woody

Firstly, you do realise that both myself and the person who wants the bearings are in the UK don't you, so how would I be aware of some obscure German make of bearing. You will also note that their bearing size is measured in fractions, not whole numbers so how would I know to search for that, even if I was searching German companies. As for false information I never said they didn't exist, but that they were not available in the UK from local suppliers. If you look back through the Bultaco forum you will find others have said the same as they have been unable to find them either. I also suggested the person who wants them search for himself before using Pyramid if he wanted a known brand Before you respond in such a sarcastic manner (limited view of the world) and then accuse me of posting false information why don't you google "bearing 25x45x11" and see what you get in the search results for the UK. Then have a look on the websites of FAG, SKF etc and see if they list a bearing in that size. Then contact a few UK bearing suppliers and ask them if they can supply that size bearing. Let us know how you get on and the name of any suppliers you find I could ask why you didn't mention your supplier yesterday when you replied if you want to be helpful... With respect to bearing stress loads etc I'm not an engineer so have no idea of what you're talking about and don't care. I replied to you agreeing that it is not a good idea to use cheap bearings in an engine. However, with my limited view of the world, I doubt a steering bearing is going to fail completely resulting in the forks falling off and serious injury to myself, so I was prepared to use a non-name brand. I have used Pyramid bearings in my steering for about 15 years and have never had a failure, they rarely go out of adjustment and I have only had to replace one set on a well used bike in all that time, and that was most likely due to water ingress from repeated pressure washing

None of the main manufacturers supply this size bearing, it's not a standard size. I agree about only using quality bearings in the engine and even wheels but the steering is under little stress and the no name steering bearings have lasted me more than 10 years in some of my bikes with some hard use

Simply bearings don't stock that size. I haven't found anyone that does apart from Pyramid and then latterly In Motion which may well be the same bearings as Pyramid.

I agree there is nothing wrong with the ball set up in terms of efficiency, for me it's just the inconvenience factor when removing and refitting yokes, it's just so much easier with the tapers. I've had the tapers in my bikes for years now though with no issues, only had to replace one set along the way and that was on a bike that has had a lot of use

Personal choice really, when the bikes were new the bars then were much taller than now, 7 or 8" rise so the footpeg position was never an issue. Now the bars are 6" ,max so the riding position can feel a bit cramped for taller riders. The pegs on the 159 Sherpa are close to the bottom frame tubes so there is not much scope to lower them by much, 1" maybe. How far back will get many opinions, mine is they don't necessarily need to go back once lowered but if they do either under or just behind the s/arm spindle.

Give your local shop the dimensions and see what they say, if they can't help they're available at In Motion or Pyramid parts

The bearing is 25mm ID and 45mm OD. The depth of the bearing housing in the frame headstock is 11m. Whether 11mm is the actual measurement of the bearing height I don't know without measuring an original, it may be 12mm. If you can find a bearing 25x45x11 you'll do well. Pyramid parts sell Bultaco bearings off the shelf and as Carl said they are 25x45x12. They fit fine. You'll also do well to find this size at a local stockist. I would guess the In Motion bearings are the same but I haven't used them. I first fitted tapers about 15 years ago and the only source with a direct replacement was Pyramid, no-one else did them and I bought a number to keep me stocked for future rebuilds. Millers sold a kit but they weren't the right depth and needed the big nut that tensions the top bearing machined to make them fit. All Sherpas are the same size bearing

It looks like a model M125 with a few alterations. The engine and frame numbers will confirm the model

That's the mod I was referring to with the Beta kickstart that I did for mine although that's not mine in the picture. I took mine off after trying it for a while as I got fed up of having to reach down to flick it out by hand to use it. The Bultaco lever can just be flicked out with your heel, I couldn't get my heel behind the Beta one

I was wrong about cranked kickstarts, I've just seen a picture of a kickstart from one of the Matador models, the SD, that is cranked outwards so that it avoids the exhaust

You can get the stator repaired by Bradford Ignitions, I had one done some time ago and it still works Or you can buy a complete replacement aftermarket ignition from In Motion The bike looks to be in good unmolested condition

Sammy Miller never did the type of kickstart you're looking for There is an aftermarket folding kickstart that has been recently made by someone in either France or Spain which is a copy of an aftermarket one that was produced years ago by a company called DOA. I don't know if they sold them all or how good they are but they were quite expensive. You'd have to get on one of the Bultaco forums on facebook and ask on there as there was a bit of discussion about them. The old DOA items are very rare and I don't know how good they were in terms of quality, I've heard it said they were poor. What I did some years ago was cut off a Bultaco lever just above the spline. I did the same with a Beta Rev3 kickstart, cutting the knuckle just above the spline which left me with the swivel and lever. Then welded swivel to the Bultaco spline (it looked a lot like the DOA item) This gave a lever with a bottom swivel You could do the same with an Ossa one but finding an Ossa kickstart won't be easy, they're also quite long. I'm guessing this or similar is what must have been done with the one that Feetupfun saw as an Ossa kickstart won't fit a Bultaco spline, it's way too big

