sherpa325

I think there was a thread, maybe on this site, that discussed this offset issue now you mention it. Mine however have been respoked and sit central so I cant be of any help in that regard

Everything looks fine, except of course your offset wheel, maybe you can loosen off the left side spokes and tighten the right side spokes to pull it across, if you have enough thread on the spokes. If I am reading your post correctly the difference in measurements between the edge of the rim and the forkleg is 6mm which would mean you only have to pull the rim back 3mm to even up the measurements. On another note my 199B [which was imported to Australia from the USA with a second one, as that model was never sold here] has the same forks in it as yours-- M92 style, Hughs USA claim they were the original forks in both bikes. Cheers Greg

There is a sleeve/bush that is in the left hand fork leg, it has a split in it to allow it to compress when the two pinch bolts are tightened. The split should be aligned with the split in the fork leg. I have seen the bottom of forks snapped off due to over tightening and nonalignment of the bush.When the wheel is in place the hub may rub on the inside of the left hand fork leg , with the axle tightened and the pinch bolts loose [too close to the left leg]. If you gently insert a flat bladed screwdriver between the leg and the hub you can force the bottom of the leg out to the right [1-2mm] and this will expose about 2mm of the split sleeve to give you the necessary clearance , then tighten the pinch bolts. In other words the split sleeve must protrude a couple of mm's to the inside of the leg to give the necessary clearance, not flush as you might expect. Hope this helps Greg

Not sure you are on the same page here - Vesty 3 times world champ, I would think he would have a clue about bike design

You don't say whether the noise occurs in neutral or only when you are riding the bike. If it occurs in neutral I would be looking at the primary chain/tensioner, as has been mentioned, or something loose - like the exhaust pipe or rear muffler. If it happens only when riding I would look at the rear chain, where it rubs on the top of the swinging arm and also the bottom frame tube underneath the swinging arm pivot. Cheers Greg

Looks like the airbox bracket - part no 25 http://www.trialscen.../44249-air-box/

The 1975 Sherpa 325's are a really nice bike to ride,and they look great when freshly painted, lots of alloy to polish as well. The best part about restoring Bultacos is that all parts are available for them and the motors are virtually bulletproof and dead simple to work on. Cheers Greg

In Australia there is a Ford 'Blaze Blue' which is the same as the Bultaco colour, not to sure if that colour would translate to the UK though

Yes, all the latter sherpa swingarms will fit

Sorry David, I only used the 6 1/2 inch bars for a short period of time on that bike in 1974, swapped to 5 1/2 bars and continued to use them on all my twinshocks, didn't like the tall bars as they tended to push the front wheel in turns and basically I just rode better with the lower bars Cheers Greg

Did you get that bike in 1879? It's just I have photo's of my great grand parents and the photo looks the same. The bottom photo that is. It's just that I thought i could see Ned Kelly in the back ground Brian did they allow cameras on the convict ships or are you referring to their mug shots

I often wondered why you didn't have any of those nice silver BULTACO stickers on that freshly painted tank, now I know why-- Hontaco, Bulda, Sherpa T LR, Sherpar TL, I give up what is it, Cheers Greg PS cant recall any Sherpas coming out with gold rims, geez its gonna look nice, better bring your mum with her airbags to the first event , just to divert attention If you know what I mean.

These are the best photos I have from back in the day. You can buy the bashplate to suit the 199 series through 'Inmotion UK', also maybe worth putting late model footpeg mounts on as well, as they really make the bike feel more stable, also available from Inmotion Cheers Greg

Hi , this is a DIY project and I have not seen any kits for the conversion. I have done about a dozen of these over the years. I started doing them in 1974 on the model 125, the previous model 92 etc had mild steel frames with thicker walled tube and were less prone to flattening, the 125 on the other hand was chrome moly and thin walled and flattened easily. The tubes will eventually hit the engine and force both the magneto and primary cases upwards causing them both to leak, which is a real pain. All the ones I did in the 70's were to fix that problem and to gain some ground clearance. To gain ground clearance you need to remove the rear round tube that runs under the back of the frame and replace it with a flat piece that is mounted higher [like the Sammy Miller frames]. The problem doing it this way is that you have to raise the pegs 15-20mm otherwise they will be lower than the bashplate. If you remove the lower tube remember to have the swinging arm installed when welding the new piece in, and to have the motor installed when making your bashplate as the frames tend to spring slightly when cut, also most install rubber between the plate and the engine - when making the rubber cut it the same width as the engine without the cases on - so if the basplate gets pushed up on the outside it will not push the cases up causing them to leak Cheers Greg

