Milwich. 25.9.2016

The second round of the BMCA series saw a visit to what for most of the riders, would be a new venue at Manor Farm, Milwich, Staffs.

The main feature of this venue is the silt and very loose gravel bottom stream that runs through the farm, straddled on either side along most of its length by a mixture of steep banks offering root infested climbs, cambers and mud. Rain can make the already slippery banks a real test and that’s just what the weather served up, a torrential downpour overnight which saw some hasty section restructuring before the trial started. Fortunately, but for a brief shower just into the first lap, the rain held off during the trial and the riders were treated to sunshine for the duration.

The shine was dulled a little however due to a nasty crash at section 9 for Pete Kirby on lap 1 resulting in a neck injury. As people with neck injuries shouldn’t be moved the section was closed and Pete had to endure a prolonged period of lying on his back at the bottom of the bank, head down, feet up ( a rarity…) whilst being tended to by two very nice young ladies who had come to see him in their helicopter.

One was so smitten with him she couldn’t wait to get his riding top off and set about it with scissors.

‘Oi’ he cried, ‘I’ve had that for 40 years’. ‘Well it’s about time you got another then isn’t it’ she said as the removed the shredded remains from his six pack torso (or should that be a party seven..)

Pete is being looked after in Stoke hospital and thankfully has regained feeling in his arms and legs and is hopefully on the mend to a quick recovery.

Photo, Pete riding in the Sam Cooper trial a few years back.

