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The MK VIII 360 Pursang was a fantastic-performing MX bike, but getting to the finish line was a different story.
By Kent Taylor
If you really like wrenching on motorcycles, like maybe 10 times as much as you like riding them, then drop down into a nearby wormhole and head back to 1975, where One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest is at the theatre, Starsky and Hutch are taking their Ford Gran Torino over some sweet jumps and The Captain and Tenille vow that “Love Will Keep Us Together.” Once you’ve arrived, jump in your Chevy Van (bypassing all long-legged, tanned girls hitchin’ a ride) and head straight to your Bultaco dealer to check out the new MK VIII 360 Pursang.
However, according to Cycle News’ John Huetter, it’s going to take a lot more than love to keep your maintenance-hungry Bultaco together. In the April 22, 1975, issue, Huetter states that “a generally accepted ratio for Grand Prix bikes is 10 hours of preparation for every hour of competition time.” Ten hours of repair and prep for one hour of racing! Is any motocross bike worth such a lopsided ratio of work to pleasure?
This particular look at the new 360 was less a test of the motorcycle and more an evaluation of you, the rider. The production bike, which was apparently very similar to the model ridden by Bultaco star Bengt Aberg to a victory in the 1974 Motocross des Nations, was obviously up to the task of winning local MX. Features included a chrome-moly frame, a staggering seven inches of travel at the rear and a 362cc powerplant that pumped out 40 horsepower. Add in some extra niceties like Pirelli tires, a Twin Air foam filter and something called “frangible fiberglass fenders.” This racer came in at a wispy 209 pounds, just three pounds over the FIM minimum weight.
Aberg, Jim Pomeroy, Kenny Zahrt and others were racing and winning on Bultacos. Take a look at yourself in the highly polished engine cases and ask yourself not what your Bultaco can do for you—ask what you can do on your Bultaco.
The lengthy list of admonitions from Huetter makes it clear that the burden is on you, the rider, to get the job done. “The 360 Pursang is a specific sort of weapon,” he wrote, “and demands full attention whenever it is in motion.” There is also no room for lazy riding. “You must concentrate on proper weight transfer when changing directions. You must stand up, going faster than ever before, down bumpy straights, and let the machine work under you. If you don’t do it right on an LTR (long travel rear suspension), you will fall down.”
Cycle News made sure the reader was fully aware that motocross bikes are made to go fast, stating, “If you go slowly, the feeling of being too high for effective weight transfer or cornering confidence returns. The suspension feels hard. The front-end hunts. The solution is basic: don’t ride it slowly. If you want to ride it slowly, you should not have paid $1600 for this two-wheeled weapon in the first place.”
Bultaco faithfuls have kept the brand going strong. Take in any vintage MX event and you will see the famous “thumbs up” logo popping up around the pit area. Jeff Graber, from Omaha, Nebraska, has been on board Bultacos of all sizes for more than 50 years.
“My first Bul was a 1972 Pursang 125. I cut my teeth on a ’71 Yamaha AT-1 MX and this Spanish mount was quite a revelation—faster, quicker, and it handled much differently than the Yamaha,” he remembers.
“The Bultaco was quite interchangeable, as most Euro bikes seemed to be in those days. In late ’73, we swapped out the top end and changed it from a 125 to a 250. Later, I bought a Mark VIII—handled better than anything else I had ridden. Cornering on a rail!”
The famed Spanish marque, like its German-born competitor Maico, was a popular choice for motocross racers throughout the 1970s. Like Maico, Bultaco riders won races but claimed few major championships in either the Grand Prix or AMA competition. Riders like Aberg, Pomeroy and Zahrt, along with the original motocross professor, Gary Bailey, were all threats on racetracks throughout the decade but could never string together the kind of consistent finishes needed to grab titles. Sadly, mechanical issues would often negate good rides by some of these talented racers.
The CN staff of 50 years ago had no crystal ball, so they could not have known that the end of the road was just eight years away for the Bultaco motorcycle company. But they did offer one bold prediction. Stand up! Pay attention! Concentrate! “If you can coordinate these things,” they wrote, “then you will probably think that the 360 Mk VIII Pursang is The Answer. And you will probably be right. You will win.” CN
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