The Retrotrials team has spent weeks and weeks tracking down old Bultaco linked premises and obtaining access to them to record the information before it is lost forever. The central 2 photo's beneath are as follows. Left centre - Bultaco handlebar factory. Right centre - Bultaco parts store factory.
Well, Bultaco consisted of a number of small factories, it wasn't just one factory. There was a frame factory, there was a paint factory, there was an assembly factory and I don't know what else, but I've been told the reason for this is because the Franco regime wanted to support small businesses rather than having a few big ones so they have some tax breaks and preferential treatment from the government for owning small businesses. I believe that the small businesses were located at numerous places around Barcelona. I never went to the paint factory, but I did go to the frame factory once and phew that was a dreadful place. I mean an absolutely awful place. San Andreos was the assembly place, but they did machine things there as well. The small rooms, they had a big mopping wheel where they were polishing things, the polishing unit was right next to the factory workshop. There would have been a number of other factories because where would the gearbox components come from, another factory. I have a recollection of seeing some crankshafts being machined at the main assembly factory, so we had some blades and other equipment there. The casings and the forks came from somewhere else, where they came from I don't know.
What would have been the first year that you went down there?
It was 1972, when they sent me an air ticket. Luckily, it was just in between the exams for my A-levels, so I was able to go there. I told the school that even if they're going to fail me, I was going anyway. There is a famous picture in the history of the Sherpa t and there are load of bikes with rear number plates with names on them. I think Peter Howdle took the photograph, he was a reporter at the time. John Comerfords, Lane Leavitt. I remember having seen those bikes at the factory there, waiting for the people to come and collect their bikes. They were not riders, they were journalists and importers and all sorts.
It was 1972, when they sent me an air ticket. Luckily, it was just in between the exams for my A-levels, so I was able to go there. I told the school that even if they're going to fail me, I was going anyway. There is a famous picture in the history of the Sherpa t and there are load of bikes with rear number plates with names on them. I think Peter Howdle took the photograph, he was a reporter at the time. John Comerfords, Lane Leavitt. I remember having seen those bikes at the factory there, waiting for the people to come and collect their bikes. They were not riders, they were journalists and importers and all sorts.
Left - A grassy park marks the exact location of the Bultaco factory today. To the right of this photo are flats. In 1997 this 2nd photo was taken. Today is the same but the old flats replaced by new.
It is said that at the time, some riders would come down to the factory and collect the bikes. They will put them in the back of their van and just drive back home with standard bikes to modify them in their own country. It is said that you in particular were very demanding of the factory ha ha ha ha ha ha and that you were the most demanding factory rider. This is what I've been told. Can you see that?
Yeah yeah yeah. I can see that. I remember that I very much fall out with one of the mechanics. Once it was a mechanic called Pepe Fernandez. Pepe was very well known for being the mechanic for Ignacio, but that for some world rounds Pepe was assigned to me and there was some problem with the clutch, with the primary drive. I saw Pepe just putting the case on and I stopped him and said no Pepe, he said to me “what is the matter”, I replied there is some swarf on the inside of the flywheel and I want it clean. Please clean it. Pepe said it won't do anything, but I repeated no please clean it. I think from that time onwards it was known that Vesty sets his standards quite a bit higher. I also realise that the same time that the mechanics were not paid very much. They were probably paid less than I was as a rider and I realised that if I wanted them to do a really good job and for them to get the really best parts for me, I started paying them a few thousand pesetas. Oriel didn't know that I was paying the mechanics to do a better job on my bike. Charles noticed what I was doing and I said to him have you not noticed that if you pay them a little bit more they will finish the bike off better and you have a nicer bike. Charles said to me are you paying yourself and I replied of course. I'm by myself and said who do you think would pay for this. I said if I don't pay then they will do the same job as before from that time on, all of the mechanics wanted to do my bike hahahahaha I think this annoyed the Lampkin’s, but I don't think they were prepared to put their hand in their pocket, that was their loss, in this case Pepe was a good mechanic, also Bambi was a good mechanic. I don't remember the names of the others but there was an old fellow that just swept the floors and did the wheels and I got him to do the wheels a little bit better for me because I realised that if you knocked the end of the spoke with a punch on the inside of the hub, the spokes would not come loose. And I told him how to do this. He hadn't done this before. I noticed that the spokes were coming loose after the first 2 trials and so I paid him a little money to do this and do my wheels better than the others. It was obviously very important for me to get the bike as good as possible. This relates to another thing. I didn't want to have a lot of excuses and one of the main excuses with all of the riders was the bike. This is wrong, that is wrong or something came loose. I wanted to exclude this from the picture.
Yeah yeah yeah. I can see that. I remember that I very much fall out with one of the mechanics. Once it was a mechanic called Pepe Fernandez. Pepe was very well known for being the mechanic for Ignacio, but that for some world rounds Pepe was assigned to me and there was some problem with the clutch, with the primary drive. I saw Pepe just putting the case on and I stopped him and said no Pepe, he said to me “what is the matter”, I replied there is some swarf on the inside of the flywheel and I want it clean. Please clean it. Pepe said it won't do anything, but I repeated no please clean it. I think from that time onwards it was known that Vesty sets his standards quite a bit higher. I also realise that the same time that the mechanics were not paid very much. They were probably paid less than I was as a rider and I realised that if I wanted them to do a really good job and for them to get the really best parts for me, I started paying them a few thousand pesetas. Oriel didn't know that I was paying the mechanics to do a better job on my bike. Charles noticed what I was doing and I said to him have you not noticed that if you pay them a little bit more they will finish the bike off better and you have a nicer bike. Charles said to me are you paying yourself and I replied of course. I'm by myself and said who do you think would pay for this. I said if I don't pay then they will do the same job as before from that time on, all of the mechanics wanted to do my bike hahahahaha I think this annoyed the Lampkin’s, but I don't think they were prepared to put their hand in their pocket, that was their loss, in this case Pepe was a good mechanic, also Bambi was a good mechanic. I don't remember the names of the others but there was an old fellow that just swept the floors and did the wheels and I got him to do the wheels a little bit better for me because I realised that if you knocked the end of the spoke with a punch on the inside of the hub, the spokes would not come loose. And I told him how to do this. He hadn't done this before. I noticed that the spokes were coming loose after the first 2 trials and so I paid him a little money to do this and do my wheels better than the others. It was obviously very important for me to get the bike as good as possible. This relates to another thing. I didn't want to have a lot of excuses and one of the main excuses with all of the riders was the bike. This is wrong, that is wrong or something came loose. I wanted to exclude this from the picture.