sherpa325

As Woody has already said the gear is the same number of teeth as the five speed box, so if anyone could compare the two gears to see what the difference is, I think this would be beneficial for all of us 199B owners- bondy? I am not aware of this being a problem on the 5 speeds so I wonder if they narrowed the gears in order to fit sixth in the box, never thought to check when I had mine apart. Cheers Greg

These are the overall ratios with standard gearing as delivered from the factory 11/46 [M159] 11/39[199A & B] M159 M199A M199B 1st 37.7:1 37.7:1 37.7:1 2nd 29:1 29.3:1 29.3:1 3rd 22.4:1 22.3:1 22.35:1 4th 13.7:1 13.7:1 16.4:1 5th 9.9:1 8.4:1 11.4:1 6th 8.4:1 You can see 5th is taller on the 199A gearbox and all other ratios are near identical on the 5 speed boxes. Fourth and fifth are different on the six speed box The reason the bikes have a higher top speed is the changing of the final ratio from 11/46 to 11/39 which still keeps the first four gears the same overall ratio, but allows an overall taller top gear. The change also obviously uses a smaller rear sprocket as well, so less likely to be damaged.

Just for reference, Sherpas have been delivered from the factory with basically the same first gear ratio since the M91/92 series M91 1/2 chain 14/52 gearing 33.5:1 1st gear ratio M92 1/2 chain 13/52 gearing 36.1:1 1st gear ratio [325 was geared down one tooth] M124 up to and including M191 5/8 chain 11/46 gearing 37.7:1 1st gear ratio Internal ratios changed from here on to provide higher top speed in 5th & 6th on 199B M198/199 13/46 gearing 37.6:1 1st gear ratio [you can change the gearing on these models to 11/39] 11/39 gearing 37.7:1 1st gear [same ratio , smaller back sprocket] M198A 199A 198B 199B 11/39 gearing 37.7:1 1st gear Hope this clears up any confusion as the gearing really depends on which model you have, Cheers Greg

11/46 is the correct gearing for your bike and should be fine, never seen a 10t front sprocket and I certainly wouldn't recommend gearing the bike up by putting a smaller rear sprocket on it, would make the bike a nightmare in any tight sections. Cheers Greg

You can get equal enjoyment out of either type of bike, so I would suggest you buy what your friends are riding or what bike is better catered for in the area / club you intend to ride at. Having said that there differences in riding both types of bikes, the newer type all require the use of the clutch to control the bike whereas the older twinshocks can be ridden without the clutch and have less power and in some respects this can make them less of a handful.

Chain tensioner

My 199A in for a makeover during the Xmas break, exhaust is the first of many jobs Cheers Greg

I had the same experience with my brand new 199- paint washed off in places,swinging arm mainly, after riding in muddy conditions and I didn't even use a pressure hose! Ah those were the days

I think 20 - 30 pilot is the go for a Mikuni and 130 main for starters PS they really are simple motors that are built proof as lbhbul said

Thanks for that, I assume then they go a bit better than the standard points system.

Do any of these ignitions have an advance built into them and provide a performance improvement or are they just to do away with the points and provide reliability?

That's interesting, all 3 of my late model Bultacos have red, I vaguely remember earlier ones having yellow

Thanks Mark that sounds like the one he has. As I said this was talking to him on the phone, not actually seeing the problem. I would think it would be next to impossible to fix by the sounds of it. Found this photo. Thanks Greg

Hi, just talking to a friend on the phone and he has a 198 red plastic tank that is leaking around the fuel tap area. I know these are different to the later A and B models which have the two 6mm screws, but we are not sure what the actual tap screws onto, plastic or a metal insert? and he is reluctant to try to over tighten it without knowing what he is dealing with. Thanks Greg

Although they will run within a large range of timing settings, it is quite alarming to see how much difference a small adjustment to the points gap can have on this timing. For the bike to run at its best you really need to make sure the timing is done first before looking for other problems. cheers Greg

This may be a long shot, but I had a freshly rebuilt bike do something similar, points, condenser, kill switch all new but I couldn't get it to run correctly. Swapped a carb off another bike but the problem persisted -very similar to the dreaded condenser failure. So out of frustration I decided to replace the brand new condenser, thinking it could have been faulty, with a spare I had. Well during this exercise I uncovered the problem, on the points there is a threaded hole where the two wires are attached, this hole was not threaded all the way through and so the screw was bottoming out without actually putting a lot of pressure on the two wires, so under load all these problems would arise due to this poor connection. I guess I should have picked this up when putting the bike together back I'm blaming old age and not so new eyes. Cheers Greg PS I should mention that sometimes the bike would run fine for a short while, so very frustrating and difficult to track down

Sounds like it is running backwards

Nice looking bike,rare in Australia. The only thing I could suggest is that it was a replacement frame, for whatever reason, and therefore had no numbers. No ideas other than that. I know recently a friend purchased a new Aprilia road bike frame and it was not stamped also I know of a recent purchase of a Gas Gas frame that also wasn't stamped. Cheers Greg

Not sure what you are implying here, there is no point making more bikes than you can sell? Surely to be competitive they need to keep the workforce gainfully employed all year round and this would dictate how many are employed and how many bikes per day fits that equation.

Bultacos are relatively easy to restore in that they are a very simple bike to work on and you can buy just about any part for them. The cost of the restoration is down to a number of things, firstly is the bike complete - it will generally be easier to recondition/ refurbish parts than to source and purchase second hand or new parts that are missing. Also the amount of the work can you do yourself, or are prepared to do yourself will have a huge affect on the final price of the restoration. Another consideration is what standard do you want the bike completed to - concourse or a bike to compete on and enjoy. I am biased but all the sherpas in my opinion look great and are great to ride when set up correctly. Cheers Greg

8 a day equals 2000 per year

Possibly the prettiest bike ever

Back when I stared riding in 72 Sammy Miller was the Toni Bou of trials and he had a great range of products that were highly sort after out here in Australia. He sold mufflers, air boxes, fork braces, handlebars, hubs, lighter tanks and of course frames. I vaguely remember something about pistons as well. There were two miller framed bikes where I lived but I never rode them as I was only a mug back then and was not game to ask for a ride on them. This miller mystique for his products began to fade as he stopped riding bullys and the younger riders like Lampkin Rathmell and Vesty took over and the Bultaco bike itself improved with each model.

Yes I have seen a couple of 199A's crack in the same spot as well as an Italjet Piuma that had a sidecar on it at some stage

That would be great