Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125848
saved 8 pounds of unsp ru ng weight. Off ca me t he chain guard . On went alloy levers , Akro n t sh oulderless rims. new light Te lesco rea r shocks and ligh t er fib erglass parts. T hey a lso fou nd ti me to to ughen up t he steering head where th e o ld b ikes use d to b reak sometimes . and to install ny lo n cab les wi th fan cy rubber covers for the levers. When everything was co mpleted the engineers at Bultaco stood back and beamed wit h ad miration at their work. The 360 was indeed beautiful f oll o w in g p a s t Bul ta co tradition, and the new red and yellow pa int job j ust enhanced it that m uch m ore, \fhen it came time to put it on the scales to see just how much it weighed. the 360 was held up with a very heavy hand. Adve rtised weight fo r the new 360 is 209 pounds wet , right on the HM's min im um weight limit for Open clas s bikes. They m ust use he avily leaded gasoline in Spain. We got a dry wei gh t (o u t of the crat e) of 201 Ibs . for t he 3 60 and heard reports o f 191 Ibs . for th e new 250 Pursangs , When you pu sh your Pur s an g t h ro ugh te ch inspect io n a t the next A~lA p ro ra ce . be sure the tank is full and th at you co m p lim en t Mr. Runyard on how we ll Mike' s been riding lately. The new Pursan gs are p robab ly the first .Ame rican ize d' mo to cros s bik es to co me fr om Bultaco and Jim Pomero y can re ceive the credi t fo r them . All th e bikes have t he new thickly p added seats which Jim fir st used on h is 400 in th e MX des Na tio ns. Sto ry has it tha tJim was a t th e Bullaco factory and suggested to th e en gineers th at they put m ore padding in the se at s, long a sore spot o n the b ottoms of Bul riders . The en gineers said t hey didn't have t ime to design a new seat , so Jim marched off to the factory in Barcel on a where the seats were made and constructed his 0\\.-0 . When Ji m wo n the Spanish Grand Prix the engineers began paying a Ettie more attention to what he said. Jim also had a hand in t he develop ment of the new Telesco shocks that come on the rear of the new bikes. Jim claims t1iey're as good as ' Ko nis (wi;:;;:'er s of The Great Cycle News Sho ck T est ) and actually last up a little longer in a 45 minute mota. The new exhaust system resembles an American Ba ssani-type uni t with buill in silencer, but made of thicker gauge steel to resist dings . On back of the 360 is a b rand new design Pirel li 4 ,50 x 18 m o tocross knobby wh ich J im was using in Gran d Prix and T rans-A MA even ts. The k nobs o n it are ferocio us a nd h an g o u t all o ver the si de for t ric k co rnering . T he o n ly drawb ack is the co mpo und which is super soft. On lo amy or so ft track surface s it sh ould p r o ve t o be unb eatable aga inst any othe r ti re. b ut it will prob abl y eat itself to d eath eve ry few rac es on hard tracks , so if you like it, best find a rich sponsor. The 360 Mk . VII Pu rsa n g which we tes ted was th e bike wh ich Bultaco is spo nsoring Ricky Jordan on, t h ro ug h Cycle Special ty in Riverdale , Georgia. Ric ky is p resen tly racing one of the new blue 2 5 0 Mk . VII Pursangs d own Florida way in the N ~I L seri es races with much success, having won overall t he 250 class at the Na ples N~IL event so far . And wh at abo ut th e 360? David Clemence picked up his sponsored 360 from Bultaco in Virginia Beach, Virginia, a few days befo re the first NML eve nt at Ora nge Co un t y . The bi ke ha d just arrived from S pain a nd was still in the crate when David p u t it in his van an d started d r iving for Florida. Sto ry has it that the bike was asse mbled in the van as he and a fr iend drove, so it was b o x stock. an d at t he first race Da vid pic ked up 2nd o vera ll in the Open class . The next Sunday at West Palm Beach he wo n overall . then at Naples , David led a fo ur b ike sweep of the Open class with the new 360s. Quite an im pressive showing fo r a bra nd new bike. T he 360 Bultaco , lik e an y o ther BuI, ha ndk s d iffe re n tly to a larger degree fro m other m oto cro ss bikes t han any ot her one bike does. A Bultaco requires a certain sty le o f rid ing t hat so m e ride rs feel born t o and others can' t co nfo rm to. Making things doubly d iffi cult fo r the rider trying out a Bullaco for the fir st time is th e righ t han d shift , left b rake arrangem en t th at ' s opposite fro m wh at everyone el se has these days. I ' a t too man y p eople learn to ride on a rig h t hand shift bi ke so m an y racers t en d to p a s s a B ultaco over at fi rst conside ration. Onc e gotten usc t o, the re is really no difference