Ok Bultaco story - this could be long. Well my very first official motorcycle road race weekend was on a Bultaco El Bandito converted to a road racer. My friend owned the bike , it was pretty but the motor recieved no attention - the brakes only worked becuase I insisted we take the thing to an abandoned strech of highway to check it over. Having only done track days I had to do a riders school. We went to Firebird Raceway in Phoenix. So after all the paperwork I put on my leathers and went out on track with instructor in tow. I went storming up the front strech and into turn 1 , the motor promptly siezed. The back tire locked due to my 115 lb girly man not being able to pull in the clutch with one finger. Just before I would have highsided I manged to pull in the clutch and wrench the bars straight , the bike sat up and I shot off the inside of the corner and rolled right up to the worker station making it look as if I had planned the whole thing. The corner workers actually clapped and the instructor was so impressed that I got my AMA license on the spot.This was also a big Vintage race weekend in the next session a Profesional rider from England suffered the same fate on a fire breathing Bridgestone 350 and flung the thing down the road in a most spectacular manner furhter adding to my status with the corner workers.Naturally I was quite fond of that Bultaco , I bought the bike from my friend and had the motor gone through and converted it back to dirt use as I saw no need to push my luck on pavement with it. During that period we had a vinatge dirt bike group here in Vegas. I owned a Alpina ,250 Pursang and a Sherpa T in additon to the El Bandito. I really like the handling of Bultacos and they have the coolist logo. A Friend of mine still shakes her head about my love of old dirt bikes. She was AMA womens Vet Pro National Champ a few years back and can't get over the fact that I ride the death out of an old dirt bike but am completely lost on modern dirt bikes - I've never been able to come to terms with the handling.
I never rode a Montessa but my tuner for my Honda 125cc Road Racer was a mechanic at a Montessa dealership.Check out Metroracing.com they have Montessa stuff too.
Tom Grossmann