Those kickstarts are for the early Sherpas, not later, they fit the 4 speed and first 5 speed models. They bend inwards so if you fit that on your A model it really will clout the frame

It's not uncommon. On A and B models the kickstart is closer to the frame as the shaft is shorter. If either the kickstart itself or the shaft have the slightest of bends in them it will catch the frame or brake pedal. I have three B Sherpas and it catches on each of them If everything is working correctly the bikes start so easily that your heel hitting the footrest shouldn't matter, the kickstart doesn't need to rotate further than the footrest. Use the clutch to get the kickstart into a comfortable position and then fiddle with it to get the piston to TDC. Then let the kickstart up as high as is comfortable and give it a sharp push rather than kicking and thrashing at it. If everything with the engine is as it should be it should fire up with one kick. It's thrashing and kicking at it that can bend things inwards towards the frame There is no alternative lever that bends away from the frame

You have to dismantle the engine

Yes, like the first picture in Carl Ekblom's post. I forgot to link my reply to your original question. As far as I know the Indian seller doesn't have proper Sherpa tanks, only Alpina Also, there are two types of alloy tanks for later Sherpas and are different shapes. The alloy tank fitted to UK bikes from model 159 up to 199A are copies of the original fibreglass tank. The UK alloy tank originally fitted to the 199B (now reproduced by JC Fabrications - see bottom picture) and the alloy tank now available from Spain (middle picture which is the tank In Motion sell) are based on the last models plastic tank. The slope of the tank where it meets the seat is differs from early to late and the front of the seats for each were shaped to match You didn't mention which bike you have as there was also an alloy tank/seat unit fitted to the 'slimline' Sherpas in the UK from '73-'75 but that won't fit models 159 onwards and there are no replicas being made of that one. Similarly the later tanks won't fit a slimline model

They might label them so but they aren't Sherpa tanks, they are Alpina

Both frames look like model M80 Sherpa from 71/72. (but could also be Alpina frames) Red one has a front wheel from an earlier model or something else, hard to see. Blue one has forks and front wheel from the next model, M91

Genuine OKO yes, I've been buying off them for about 10 years. For virtually every bike I've put them on they run virtually straight from the box with minimal change, usually drop the needle one notch and maybe down one size on the pilot jet. Jets are standard Keihin. They come with 112 main and 48 pilot. I've never had to change the main jet. Out of interest I bought one from Mid Atlantic a couple of years ago jetted for a 310 MAR, I wanted to see what differences there were in jetting from how I had mine jetted. It came with a weaker needle but bigger pilot jet. The bike ran the same with either carb

Nowhere, only copies Buy direct from here https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OKO-26mm-RACING-CARB-FLAT-SLIDE-CARBURETTOR/302886110025?hash=item46856b4349:g:rRQAAMXQHO9Re1yr

These can be an absolute bitch sometimes. I've never used the alloy/nylon bushes, only the bronze/steel but the same principle applies and there is more than one cause. Before the bushes are fitted the inner bush should slide and rotate freely in the outer bush. When the outer bush is pressed into the arm the inner bush should still slide and rotate with little or no resistance, but the ID of the outer bush can shrink once pressed in and this can cause the inner bush to bind up so they might need skimming to rotate freely. Once they rotate/slide freely the next problem can be the clearance of inner to outer bush when the spindle is tightened. The inner bushes contact against the engine bracket so that when the spindle is tightened the inner bushes tighten against the bracket and leave clearance between the collars of inner/outer bush. No clearance means the inner bush collar tightens against the outer bush collar and locks up the swingarm. There are two solutions, one is to put a shim between the inner bush and the engine bracket if there is enough room, the other is to remove material from the inside edge of the collar of the inner bush - both are trial and error as to shim thickness or how much material to remove. When working properly the spindle tightens the inner bushes up against the bracket leaving the swingarm free to rotate around the inner bushes. You can see the outer bushes rotating with the swingarm and the inner bushes remaining static when it is working correctly and the swingarm moved up and down Powder coating can be thick enough to stop the swingarm being fitted into the frame and sometimes it has to be removed from around the area where the swingarm sits. It shouldn't really be a cause of the binding up, it can just prevent the swingarm actually being fitted

That's the 'Victor' style frame that was used on the C15 competition models from 1964 whereas I think the road bikes continued with the usual frame with bolt on subframe. It's a genuine Pre-65 frame (C15 version that is, although early B25 is probably the same or similar, later B25 was oil in frame)

Looks like a MK1 MAR but I've nno measurements to hand. The MK1 MAR (and other models) had a smaller crank than '74 onwards engines, so could be MK1

Peter James will insure it on a classic policy

A better way to locate the wire and protect it from the flywheel is to run it behind the stator, to do that the webs behind it need to be ground back to make room