We don’t see many Spanish vehicles here at Barn Finds, let alone a Bultaco, but Adam “Iron Man” Clarke wrote about one here a couple of years ago. They are interesting machines with a very interesting and somewhat convoluted lineage dating back to the late 1950s and a company called Montesa. The seller has this 1968 Bultaco TSS (Tralla Super Sport) 250 posted here on craigslist in Laguna Hills, California and they’re asking $23,500. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Nevadahalfrack for the tip!
Yes, I would also keep this Bultaco TSS in my living room if I owned it. I would devise some sort of lift system to raise it up a few feet to display it on the wall as art while it isn’t being ridden. Grand Prix motorcycle racing is immensely popular around the world, maybe more so than it is here in the U.S., but it’s also followed by many fans here, too. Bultaco was born out of another famous manufacturer, Montesa, who held a board meeting about whether the company should continue with Grand Prix motorcycle racing, and the majority voted to discontinue that program. One board member, Francisco Xavier Bulto, had other ideas.
While having dinner with a dozen or so former Montesa employees, the group talked Señor Bulto into starting another company to continue their beloved Grand Prix racing endeavors, and in early 1959, Bultaco was born. The Bultaco name was a combination of Bulto and “Paco”, a nickname for Señor Bulto’s first name, Francisco. Two short months later, Bultacos took seven of the top 10 spots at the roadster class of the Spanish Grand Prix. Several other impressive showings and improvements lead to the TSS class of racing bikes. The early models were air-cooled but within a short time, the water-cooled TSS motorcycles were the ones to beat. They were made from 1960 (introduced in 1961) until 1970.
The seller gives little information about this example other than confirming matching frame and engine numbers. Speaking of the engine, it should be a Bultaco 244-cc water-cooled two-stroke single-cylinder, backed by a six-speed manual transmission. We have to assume it runs but don’t know anything else about it from the seller’s incredibly short listing. There’s some paint lifting from the left side of the lower faring, but it looks good otherwise. Have any of you owned a Bultaco?
Cool 😎
Note the four leading shoe front drum brake.
A beautifull device, soon to be eclipsed by discs, but the Acme of drum brakedom.
With brass screen on the air inlets.
That is not the original brake, probably and Oldani or similar.
Very cool …bul-taco is an acquired taste
Actually, they are quite good- you just need to use enough salsa. Cheese helps too.
They’re Spanish, not Mexican. Sénior Bulto was the founder.
They also made motocross bikes, and Jim Pomeroy was the first American to win in the European Grand Prix’, and he did so on a Bultaco.
Yes I have three having this is like having the holy grail for bultacos road racers
I remember when Bultacos were a rather common sight in the 70s, but they were all enduros or motocrossers. This is the first road racer I’ve seen. And they weren’t the only Spanish makes. You would often see Montessa and Ossa running the trails too. They all broke often, but they were also easy to repair.
I have owned a bunch of Bultacos. The Bultaco Astro waa a great flattrack motorcycle. Alpine waa a good trail bike. The shifter and brake are on the opposite side of American motorcycles.
Yes I have three having this is like having the holy grail for bultacos road racers
I raced Motocross in Montana on a 360 Pursang. I also used to drag race One-eighth mile against muscle cars. Good and fast they were.
Back in the 60s Bultaco was a formidable challenge for the competition. I wasn’t all that well read in Grand Prix racing other than watch Mike Hailwood wear through the sides of his boots and never skin a toe. And he was racing for Honda at the time.
The only Bultacos that made it out west were the dirt bikes. Mostly Pursang 250s but there were a small contingent of us who let it all hang out and went for the 360 Banditos.
The Pursangs and Banditos held up pretty well against the other European makes, until Maico brought out the Monoshock rear suspension, which, as we all know, got copied ad-nauseum by the Rising Sun.
Back to this one, I used to read Cycle World which featured Grand Prix racing a lot. I used to see Bultaco in the road racing lineups but it seemed to maintain a high ranking but I never saw anything spectacular. But then, I was more into Flat Track or Motocross.
Nice bike just the same…
I have owned over a dozen Bultacos, presently have seven including a TS (Tralla Sport) the predecessor of the TSS. And yes, it is in my living room. While mostly known for dirt bikes and flat track racers, Bultaco had a rich history of street bikes and road racers. Bultaco won at the Isle of Man, won GP championships, and innumerable production and GP races at the national and international level. Despite limited resources, Bultaco always fought beyond its weight class in every form of competition. The TS and TSS were prime examples of this, compiling impressive resumes on the back of a simple, single cylinder, piston port motor.
I’d put an 80 tooth sprocket on it and head for the hills. $23k? No hill for a climber.
Moronic.
as a youngster growing up, some older guys had Bul tacos in motocross style.
This is the first road racer I have seen
Back in the mid ’60s I had a Bultaco Metralla, a 200cc road bike, Handled great, was quick, and fond of vibrating bits off. Wish I’d kept it; 20 horse, 213 lb. 2 stroke.
I also had a Metralla, a 250. Like you say, fast, handled like a racer, a great light road bike.
This is beautiful.
Metrella, that’s a model I only saw once. Heard of them but most buyers out west preferred the enduro “Matador” if they still wanted lights and horn.
I was impressed with their road race results and the opportunity opened for me to buy one. Performance-wise nothing with even twice the displacement could touch it.
Great comments, folks! I’m glad to see that quite a few have had experience with these bikes, or at least the Bultaco brand. I have yet to own one and at $23k, it’s not in my immediate future.
It seems to me that Bultaco got immersed into Trials bikes when it released the Sherpa T. I remember a guy from Billings, and another from Missoula (?) that could really put on a show. Now I find Trials to really be a form of art…
Since you asked Scotty, I have owned four Bultacos. And far from being “unreliable” they work just fine IF you read the manual and maintain them as directed.
And while most of us of a certain age remember the motocross and flat track bikes, they were extremely successful in other areas, winning multiple gold medals in the ISDT, world championships in trials, Grand Prix road races, Grand National short tracks, desert races, and Motocross Grand Prixs. They built popular road and trail bikes as well.
Until oceans of Japanese Yen destroyed them in the late ‘70’s, any of the small European brands were the weapon of choice for serious racers.
The water cooled ones are extremely rare. They were outlawed by AMA.Couldn’t have something that might beat a sidevalve HD then……
The small shop that I took my Yamaha 750 to for servicing must have been a Bultaco dealer at some point. They still had the plastic signage on a pole out front – it was lighted at some point.
Wish now that I took photos of it because that place is now long gone.
On one trip to that place, I spotted 2 brand new late-70s Triumphs. Not sure of the model since I wasn’t into them. They must have been almost 10 years old by that time.
The 250 racer put out 39 bhp in 1968 and there was a 125 version with 29 bhp output. World GP champ Barry Sheene started his career on Bultaco before switching to Suzuki in 1969. If he’d stayed with Bultaco maybe they’d have gone on to be bigger!
I never had a road Bultaco; I did have a 370 Pursang crosser for a while, though. Equal measures exciting and give you the fear.