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Charlie:> Get Well soon Pete we need you.

~~~

Meanwhile the trial continued and the expert class was a closely contested affair between Steve Thompson, Gavin Andrews and Paul Munslow with “Two go’s Tommo” coming out on top with a score of 10, to Gavin’s 12 and Paul’s 13.

Section 1 was a testing opener, with a couple of tight turns both in the silty stream and on the muddy bank.

This section caused Steve big problems as 7 of his total were shod here, to Gavin’s 2 and Paul’s 5. Sections 2 to 4 were relatively straightforward for the experts with Steve going clean through all three, but Gavin lost 3 on section 3, Paul just a dab. However, section 5 observed by Ken Garfield was a tester and featured a small descent through the start followed by a left turn through mud and small rocks.

A good line was needed here for the following short climb over more rocks leading back onto the top of the bank. A U-turn dropped the riders back down the bank and into the stream where another U-turn led back out of the stream and up another rocky climb to the ends.

Steve pulled back a good margin here by recording the only clean ride on all four laps.

Gavin suffered a costly 5 on lap 1 when the front of his C15 washed in the silty stream bottom and ploughed into the bank stalling the engine. A further 2 on lap 2 saw his score rocket to his final total of 12 as he cleaned the remaining sections. Paul lost just 2 on this section but 3 marks on section 7 and a further two dabs in 8 and 10 put him just out of contention as “Two Go’s” held on for the win.

In the Inters, Lui Farinaccio took the win on 24 marks with Mike Bulter close behind on 28 and Mark Lucas grabbing the final podium on 33. Inters rode the expert route on sections 1, 5, 7, 8 and 10 and it was sections 1 and 5 that took most of their marks. As with the experts it was section 1 that proved the more difficult with scores of mainly 3 and 2 being recorded on most laps with a couple of single dab rides from the first and second placed men. Section 5 was more of a mixed bag of scores with Lui recording just 4 in total and Mike 5 but Lui was more consistent with 4 dabs whereas Mike took a couple of laps to dial into it with 2-3-0-0. Section 7 featured a very slippery downhill camber towards the exit and a little bravery was required here with speed necessary to carry the bike across without losing the rear towards the bottom.

Too slow meant an inevitable loss of marks with the rear or both wheels sliding down the camber needing footwork to correct. Lui suffered his only 5 here, recording 9 of his total but recovered well to drop only 1 mark in the remaining sections. Mike lost 2 less here but dropped a further 5 in the remainder and it was Mark who lost the least on section 7 with a 6 total. However, section 5 was to get the better of him taking 11 over the 4 laps and a further 5 dabs in the last couple of sections dropped him out of contention leaving Lui to take the win.

In the Clubmen, just 2 marks separated winner Geoff Clarke and second placed man Keith Sly on 5 and 7 respectively. Mark Strong on 10 just pipped Steve Haines on 11 for third place but both must have been cursing fives without which either could well have been challenging for top spot.

Steve lost his on section 1 along with another dab for a total of 6 on a section that caused no problems for his rivals and Mark had a similar disaster on section 8 for a total of 6, although this also took Geoff for a 1 and Keith for 3 whereas Steve went clean here.

There wasn’t any one section in particular that was a mark taker on the clubmen route therefore consistency throughout the entire trial was needed for any chance of victory and ultimately it was Geoff who demonstrated that and just edged it to take the win.

Report:Dave Wood.

Much more later when Dave has time to report.

12/02/2017.

Hi Charlie, hope you're well.

 

I've managed to do a bit of work on the M10 Sherpa since my last email, not as much as I'd have liked, but progress at least. 

I've attached some pictures as well although may have to send others in a seperate email as AOL doesn't cope with too many attachments.

 

Where to start...  As you can see by the pictures of the bike as bought, it needs a full sort out, so I completely stripped it and tried to attend to the engine first as that seemed the easiest to do and could then be stored out of the way whilst the rest was sorted. 

 

So, the engine. I've never done a 4 speed before and there are a few differences from the 5 speed, obviously the gearbox being the most notable. Whereas the 4 speed Ossa is the same fundamental design as the 5 speed the Bultaco is completely different with respect to the selector mechanism.

However, once you look at it it's fairly straightforward in operation and disassembly. First job was off with the top end and apart from the tortuous location of the base nuts securing the cylinder to the cases this was drama free, Removal revealed a lot of gunge and water in the crank but nothing seized. All would be renewed anyway.

Clutch and ignition have some slight differences from later models but nothing significant so once they were removed it was time to split the cases.

This can be done with the selector mechanism left in place in the R/H side casing. What wasn't so obvious was what was preventing the cases fully coming apart and thanks to Pat Keane up in Preston for pointing out that the speedo drive needs to be removed first as it drives off the gearbox on the 4 speed, located underneath and is meshed into the gears.... you live an learn.

Pat really knows his Bultacos and had a beautifully rebuilt Model 10 series 2 for sale at Telford.

 

 

Modified Frame with TY rear Loop.

 

 

 

 

Four speed gearbox.

 

 

Old school gears.

 

 

Old school radial cylinder head.

 

 

Once the cases were apart it was a relief to find no damage to the gearbox as parts are like hen's teeth.

The difference in size of the crank assembly in comparison to later models was a surprise as it is tiny. The only disappointment was finding a crack in the housing for the kick-start shaft but fortunately I have a friend who is a first class engineer so the housing was machined out and replaced/bushed.

Good as new and I owe him a small vineyard for the work he put into it.

Once the cases were cleaned up and polished the motor was reassembled.

Things were obviously going too well as I then found a stripped thread in the top of the cylinder for one of the head studs, so this will have to be helicoiled.

I also found two threads for the timing cover have been taken to 8mm, so more helicoiling to be done.

All that is left on the engine is some new clutch plates.

The drive plates are different from the 5 speed model and may prove elusive but an option is to replace the clutch hub with an early 5 speed hub which will solve that problem if it becomes one.

