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by Ed Drechsler
Have you ever dreamed of ridin g a
25 0 cc enduro bike with the
stu mp-p ulling torque and handling of an
h onest-to-goodness tri als bike ? Th en
co me along and read on.
J ohn's Racin g Cy cles, 2255 Harbor
Blvd ., C osta Mesa , Cali fornia set up . a
brand new Bultaco 250cc A lpi na for
thi s test. Deliver ed to us in impeccable
cond iti on, th e Alp ina featured " Big Sky
f i be r gla ss sea t and tank
B lue "
co mb inatio n acce n ted with a silver
st ripe an d go ld pi n stripin g, a very
comp atib le colo r co mb inatio n.
T he mach in e is n ot stree t legal in
Cali fornia (an d so me othe r St at es we
suspect) , possibl y because it is provide d
with an adequa te set of quic k de tach
lights, front an d rear, to ex te nd th e trail
or en duro ride r's day, an d th e ot her
things can b e tacked on easily. T he
sile nc er/spark arres to r co mbo is mo re
than ad equate and the res ulta n t so und
emiss ions are close to being pleasant,
bu t th e sp ar k arresto r d id not bear th e
co veted U.S. Fo rrestry appr oval info.
Afte r ooh ing and aah ing for a while,
we p laced it side b y side with a new 350
Sh erpa T trials machin e fo r a fra me
co mpariso n. Jus t as we suspec ted, the
fra me geo metry an d fron t suspension of
the two bi kes are exactly th e same .
There is a minor difference in one or
two gusse ts , bu t engi ne moun t and foot
peg placem en t rem ains the same. Both
have a 52.3 inc h wheelbase, 11 inc hes of
ground cle arance and an o verall length
of 79.3 inches. The A lpina's sea t is m ore
heavily pa d de d and its 2.6 gallon gas
tank . m akes th e Sherpa T's loo k tiny.
T he fro n t suspension is the same, but
the re ar sh ocks diffe r. T he Alpina has a
larger, more h eavy du ty type shock.
Wo w , a bike w i th the weight
d istrib u tion, perfect balance and
suspe nsio n of a winning trials mach ine ,
gea red an d outfi tted for co w tr ailin g.
The b ack sec tio ns of Saddleback
Park w as chosen as tes t si te for the cow
Because of its tri als blood , the Alp ina is at home in feet up plank ing.
' tr ailin g p orti o n of o ur evalua tion of the
Alp ina. T h e terrain is perfect in
determining rid er an d machin e ab ility.
Hal f of th e delib erately chosen washes
we re b lind , with no apparent wa y o ut.
That's wh at we were looking fo r.
, Ary,o.!l.e,~ "caD I • t~d e, 1~ ..:. c; '? ~.t r"<>,!l.er
(co wtriaIer?) on a fire roaa , but b y o nl y
