Broncco Apache 100
BRONCCO APACHE 100
CYCLE WORLD IMPRESSION
A Trail Bike For Those Who Have Everything & Would Like To Do It The Hard Way For A Change.
AS A DIRT BIKE, the Broncco Apache l00 may be considered a downright indestructible street bike. It falls short of its intended use as a dual purpose trail bike, which is unfortunate, as it has some nice features.
The Apache is an Italian import, and that explains its eccentric, cobby styling. Steep fork rake, producing quickish handling, indicates that it has street bike ancestry.
Its engine is its strong point: a 100-cc two-stroke Single with good peak power output and broad operating range through which useful pulling power is present. This is evident, either on the highways or in moderately difficult trail riding. But, should you venture from the beaten path and attempt to climb a steep hill, you'll find the machine is geared too high. The obvious answer is to employ a lower overall gear ratio, and sacrifice top speed in favor of low speed plonking power. It will be an either/or proposition, as the ratios of the fourspeed gearbox are not far enough apart to provide a wide operating range.
The favorable aspects of the engine, other than its excellent power, are its ease of starting, smoothness, and the fact that it develops that power in spite of an effective muffling system.
The frame and suspension system pieces are conventional, but have some good features. Ground clearance underneath the compact, double-cradle tubular frame is generous. The front forks, secured to the steering head with professional looking triple clamp units, damp effectively. Save for the front fender, which is suspended from the lower fork clamp, those forks would offer 5 in. of travel. As it is, the fender bottoms on the front tire after only 3.5 in. of that potential travel have been used up. For the guy who likes to “get it on” in the rough, this situation can be dangerous, as tire contact with the fender is firm enough to lock the front wheel and thereby cause a spill. The rear springs are much too stiff and deliver a jarring ride on all but the smoothest fireroads.
Elsewhere on the Bronceo we find a fuel tank of 2.5-gal. capacity, which should give it a range of about 200 miles with its mixture of gasoline and twostroke oil. The tank has a built-in chamber on its top, with enough room for an ample collection of tools, plugs, and a small bottle of oil.
The seat is large, and comfortable for street riding, but poorly conceived for dirt riding. It is humped too steeply at the rear, making it difficult to shift the body rearward over rough ground or in the air.
It is these little inadequacies added collectively that make the Bronceo 100 an infuriating package. The separate com ponents-torquey engine, frame, forks, stainless steel fenders with mud flap, mud guard over the rear subframe, toolbox, motocross bars, etc.—are all quality pieces. Separately. But they don’t work together, and the resulting combination suggests the work of an engineer who got caught with his pants down when word of the American trail bike boom reached Italy.
And even the price—a suggested retail of $499.95 p.o.e., compared to the similarly priced but vastly superior Hodaka 100B, or the less costly Japanese 100-cc trail bikes-is not a redeeming feature.
$499.95
