Basket Cases

[Greg Harding]

Hi Everyone,

Just letting you all know that I am too tired now but I will edit this post tomorrow with some answers.

In just over 24hours, WE HAVE FILLED A PAGE! Edit! Did I mention that I was tired!

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[brent j]

I rode the "Squirmish yesterday for about two hours. My memories of RL250's are from 40+ years ago.
This turns better than I remember, it's easy to turn onto the steering stops with little or no counter body movement.
This is light in the front but not as light as I remember them to be. It climbs really well but gets knocked off line on loose rocky climbs. I think this is a matter of body position as my normal ride is a KTM350 Freeride with magic cloud suspension. The FR carries a lot more weight over the front so my body position needs adapting.
I had two pairs of shocks of different lengths so started put with the shorter ones first. The steering was a little heavy and tended to track of easily. I changed to the longer ones and even though they have no damping the bike is noticeably better.
Overall I'm very happy with it. There's still a way to go, cartridge emulators in the forks and a decent set of shocks.

My mate who had the RL that I put a lot of time on years ago ended up buying a Montessa 348 Cota. I'd gotten used to the RL and found it stable and easy to ride, comfortable even. The Cota simply felt wrong but it would turn when you wanted it to regardless of what you were riding over. The squirmish feels a bit odd but it goes where I point the front wheel.

[Greg Harding]

Hi Everyone,

Love your work Brent, you seem to have the right mix of used patina and rider friendly rideability!

After thinking about this all day and being concerned that this looks like I am bragging (which is not really me) about my latest aquisitions, I have not come up with a solution. So I have decided to share on here by laying everything on the table as it were because I still think it is the best way to stimulate swaps.

So here goes, I have known about these bikes sitting dormant in dry storage for about 10 years and I realized a long time ago that 3 things are important :
1) You need to ask the right person.
2) You need to ask the right question.
3) It needs to be at the right time.
If any of these are not right then it won't work!
When someone says: If you bring me an Anvil and a Forge then you can have the Shera "T", who am I to argue? Just for you Mark, they were fertile eggs that are being kept warm at the moment to bring in new blood lines.

So thank you for the interest and JC1 was probably the closest to being absolutely right with: It is a Bitza! Not sure how it came to be but a lot can happen in 40 odd years. 182 250 frame with 159 350 motor :

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These other parts came from the same gentleman but we're not part of the swap deal and the tanks are NOT fibreglass:

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The frame on the left has matching numbers to the 159 motor in the bike. The frame on the right has a matching 158 motor in the other photo. As to what happened to the 182 00428 motor, I don't know? If you have it let me know as I think they should be reunited?
Likewise, if you have a rolling frame or frame 125, 158, 159 or 198 then I may have your motor or cases and we need to talk. Sorry Graham, there is no 199B motor.

Oh yes, the FOX had nothing to do with any deals, I was just puting it out there that FOXES are not welcome at my place! A fair bit of time went into building a FOX trap but before I was finished, it turned up dead on my front lawn. Not sure how but I had nothing to do with it's demise except burying it in the garden where we grow grass for the chooks, kind of fitting I thought? Maybe this is what happened:

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[Bully fanatic]

Cool Greg. Although I have to say Oh Poo!!!!!. I am after a 159 or any other later head for a 350 Sherpa T though if anyone has one laying around in their shed. I plan on making a 340cc engine out of parts I have. It will only be a 5 speed though with a 158 gearbox so it won`t have the lower gear ratios. It will have heaps of grunt though!

[David Lahey]

Cool Greg. Although I have to say Oh Poo!!!!!. I am after a 159 or any other later head for a 350 Sherpa T though if anyone has one laying around in their shed. I plan on making a 340cc engine out of parts I have. It will only be a 5 speed though with a 158 gearbox so it won`t have the lower gear ratios. It will have heaps of grunt though!

Graham have I looked for that head for you before? I've got some large bore heads but don't know how to tell if they are the type you are after. The first one I looked at tonight would suit a bore of about 84mm and has cut away fins and six holes and is not stamped with a model number. It is to fit a protruding sleeve cylinder. There are others but I need to know what I'm looking for

[JC1]

I have a spare big-bore Sherpa/Alpina head too that I'm not sure what it was off. I posted it on here somewhere to see if we could identify it so I shall have a look for it.

Edit, I just checked on here and found it (p206/207) and we decided it was a 183 head

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=4785&p=42083#p42083

If that is any use Graham

[Bully fanatic]

Hi David. No you haven`t looked for a head before for me but JC1 has one I can use. A 183 head which will go on a 159 barrel perfectly. JC1 I have sent you a PM Thanks to you both.

[Bully fanatic]

I needed an eight hole head David.

[Greg Harding]

Hi Everyone,

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.

Graham, can I add to your list with BLUE Options?

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[JC1]

Blue '76/77/78 Alpinas. I didn't know they existed in this colour either

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https://www.milanuncios.com/motos-clasi ... 858595.htm

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