1972 Bultaco Alpina 350cc Motorcycle

Description

Having been instrumental in establishing the Spanish motorcycle manufacturer Montessa, Francesco Bulto resigned following a dispute with his former employers and founded the Bultaco Compania Espanola de Motores SA company in May 1958. Based on the outskirts of Barcelona, Bultaco specialised in two-stroke off road bikes and proved very successful, particularly in tough export markets like America, until its untimely demise in 1983. Bultaco's early road bikes were small capacity, single-cylinder machines, starting with the TTS, followed by liquid-cooled 125cc and 250cc models that remained the mainstay of production for much of the 1960s. Having enjoyed great success in the areas of trialling, motocross and enduros, Bultaco offered a number of hugely popular models like the Sherpa trials bike, designed by Sammy Miller, and the Pursang off roader. Bultaco even ventured into road racing and Grand Prix racing, returning to the GP scene in 1976 after a long absence to win the 50cc Championship in 1976, a feat repeated in both 1978 and 1981. The Alpina was a bike aimed at the enduro and trials rider, launched in 1971 as a successor to the Sherpa T and using an updated version of that bike's frame design. Initially powered by a single-cylinder two-stroke engine displacing 250cc, the Alpina had a five-speed gearbox, swing-arm rear suspension and drum brakes at both ends, with plenty of ground clearance and a long-travel front fork. The Alpina range was expanded to include 125, 175 and 350 models and proved a sales hit through the early 1970s, a period when Bultaco enjoyed unprecedented success at the worlds trials events, winning the title no less than nine times between 1968 and 1979. For many pundits Bultaco built the best dirt bikes of all time, combining power, handling and light weight with excellent reliability.