speshal

I don't know if this is a stupid question or not but here goes..... I have been cleaning 40ish years of mud and grime off my engine and as per the engine number I reckon it's a 199-A from 80/81ish. Just by the drain plug on the left side of the engine by the left-hand shifter spindle there are some numbers stamped into it and one of those numbers is 199 so I was just wondering if at some point half the engine has been replaced or if this is standard (I know in the later years at Bultaco the numbering system went a bit awry ) oddly enough on the bottom of the engine the 2 halves don't seem to match. Cheers.

Good luck with the rebuilds, I'm in the middle of one at the moment too. Regarding painting the frame, InMotion will sell you Bultaco grey spray cans, (you can also get it on ebay but it's the same price.) Many people would suggest getting the frames professionally stripped and powder coated for a longer lasting finish, but I couldn't afford that Good luck! Post pictures

Big black rubbery circle things fitted I went for Pirelli MT43 as I'll be just doing general off road pottering (and I got a really good deal on them!!) The security bolts were absolutely knackered so I had to replace them.

I have started bolting things back to the frame Admittedly I have bolted things on, then realised I have put them on backwards...... Oh and then there's the paint scheme..... I shall leave you guessing on that one for the moment, let's just say, it's not factory colour

Very sad news. In my very short time on here Larry answered loads of my very stupid questions with excellent advice, good humour and most of all patience.

Great advice Thanks. it worked like a charm

Stupid question time I am attempting to replace the fork seals with the forks off the frame. As per the manual I have remove the fork oil drain plug and the allen bolt at the bottom of the fork leg and the retaining circlip. From what I have read the leg should slide off the tube but it's not proving to be that easy. Is it a case of using a bit of brute force to separate the two parts or am I doing something wrong? Is there a tip or trick I am missing? Please don't say heat it with a blowtorch as I haven't got a blowtorch Thanks.

Frame all painted As I'm on a limited budget I just couldn't justify £10 for postage for actual Bultaco grey from a well known shop in Egham, so it's BMW "Space Grey" from Halfords.... Let me know what you think.

Hello all. I distinctly remember that I said I wasn't going to do a shiny restoration, I was just going to sort everything out mechanically and have a rat bike to ride around on, I definitely wasn't going to strip all the paint off and repaint the frame ......... So here it is all primed and ready for paint I had some time to think over the winter when progress was slowed and decided that the old adage of "If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well" was a good idea Expect the idiotic questions to start flooding back into this thread

I received my tank from Inmotion today - yay! The finish on the plastics leaves a bit to be desired tho, Nowt a bit of gentle sanding won't cure

Just a quick update..... I've been busy buying parts. New tyres, Pirelli MT43's (I'm not riding competition - seemed like a decent/cheap option) New fork seals and oil New swing-arm bearings New rear wheel bearings New tank...... I'm currently rocking a Montesa Cota tank..... New electronic ignition (I read the reviews of the Electrex stator kits on here, mostly not favourable, no instructions etc...) so I got one from InMotion (guess what, no instructions with it ) a quick email to Pete sorted that out (Thanks Pete!) New Air Filter.. So I need a chain/footpegs and a seat and should have it up and running soon! Then my cousin needs to get back to me about an engine rebuild..... Can anyone recommend a decent set of footpegs? the standard brackets have been moved back a bit (I think)

Yup I tried that but still no joy Yup the numbers match it's a 25x45x12mm For the life of me I couldn't work out why the bugger wouldn't fit over the lip at the bottom of the stem, so I got a bit of string and roughly measured the circumference of the lip at the bottom of the stem and got a rough figure of 95mm giving the radius of 30mm(ish) So I spent a while looking for 30x45x12mm bearings (you can find them but they aren't cheap) So I then spent a while looking of pictures of Sherpa stems on here and elsewhere and none of them had a lip on the bottom of the stem......... Can you guess what's coming? It's the bloody bottom half of the loose ball bearing that was in there before!!!!!!!! I feel like such a dunce

Damn bondy, I wish I'd followed your advice The top one fits like a glove, the bottom bearing will not slide to the bottom of the stem so I'd either have to find someone with a lathe to skim off 10mm-ish or I should have done what you said and bite the bullet and purchase the correct ones from Inmotion Oh well, one lives and learns I guess!

Hi guys. Many apologies for no updates but I have been away and slowly but surely wins the race and all that. Mostly I've been cleaning....... oh my, I've been cleaning, I've always said I'm trying to bring it back to a runner first and then do the cosmetics, but I'm of the opinion that there is no point in putting 39 years worth of mud back on before you have to take it all back off and paint it, so, I started at the top. Funny thing I found, under the grime on the handlebar bracket I found two coloured stickers/inlays one red, one green, I'm guessing for port/left and starboard/right..... So I'm now good to go to fit my new bearings in my new frame (see above) Next job is fork seals, I'm going to repaint the lowers when they are off, probably black (eek say the purists ) and the forks will need re-chroming eventually as one has some gnarly marks down it. But it's all a learning curve, take it apart to put it back together again! P.s It's previous owner seemed to have somewhat of a cavalier approach to bolt and nut selection, I took the from mudguard support off, 12mm bolts on one side and 10mm on the other

Cheers Larry, I am doing a front to back restoration, I read a few articles on here concerning the Pyramid roller bearings for the yoke, so bought those and these seals came up as a recommendation on eBay I shall investigate the spring shortening

Does anyone have any opinion on these fork seals? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291031659324?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Cheers Larry, I think he may have been joking about the "Made in China" bit on the reverse it says "Mikuni - Japan" On the downside, I know where my impact driver is........Australia, I lent it to a friend who then emigrated.... New one ordered On the upside, the frame swap I mentioned previously is most definitely on and thanks to the wonderful member Twinnshock I should soon have a 199 frame to put my 199-A engine in! *Edit - I have no idea why this picture is upside down, was it my Australia comment?

Cheers Graham, I very much approve of the "hit it with a hammer" school of mechanical engineering I just can't find my impact driver....

Cheers for that Larry I shall give that a go this afternoon

Well I managed to get the flywheel off for the first time in 25 years... I've discovered 3 things so far... First thing is, I'm guessing that these marks aren't standard (someone has punched a TDC mark I guess?) The second thing is, there appears to be a crack in the case, I'm guessing that the previous owner had a flappy chain at some point, is this a problem? Number 3 How do I get the stator plate off? I guess the 3 screws are the answer but I've broken 2 screwdrivers trying so far

Great thread Larry2, I have enjoyed reading about your progress

Cheers Larry, Yup there's no fire at the plug at the moment and yes I am testing between the hot (black) and ground (green) and there appears to be a short between the two as there is no resistance between the two regardless of what state the points are in. Could you recommend a decent condenser if not the Femsa one? Cheers, Ed

Cheers for that Graham, I shall have a good look later on I am planning on changing the condenser anyway because of what I have read on here and as far as I know it's 36 years old, would you put a new set of pointsas well in as a belt and braces approach or do they just need a good cleaning? Apologies for my ignorance and incessant questions

Shall we play a game? (This is how I ask for advice ) Say, for example, you have put a multimeter across the green and black wires going into the terminal block under the tank and discovered that there is an short somewhere, what would you check first? I get continuity on the multimeter even when moving the flywheel. I've not had the flywheel off yet but have checked that the points open and close. First correct answer wins an imaginary Ten Pound note

Awwwwwww and I thought it was a Mikuni