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/126033
By Jody Weisel THe bike that Roger De Coster so smuggly cruised to four World Cha mpio n ships on final ly hit the market this year. Adolf Weil and Steve Stackablc's cantilever shocked Maico 's fro m last year are on sale now. The works CZs that the Russian s do their berzerking on will probab ly hit Americ a's sh or es in a year o r two. All of this points o ut a truism in the sport of hapless consumeris m ; What the fac t ories race this year the y will sell next year. It happens time in and time out. Th e one percent desi gn edge is ke pt in the hands of the works riders, an d th en laid on th e po or privateer a year la ter. So t hose of us wh o have wat ched th e progress of Jim Pomero y and Mar ty Tripes, analyzed th eir Gr an d Prix an d Trans-A m equipment an d waited fo r the eventual p assing on of in formation must be shocked by th e"19 76 Bultaco 25 0 an d 37 0 Pursan gs. The jolt o f realization co mes from th e fac t that this bike has not seen a Grand Prix, Tr ans-AlvlA or National course yet. It will be in th e hands of the averag e Joe at the same time th at it goes in t o the immensely talented hands of Bimbo , Marty Tripes and Ben gt Aberg. To prove this po int we went out fo r a te st sess ion with Marty Tripes on a co up le ne w Buis . Mart y b ro ugh t his rac e bi ke , the one he co mpe ted on all last year, and we brought the 1976'ers. Equipment-wise we ha d Marty outgunned. His tricked o u t Marz oc chi fo rk ed, gas shocked, ported works bike was no match for our bo xstock 1976 Pursangs. Of course racing isn't all machinery and Marty did lap us every lap, but if you race against riders of your own skill level and th ey're on a works bike and you're on a stocker - you win. It is as simple as that. The new Bul is a new Bui. Engine Sharing the same outward appearance as its predecessor the new 25 0 and 370 (ac tual ly a 363cc just like last year) elicit much more respect. Radically new porting of t he cylinder, which includes lowering the exhaust and transfers I Imm, moves the Bultaco power farther up the range. A 36mm Bing pumps the juices into an engine that has been beefed up to handle the 250 's 34 hp and 370's 40 hp, The major faul t of the earlier Buls was the transmission. Several gears failed , shifting forks bent and engagement was not precise or sec ure. This ye ar t he factory re -designed the interlocking dogs, in creased the size o f three gears , in corporated a selector locking device on t he shifting drum and untwisted the old pretzel st yle shift lever. The result is more posit ive gear changes with less chan ce of a missed shift doing damage to the innards. It is not a re-designed gearbox, bu t it is an improvement of a technically sound old design. During the 1975 Trans-AMA series the MIC provided a $1,000 contingency for the quietest bikes on the circuit. Bultaco re ceived an additional awar d at the end of the series for having the quietest bikes of any manufacturer. The new exhaust pipe con tin ues to send out muted sounds, but with no effect on the power output. It is a step in the right direction , a large muffled stride that other manufacturers should take note of. Frame ยท..." The chrome moly frame features the silver painted base upon which Bultaco was able to attach a complete inventory of new parts. The limited re-design of the frame occurs on the rear frame loo p. In the rear section the tubing has been reinforced to provide a better seat mounting location and to accommodate the upper shock mount. The swing arm has had the lower shock mount moved several inches rearward towards the axle. The philosophy behind the new handling package is difficult to decipher, but not hard to appreciate. Bultaco has been, along with Maico, one of the last proponents of forward mounted shocks as opposed to can ti levered alternatives. But rather than simply toss in the towel to the prevailing winds Bultaco took several baro meter readings. Forward mounting the shocks in to a vertical p osition works, but at a cost of mar ketabilit y an d sh ock life. Can -Am and Kawasa ki have be en experi menti ng wi th long, lon g shock bodies in near stock positions. Suzuki, on the other hand, has proven the su ccess of the cantilevered as shock w it h an im res ive .