Restoration

[dwb5151]

I am considering restoring a bultaco 350 sherpa. The entire thing needs serviced and the frame all over needs to be sanded down and resprayed. What is your opinion of the bultaco are they good bikes and is it worth restoring. The bike still has a spark and the engine turns over but i havent got it started yet.

[axulsuv]

You have to ask ?!?!?!

[dadof2]

If you have a look in the for sale section you will see a restored Fantic 300 for £3,795. I don't want to insult the advertiser but to me spending all that money and effort on a restoration is excessive, particularly if you end up selling, rather than riding it. Your Bult is worth restoring but only up to a point, there are quite a few fully restored Bults up for sale (and have been or some time) at silly money. I would get your bike running, ride it a bit and sort any mechanical issues before stripping and painting (an easy job) it.

The best way to prepare a frame for painting is bead or fine sand blasting followed by looking for cracks with a magnifying glass. If your sandblaster charges on a time basis it may be worth softening the paint with paint stripper before blasting.

[sherpa325]

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

 

[twinnshock]

The thing I have learn't after many years restoring various motorbikes, cars and even an old airplane is that you need to want to restore the project and have a passion for what you are restoring if not you will soon lose interest and give up. The other thing I have also found by experience is that restoring is expensive. I have an extensive workshop and never send out anything to be done by others I can do myself and even doing most work myself I usually end up spending more on them than they are worth. I think this is why we see to may over priced restored examples on ebay that do not seem to sell.

 

So ask yourself why are you doing this?

If this is to sell on the completed project at a profit. Do not do it.

If because you will enjoy working on the project and want to. Go for it. Bultaco's are fairly simple to work on and restore and parts easy to obtain. Excellent for somebody new to restoring to gain experience.

 

The fact you are on here asking makes me suggest that you might not have the right motivation to complete this particular bike restoration. My first reaction to reading your post was to tell you NO.

 

Advice I was given many years ago and have found useful is to try and do something to the restoration every single day even if it is only for 5 minutes. This keeps the restoration fresh in your mind and progressing and before you know it you will have a beautifully restored Bultaco ready to go out and cover in Mud.

 

Stuart

Edited February 14, 2016 by twinnshock

[pschrauber]

Pretty perfect replies to your questions I can't give any better hints. Just one in own experience: Try first to get the bike running proper, when the bike is running well and all mechanical issues are done and you still want to do "cosmetics" it's much more easier to do it then.

Hopefully the bike will already look good when it's functionality back. I have done two restaurations that ended in a shiny bling outcome. But personal will not do this further more as it's a pitty to ride them in the dirt.

The follower restauration I have done were "just" to the technical and functionalities of the bike also solving originality issues from former owners. And I like the outcome much more as there is still the original paint and fenders the paint may be discolored the plastics may be faded but they do look gorgeous this way and maintained.

Best thing is you like to ride them too and I believe too as everybody is doing resto mods too these real original runners will be more worth in the future.

[woody]

Take a look here on Charlie Prescott's excellent BSA Otter site. It covers a bit more than BSA and there is a piece about my rebuild of a Sherpa 49 and how much was spent. The bike owes me around £2k in total and I have no idea whether I could sell it for that amount, but I rebuilt it to keep and use, not sell, so not bothered. I may have missed a few items in the overall costing but only minimal, it gives you an idea of what you can have to spend if doing a complete cosmetic job as well as mechanical.

 

As well as my bike there is lots of information about bike rebuilds and lots of articles on other peoples' builds as well.

 

http://www.bsaotter.com/dave_woods_1970_bultaco_sherpa_model_49.html

 

There is also a piece on the 198a model I've just finished, with the overall cost coming in at about the same total

 

http://www.bsaotter.com/dave_woods_sherpa198_a_rebuild..html

 

I've also saved a bit of cost by doing a lot of the work myself, such as exhaust repacking, engine rebuild etc and I can get polishing, chroming and anodising done cheaper than normal retail costs, so that needs to be factored in too.

 

As has been mentioned in the good advice by people above, you really need to want to do this out of enthusiasm for the bike you're working on as it's a long slog and the costs can spiral. If the job is done thoroughly, the bike will never be worth what it costs you to rebuild - see the number of unsold Sherpas for which silly money is being asked

 

 

[b40rt]

One of the most constructive threads, ever !

Edited February 14, 2016 by b40rt

[larrynz]

 Should you "restore" your old bike depends on to what level you mean. To make it as good as, or better than new, should only be done as a labour of love that you want to keep in your house to admire. Do it to a reasonable level for the enjoyable times you spend in the shop contemplating changes, doing proper fixes so it is more dependable. I have gotten as much satisfaction out of working on my bikes as I did/still do riding them over the past 50 years.

  Restoring further than making it a really good bike to ride is not cost effective. You will NEVER-EVER come close to getting your expenses back. That is unless you are a machinist with unlimited tools/ contacts/ lots of free time and got the bike for free. Except for one or two models, trials bikes will never be considered collector's items that anyone will pay inflated prices for.  There is a huge difference in a listing price and what it finally sells for. These bikes mainly appeal (sadly) to a diminishing market. They are the bikes of our youth, our  "Prime"  so to speak-(some of us not so prime as others-!)  You can get your bike running and serviceable for not much spent. Take the above advice of people like "Twinshock"  & "Woody".  With the lifetime of knowledge that these folks have you will have it running in no time. Enjoy it for what it is, a good solid dependable bike that looks & rides the way a trials bike should.  Good Luck 

[johnnyboxer]

Bloody good thread with sound advice

The 'bubble' for cheap doer uppers is over, it was 10 years ago

Never done the British or Spanish stuff

But I have dabbled in Jap

In 2002/3 I bought aN adult frame Majesty 200 - very good nick and genuine (Godden nickel frame, alloy coffin tank & all the proper Maj bits, like brake stays/engine cases) for £1100, which I thought was strong money,

Rode it a bit after doing consumables like a mudguard, tyres, road registering it and Nowt else

Sold it in 2007 for £2600 & probably only worth £3k today

There is a ceiling & we're about at it now