I haven't checked yet but if the ignition is the same as a 5 speed I'll fit an electronic kit - mainly as I hate prating around with points, not because it makes them go any better...

 

Photos Courtesy Dave Wood.

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I've also managed to get a bit done to the frame which has been altered in places to accommodate the none standard parts that were fitted.

Fortunately the mods were weld on and didn't involve hacking the original structure of the frame so it was more a case of removing things and tidying back up.

The only problem was the rear mudguard loop which wouldn't repair and seemed to have some rust in it as well as the metal of the tubing  being quite thin in parts making it impossible (for me) to weld.

It was going to take someone with way more ability than I had to sort this out or make a new loop, then I remembered I had a loop somewhere of a TY250 which I had removed a few years ago. I managed to find it and was almost an exact match. So off came the old and on went the TY loop.

A perfectionist may know what the very slight difference is but as this is a bike to ride, not try and win concours, it doesn't matter to me. The only thing missing now is the seat mount for the correct seat but I'm going to make a seat for it as I'm not keen on the original, so it's not a problem.

 

The only think left to do to the frame now is decide what to do about footrests. The standard position is far to high for me and I want to ride it so they are going to have to be lowered.

The model 10 has bolt on brackets so I have to work out whether I can make new ones which will hang lower or weld some plates to the back of the frame to take new brackets.

Whichever, it will need a new brake pedal making as lowering the rests will foul the original ugly concoction that Bultaco fitted... Once done it can go off for painting.

photo 

As for the rest, the wheel rims were past it so new rims will be needed.

The hubs have been polished and painted and are with Colin at TY Offroad to rebuild when we get some rims.

The forks are at Philpotts for re-chroming.

The exhaust as you can see from the pictures his past its best but I'm hoping it can be rescued and re-plated as I'm not convinced of the fit of new replacements from Spain. A new silencer will be needed as well as a new carb.

The fuel tank wasn't the original so I have a new one on order from In Motion who have someone that can make one.

Then there  will be the usual sundries such as bars, cables etc. I'm hoping to have it done by the end of the year and ride it in a few classic trial - maybe enter Scotland on it as they're now eligible.... :)

 photo.

So that's where it is now Charlie, as soon as things move onto the next step I'll let you know

 

Dave.

 Thanks Dave look forward to the photos of the finished Bultaco.

 

Updated 14/04/2020...

 

Hi Charlie, so here we are , an update on the Bultaco M10 4 speed

 

Progress has been slow with bits and pieces done whenever possible. Work during the week and being out riding every weekend doesn’t leave much free time. However, since last time I got to a stage where the bike was together and I’ve had it running with a quick spin around the garden

 

 

To get to that stage I had to buy a new front pipe as the original was past saving. The pattern isn’t 100% as per original shape but it is ok. I had to make a silencer from a Matador fit but this is fine, cut open and repacked but maybe a bit louder than I’d like so I decided to fit one of the triangle silencer that was introduced on the model 49. What a bitch they are to fit but I got there. I got two fuel tanks in the end, a Shedworks one and one that came from Spain with some other parts I found. I’ve lined both with Caswell. As I’m not bothered about 100% originality, as the bike is to ride not a museum piece, together with the fact that I don’t like all of the original design features as some look a bit bulky, I made my own seat base and had it covered (the original seat mounts had long gone anyway) and made my own side panels which are a bit trimmer than the originals (having tried original type first). I decided to fit one of Gerry’s top yokes so I can get a comfortable bar position and the footpegs are lowered. I also got a wide sumpguard made as the original offers little protection to the side cases, evidenced by both having been heavily repaired in the past. I tried a different colour scheme on the tank as the original doesn’t have much grey and I wanted more red in the tank. I wasn’t sure about it though, so more decisions needed with that. This is how the bike was looking at this stage with original type sidepanels, slim seat and emphasis on red colour for tank

 

Photo

 

Still didn’t like it though, so more changes. Also it has no ground clearance with the sumpguard under the frame so I decided to remove the bottom frame tube and lift the guard. This is a bit tricky as the 4 speed has an engine mount attached to the tube under the engine. I didn’t really want to

chop the 4 speed frame so I got an early 5 speed frame, almost identical apart from engine mounts and cut the bottom out of it and replaced with a strip of flat plate to which I could add an engine mount. The sumpguard now fits flush up to the plate. I also steepened the head angle a bit as the early Bults are a bit long in today’s tighter sections. Side panels replaced with my own cut from alloy sheet. The original method of attaching them was by ties but this was a bit crude I think so I welded on three mounting points and they now fix with 6mm bolts making them much easier to remove/replace. I had the other tank painted in standard colour scheme and made another seat as I didn’t like the first one, made a brake pedal and fitted Gerry’s top yoke, so this is where I am now...

Photo

The routing for the hose between the carb and airbox is nothing sort of tortuous and nothing seems to line up square. I replaced the original inlet manifold designed for the IRZ carb with one from the 5 speed so I could fit a MK1 Amal. This needed the fins above the manifold trimmed back to enable it to fit. The hose lines up a bit better with this arrangement but it’s still off a bit from square. It isn’t possible to fit electronic to the early 4 speed as the crank is different from the 5 speed which the electronic is designed around, so this bike will stay on points but it’s not an issue, it will run just as well, electronic just saves the aggro of setting points which I hate… I fitted a conventional type sidestand on the swingarm as opposed to Bultaco’s not particularly good early original and fitted a chain tensioner to the swingarm as per the later models. Now I just need to wait until we can get out again so I can try it. Some more pictures

 Photos...

