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/141044
Ph otos by Wendy Blanton and Ar t Friedman When questioned ab out the e x t ra torque, he replied th at he h ad immediately found a use for every bit o f it . I t m ad e tough sections easier. Our machin e wa s prepared by J ohn's Racing Cycles in Costa Mesa, Californ ia. Eq uipped with a low mou nt, rear wheel driven spe edometer, su per qu ie t e xhaus t system, alloy fenders, fiberglass gas tank -seat combi nation , this lean looking co m pe tit o r looke d every part th e cham pion th at it is. Detail work is o uts tanding, except that chrome pl a ted parts have a tende ncy to peel. T he low m o un ted alloy front fen der worke d well in the co nd itions that we su bjecte d it to , incl uding deep water c rossi ngs, bu t it might clog if it encounters that good ole Georgia clay. T he engine is fitte d wit h double seals on both ends o f the crankshaft, wh ich, incidentally. is t he same crankshaft asse mb ly as in th e 350 Bultaco Pur san g. by Ed Drech sler T he 25 0cc Bultaco She rpa T seemed to be everything th a t a serious observed ii trials rid er co uld ask for in a hig hly u. specialized mach ine. Sam my Miller, who 11' was World Champ ion more times than ~ w e can remember, ha d a big h and in its Z design. So big, in fact, that they called ~ th e Sherpa T the "Sam my Miller o Replica". But every rider or deale r who ~ co nveyed his ideas to th e d istribu t or o r fa ctory also h ad a h and in the new 350cc Sherpa T. Se nor Bulla is in the b usiness to pro vide the best mach ine p ossib le , and the American m arke t 's imp ressio n is reflected in his mach in es. When you rode a 250cc Bultaco Sherpa T you were im mediately at home on it. It han dles superbly and the to rque could get yo u through the toughest traps, almos t. A m an wo uld have to be a damn fo o l to wa n t m o re we igh t for a fe w mo re horsep o w er _ righ t ? Wro ng! Se no r Bulto now give> us a trials ma ch in e th a t wei ghs 2 16 pounds d ry and devel op s a Whopp ing 22 .79 ft. Ibs. of torque. It is a 35 0, but you can' t really te ll unl ess y ou ride it. In trials ridin g, the secret is torque, not h o rsep ow er. Torq ue is th e magic geni e th at pulls y o u up th at stee p wall . o r throu gh th e mud wh en th e eng ine is ticking o ver at n o m ore than an idl e , and th e lo w end to rq ue of the 350cc Bultaco Sherpa T is almost un believab le. It is almost im p ossi ble to kill th e engi ne. You have to w ork at it. . No kill bu tton is provid ed, and t o stop it you mu st drop the clu tc h whil e in gear wi th both brakes securely engaged . S till th e b ike will lurch fo rward. On e tester lift ed th e fro n t end and missed h is ma rk o n a wall by abo u t a foot. T he fo rks co m p re ssed to their sto ps and th e rear wh eel kept turn ing, but it would go n o f ur ther. He shut th e throttle co mp le tely wh ile leavin g it in gear, and it kept running. On each stroke of th e engi ne , the rear wh eel ro ta te d a fe w in ch es and dug itself in to th e very h ard surface. lt was finally necessary to disengage the clu tch an d back th e machin e o ut. lt is reported that, a few ye ar s back; Sammy Miller went to Senor Bulla and aske d for more torque o n the 25 0cc Sherpa T he was cu rr en tly camp aignin g. Sammy asked for a very large bolt-on flywheel. Bulla argued but gave Sammy what he asked for. Sammy tripped happily off to the next meet where he installed his little t reasure. Up on return to Spain, Senor Bulto asked how things turned out. Sammy replied, "N ot so well . I co uld n't stop th e thing and ran in to a tree." Th e ab ove s to ry on ly serve s to p oint out th at a fte r a certain point, th e ad di tio n o f rotatin g weight t o th e engi ne o n ly d est ro ys engine resp on se. Rem ember th e o ld J ohn Deere engine with th e mamm oth flywh eel ? T he engine on ly put o ut a few HP b ut it took fo re ver to s to p it because of the ine rtia i t develop ed. T he lightn ess of the -35 0 is achieved by copious use of Du raIuminum , a ma teri al wh ich has been arou nd since the 195 0's, but has been out-shone by t i ta nium and other trick m e tals. Du al um in um does not have all the metallurgical disadvantages of some trick me tals and suffers only a very slight weigh t disadvantage to ti t ani um . In fact, othe r manu fac ture rs have see n the merit s of this a lloy and have inc orp o rated it in to th eir designs. Du rin g the testing of th is mach ine, J eff Harri son of Cy cle New s Eas t was a t o ur o ffice on bu sin ess. As Soon as he heard th at we h ad a 35 0 to test, he assume d a pl ead in g look . J eff rid es competi tive o bserved trials in Oh io on occ asio n an d is familiar with th e 25 0 Sh erpa T as well as o the r brands o f 25 0cc tr ials iron . Pri or to riding, J eff felt that th e 35 0 would be o ver-powe re d and unman ageabl e. He felt th at th er e w ouldn't be a pl ace for it in se rio us compe ti tio n. So we let him rid e it. J eff rod e all d ay at Saddle back Park. He rode o ver sim p le trap s an d the n p ro gressed into th e Mas ter's Coun try v:hi ch a bo u n ds wi t h imp ossibl e situ at ion s. He fo und ou t th at in man y inst an ces th er e was n o n eed t o app ly the thro ttle. I f you did , yo u d id n 't have io ap p ly mu ch . T he bike pow ered its way th rough situat io ns whe re a 250 wo uld h ave bogged down . But it was never over-powered. T he engine respon ded im media tely with n o hi nt of loading. J e ff's" reactions were pred ic table to those of us who had rid den the mach ine . Las t seen , he was he adin g for . Ohi o with a pl eased smi le on his face . All that low end grunt w ill pull the front wh eel up at your slightest whim. You don 't even have to make faces. 6