I recently acquired a Sherpa 199A. The bike was set up with a left side rear brake pedal and a right side shift lever. Was this a stock set up for Bultaco in the US. The gearbox is set up to move the shift lever to either side, but the drum break is on the left side of the bike.

Is there a way to convert this bike over to a right side brake pedal. On the right side frame there is a cable guide (looks original) welded to the frame, I assume for routing a cable from a right side brake pedal to the left side brake assembly.

Any suggestions?

The right side brake cable loops up over the air inlet then back down to the swingarm on the left. It has a 90 degree steel fitting on the end that mounts near the swingarm pivot. You will need a cable and a brake pedal, both should be available from Hugh's or Mobley's. The original pedal was cast aluminum (not available) but the replacement I bought a few years ago was fabricated steel.

I think you will see some decrease in brake performance (if that's possible!) with the right side pedal/cable arrangement vs the direct link on the left.

Bob

PS: The bike arrived to me, in Canada, in the crate from Spain with the RH brake/LH shifter back in '79

Edited May 16, 200620 yr by Bob Abell

Very interesting thanks. A freind of mine also has a 199A. He took a rear wheel off of an Alpina Mdl 137 and mounted it on his Sherpa. The 137 has the brake assembly on the right (sprocket left). He then modified the brake pedal to fit and used a brake rod from the Alpina instead of the cable. He welded a piece to the swing arm to mount the aluminum arm from the break hub face plate.

I am told that the left side shift lever is difficult to find, I will check with Hugh's.

Thanks for the info.

Yes it certainly is possible to fit the rear wheel from a M137/138 Alpina (or from a left shifting Frontera or Pursang) to achieve a brake drum on the right hand side. The penalty paid for this arrangement is a rear wheel that is heavier than the original M199A wheel because of the different hub design. You may find the rim is a bit wider than the Sherpa rim too depending on which donor bike it came from.

Steel LH shifters are easily available.

If like my old bultaco,the cable holders where cut off you can use a car handbrake cable and fabricate new ones (much cheaper but not origional)