Bultaco 250 TSS Mk2
With Phil Aynsley
In contrast to the success of the Bultaco 50cc TTS Mk 2, covered in a previous column, the company’s efforts in producing a 250 cc racer was a disaster!
Built at the direct request of Angel Nieto, who wanted to try his hand in the 250cc class after many successful years on 50s and 125s, only this sole machine was constructed.
The same designer duo of Jan Theil and Martin Milwaat that had been responsible for Bultaco’s championship winning 50 as well as the 125 Minarelli/Garelli that followed were employed – giving you some idea of Nieto’s clout!
Their brief was for a 250 that was the size of a 125 and the resultant 250 TSS Mk2 was only 30mm taller and 40mm wider and longer than the company’s 125 twin. It was specifically tailored to Nieto’s diminutive stature.
The water-cooled parallel twin has is cylinders inclined at a 40º angle and has a 54 x 54.5 mm bore by stroke. The motor weighs 32 kg without the 34 mm Mikuni carburettors. Output was 68 hp at 12,500 rpm (est. at the gearbox), with a dry weight of 96 kg and the wheelbase was 1320 mm.
Nieto only rode the Bultaco 250 bike once at a GP event, the ’78 Italian GP at Mugello, the fourth round of the year. The bike’s development had run late and as a result arrived without the motor having been bench tested and without the fairing which was still being tested in the wind tunnel. Oil leaks and carburettor problems meant that he did not qualify.
After testing the bike once more at Calafat, where it proved to be quite slow, Nieto changed his mind about the 250 class and the bike was put to one side back at the factory, which was then in its final months of operation. However there was some activity several years later, in 1981, and it was then that the Uruguayan distributor and rider Gastón Biscia found it sitting in a corner.
The new Bultaco company managers said he could do what he wanted with it so he prepared it and entered the second round of the Spanish Championship at the La LÃnea street circuit. After engine problems he rebuilt it and turned up next month at Jarama. During practice however the gearbox locked up resulting in his death in the crash.
The sixth gear had been installed incorrectly. The bike caught fire and appeared badly damaged – however the Gali brothers (who were Bultaco race team mechanics) rebuilt the bike for Biscia’s widow, who kept it for 15 years before selling it to the current owner. He in turn had the Gali brothers return the bike to track ready condition in 2014 after having it on display for a number of years.
Amazingly the wooden spares box and all its contents have remained with the bike over the years.
