So these are the core of my collection. I had the Montesa as well which I rode and this is the exact bike. Oh yeah, I had this one as well, but that one had a sidecar attached to it.
This next one along was a bike which I knew where it was and it is one of the model 133’s, so I bought that back.
What can you tell us about 162 numbered bike ,here at the end?
I rode this in the Scottish 6 days trial in 1977 and that has a long stroke engine like the engine that became famous with Martin Lampkin. You can tell the long stroke engine from the normal engine because if you stick your finger between the barrel and the cylinder head there is more room, so if somebody claims to have a Bultaco factory bike you can just pull your finger out and make this simple test to see whether this is the case or not. This was a bad bike and I couldn't ride it. I basically abandon this bike earlier on because it was on un-rideable.
I rode this in the Scottish 6 days trial in 1977 and that has a long stroke engine like the engine that became famous with Martin Lampkin. You can tell the long stroke engine from the normal engine because if you stick your finger between the barrel and the cylinder head there is more room, so if somebody claims to have a Bultaco factory bike you can just pull your finger out and make this simple test to see whether this is the case or not. This was a bad bike and I couldn't ride it. I basically abandon this bike earlier on because it was on un-rideable.
As far as I was concerned it was un-rideable. The only person who continued riding this bike was Martin Lampkin. I still have this bike, though back in the workshop here you can see the difference in some engine parts between the Lampkin bike and the standard bike.
Please tell me, why is this bike important to you?
I used 2 bikes this year, the factory gave me more than two bikes but I only used 2 bikes that year. This is a 350 and that one there is a 370. I use this one for the first part of the year in 1978 when I won my third World Championship and on the second bike I actually completed the years rounds and won the World Championship ,so the two bikes complete the package for the year. They are not identical bikes but they are very similar. This bike with silver line on it is from 1973-1974. There is a photo of this bike in the 1976 Bultaco calendar. To give you some idea of what I did on this bike I think I finished 4th in the Hurst Cup in 1974 and second in the British World round and European round.
Please tell me, why is this bike important to you?
I used 2 bikes this year, the factory gave me more than two bikes but I only used 2 bikes that year. This is a 350 and that one there is a 370. I use this one for the first part of the year in 1978 when I won my third World Championship and on the second bike I actually completed the years rounds and won the World Championship ,so the two bikes complete the package for the year. They are not identical bikes but they are very similar. This bike with silver line on it is from 1973-1974. There is a photo of this bike in the 1976 Bultaco calendar. To give you some idea of what I did on this bike I think I finished 4th in the Hurst Cup in 1974 and second in the British World round and European round.
Aren't the forks long on that?
They are actually shorter than on the standard bike but they are made to look long because the yoke is straight. The next bike along is this one and i bought this at about the same time that I bought the Saunders bike. This tank was signed by the riders at The Bultaco factory. During the Alvie trial 2 years ago, this bike was ridden by Ignacio Bulto in the trial. I let Ignacio ride this bike because he was the development rider. This bike has air shock absorbers, made by Bultaco, but they never went into production. It is the same on this bike as well, this has got the same shocks as that bike but without the gators.
How do the air shocks perform?
In some ways they worked better than the Betors we used at the time, but in some of the places they were not so good. They were particularly good when it was muddy and very slippery.
They are actually shorter than on the standard bike but they are made to look long because the yoke is straight. The next bike along is this one and i bought this at about the same time that I bought the Saunders bike. This tank was signed by the riders at The Bultaco factory. During the Alvie trial 2 years ago, this bike was ridden by Ignacio Bulto in the trial. I let Ignacio ride this bike because he was the development rider. This bike has air shock absorbers, made by Bultaco, but they never went into production. It is the same on this bike as well, this has got the same shocks as that bike but without the gators.
How do the air shocks perform?
In some ways they worked better than the Betors we used at the time, but in some of the places they were not so good. They were particularly good when it was muddy and very slippery.