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Bultaco Motorcycles made two-stroke motorcycles influenced from their racing days ceased production in 1983. They made some excellent motorcycles for the on-road and offroad community.

Today Bultaco remains partly alive with electric motorcycles made in Catalonia right where the original factory remains. This is in conjunction with Sherco and Piaggio.

Bultaco Motorcycles History

Bultaco was created by Francesc Bultó who was the director of a similar company called Montesa. He left this company to create Bultaco after a disagreement with the original founder. Essentially, the original founder wanted to withdraw from racing where as Francesc had put thousands of hours of work into developing the racing side of Montesa.

Soon enough, Bultaco had their own racing division and retail arm selling 2 stroke motorcycles. While they expected to sell many throughout Europe, it was actually the United States who become their biggest customer base. The main exported model was the Pursang which had excellent handling and was the motorcycle of choice for AMA Grand National champions. This bike was essentially made for winning MX short-circuit championships.

Unfortunately, production closed after more than 20 years of production. A false-reopening in the 1980’s did lead to more sales though the market unrest and global economy didn’t eventuate to more sales, with a final closing of 1983. Since then, no petrol-driven Bultaco has been produced, though they are popular with old-time enthusiasts.

Bultaco Today

Today Bultaco only produces electric motorcycles and highly powerful eBikes. These are one of the best electric motorcycles you can buy with a seriously powerful engine designed to put a smile on your face.

Have they re-entered the market with a bang? Absolutely. Not only do they produce incredibly powerful offroad weapons, but their legally compliant road-legal bicycles are hugely popular and sell out quite quickly. As of this time of publishing, they are actually out of stock.

Enthusiats are looking forward to seeing a trials based version for those looking for a lighter version without the gas. Yet their badaccess electric offroad weapons are their main focus where torque just about unlimited.

Going Forward

It’s clear that Bultaco has bounced back big. They’ve taken their reputation of years-gone-by of helping motocross professionals win championships, and towards outstanding performance for the dirt bike crew looking to find more areas in which to explore.

Can you take these in national forests? Perhaps. While Bultaco electric bikes are in the category of dirt bikes, their silent nature allows riders to explore national forests without detection from local authorities.

We appreciate Bultaco taking the lead with modern technology and look forward to seeing more developments in this space. If the past is anything to go by, we anticipate a stiff competitor to KTM’s Freeride within the next few years.

Chinese dirt bikes are starting to really flood the market, and yet some people are questioning if they are any good.

Should you buy one? Are they reliable? Can you get parts? All good questions to ask.

Chinese dirt bikes are considered to be second-rate versions of their Japanese and European counterparts. Parts are harder to source and with limited dealerships stocking Chinese-made dirt bikes, they are only valuable for those who are on tight budgets to buy a new motorcycle. Even then, their engines don’t quite have the power or reliability as proven MX and trail bikes.

Buying one does seem like a great proposition. After all, you can pick one up new for often less the price of a used (yet well maintained) KTM or Yamaha of the same engine size.

The Value of Chinese Dirt Bikes

Where such dirt bikes are winning are those who demand new motorcycles, yet can’t afford the pricing. Even something reasonable from Honda or Suzuki is still going to set back individuals $7,000 for a decent trail bike. For the MX rider, add in a couple of thousand.

What makes them better is merely the price. Parts availability? More difficult. Power on tap? Reduced. Sound? Mild.

Yet Chinese bikes are improving in their build quality often. In fact, most of their customers have very few complaints and warranties are quite generous. While the ‘Made in China’ feelings do come across dirt bike riders, there isn’t generally an issue here.

If riders do save themselves a few bucks on the new price, this means they can spend more on quality riding gear. Likewise, that’s a lot of tanks of gas before they need to call it a day.

For parents trying to get their kids into dirt bikes on the cheap, then Chinese models represent great value. After all, the kids are likely to outgrow their motorcycles within a couple of years and this constant upgrading can be an expensive process.

As for racing, they’re not the type of bike that will win any medals yet. The industry is still developing and the technology and budgets for engine enhancements belong with the existing brands.

Popular Models

There are popular models out there and some you can even buy on Amazon which is surprising. They’ll actually arrive in a small crate which you unbox and then you’ll just need to add fuel, oil and throw on your riding gear.

