Chrome engine and exhaust would look good. Trials bike so doesnt need a seat, so chrome that also. Custom chrome tank.....Noice.

UPDATE:  ('cos Scotty asked for it!)

Given that the frame was now rolling, it was time to get the engine up on the bench and make a start on it. Despite (potentially) years of neglect, the power plant didn't look too bad.  A few bent and cracked fins and some minor scrapes and dents in the cases, but nothing to get too stressed over.










Before I pulled it out of the bike, I made sure it had spark (which it did), so theoretically when I put it all back together, it should still spark.  Happy with that knowledge, I tried to remove the sump plug, but it was stuck fast and the bolt head was pretty ratty.  No probs I thought, I'll disassemble from the top and flip it to drain the oil and get a better attack at the plug.  So I unbolted the head and that looked pretty good.  Slid the barrel off and despite a bit of water marking on the lower region of the bore, that too looked good.  Piston showed no signs of wear or gouging, so still happy with the progress.  Studs were looking a bit rusty, but a wire brushing would soon sort them out. 







OK, time to flip.......and my heart sank!  A 50 mm crack in the case revealed itself when I cleaned away the grunge festooning the bottom of the engine.




Panicking, I sent a photo to Paul (Ridewell Motorcycles), and asked if this was terminal.  His response was, "Nah, she'll be right!"  Buoyed by this, I continued on my merry way and pulled it down to present it to him for welding.

Obviously, to repair this crack, it was necessary to split the cases, which meant the Sherpa was getting new crank and gear-box bearings (regardless of wether it needed them or not).  So when the repair was done, he gave me back the cases and side covers and they were duly polished and returned.  meanwhile, I took the stator to an auto-elect mate of mine and had some new wires soldered to the coils, as the originals were not only crispy and stiff, but had been butchered over the years. The stator was returned to Paul and along with a new gasket kit, the bottom end was rebuilt.

Closer inspection of top-end components revealed that all was in great shape, so a light hone was all that was needed (along with bead-blasting and painting) before that went together and completed the re-build.

Well done Serge, that crack did look bad. Was it repaired by Ridewell or outsourced? (for future ref)

And so now, with engine together, it was time to put it back in the frame and make it a MOTOR bike.

I was starting to believe the bike would be a fairly light machine, until I wrestled the noise maker in!  It feels as though the engine weighs about as much as the rest of the bike.  Nevertheless, in it went, but not before mounting the kick-starter (which had been re-plated, new pivot kit and rubber), gear lever (which got the same treatment) and exhaust manifold (which was also re-plated).






Melbourne's hot weather (and Christmas) has limited my shed time, but I managed to get an hour or two to bolt on some more bits.  Muffler was blasted and re-painted, header pipe was polished and all put together with new springs and coupling.  Clutch arm was re-plated and installed with new cable and return spring etc.  Terminal block was polished and mounted with fresh hardware, along with the coil and checked for spark (which it has, phew!)  I'm not over-happy with the way the wiring is currently sitting, but I'll re-visit this on a cooler day.

So all-in-all, I'm pretty happy with the progress thus far.  Next job is to give the carbie and overhaul and mount that.  Then with throttle and air box pipe in place, we should be ready to kick her over!

Looks good mate, Naa, better then good, it would be a good thing to take on now I'm retired, time I've got plenty off, but money,    well I've got to try to hang onto it for as long as I can.

Ken R wrote:
Out sourced by Ridewell.

Looks great Serge!

This photo almost looks like it is begging for a turbo to be fitted!

Yes - pipes going every where.

And if they had put the exhaust on the other side it could have oiled the chain.

Does Serge's new TS have a turbo?

No, no turbos (expressed or implied) on either vehicles.

Hello Serge , Firstly thanks for the update on project Bultaco , it looks amazing , your attention to detail & quality of workmanship is something
you should be proud of and i also agree it is a very pretty bike !!   Secondly it was good to catch up with you last week and i hope the new Territory is going well ( no doubt ) . And thirdly i have been thinking about what you said in not trying to find the time but to make time , only problem there is my lovely wife agree's . In her opinion i need to make time to finish the pergola and landscaping the back yard