OzVMX Forum

Clubroom => Twinshock Trials => Topic started by: maicomc490t on February 12, 2009, 11:24:38 AM

Title: M49 Sherpa
Post by: maicomc490t on February 12, 2009, 11:24:38 AM

This is my first post in the feet up section but hopefully not the last.

I have just won what looks to be the making of a good M49 Sherpa on evilbay # 280309806604 and will need some guidance on what I hope will be a fun mount for some plonking. When I was a kid I worked for a bike shop in Concord NSW called The Cycle Spot and bought a new TY250A still in the crate and have also owned an MAR, KT's and one of the most original TL250's I have ever seen and used to admire the shiny Bully's at the old Frasers shop run by cranky Jack Davies so the wheel is turning full circle, lol!!!

If any Bultaco guys can provide some help it would be appreciated as I want to get the bike back to some semblance of what it looked like from new but have it as a rider too.

Cheers  :D

Dave Mac

Title: Re: M49 Sherpa
Post by: David Lahey on February 12, 2009, 08:38:58 PM

Dave
I restored an early M49 a couple of years ago with the help of a couple of other people doing the same at the time. One of these guys (Davd Friesen from the US) has a web page devoted to that model Sherpa T, including on his resto of a M49. The other guy (Patrick Frei from Switzerland) produced a web page showing his restoration of the M49 his Dad rode at a high level in the late 1960s.
Bultaco changed the M49 a fair bit from the first series in 1968 to the third series in late 1971. They even sold a kit to convert late model M49s into the next Sherpa T in the series, the M80. I'm sure you will work out where your M49 fits in soon enough.
They are a very historically relevant model Sherpa T because it was the first trials bike in the world that sold in very high volumes. It is the third model Sherpa T and some people consider it the best-looking Sherpa T.
Most of my trials bikes are from the 1970s because that is my era, and I was always intrigued as to why the OSSA MAR was so much in demand when it first came out in 1972, if the Bultaco M49 was as good as they were made out to be. That led me to restore one of each to be able to compare them back to back, and it has been quite a learning experience along the way.
Anyway, I will help you as much as I can with you M49, and here is the web address of one of the bikes I wrote of earlier.
http://web.mac.com/davefriesen/Site/Bultaco_Blog/Bultaco_Blog.html
I'm still looking for the other web address
David

Title: Re: M49 Sherpa
Post by: David Lahey on February 12, 2009, 08:45:24 PM

I've just looked at the eBay photos and it is one of the third series M49 from about 1971. It looks a lot better than what mine looked like when I got it.

Title: Re: M49 Sherpa
Post by: David Lahey on February 12, 2009, 10:31:51 PM

Here is a photo of Patrick's Dad's M49. It is a series one like mine

Title: Re: M49 Sherpa
Post by: David Lahey on February 12, 2009, 10:35:39 PM

And here is one of mine

Title: Re: M49 Sherpa
Post by: David Lahey on February 12, 2009, 11:10:32 PM

And one of the other side

Title: Re: M49 Sherpa
Post by: JC on February 13, 2009, 09:40:30 AM

Dave, so what did you conclude when you compared the SherpaT & MAR?

Title: Re: M49 Sherpa
Post by: maicomc490t on February 13, 2009, 10:38:19 AM

Hi Dave,

Thanks so much for the info and pics - I'll PM you over the weekend.

I'll be interested to hear of the T and MAR comparo too

Cheers

Dave Mac

Title: Re: M49 Sherpa
Post by: David Lahey on February 13, 2009, 07:11:47 PM

I'm having a think about what I learned about the MAR and the M49 ridden back to back.
I'll write something this weekend - probably after the mayhem of my 10 YO daughter's birthday party tomorrow.