It was common practice back in the 70's & 80's to have vented fork caps, the problem is that on Bultacos they can spew some oil out of the vent hole, so for years I have glued mine up to stop this happening, with no change to the fork action. Fork oil weight on older bikes generally needs to be heavier than newer bikes as I don't think the forks were as sophisticated as today's eg I run 2.5w in my Gas Gas and 10w in my Bultacos to achieve a similar action

In Australia all the Bultacos I purchased new came together in a wooden crate much the same as today's bikes. All mine were matching numbers from new as were all of my friends bikes.The importers here were required by Bultaco to carry a host of spares, which they had no say in.I can remember looking in the importers warehouse in 1979 and being blown away with the spares they had in stock, complete frames, swinging arms airboxes, tanks, seats, enough spares to build a couple of complete bikes.Most bikes I have seen recently with non matching numbers appear to have had a tough life with many non standard parts, one friend even purchased a 159 325, in bits, with a 64mm crank fitted? How this comes about is open for debate but my guess is that they were correct from the factory. Regarding factory bikes I think there is enough photographic evidence out there to prove that these bikes were indeed factory bikes. Many parts used on these bikes made it into production but many did not. The period 74 - 75 the factory bikes are really quite different to the production bikes, having different frames, tanks, airbox, forks etc, etc. The factory 199 bikes have the frame tubes removed under the engine, reinforced swinging arms with some sporting the fournales type rear shocks. The 199a bikes have a completely different rear subframe to mount the rear guard, a feature which is different to any subsequent production machine. Some factory bikes don't feature the steering lock where as others do, the closer you look at these bikes the more detail changes you find and that's only talking about what you can see. The 64mm stroke engine was tried for some period of time by the factory riders but never went into production, as for reed valves, I have yet to see a Factory Sherpa with one of these.

No sorry, do not have any, but they would not be too difficult to make as they are just mild steel strap. They pull the airbox up to be a snug fit against the frame. Cheers Greg

There are two metal clamps[24 & 25] that sit in the triangular opening and are bolted to the frame as well.This was used on the lager 250/350 bikes with this style of airbox. I assume the smaller bikes would have the same setup [there are no actual mounting holes in the airbox itself, the brackets fit into the air intake under the seat] Cheers Greg

If the bike still has an amal carb I would replace the needle and needle jet as these wear and will cause the bike to run poorly at high revs Cheers Greg

Bultaco timing is given as a measurement before TDC [2.5 - 2.7mm]. I have always set mine up using the vernier gauge and a battery powered light, the light goes out when the points open-you then check what the vernier is reading and adjust the point gap accordingly. I am not sure what the mm's before TDC translates to in degrees, it would be interesting to know. The distance the piston moves vertically changes as the crankshaft rotates and will be significantly different from say 90degrees[maximum vertical movement] to TDC[minimum or zero]. Cheers Greg PS Reg May recommended 2.5 before TDC and points set at 15 - 18 thou and N12Y plug

The correct tool back in the day was a vernier gauge that screwed into the spark plug hole and gave a very accurate measurement of the timing. The one shown in the second post is a very poor copy and does not have a vernier scale on it, Bultaco owners manuals show a photo of it on page 46/47 under ignition timing. Not to sure if you would still be able to buy one these days. Cheers Greg

Yes it looks like a 1976/77 325cc Sherpa T either model m183 or m191 - should be on the headstock and on the engine cases underneath the exhaust. if the ignition is causing problems, best to put a new set of points and condensor in as these are cheap to replace and old condensors can cause all sorts of problems. Cheers Greg

From what I have read the spanish PUMA and VAZQUEZ prepared bultacos have excellent brakes, do the spanish have a different lining material or are they doing something else as they appear to be running the original hubs. Greg

It looks like a M199 325 1978 [bing carb only on 325-340] Cheers Greg

If my memory serves me correctly, the 250 has a cast iron liner and no flywheel weight, whereas the 350 has a nickasil barrel with a thiner liner that cant be bored and a metal band shrunk on the flywheel- so the bottom end is the same and the top ends can be interchanged.