1975 Bultaco Alpina 350 - 6-Page Vintage Motorcycle Road Test Article

Description

1975 Bultaco Alpina 350 - 6-Page Vintage Motorcycle Road Test Article
Original, vintage magazine article
Page Size: Approx 8" x 11" (21 cm x 28 cm) each page
Condition: Good
■ BULTACO’S ALPINA MODELS
are peculiar in a way, peculiar
because they are Bultacos. If that
sounds like a strange statement, let
us explain. Senor Bulto is in the
habit of building motorcycles for a
very specific purpose: like trials,
motocross or enduros. The ma-
chines are designed precisely for
that use.. .nothing else. This is
where the Alpina (affectionately
called the “Alp” by the hard-core Bultaco freaks), differs.
The Alp is one of those motorcycles that can be put to
several tasks, doing each with varying degrees of splendor. If
you can go back a few years and remember the very first
Alpinas, you'll recall how that wasn’t quite the case then. The
first models were really nothing more than Sherpa T trials
machines with larger tanks, seats and lights installed. They
weren’t bad motorcycles, just limited in what they could do
and not nearly what the Alps have grown into today.
At one time a buyer had a choice between four different
displacements if he or she were looking at an Alp; that
choice has now been narrowed to two, the 250 and 350. It’s
been more than two years since a 350 Alpina test has appeared
on these pages; since that time the bike has grown from 326 to
348cc. Now that it’s a genuine 350, we wanted to see what
two years of development has done to one of our favorite
off-road motorcycles.
Bultaco has made several frame changes since the bike’s
inception and they haven’t waivered from the tradition this
time around. The 1975 tubing is now full chrome moly, and
the engine’s location in the frame is one inch farther back than
last year. They also lengthened the swinging arm—which is also
chrome moly—an extra inch behind the lower shock mount,
changing the axle location. This, coupled with somewhat
revised five-way adjustable Betor rear shocks, adds up to
roughly 4.75 in. of rear suspension travel. This isn’t too
shabby considering that the Alpina’s rear suspension is
considered rather conventional.
The engine position change and longer swinging arm also
add much to high-speed stability and straight-line tracking, an...
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