in what side t he shift is on for motocross, b ut we feel that Bultaco m ay be lo sing a lot of potential sales because they haven't co n fo rm ed t o wh at every o ne else has set as a stand ar d. We too k th e 3 60 racing at a local moto cro ss track, and let a nu mber of riders try it out to get their imp ress io ns o f it. Everyone real ly liked ho w light th e b ike felt , t he th ick sad dle, and the wa y it handled . The only t hi ng everyone d isliked we re t he stock rubber hand gri ps. They ' re great fo r raisi ng b listers . The 360 is n o t a slider . It wan ts t o track a Riven line , and t he ligh t weigh t wants you to sit up close to t he ta nk an d wor k the front end in a t ur n , pi cking o ut th e exact line you wan t. Dialing on the th rott le fu ll will hardly get the back end to break loose, eve n o n a hard su rface , because th e Pirell i o n back sticks and the engine wo n' t rev qu ick enough to break the rear out. It's a very precise bike. Not hi ng is un exp ect ed o r ha pp en s quickly. It feels lik e yo u r riding a 125 moto cross bike with a 250 end uro engine in it , eve rything is so easy to co ntrol. First im p ressio ns of t he e ngine are th at it is underpowered for an Open bike . The lack of a rush of power whe n the engine is revved leaves yo u wo nde ring, but you soon dis cover that by shifti ng very early and letting the e ngine lug up t hat the bike gets moving very q uickly . No forwa rd momen t urn is wasted in wheelspin . To get th e front end up for whoo p-de-des or just plain get -it-o n wheel ies, the bike has t o be up shifted and then gassed. T his really gets yo u co n fused on jumps where no rmally a bike only needs a little more thro ttle to keep the front end from nose d ivin g. With the 360 Bul the require ment is to grab a higher gear just b ef ore lea ving t hejurnp to get the wheel up. It was whe n we forgot to up shift fo r a jum p a nd did a front wheel lan d ing that t he front end had a tend ency to bo un ce. IL wo ul d do it a little if the front end h it down hard aft er a rear wh~landing ~ well . Th~ro n t forks wo uld bo un ce bac k up off th e ground a nd shake o r wag the front e nd o f t he b ik e. It was very un se ttling when we were trying t o go fast, and o ne tim e it caused us to o vershoot a turn lo cated on a d ownhill sec ti on after a j u mp. Though th e Betor forks felt fin e a ny w here else, we at trib ut ed the b ouncin g to fork oil th at was just too thin. The Berors had been se rviced with 20 weigh t o il , but if we had been al lowed to keep the bike a little lo nger we would h ave liked to try somethin g heavier . Worth mentioning w ere the new Bero r sea ls in the forks which never leaked a d rop o f oil. . While the fro nt e nd gave us a little p robl em , t he rea r of the bike was beauti ful. T he re a r e nd alw ay s tracked st rai gh t , e ven ov er the ro ug hest gro und, and you always had a feeling th at yo u knew ex act ly w he re t he rea r wh eel was . The new T ele sco shocks had a lot to do wi th it. T hey really da m pened well, eve n afte r 20 hard .lap s around t he track, wi th o ut fading. Bultaco w ill be di stributing this new Tel esco shocks through their dealers. We d o n't k now t he ex act p rice o n them y et, b ut they shouldn ' t b e as e xp e ns ive as Kanis and they' re every b it as good, if no t be tter. T he 360 needs to be ri dd en lo osely and flung aro und like t h e ligh t b ike it is. Go in g in to a turn re quires a st anding po sit ion as the bike is ai m ed exactly where wanted . down shifted and brakes app lied. Both t h e fro n t an d rear brakes work we ll an d with feel, but require stro ng pressure . Once into t he t u rn the 360 is laid way o ver as yo u sit rig h t up on th e tank to kee p the fro nt wheel hung in where you want it - t he rea r wiU follow , As soon as y o u near t he ap ex of the turn y ou ca n di al the 360 back on . The 4.50 Pirelli will keep t he rear in sh ape as yo u w ork w it h th e bars to put t he fr ont end o n a tigh te r line out than yo u norm all y would fo r th e exi t. Do n't fo rge t to sh ift ea rly to keep t he rev's low a nd th e engi ne p ulling. Power to the gro u n d, ligh t wei gh t . an d precise co ntrol ge t t he 360 o u t o f a t urn fast er t ha n any other Open class bike aro und . Or for that matt er, in to the turn, and a ro u nd it. That's what t he 3 6 0 Bultaco Mk . VII Pursan g is aU abo ut. It's goi ng t o change a lo t of p eo ple's m inds about how a big bo re m o t o cro ss bike should work . Fo r a sugges ted retail of SI,395 it 's going to impress t hem wit h th e price as wel l. - 21