The machine was an Ultra-Lightweight in more than one sense, for it was considerably smaller in bulk than anything that had ever previously appeared on the leaderboard. Beautifully made, the tiny two-stroke engines had their gearboxes bolted on, in semi-unit construction, and no fewer than six speeds were available to the rider, with all gears running on needle-roller bearings.

The interior of the motor was pure engineering joy, with "plugs" mounted on the crankcase mouth and fitting up inside the interior of the piston to assist in transferring the maximum charge from crankcase to combustion chamber.
Although they were petroil-lubricated, a separate tank under the saddle fed oil to a bleed in the carburetter bell-mouth for extra lubrication under very arduous conditions, such as the long climb to the Creg on the Clypse circuit.

Twin exhaust pipes ended in expansion chambers with very small outlets—these, incidentally, served to silence the machines, so that they were not only fast, but as quiet as most roadsters.

SPECIFICATION
Engine: single-cylinder 125 c.c. two-stroke; light-alloy
barrel and head. Ignition: flywheel magneto.
Transmission: chain via bolted-up unit six-speed gearbox.
Frame: single down-tube cradle pattern with hydrauli-
cally damped plunger-type rear suspension. Forks: telescopic.