woody

Useful info, thanks for that. I've always struggled to find someone that sells the allen bolts / capheads in M7

Yes, bar clamps and yokes are both M7 and really difficult to get as allen bolts in the UK

ok, yes, you'll probably only get stuff like that from them or from suppliers in Spain. I've never seen a proper rear tank mount, even on the bikes I had back in the day that were relatively new. I'd guess that the rubber slips over the tab at the rear of the tank to stop it chaffing on the frame. What actually holds the tank is the front edge of the seat. The original seat is chunky enough and reaches far forward enough to push against the rear of the tank and they 'dovetail' together. This works even with the UK alloy tank. Aftermarket seats that are slimmer, or custom made seats, won't perform this task so well and things such as jubilee clips can be used to hold the back of the tank in place. I use a releasable zip tie to hold mine Don't forget also that the rear rubber will be manufactured to fit the original style fibreglass tank, not the UK alloy one

I remember seeing Norman Hanks on his Bantam on occassions at our local sand/gravel quarry (actually quite near to the centre of Brum) back in the early seventies. I don't know when he would have first built it (I'm assuming he'd built it himself) so don't know if it was a late 60s build or not. Nice looking bike as I remember finished in chrome and alloy, and went pretty well too. Happy days in that quarry as a kid, first watching Arthur Browning practising on his Homerlite Bultaco, then later Dave Smith and Steve Wilson joining him before getting bikes ourselves. It spawned 2 or 3 generations of off-road riders, that old quarry. I imagine Norman's Bantam is still tucked away at the back of the Hanks workshop somewhere.

The MK1 and MK2 both had the Mick Andrews Replica decals on the side panels, yes (and the MK3) They differed very slightly by the dates. Mick won the European championship in 1971 and the SSDT in 1970 and 1971. Therefore the Replica decal on the MK1 MAR which came out in '72 mentioned winner of the European championship in '71 and winner of SSDT in '70 and '71 In '72 he won both again but then left for Yamaha for '73. When the MK2 MAR came out in '74 the Mick Andrews Replica decal now included the '72 wins as well for both the European championship and the SSDT. ie: - winner of the European championship in '71, '72 and winner of SSDT in '70 '71 '72. The Replica decals are available but they are listed seperately from the tank stripes. One thing I've noticed though on the Replica badges I've seen for sale for the MK2 is that they have missed off the '72 date from the European championship wins. I've not bought anything other than a pair of alloy mudguards from Ossaworld so can't comment on their stuff in general. The front mudguard stay broke from vibration in it's first trial, so I wasn't too impressed with their robustness. Looked good for a show bike but no good to ride with. Someone I know bought one of their remanufactured kickstart knuckles and it sheared in two with little use, so he wasn't impressed with that either. What can't you get for it? Most, if not all parts can normally be found in the UK now, unless it's things like grommets and rubber bits you're after, like headlight mounts etc.

Re: rear brake cables. In Motion probably have them even though they aren't on the website. They can definitely get them for you or you can order from Venhill direct. If you do the latter it's better to go onto their websit and get the part number - saves you a bit of grief when ordering... The footrests and their positioning on the bikes in the pictures have been altered by me as they are too high in the standard position. They were ok when the bikes were new as the handlebars were so much higher than today's bars which are 6" max. If you're over 6', then riding with modern bars tends to tip you up too much so lowering the rests gets you somewhere back to the original riding position. The original Ossa MAR rests didn't have springs fitted. Your tank should be alloy, maybe it's got a lot of filler in it which is why it's heavy.... The hockey stripe is right for the NK2 yes, the broad green stripe across the tank was for the MK1. If you're going to repaint the tank make sure you get the right decal as there are several suppliers and not all are the right shape. The picture below is about as near to original shape as you'll get Also make sure you buy from a UK supplier as if you buy from abroad, their stripes will be shaped to fit the fibreglass tank which is what the bikes came with. Only the UK bikes had the alloy tank and as it is a different shape from the fibreglass tank, it has its own stripes made to fit. As you can see from the MK2 catalogue picture below, the fibreglass tank stripe has a different bend. You can also see that the MK2 in the picture is fitted with a MK1 head with the split fin.

In Motion - interestingly, they are now manufactured as 44 tooth whereas the originals were 46, then 42. 46 always looked a bit big and cumbersome but worked fine with an 11 tooth engine sprocket. Using a 42 tooth with an 11 tooth made the gearing a little too high and the 10 tooth engine sprocket can give problems with the chain catching on the nut which is almost as big. 44 tooth sprocket should be a good compromise and work with either engine sprocket.