~~~~~~~

14/02/2018.

 

 BSA Trials Bike Update.

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Photo Courtesy "Hammertight"

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CNC machine has been working overtime hey Jim?

Or are they grinning at Dave's Number 13?

~~~~~~~

Hi Charlie, hope all is well with you

Al Usher, who wrote the report for the BMCA trial (Bedlam) seems to have got his wires crossed a bit...

  The engine is the long stroke one I had from Pete a while back which is about 340cc,  not sure where he got 370 from, so nothing new with the engine.

I have though, now put it in a Drayton frame as I just couldn't get on with the MK3 Otter, with whatever changes they made from the MK2 which rode better.

  I hadn't used the BSA for some time and at the Telford show last year I had an impulsive moment and bought one of Jim's frames.

 

A Drayton BSA C15 frame kit.

~~~~~~~

I then sold the Otter frame to someone from Newcastle upon Tyne who travelled down one evening to collect it  -  some journey... 

But it took me until now to actually get the bike up and running as with work last year and trying to rebuild the 4 speed Bultaco (still not finished, waiting for a tank and some other bits) the BSA took a back seat.

I also had to reclaim the Bultaco rear wheel I used in the BSA for the bike it belonged to and also the front wheel, which was a Grimeca, had to go back from where it came.

So I had to find some new wheels but I wasn't prepared to spend about £1200 on billets jobs.

So I found some original Bantam hubs for about £50, widened the rear and had them built into new rims.

Still not cheap at £500 total but better than £1200.

Now I had Bantam wheels I thought I may as well try for an entry in Scotland again and somehow got one... 

So my Ossa forks had to go. I had some MP or Ceriani bottoms, not sure which and the Ossa stanchions went into those.

They look almost the same, which sums up the farce of Pre65 eligibility rules but there we are.

I originally tried the bike at an Aqueduct Classic trial a couple of weeks ago but it suffered a problem with the inlet valve sticking open after the first section so that was the end of that.

I took the head to Pete Kirby and investigation showed what looked like two tiny pieces of carbon stuck to the valve seat which was enough to break the seal, therefore no compression.

Pete cleaned everything up and I got it back together just in time for the BMCA trial at Bedlam.

This was a disaster as the bike didn't run properly and spit stalled four times on the first lap alone for four fives, although I seem to have got away with one of them - not that that mattered....

It was spitting its way through sections which made hard work trying to keep on line when it didn't respond to throttle.

The front forks were also not working and were virtually rigid and the effort of trying to wrestle it around brought back some serious arm problems and arm pump that I have been lucky enough to have not experienced for a good few months now. I'm hoping it hasn't set it off again.

I was getting dragged around and not really riding and I should have stopped really but don't like retiring, so persevered but not sure why as I'd learned enough on lap 1...

Anyway, back home and the next day was head scratching time to find out what was wrong.

Forks first, and as I'd never used MP forks before I'd cocked up the amount of oil. Someone said they should have about 120cc per leg.

I'd assumed they would be the same as Bultaco/Ossa and put about 190cc per leg which is why they weren't working to well and locking everywhere.

Not ideal at Bedlam over the rocks... 

