VOL. 51 ISSUE 4 JANUARY 28, 2014
P85
(Far left) A crateful
of miniature Bultaco
engines.
(Middle) Tarrago
uses only authentic
materials… steel,
aluminum, brass
and the components
actually work.
(Left) Tarrago now
sources his chains
from Japan, but there
was a time when he
had to hand-make
each link.
ing in minute detail.
"I take around 600-800 photos of each bike, and produce a
detailed scale drawing by hand
of each component I must make,
with all relevant measurements
which I can then reduce to
one-fifth scale," he says. "I also
study the handbook and service
manual, if these exist – and then
I start work to build the model.
Whether I'm making a one-off example for a customer, or a series
production prototype, the procedure is the same."
Each original takes 500-600
hours of his time to complete,
depending on the complexity,
with each day's work carefully
noted down in his logbook for
each creation. The longest so far
has been the 618 hours he spent
creating a perfect small scale
replica of the 250cc four-cylinder Benelli with which Tarquinio
Provini won the 1964 Spanish
GP on the nearby Montjuic Park
"
These are true fifth-size replicas of
the original motorcycles, manufactured in
authentic – that word again - materials like
steel, brass, lead or aluminum, not plastic.
circuit, a bike which is owned by
local collector Joaquin Folch –
whose Titan paint company even
provided the right color of paint
to clothe the model in.
"But this was the most complicated model I ever did," cautions
Pere," because of the intricacy
of the engine and the four carburetors and suchlike. Normally
it takes around 500 hours to create a new model entirely from
scratch."
Even the MV Agusta 750S
streetbike he also made wasn't
as time-consuming to build as
the GP racer at "just" 550 hours.
Having drawn up all the components he needs to make, Tarrago always starts by building the
"
chassis first, using silver-welded
steel tubing to do so. For the
production frames he makes a
jig of the original, and replicates
the frame in brass, which is less
time consuming to work with,
so it helps hold down the price.
Next come the wheels, and here
all his models so far have had
drum brakes, which he first creates by hand on the lathe, then
sandcasts for production.
"I was fortunate to find a jewelry factory not far from here that
can produce small volume components very affordably, and
with great accuracy," says Tarragó. "Without them, it wouldn't
be feasible to produce the models at an affordable price."
