dabdab Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 Sorry to be back on this hobby horse of WES exhausts for Bultaco Sherpa-Ts but I really remain incredulous that WES doesn't have even a rear exhaust for the world's most popular vintage trials bike. I recently sent an email to Bob Ginder at B&J in the USA who apparently have some business relationship with WES. Bob tells me that WES told him that they don't get many requests for exhausts for Bultaco Sherpa Ts. and thats why they are not in the catalogue. I find that absolutely fascinating. Let's be honest, the rear club foot (or pregnant boomerang) rear silencer in all Sherpa Ts from the M151 (1975) onwards have all had the same rear exhaust, although the last couple of models had a bigger inlet tube to match the larger exit tube on the front exhaust. That rear exhaust is very heavy. Surely there's a market there to make a light weight aluminium re-packable rear exhaust. We need to start a campaign to get WES on the job. does anyone have the email address for WES exhausts. Secondly, those of you out there with appropriate Sherpa Ts should then email WES and demonstrate that there is a demand, because as it stands, they are apparently happy to produce exhaust for low volume bikes but not a Bultaco Sherpa T. Come on guys, let's get to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feetupfun Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 Sorry to be back on this hobby horse of WES exhausts for Bultaco Sherpa-Ts but I really remain incredulous that WES doesn't have even a rear exhaust for the world's most popular vintage trials bike. DabDab I agree that it would be great to be able to buy lightweight WES exhausts for our Sherpa Ts but WES already do make exhausts for the world's most popular vintage trials bike. It's just that the Sherpa T isn't that bike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swooshdave Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 (edited) Sorry to be back on this hobby horse of WES exhausts for Bultaco Sherpa-Ts but I really remain incredulous that WES doesn't have even a rear exhaust for the world's most popular vintage trials bike. DabDab I agree that it would be great to be able to buy lightweight WES exhausts for our Sherpa Ts but WES already do make exhausts for the world's most popular vintage trials bike. It's just that the Sherpa T isn't that bike. Oh, ouch. Did B&J say if they could get WES to quote a custom price for an exhaust? Or even better, why not email WES directly? I found this email addy from another post here... Dick Walker <steam@onetel.com> Edited June 27, 2007 by swooshdave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotty Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 Cant understand how bultaco tried to shave weight by hard chroming the brake hubs and then fitting the heaviest silencer they could find either! does anyone know if the works bikes of the seventies had clubfoot silencers that were made from stamped alloy? if they factory had the presses then why not? they may have been painted black to be passed off as the same silencers that were fitted to the production bikes! who knows? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee harris Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 Its all a question of numbers. I asked Dick to make me a silencer for my 125 caballero. He needs about 20 before it makes financial sense. And then its not sure it will work. Dick spent large amounts of money making press tools for the 4RT honda and it took two attemps to get the noise down and the power up. (He did dyno test the bike in spain to prove the results!!) The mail address is correct, speak to him nicely, send him your silencer maybe which he would need to cut open and then order 20. he is a business man..... lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swooshdave Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 Another choice is to find someone who specializes in aluminum metalwork and have them fabricate a muffler for you. If you have an original muffler for a pattern it will make it easier for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dabdab Posted June 28, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2007 Thanks guys-will email WES & see how I go. Hey Swooshdave, enlighten me please - what is the worlds most popular vintage trials bike. And while you are at it, please define your version of " vintage " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feetupfun Posted June 28, 2007 Report Share Posted June 28, 2007 It's not Swooshdave that picked you up on the bit about Bultacos being the world's most popular Vintage Trials bike. It was me. Popularity to me means the number sold. If you choose pre-1970 for "Vintage", the most popular trials bike was probably the Bultaco Sherpa T. If you choose pre-1983 for "Vintage"(to include all years of Sherpa T production) the most popular trials bike was the TY250 twinshock by a huge margin. If you include any twinshock trials bike ever made, again the TY250 twinshock is still the most popular by a huge margin. If popularity in current events is the criteria, the most popular bike is harder to identify. In Spain, Spanish bikes are the most popular while in the USA and here in Australia, Japanese bikes greatly outnumber Spanish bikes in competition use and I have no idea about what is the most popular bike in the UK but based on the numbers of different bikes advertised on eBay in the UK, Yamaha would probably be ahead there too. Bultaco Sherpa Ts certainly are wonderful trials bikes and I love mine to death, but I don't think they have been dominant in numbers since about 1970. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swooshdave Posted June 28, 2007 Report Share Posted June 28, 2007 It's not Swooshdave that picked you up on the bit about Bultacos being the world's most popular Vintage Trials bike. It was me.Popularity to me means the number sold. If you choose pre-1970 for "Vintage", the most popular trials bike was probably the Bultaco Sherpa T. If you choose pre-1983 for "Vintage"(to include all years of Sherpa T production) the most popular trials bike was the TY250 twinshock by a huge margin. If you include any twinshock trials bike ever made, again the TY250 twinshock is still the most popular by a huge margin. If popularity in current events is the criteria, the most popular bike is harder to identify. In Spain, Spanish bikes are the most popular while in the USA and here in Australia, Japanese bikes greatly outnumber Spanish bikes in competition use and I have no idea about what is the most popular bike in the UK but based on the numbers of different bikes advertised on eBay in the UK, Yamaha would probably be ahead there too. Bultaco Sherpa Ts certainly are wonderful trials bikes and I love mine to death, but I don't think they have been dominant in numbers since about 1970. Of course, even that analysis is up for debate. Which may be due to current vintage classes and other factors. But I wouldn't dare try to speak for the rest of the world but in my little corner of the universe (Pacific Northwest) the vintage trials are dominated by the TY175 (even though bikes up until 1979 are eligible). But after that it's a smattering of various brands. Keep in mind that a "huge" event is maybe 50 riders for all classes, so the sample size may differ greatly from your events. A TY250 is a less popular model, so consider it overweight and less nimble than the TY175. This could be due to the style of the trials, perhaps they are tighter here? The oldest Sherpa T I've seen in competition is a M49, but it seems like the later Sherpas are actually more prevalent. Again, we are not talking about large numbers. If there are a handful of Bultacos at an event I'm shocked. So, if I were to take up manufacturing parts, I might lean toward TY175 parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feetupfun Posted June 29, 2007 Report Share Posted June 29, 2007 I thought I had better do the sums comparing the number of Sherpa Ts made vs Yamaha TY twinshocks. Totalling the quantities for every Bultaco trials model listed in "Historia de la Sherpa T", I was surprised to get the figure of 52,729 bikes. Far more than I had thought and in the same ballpark as for Yamaha TY twinshocks. The only reference I have for the quantity of TY twinshocks sold is from Mick Andrews column in a recent Classic Dirt Bike magazine where he referred to Yamaha selling 30,000 TYs per year from 1974 onwards (presumably for at least 3 years?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swooshdave Posted June 29, 2007 Report Share Posted June 29, 2007 Good find on the numbers. Now to bring it back to the original issue, are there enough Bultacos left, that take the "boomerang" muffler to make it feasible to produce an aftermarket exhaust? Yamaha made more TYs (a single model) in a few years than Bultaco made in 15 years or so (all models). Do we know exactly how many 151 and later models were produced? Based on the numbers I'll take a wild guess of 5-10,000, which is just a fraction of the TY production. Calculate out surviving bikes and the current market is "modest" for a model-specific part. Which goes back to the mufflers. To create a die for a stamped muffler is expensive, hence the need for 20+ orders. A metalsmith could replicate something close without a die but it would be expensive-ish. But then again, we are farting around with old bikes so money sometimes goes out the window along with logic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcgods Posted July 1, 2007 Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 Bultaco UK also do the boomerang style exhaust (there was one on the ebay shop not too long ago) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonro1 Posted August 26, 2014 Report Share Posted August 26, 2014 I swapped my clubfoot for a stainless pipe, 28mm inner dia. and this alloy silencer that had been on a Greaves, outlet dia. 25mm that was on ebay (£19). What a difference apart from weighing about a third of the original the engine now revs freely and when you hit the power band it pulls like a train. It's a bit loud though. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smelling123 Posted August 28, 2014 Report Share Posted August 28, 2014 Maybe DEP could be interested? I think they make the repackable alloy Sherpa mid sections that Sammy Miller Products do... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smelling123 Posted August 28, 2014 Report Share Posted August 28, 2014 http://www.smproducts.co.uk/products/exhausts/silencers?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.pbv.v9.tpl&product_id=636&category_id=50 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.