Currently, the best brands are:

1. Zongshen
2. GPX
3. CSC
4. TAO
5. Apollo
6. Razor
7. XTremepowerUS
8. Coolster

These are mostly kids dirt bikes which are Made in China which come in numerous variants from 50cc to 125cc and even some 250cc models. That said, there is a rise in dual-sport and adventure motorcycles coming from China.

Yep – you’re probably going to be quite surprised at the power of a Chinese dirt bike, but don’t expect it to win any time trials or races yet. That’s reserved for the electric equilavents and the Japanese/Euro contenders.

Also, consider that these bikes generally don’t come with eStart (and so you’ll have to spend time kick-starting your dirt bike) but with the price you pay, you shouldn’t expect too much. Also, the quality just isn’t there nor is there any proper MX inspiration. Those that make Chinese dirt bikes generally aren’t those who actually ride these. They are simply built to a price to serve a segment of the market who wants to get into the sport, yet can’t afford to.

Final thoughts

For a very long time, the bulk of the parts and riding gear has actually come from China. If you’re against China, then unfortunately you’ve actually been using their gear for most of your rides. Think of your jersey, gloves, kick stand, handlebar grips and even the tank.

Now – China has realized that they could build the dirt bikes themselves and offer them at a fraction of the price of Japanese and Euro equilavents. However, their Research and Developing is lacking and with little inspiration given that the manufacturers don’t really ride bikes, and instead copy others.

Yet we’re excited to see the development of the Chinese motorcycling industry over this decade. If they built a bike that was both excellent to ride and at an affordable price point, then consider ourselves converted.

The Honda XR650R is a legendary dirt bike that’s worthy of any dual-sport or dirt bike enthusiast consideration.

After all, it lends itself to dirt bike riding as it does to adventure riding. I mean – just look at that headlight!

XR650R Review

Firstly – this bike rips along! These are bikes which are damn hard to source in the used market given the reputation that they built for themselves. It makes us wonder why Honda ever stopped the production of the XR650.

This bike is known as a Mexican superhero due to its association with the Baja 1000 having won the 1999 race despite Kawasaki holding the title for 9 years. The invention of the XR650 was all because of one person in Honda’s new bike development team called Bruce Ogilvie. For years he was pitching this concept to his bosses until they eventually listened. It didn’t go easy as there was already a big bore XR in the lineup, but it was nowhere near what Bruce had foreseen.

The bike has earned not only a reputation as a powerful beast but one that is very reliable. They almost never broke down and even today, you’ll find them on Craigslist and Gumtree. It’s truly a legacy bike and often held by those who just don’t want to give up the keys to this mastercraft.

This is closer to a dakar-inspired race bike rather than MX super hero. You’ll find it on enduro tracks with a lot of top-end power as opposed to a twichy throttle in low gears. The bike appears to go…and go…and go!

Yet it appears to be more of an adventure or dual sport bike as opposed to a bike that you can throw around on the local trails. Set up some panniers and see the world behind the handlebars of this reliable demon.

Why Did It Stop Production?

For 7 years the XR650R was produced by Honda with massive fan-fare. After all, seeing it win the Baja 1000 after all those years held by Kawasaki was refreshing for the Honda fans. They wanted the bike for that element alone.

Given the rise in technology of the big bores, the XR650R became super-seeded by more powerful and robust engines of the same capacity, or often less. The Honda CRF450 Rally for instance for Ricky Brabec’s bike of choice to win the 2020 Dakar Rally.

While 20 years ago it would take a great capacity bike to accomplish such records, now the same can be done with 450cc dirt bikes which are merely tuned up. The same can be said with KTM as both Alex Doringer and Toby Price ride 450s which have come a long way.

Still Worth It?

Given that these bikes are more than 15 years now, their parts availability is becoming more limited. Instead, we see more potential in lighter and more powerful 450’s or even a 250.

If we had all the space in the garage to fill and simply wanted a bike to ‘see what it could do’, then the XR650R would be at the top of our list. Otherwise, we can expect many bikes on the market to be running original parts which are in need of replacement. This is both an expensive and time-consuming process, and we’d rather be out there riding!