In over my head?

[hansenracing519]

Alright, I have been dreaming of a 2 stroke cafe for years. I finally had the opportunity to get my hands on a 1974 Bultaco Alpina 350. I love the bike and im super excited to get this thing on the road but I have some questions.

First, the wiring is scary. The bike doesn't have a headlight or a taillight. The wiring is there but i don't know how it will stand up the being used. As you can see in the photos, its pretty primitive. I want to run a small headlight and tail light but that's pretty much it. Im thinking LED lights but I wouldn't even know where to start to convert the bike to LED's. Should I even go through the trouble or just go with a standard light? The bike has run without a battery before and that's the way is plan om running it in the future.

Second, the tank is fiberglass. It is cracked on the side and over the years of it sitting, has developed a leak. I want to use the original tank because it tells the history of the bike. Is there anything I can use to seal the bike from the inside?

Last, the original sprockets are on the bike and they are worn out. I pulled them off the bike and the back of the sprocket is machined to fit over the hub. That's going to make it hard to find a replacement. Ideas?

Anyway, so far I've pulled it all apart and im cleaning it right now. Just trying go get everything to a point where its not a mess. Im not going to repaint it or touch up the frame unless absolutely necessary. I want to keep the dirt bike feel and history but make it ridable on the street. Let me know what you think!

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[Joshing_Machine]

I can't offer any advice on a Bultaco, but congrats on scoring an uncommon bike!

 

[kiwi60]

I've always loved the Bulti's too but their as rare as hens teeth down here.

One thing to consider before you go the café route, from memory the Alpina has a motor tuned for low down / mid range torque and has quite a heavy flywheel and you may be disappointed with the result.

 

[CutNup]

Put a picture of the rear sprocket up. I found several quick change omes on ebay

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[xb33bsa]

it is just about the last bike in the world that a sane person would use for a street bike
esp those in that era very poor reliability,shit brakes ,shit electronics,shit quality control
the motor is based on the trials competition machine and is not realkly suited for any street use
it would be ok for posing around town in the daylight, otherwise save your energy and get a jap 2 stroke

 

[hansenracing519]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I know its going to be a challenge but I really wanted a unique bike and for $300 I couldn't pass it up.

Here are the pics of the sprocket. the bike has a 13 in the front and a 43 in the rear. I want to put a 37 or 38 tooth sprocket on the rear to get some more mph out of it. Its definetly going to be a scoot around town bike. I wont be going on the highway with it.

I tried to get a shot of the machined edge that I mentioned before.

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[VonYinzer]

Restore it to original. Find an RD to cafe.

 

[xb33bsa]

pull the wheels and check the brake drums
they were poorly, shiny chrome plated and it has a tendency to flake-off and is a very poor friction surface to boot, so be warned
yours is a 75 or latr not 74
74 had a conical rear hub and right side shift
unfortunately the 75 models is when quality control took a giant shit
the fiberglass tank will not like alky laden fuel so try to use alky-free gas
the clutches are a little finicky all steel plates
i still own 2 bultacos and gained my expert plate in mx on a 74 360 model 121 back in 75
also i had a 74 sherpaT 350 and rode trials so i know how the power is,very soft non-revvy motor made for popping around on rocky slippy trails

 

[axeugene27]

I think the bike is really cool. You may want to cut away the bottom of the tank and see if you can find a plastic fuel tank that you can mount your tank top over. If i've learned one thing about bikes it's this. Some bikes you can get for free and still pay too much.

 

[PJs Garage]

Good luck with the new project. I hope to see it all finished.

 

[CutNup]

I think you'll be happy with the parts you can get off ebay. I found a couple of those sprockets

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[hansenracing519]

Thanks for the info guys. Its gonna be a long build but im excited to get started.

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[ILoveThumpers]

Did it run before you tore it apart? ???

-Deek

 

[hansenracing519]

Re: Re: In over my head?

Did it run before you tore it apart? ???

-Deek

Yea. I rode it for a up my street before I tore it down. Brakes were ok and the motor pulled pretty good. Granted, that was in low gear which is we're this thing will shine.

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