Venhill manufacture the rear brake cable so you shouldn't be having any difficulty getting one. In Motion should have them in stock. There are two, one for the MK1 and the other for the MK2 onwards as the MK1 swingarm is shorter. You need to know which swingarm is fitted to your bike to get the right cable. Your chassis number suggests MK2 not MK1 but it could still have a short swingarm as you never know what previous owners have done. The NK1 swingarm is like the one below, where the shock mount is right above the snail cam stop. On the MK2 the shock mount appears further forward due to the arm being longer pushing the spindle further back Whichever of these swingarms you have determines which cable you need as Venhill list them for the 72/73 bike or the 74 onwards. Other visible differences from MK1 to MK2 are: MK1 cylinder head has a vertical split in the outside fin of the cylinder head MK1 usually had the valanced 'mud catcher' wheel rims MK1 hubs plain alloy and where the spokes hook in and locate, there are 3 steel shims per side on the inside of the hub. The hub is recessed slightly to house the shims and they aren't noticeable unless you know they are there. MK2 hubs black and don't have the shims and there is no recess where the spokes hook in, they're flat. MK2 hubs use wider brake shoes than MK1 MK1 cylinder uses a bolt on carb, NK2 uses a rubber hose MK1 forks have flat bottoms with 1 pinch bolt per side, MK2 have a rounded casting where the spindle fits with 2 pinch bolts either side MK1 came with a fibreglass tank, by the time the MK2 came out fibreglass had been outlawed and they had a replacement alloy tank fitted by the importer. MK1 was fitted with a 46 rear sprocket, MK2 had a 42 as original equipment (means nothing now though) When the MK2 replaced the MK1 you may find crossover of parts such as a MK2 with some MK1 parts such as cylinder or cylinder head fitted. Differences you can't see are the smaller crank assembly in the MK1 engine and the MK1 and MK2 cranks had a different handed thread on the ignition side, but I can't remember which was left and which was right...

Not powder coated or painted, they're anodised red

MK1 had polished hubs which had the narrow brake shoes MK2 on had black hubs with wider brake shoes Dished sprockets are available again.

I was just nosing around the net looking for Bultaco stuff and came across the bike pictured in the first post - it's up for sale at £8500.00.....

I'm not aware of the part of the swingarm you mention, I've got a TR77 swingarm and it looks the same as my MAR swingarm with just the two lug mountings for the chainguard. I've seen one of those mountings used to take an additional spring but I'm not sure there was anything like that as standard. Certainly wouldn't hurt to fit one though.

Nice bike in the picture but why do people ruin the look of the bike by mounting the rear mudguards so short... ?? The Homerlites regularly split on the welded tank / seat unit joint, presumably through to vibration. Getting them welded by a decent welder and mounting them to absorb most of the vibrations should eliminate that problem though. Can't recall any issues with leaking filler caps, it was a Monza style flip up used on loads of tanks from that era and before. Never had an issue with the one I had. The slimline tank from Shedworks is fine, no issues with fuel, it comes in gelcoat red, just needs the silver stripe spraying on and the pin stripe added. I've got one on my M92 This is a homerlite M92 I built a few years ago which ended up going to HonkKong. Shedworks painted that tank too

I always used to run with just the original spring. What's probably happened is that as that has weakened over the years, people may have added helper springs as it wasn't possible to buy a new original type spring. They're available again now

I don't know what the original link was but this is the only picture I have of the bike

Absolutely beautiful restoration

i believe that John at the Twinshockshop in Devon can also confirm the ratios used in the Seeley

Willie REH, Ceriani and MP aren't considered Pre65. I'm pretty sure if I declared those components on an entry form I'd be declined. Yorkshire Classic also consider them Pre70, not Pre65. "There is a lot of people that put a huge amount of time and effort into the sport, all this is made more difficult, with the fact that unfortunately some people do take the p_ _s!!! trying to get away with fitting/using the wrong parts" It's not about trying to take the p*** or cheating. It's more likely about trying to save money as not everyone can afford the hundreds / thousands of pounds to build a compliant bike if they wish to be competitive. And that's what it is - a competition. And riders who have a chance of doing well want to give themselves the best chance of doing that with a competitive machine. A reasonably competitive and effective bike can be built for a fraction of the cost of a 'compliant' one using parts out of the shed. But it's not allowed. It's no more a cheat bike than the compliant one as neither will be anything like a true Pre65 spec or appearance. And after all, these ridiculous eligibility rules were originally brought in to keep the machines looking 'period'. 100% success in that respect then... A bit harsh also, suggesting that youngsters are shirking the rules out of ignorance. They usually ride a borrowed bike anyway. I've seen one bike compete that shouldn't have been allowed for reasons that are obvious and you could hardly describe the rider as a youngster.

Different issue altogether, they choose to ride that type of machine. This chap clearly wants to have forks that work efficiently on his Bantam, which rules out the standard Pre65 British items

Bultaco did it in 1974

Don't forget that those bikes had the pivot point moved forward so if anyone does come up with the length of the swingarm, you need to also know how far forward the pivot was moved. The same length swingarm on the standard pivot would probably be too long. Commerfords only did this conversion to the 340 models, but there was a 198b that was also done at the time by Reg. It was a special order by the customer that purchased the bike from them and was the only genuine conversion to a 250 model

But I imagine he at least wants to enjoy riding up the sections, not get bounced from rock to rock like a flea on speed if he uses genuine pre65 forks

Any 35mm forks can be used and turned down to slip inside the 3TA bottoms - Marzocchi, Ossa, Butaco etc. 35mm is max diameter allowed. For yokes, there are essentially two choices. Either period BSA yokes or the aftermarket billet yokes made by Alan Whitton and others. REH, Ceriani, Ossa, Bultaco etc aren't allowed. By 2015 though, the criteria may have changed again.

Good enough for the selector mechanism yes

You only need take the clutch cover off to check the selector mechanism and spring so start there, as it does sound like a broken or weakened spring. - assuming you haven't smacked the gear lever on something solid, which could present other problems