Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

; BuilaeG MB VO Pursang IlG Ii!: IlG ..:I r: g '<:!< rO'l ..... o ~ ..... 42 Continuedfrom page 35 from the Six Days bikes: sheet metal screws in the sides of the rims are used. The rear brake rod and pedal have been redesigned with the rod routed inside the frame so it doesn't bend in case of a fall. It also doesn't have a straight pull at the brake actuating arm in this configuration . There are always trade-offs ... and you still can exert enough foot pressure to make it work. The whole Bultaco front end: Betors, hub, spokes and wheel was much envied and a little copied on the GP circuit. The brakes on Jim's bike, however, had a lot more stoppmg force . The front brake on our Bul was especially disappointing; the rear one was up to current standards of using less force for more progression and no wheel hop. The brakes did become more effective, reacting absolutely stronger with the same pressure , as they were used more. They never got great but they stopped if you muscled them. Jim's bikes have exactly the same wheels and brakes but make t he Pursang slower in a shorter distance. Maybe Rubio knows something he isn't telling the factory. This may be another ' we igh t saving trade-off, though, for while . the brake swept area seems cleverly designed it is still not very big. Rubber on the Bultaco is up to Grand Prix standards of last year, if you're riding Grand Prix. The choice of most 250 GP pilots for dry tracks was a 4.50 Metzeler. For wet tracks, the 4.50 Pirelli was a universal choice except for the Barum users from CZ. Hardly anything you may have read to date about the Bultaco will tell you that the knobbies are - really great because most of the people who have written what you may have read rode the Pursang in Southern California, an area little noted for its grassy, muddy, loamy motocross tracks ... because there aren't any. It is the GP racers' choice, this 4.50 Sp a n is h-rnade Pierelli, that . comes attached to the rear Akron t. If you race in m ud or wet, you'll probably love it. If you don't, you probably won't. It breaks loose on the hard adobe where most magazine-eoolshoes spent their motocrossey hours. The same for the front Pirelli. Mike Hannon fitted a . Spanish ch evr o n-p attern Firestone knobby to the fron t of our Pursang and it proved an inspired choice. A free tip: it is the right Bultaco set-up for the dry, hard, dusty track and trails of summertime SoCal situations. The front end tracks or slides like you'd have it do. The rear end also behaves better than it should with a mud tire jammed in the rim. ' Pomeroy had some clutch problems last year. His clutch both slipped and dragged again in this year 's Spanish 250 GP as he rode to a seventh overall. Our Pursang's clutch also started to drag as it heated up, though it proved no problem in actual racing operation of the bike. The clutch had a new drum and plates b ut the clutch springs are both too short and too ' soft. Handily, U.S. Bultaco makes available longer , stiffer clutch springs t hat preven t the slippage and drag. Installing these would rectify our only operational complaint with the machine. It was still possible to slap shift at racing speeds and it cooled off to work OK but the replacement springs don't cost that much. To dispense with the needed after-market replacernen ts and get closer to the Grand Prix Replica of your quicker dreams, dispense with the fiberglass fenders in favor of the white nylon ones, another U.S. Bultaco product. The fiberglass mudguards are lighter, though, of the correct design, and do what they're supposed to until they break. That could be, however, the first time you crash. The nylon brings more weight to the not ' exactl y ponderous 209 wet pounds of the 250 Pursang but it doesn't break. Otherwise, the machine proved maintenance-free, Nothing broke on its own; nothing vibrated loose. The headpipe springs are more secure and the exhaust manifold is, in general, more sanitary'than before. Everything is kind of cleaned up, streamlined and smoothed out, including the seat to tank slide, with the end of the ' seat actually lipped above the narrow tank. The Mk VII Pursang is also one of the few pure motocross bikes ridden this year that makes an inviting and encouraging cowtrailer, The light weight, quick response in handling, and low RPM pull combine to make it 'a natural in the woods or on those fire roads with the steep dropoffs on the side . Neither Jim nor the factory intended the ....hike this way but you could reasonably loo k for something from Bultaco along this line in the very near future . But that, hopefully, will be another story as the Pursang makes the transition from European 250 Grand Prix ' cireui ts to American Two Day Trials. Just as many of the favorable accusations levied at the Pursang are not especially relevant (Like it being a GP bike; close, but nobody said it was.), many of the unfavorable ones don't bear on the performance of this model. The constant breakage bug has been eliminated from production bikes. Installation of a Diamond primary chain makes the Bultaco one of the more reliable decent-handling sportsman racers available. If the front and rear wheels appear offset, the reason probably lies in how they are laced up. Bultacos have been that way for a while and Jim didn't seem to mind it, even while being aware of it, on his GP bikes last year. The center-mounted gascap with the hole up against the backbone means that you have a gas can with a narrow filler spout. You can take your time between motos to fill your tank. It wasn't built as a playbike though it's lots of fun to ride. And, at a very competitive price in an inflated marketplace with a deflated dollar, the 250 Pursang is a very good buy in competition machinery. The reason lies somewherein what Francisco Bulto told me: ' "Our people here like to build motorcycles."That's a hell of a corporate attitude. • Spec ificat ions ENGI NE Type one cy linder air cooled two stroke Capacity 244.29cc Bore & stroke . . . .. . . . . •.. ... .72 x 60mm Carburetor Compression ratio Ignition Trans Clutch " 36mm Amal 12:1 Motoplat COl, auto adv. close ration 5-speed Wet, steel OTHER Wheelbase Seat height Front tire : • • . . • . .