I replaced with 120cc and they seem to work well now.

The engine was again what looks to be "a set up cock-up", as I think I had the timing too far advanced.

I've retarded it but won't know until I can take it out to try again.

It feels ok around the garden but they always do... 

I will fit a new plug as well.

I'm a bit unsure of the PVL ignition as well, and was thinking of trying an Electrex world kit but am fed up of it swallowing money at the moment, so I'll see how it goes with the timing knocked back a bit.

~~~~~~~

Charlie~Oo> Dave I am fast thinking going back to Boyer-Bransdon Trials ignition. the bikes I have it on feel a lot less harsh............
~~~
So that's where it is at the moment, it's Telford this weekend so no trial, I'll have to wait until the week after to see if I've improved things.

I hope so as Scotland is going to creep up very quickly if I haven't...

 

Update 14/04/2020...

I think you probably have the jist of this since the last one but at that time it was getting close to Scotland and the Pre65 and I had things to do to the bike, exhaust, cure spitting, front forks. The bottom line is it was a disaster at the trial as I wasn't able to sort anything on the bike beforehand. It coughed and spat its way around the trial, the front suspension wasn't right and I couldn't steer it, I didn't enjoy the weekend at all. Unfortunately, 2019 was even worse with three punctures on day 1 which put me out of time and two on day 2, the second of which made me call it quits, get back to the van and head for home. The riding I did do showed that the bike was still spitting and I still couldn't steer it despite going back to the parallel yokes.  I don't know what it is but I just can't gel with this bike at all, I was far more comfortable on my old home brewed one...  It sat in the shed untouched since Scotland until just before Xmas when I plucked up courage to spanner it again. In an effort to smooth out the pick up from idle which I can't seem to achieve with carb or ignition adjustments, I moved the cam timing back 1 tooth , added a couple of teeth to the rear sprocket and reworked the exhaust by fitting a long pipe which goes all the way to exit behind the top shock mount and fit the Weedy silencer. I took the bike with me to try when setting out my Boxing day trial but the ground was so muddy I wasn't really able to assess anything and thereafter it never stopped raining so I wasn't able to go back to the farm to try it properly. Just as things started drying up we had Covid-19 and Scotland was cancelled, so now I have another 12 months to sort it. As soon as lockdown is lifted I can take it out to try. I'm losing interest in it slowly though but I'll see what comes from these latest changes

~~~~~~~

BSA Page updated 14/04/2020... take a look...
I'm hoping to have an update on the 4 speed Bultaco soon as well, so I'll send that through when I have.

Regards Dave.

 

09/03/2018.

Bultaco Update.

 

All Photos Courtesy Dave Wood.

 

 

Hi Charlie, small update on the 4 speed Bultaco rebuild. 

The engine rebuild has been completed and is back in the newly coated frame courtesy of Colin Leese at TY Offorad.

Wheels rebuilt, also by TY Offroad, along with forks coming back from re-chroming by Philpotts so the bike is now back on its wheels.

The new front pipe finally arrived from Spain so on with a dummy fuel tank and attempt to fire it up.

To my relief it started up fairly quickly even though the carb is an old worn out one for now.

It ran well and the motor sounds good, tight and quiet.

The ignition flywheel on the 4 speed is a smaller ID than the 5 speed engines, so although the stator plate is the same on each, the coils are closer together on the 4 speed, therefore the electronic ignition kit won't work on the 4 speed so it will stay on points. 

I wasn't able to find a 4 speed airbox so found a 5 speed and modified it to fit. It's only the outlet for the hose that is in a different location, being higher up on the 4 speed, on the 5 speed it exits from the bottom, so it was a case of cut it off and reposition it.

Side-panels finally arrived from Spain and I had to wait for those before doing the airbox mod so that I could get the position of the outlet correct as it comes through the cut-out in the side-panel.

The side panels are an utter bitch to fit and the airbox to carb hose arrangement has to be one of the worst ever...

Now I'm waiting for a fuel tank and once I have that I can make a seat base as I need the tank on to get the shape of the seat at the front.

I'll probably use plastic mudguards as I will ride the bike and alloy are a bit impractical as I'm bound to bend them throwing at things it probably shouldn't be thrown at.

Then it will need the usual shocks, tyres etc to finish off. I'm hoping to have it ready to ride in the Nostalgia Bultaco Revival trial in June - we'll see as I start a new job next week which is going to reduce fettling time a touch.

