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After 32 Years I'm A Bultaco Owner Again


michaelmoore
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I normally avoid looking at eBay or Craig's List as I have trouble resisting temptation. I experienced that problem again today when I brought home a Model 159 350T:

Model1590001a.jpg

Model1590012a.jpg

The bike seems pretty stock, other than bars, some "Assault" rear dampers (never heard of those before), a Mikuni carb and Sun rims (I didn't notice a crack in the front one until I got home, but it hasn't gone to far so I'm going to try welding it up as the rim looks quite good otherwise). I don't know if those are the Miura/Bultaco accessory plastic fenders or not. One short fin is broken on the cylinder head but I think that is mainly a cosmetic issue.

The under engine frame tubes are bowed upwards a bit and it needs sprockets and a chain. The tank has been sealed before and is seeping just a bit . The owner was telling me how it had been sealed and how it didn't leak a drop, and then I pointed out the rubber cushion at the back of the tank that was damp with fuel. :thumbup:

The transmission sure is nicer than the one on my friend's Cota 348 that I rode at Mid Ohio a couple weeks ago. No issues with staying in gear and you can come to a stop and snick into neutral without having to fish for it. Just like a Japanese bike.

I'll need to give it a good cleaning and see if I spot anything else. It has a fresh set of Cheng Shin trials tires but I've got a set of Michelins on hand that will go on ASAP. I'll have to rig up a spark arrestor for the stock exhaust.

The guy I bought it from just trail rode it around on private land, he's never seen anyone else ride a trials bike. He had it set for about a 1200 RPM idle speed. :crying:

There is no owner's or service manual or any special tools with it so I'll have to find out what the best choice for a manual will be.

I'm probably going to need to move it to the off-site storage so it doesn't distract me from finishing up the KT250. I'll definitely measure to see where the Bultaco foot pegs are located before I relocate the KT pegs (next project on the list). It will be interesting to be able to ride them back to back for comparison purposes.

I've still got the Bultaco fanny pack that came with my Mo. 125 back in 1974. I'll look forward to wearing it when riding the T. :)

cheers,

Michael

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It sure beats my usual "how many boxes does this fit into?" project. :thumbup:

Luckily, a trials bike doesn't have a lot of parts. The engine/trans seemed fine so it will hopefully prove to BE fine. I've spotted a few things like the pivot hole on the aluminum rear brake petal is pretty wallowed out so I'll have to do some small remedial machining jobs on things like that.

But it generally looks to be in pretty decent shape. I suspect there hasn't been a lot of trials competition in it's recent life.

cheers,

Michael

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It sure beats my usual "how many boxes does this fit into?" project. :crying:

Luckily, a trials bike doesn't have a lot of parts. The engine/trans seemed fine so it will hopefully prove to BE fine. I've spotted a few things like the pivot hole on the aluminum rear brake petal is pretty wallowed out so I'll have to do some small remedial machining jobs on things like that.

But it generally looks to be in pretty decent shape. I suspect there hasn't been a lot of trials competition in it's recent life.

cheers,

Michael

Brake pedal, where is it ? Oh yea, toolate ! OUCH!

Brings back old mammories! :thumbup:

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I suspect the Bultaco isn't going to make a huge improvement in my scores. But I've been hankering after one. :thumbup:

Dave, on the rear exhaust box it says "13717-043 Spark Arrestor". Do those numbers look like typical Bultaco part numbers to you? I couldn't find anything on Google. I'm wondering if it is going to be a problem since it lacks "USFS approved" in that and I think all California OHV parks require an approved spark arrestor. I was surprised to see that Bultaco was claiming a spark arrestor was installed.

If I have to I figure the most expedient thing to do would be to graft on a 3" Supertrapp disc/end cap. I've got some of those and the steel end caps are properly labeled.

But what might be even more expedient than making something would be buying one of these ST arrestors for small engines:

http://www.jackssmallengines.com/strap3s.cfm

They've got 1"-2" clamp on assemblies. I'd have to make an adaptor to go on the dual pipes on the Bultaco, but after that it looks pretty simple.

cheers,

Michael

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The cables at minimum need a better routing, and after doing that I'll see how the lengths look. The person I bought the bike from didn't seem to be a very technically/mechanically savvy person.

I just looked at the teeth on the countershaft sprocket. Ohh, the horror!

New sprockets, a flywheel puller, parts/workshop manuals and some tank sealer are now on order.

cheers,

Michael

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I just pulled the carb to see what size it was. This must have been a rare works SSDT bike meant to do well on timed road sections as the Mikuni is a 34mm. :thumbup:

There was rather more dirt in the carb bellmouth and carb->airbox boot than I care to see.

cheers,

Michael

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Not yet, it only just came into my hands late Monday. I'll be taking it down into major bits for a general cleaning/lube/inspection and the brakes will be part of that. Cleaning out the forks and fresh fork oil is also in the plans.

I took the easy way out on the carb this morning and called Bob Ginder and ordered a 26mm Mikuni kit from him. I might have something suitable around, but I'd have to find it and then I'd have to figure out how to jet it. Buying something ready to bolt on from Bob will free up that time.

cheers,

Michael

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