stevem75

Lean the bike over on its left side until fuel flows out the tickler hole . That will over flow the float bowl the same way the tickler would. Try that and see what happens

If the bike has not run for many years it could be really loaded with cruddy old fuel and undesirable sludge in the bottom end. I recently mildly refurbished an Alpina that was a tough go. It had a freshly cleaned carb, new seals and gaskets, new plug and proper timing and it still took probably 100 kicks to get it going. In between I was cleaning the plug and trying to use compressed air to clear things out. Eventually I got it going and now all is fine. You may have the same problem. Youve covered your basics so I’m sure it’s just perseverance from here

The easiest way to differentiate coils is to identify the number stamped on the coil bracket. They will say ELB1-xxx or ELA2-xx The femsatronic coils sometimes can be interchanged and work with lower units. I actually have a list of what coil will match with what generator. Having said that I would recommend using the correct matching setup. There’s nothing wrong with femsatronic if it’s working correctly. I’d continue to use it. In fact the more it’s used the better it is for it. steve

I don’t think it was the US that mandated the manufacture of left side shift. It was more the governing bodies around the world such as the fim that brought the idea forward. Many Harley’s were right side shift as new and the American manufactures would’ve had to follow suite like everyone else. In reality though….. Bultaco was a holdout in this area. Bulto didn’t believe in left side shift. Most other European manufactures already were and his brand was the odd man out. on another note. I’ve tried over the years to get used to left side braking. And I can use it. But not effectively. The switch to left shift right brake was a good one globally in my opinion Steve

When setting timing on a Bultaco you must always set the point gap first. It should be between .35-.45 mm or .016”. once the gap is set you can go about adjusting the actual timing by rotating the stator plate. When looking at the stator if it is rotated clockwise that is advancing the timing. Counter clockwise retards it. Take your time to get it spot on. Don’t make adjustment to the points gap to dial it in. Use the felt wiper pad as mentioned and also use a very slight amount of dry lubricant on the points cam to help prevent the heel of the points from wearing too quickly steve

You mentioned when it started it revved really high. Have you replaced crank seals ? And made sure there’s no air leaks around the carburetor ? Your engine should run with 120 compression. It takes three things to make engines run. Spark (you have it) fuel and compression. It’s one thing to have 120psi secondary compression but primary crankcase compression is always overlooked and is equally important. Make sure those cases are sealed.

As mentioned by woody, it will be jetted out of the box. I’m using one on my 199b. I richened the needle one position and went one pilot size larger. Mine runs crisp and is nicely responsive. I felt out of the box it was perhaps a bit lean. But could just be my climactic conditions. steve

Having followed both of your posts regarding your bultacos I will give my best advice. these are very simple engines. They need three things to run. Spark. Fuel. Compression when checking for spark all you need to do is make sure it sparks. Don’t worry if it isn’t “fat blue spark”, just make sure it does spark. Compression. Bultacos are famous for crank seal leaks if they’ve been sitting for years and years. The leaking seals can cause primary compression leakage and this makes starting them very hard, and if they do start, they run so erractically that no amount of adjusting the carb makes a difference. Another spot to look for air leakage is at the carb manifold and sometimes even the cylinder base gasket fuel. The Amal carbs are famous for wearing out. But more often than not they will run just fine with a perfectly clean Amal or bing carb. They need to be carefully disassembled and cleaned. All the passages in the carbs need to be clear and the jets must also be clear. Once you have made certain that the carburetor is clean, that you have good crankcase sealing , then you can go ahead and verify correct ignition timing and set up. There’s always tons of what I call useless info out there. Banal comments like “put a mikuni on it “ or “put an electronic ignition on it “ and your problems will go away is really just lazy. these bikes ran perfectly fine from new when they were new. And there’s no reason they can’t run like that again with some basic maintenance cover your basics. Spark , fuel. Compression. Once those basics are covered your Bultaco will start and run like your car does everyday Steve

It is normal practice to warm the piston a little bit to allow the pin to slide into the piston. But as far as “press fit” I’ve never seen that on a Bultaco. The gudgeon or ( wrist pin) should slide through the bearing easily.

I’ve purchased and installed the rod kit available from Hugh’s in New York. It’s worked flawlessly and I do recommend them. They’re not italkit. They come in a box with no manufacture label, but if I was to guess, I’m going to say that they’re hot rods. This is an aftermarket company in the states that makes rod kits for tons of Japanese two strokes. I’ve installed probably 4 dozen of them over the years in various modern bikes and they perform very well. In actual fact I’d be more concerned installing a wiseco piston than a hot rods kit in an engine. Any of the kits available through the Bultaco suppliers will work just fine though. steve

The 199A parts manual is readily available from inmotion. There never officially was a 199B parts manual. I have seen versions with hand written notation giving parts numbers. I have a 199B owners manual. It’s identical to the A manual but includes pictorial diagrams of the six speed gear box and air filter fitment instruction. steve

There is documented serial numbers well into the 14900 range I believe.

It’s important to know that bultacos aren’t referred to by year. The M199 and it’s variants were produced for several years. Having said that, 13426 is a relatively lower B model serial so it was likely built in 1981. But that’s an inaccurate way of identifying it. Quite simply it’s a M199B 340cc Sherpa T. It does have a 6 speed gearbox. If you look carefully at the carburetor it may have a date code on it that could give a clue to what year it was assembled. I have seen this on many bing carburetors. It would have for example 3/81 meaning March 81.Virtually everything is available for that bike through inmotion trials in the UK. Bultaco motorcycles in New York carry many if not all parts for it too. yes tank and side panels easily available. In stock trim the bike is an excellent performer. I owned at one time serial 13456. Not too far from yours steve

Simple answer. The engine has been swapped out sometime in the past. Simple as that. It didn’t come from Bultaco with a 138 engine. Someone put it in there when the original engine had to be replaced for whatever reason. Bultacos always left the factory with matching engine and frames. Always ! In the uk in the 70’s it was commonplace to swap out engines and frames for tax reasons. But this swap is more likely because the original 187 engine needed repair or replace and it was easy to install another know good motor.

With the circlip type cases simply heat the case and drop in a cold bearing. Each one will fall into place and rest against the clip. Temporarily install the seal retainer to hold in place. Do the same on the mag side case. Install the seal retainer to help with final bearing placement. Make sure your crankshaft is ice cold. Set it in the freezer for a half hour. Once the cases are ready to go together I use a heat sink that I heat up generously and then let them sit on the bearings and the heat will transfer from the sink into the bearings. This is a nice way to do it instead of direct heat from a blow lamp or the like. Once sufficiently hot take out your ice cold crank and drop into place in the mag side case. Working quickly with the other case drop it onto the crank and the whole assembly if done right will just fall together, torque case nuts to 5ft/lbs and let cool. Once cool eyeball where the crank is sitting. It may be that it’s too far to the left or right. Simply use a dead blow hammer and swat the end of the crank in the direction it needs to go to be centered. I can hear the curses now. “ you should never hammer a crank”. And true you shouldn’t but just a light swat will move it enough to center it and allow it to turn freely. Once done continue with the rest of the assembly