~~~~~~~

The BSA will have its next outing on Sunday at the Poachers Northern Bike round.

Hopefully the problems encountered in the last BMCA trial at Bedlam have been sorted but I haven't had chance to try it. Lincoln is a long way to go should there be more trouble...  I'll let you know

 

Charlie~Oo>Thanks Dave. 

~~~~~~~

03/09/2018.

 Manx Classic trial Report.

Hi Charlie, not long back from the Manx which was another very enjoyable weekend but yet more dismal weather given the run of rain free weather we've been enjoying...

 

 

Typically, Friday was lovely sunshine when we arrived but both days of the trial were some of the worst in a long time, constant rain or drizzle with endless mist and visibility down to 50 yards for a lot of the time. Great trial though, sections back to how they should be in the main, lots of streams and gulleys. 

 

I'd entered on the 320 Garelli which I've had for a while but have a problem with the clutch and couldn't guarantee it was fixed as I hadn't had time to try it properly beforehand and it wasn't worth the risk of riding it if the clutch was going to slip so it stayed in the shed and the Bultaco went again.

That bike has had some real use over the last ten years since it was rebuilt and it has lasted admirably with minimum maintenance and still going strong.

The Garelli is a good bike with a really strong engine and once I have it running as I want I might strip it and tidy it up as it is a bit untidy at the moment, picture attached.

Photo..

 

The trial was the usual story of ifs buts maybes and what might have been....

  On Saturday we were at the front of the entry as usual with the streams on the morning very slippery.

Most of the twinshock entry ride the clubman route so we are usually section scrubbing. With the exception of the eventual winner who is a league above is in ability, we were all dropping the same marks pretty much on the slippy stuff up to the first punchcard change and I was running second on 14.

Saturday afternoon was the opposite and very easy but the usual brain-fade kicked in and I went the wrong way on 2 sections right at the end to add another 10 to my score whilst cleaning the rest.

I was actually 'clean' on those two as well apart from the flag fiasco at the end of each.

The others also cleaned them all or just dropped 2 or 3 on that card so I dropped a few places because of that.

Sunday was much tougher with more streams which were again seriously slippery and were were all losing marks again.

Unfortunately more brain fade saw two more flag moments and another 10 marks thrown away plus two or three silly mistakes so in the end not the result it should have been, A win was out the question but I was riding well enough that second was a definite possibility but 6th or 7th in the end.

Can't stop the brain fade unfortunately... I did have at least the satisfaction of being the only clean all day on probably the hardest section in the trial... 

I could bang my head up the wall at times..........

 

I haven't done much to the bike builds over the course of the year but recently did a bit more to the 4 speed Sherpa and hope to do a bit more this week so might have an update soonish on that one.

The BSA is now in the Drayton frame and I got a ride in Scotland which took me by surprise so had to throw it together quickly.

I haven't had time to look at it since apart from fitting some yokes with 1.5 degree run out on them as I didn't like the steering with the usual parallel yokes Jim uses.

I need to sort the front forks, shocks and the exhaust so really need to look at it soon as if I get an entry in Scotland next year it needs to be right.

 

Was it Stu I met in the Manx again on Sunday?  I'm terrible with names and faces these days.

He caught me late on but we were running late so I was really short on time so didn't have time for much of a chat.

He had the "Mini Otter" SuperCub with him.

~~~~~~~

Charlie~Oo>Thank's Dave for the update, and Manx Trial report. We need more like this.

 It Was Brian you met Stu's father, Stu has been with me all week end perfecting the "Mini Otter" number three frame, after the interest shown at the resent Brackley show.

 

 ~~~~~~~

09/02 2020...U-Dt

 

More Later...

Updat2021...