Basket Cases

[Greg Harding]

Hi Everyone,

Thank you to all for the wonderful posts as I have been up to other things with a few changes at play lately.

David and John, is that a steel tank Alpina in the background of the last photo?

John and Brent, your photos are really interesting with my personal favorite being the flop on lock bike. As backwards as it may sound, he could make an improvement on what he has by fitting the triple clamps in backwards and then fitting the forks the right way round ??? Maybe he normally works on Trikes and we all know how successful they are?
This must be the way to steer them or maybe it predates impending DOOM?

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As for frame gussets, it always amuses me how blase people are about chain tension as it is simple on a twinshock bike to get exactly right. All you need to do is remove the shocks and lift the wheel to check for the point where the chain is the tightest and allow clearance. On a RL 250 with the chain too tight, it WILL snap the frame with the added pressure of aceleration! Then when the frame is broken, blase turns into overdoing a repair with spectacular and sometimes ridiculous repairs! Here is a photo of the Town Bike frame after I repaired it many years ago with someone waiting to borrow it:

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In other news, the TLAhhhhhhhhhhhh is now on display at Coffs Motosports:

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[JC1]

Yes its one of the late model Alpinas (M212/213) Greg but I thought they were still fibreglass tanks.

Good move with the TLaaaah doing PR for the cause

[Bully fanatic]

The Alpina in question is a M213. A 1977 350 one. The 250s were a green colour whereas the 350s were that red metallic. They were the last of the Alpinas. They are a fibreglass tank and sidecovers.

[David Lahey]

The Alpina in question is a M213. A 1977 350 one. The 250s were a green colour whereas the 350s were that red metallic. They were the last of the Alpinas. They are a fibreglass tank and sidecovers. :Bultaco: :Bultaco: :Bultaco:

Did the preceding model Alpinas have a steel tank in Australia? (Model 187/188).
I'm wondering what did they do in the UK when fibreglass tanks were banned in about 1973? I've only ever seen fibreglass tanks on 85/99, 115/116, 137/138 and 212/213 but I don't think I've ever seen a 187/188 in the flesh

[David Lahey]

Hi Everyone,

Thank you to all for the wonderful posts as I have been up to other things with a few changes at play lately.


As for frame gussets, it always amuses me how blase people are about chain tension as it is simple on a twinshock bike to get exactly right. All you need to do is remove the shocks and lift the wheel to check for the point where the chain is the tightest and allow clearance. On a RL 250 with the chain too tight, it WILL snap the frame with the added pressure of aceleration! Then when the frame is broken, blase turns into overdoing a repair with spectacular and sometimes ridiculous repairs! Here is a photo of the Town Bike frame after I repaired it many years ago with someone waiting to borrow it:

1598219965217.jpg

This photo and the story behind it reminded me of when I rode an Aussie titles for vintage motocross in the 1990s and there was a very charitable bloke who had brought along an oxy set and he spent most of the weekend welding up broken frames for people instead of riding his own bikes.
Someone told me that a contributing factor for why the RL frame had breakage issues was because it was Suzuki's first go at making a frame from Cr Mo steel and they didn't quite get the post-weld heat treatment right (or didn't even do post-weld heat treatment).
Up at the steering head I know they fitted extra gussets after the first production bikes broke there. The attachment for the steering head tube is like no other bike frame I've seen. I don't remember exactly but seem to recall that the frame tubes are not welded to the steering head tube at all but are welded to the side gussets which are welded to the steering head tube

[Bully fanatic]

David, I have only ever seen one M187 or M188 and it had a fibreglass tank. The English ones had an aluminium tank which the dealers or the importers had to out on them. In Motion have steel tanks for sale now to go on the last Alpinas. They are even painted.

[David Lahey]

https://www.inmotiontrials.com/product/ ... ank-steel/

Graham this listing reads as if there were steel tanks fitted to new M212 Alpinas somewhere in the world. I sure haven't seen a steel one in Australia so maybe the early Alpinas sold in the UK had the usual Homerlite aluminium tanks like the Sherpa Ts had and later model Alpinas in the UK had these steel tanks?

[Greg Harding]

Hi Everyone,

Has anyone else taken note on how many times comes up here, I am starting to think the Gently Gently Gently Gumbooted Gentleman has us all under a spell? Pretty sure David has succumbed a while ago and I have been showing symptoms, not that it is a bad thing, just an overview and paying attention!

The reason I asked about steel tanked Alpina was my 213 Alpina had a Shera "T" tank and seat and i got curious about what the original tank looked like. Also about 10 years ago I held a STEEL Alpina tank in my hands striped of paint and some surface rust. Being a Sheet metal Worker, I shouldn't be easily misled on steel tanks so they do exist but sorry no photos today. The 212 theory in England does hold water and even petrol in this case when you remember the story about the first model Norton having a fireball fiberglass tank effectively banning fiberglass tanks in the UK. Perhaps not limited to 212 because there was a 213 in the shed where I handled the STEEL Alpina tank.

[Bully fanatic]

I have done some checking and it does look like the M212 and the M213s had steel tanks in the UK. Everywhere else in the world looks like they all had the fibreglass tanks. Greg there is a reason that won the first 5 World Championships with three different riders!

[David Lahey]

Hi Everyone,
Has anyone else taken note on how many times :Bultaco: :Bultaco: :Bultaco: comes up here, I am starting to think the Gently Gently Gently Gumbooted Gentleman has us all under a spell? Pretty sure David has succumbed a while ago and I have been showing symptoms, not that it is a bad thing, just an overview and paying attention.

Yes I'm entranced with . Can't blame Graham though. It was riding Russell Duncan's model 213 Frontera 370 in a 6 hour Pony Express in 1978 that started it for me. It was standard except for the aftermarket S&W shocks and I fell in love with them too.
I became a bit of a bike slut though, after riding so many other amazing bikes over the years. There sure are lots of great bikes out there. There's even some s I love