• ... . 54.75-55 .25 " 30.5"' with rider 3.00 x 21 Spanish Pirelli or Firestone Rear ti re 4 .50 x 18 Pirelli Rear suspension 4" Te lescos with 55 Ib./in. springs Fuel capacity 1.85 U.S. gallons Weight 209 Ibs. wet S ix inch es of the me llowest bounce in motocross from t he Betors dam p an incredi bly light fro nt w hee l assembly. lL u, o n: u « III vi Scott Miller (1 5) has just slipped by Morris Malo ne (3 D) t o win the t h ird AMC 250 Pro mota A ugust 24. Malone wo n Overa ll an y way . hav ing nai led the first two motos. Malone mangles AMCMX By Stewart B. Sapicoff IRVINE, CAL., AUG. 24 In the first moto of tonight's 250 Pro race Dave Carlson (Mai) grabbed the hole shot with John DeSoto (Oss), Morris Malone (I\Iai), and Bill Rubly (Mon) pursuing. They all came out of turn one handlebar to handlebar, all having drawn a fine bead on Carlson up ahead. Carlson was starting to pull away while they were figh ting it ou t for the second place position. Malone got past DeSoto on the third lap and proceeded to chase Carlson . Malone slowly but surely gained ground on Carlson until they were both side by side trying to force the other out of the favored line. It was in the back part of the track on the fourth lap that Carlson finally gave the lead over to Malone. Malone continued to widen the gap between himself and ex-first Carlson. Malone took the checkered with Carlson second and DeSoto third. In the second moto things we re a little different as- it was Bill Rubly (Mon) in first place after he had quickly passed early leader Larry McCarty (Bul) . DeSoto and Malone rapidly moved up on McCarty in second. On lap four Malone managed to struggle around DeSoto and the following lap did the same to McCarty. With the only thing .standi ng between himself and another first being Rubly, Malone started his charge. This time though, he didn't succeed in taking the first as he could not catch up. Twenty feet before the chec kered Carlson and McCarty locked bars long enough for DeSoto to slide by into third. The third and final moto had yet another ride in the limelight: Scott Miller (Yam). Both he and Malone went at it tooth and nail for that number one position. Miller was pushing and pushing hard, refusing to let Malone get away with another first. On the final lap he did it. Once again a battle for third raged on between DeSoto and Carlson with Carlson getting it this time after a neck and neck battle. The overall win wen t to Malone with Carlson second and DeSoto third. • Corona TT and short track By Tom Blat t ler CORONA, CAL., AUG. 21 In one of the finest short track motorcycle races of the 1974 season, Riverside's Terry Griner, (360 Yam) passed Brian Garcia of Santa Ana in the final turn of the last lap to win the six-lap Open short track main event tonight at Corona Raceway. The race was a three bike battle wi th Griner, Garcia, who was also aboard a 360 Yamaha, and Gary Davis, piloting a 500cc BSA, all holding down the lead at one time or another, and the dicing for positions was just unbelievable. Davis took the lead at the start and into the first tum, but Gr iner had the inside line through the second tum and down the back straightaway. Both riders went into the third turn side-by-side with ' Griner in the low groove and Davis in the high one. At this point in the race, Garcia had moved his way through the pack, and was now starting to challenge the two for the top spot. The three riders battled back . and forth in wha t should have been called a classic short track race. The closeness of the three, and the dicing for the top position was just incredible. Many times in the six-lap feature all three men were side-by-side, as .t hey went down the straightaways and into the corners. On the final lap, Davis had experienced a little bike trouble with his BSA, and was dropping back just sligh t1y. The battle for the lead was still hot and heavy, as Garcia and Griner went into the first turn. Garcia went high into the second corner with Griner trying the inside groove, and as the two riders went down the back straight, it was Garcia by the width of a tire. Once again in the final two turns, Garcia went to the high groove and Griner down low, as the two riders came out of the final tum and towards the chec kered flag of starter Bob Pickle. It was then a drag race to the chec kered with Griner just getting inside Garcia to win by a few inches. In the Open Expert TT feature, Davis took the victory over Griner. Davis is racing for fun, as he now works as a Hollywood stuntrnan and is too busy to be racing all the time. Gary is also doing the jumps for the Eve! Knievel television program, which he hopes will be sold for coming seasons. • Gaylon Mosier should have won the 250 CMC Pro overall September I at Saddleback. Trouble was, Lady Luck wore a frown.

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