Remember the great man has been seen riding a right side shifting Bultaco. J
I rode a right shift Bultaco a while back too.
Have ridden a few Euro's of late.
Jerrys Bulty impressed me with it's turning ability and torquey engine. Castella can make peaky bikes seem really bad because it is so tight so I was surprised an MXer had good torque.
Only problem with it was every time you put the brake on it started revving more and when I changed down a gear it stopped completely
Did a lap on an SWM and a CanAm at Denman Vinduro didn't like the Canam that much, it was a bit too grunty, liked the SWM but it was a bit too peaky. If you could find a motor between the 2 in the SWM it would be the Goldilocks bike.
Rode a CanAm at Tallarook last year, It was the same model that I rode at Denman (I don't think it was the same bike) and it really impressed me. The bike looks ugly as with it's square lines in the sidecovers, tank & headlight but it turned really good and the motor felt absolutely awesome.
And then their was the Ossa at Harrow last year. It felt a bit gumby on the MX track on the Saturday, the gearbox felt a bit clunky and I hit a few neutrals (oops, hope Paul doesn't read that) but on the greasy trails on the Sunday it was right at home. The non primary kick start was a pain but i can see why these bikes were popular back then.
The BMW I have to say was a disappointment though.
It felt and behaved like a cheap Japanese trail bike