OLD BIKE AUSTRALASIA: 71information or photos of my bike. Tommy sent me
a signed photo of his bike racing in the TT, Bill Smith
confirmed that my bike is indeed one of the three
1967 IOM 250cc Production TT bikes.
My plans to restore the bike were sidelined in
2003 when I took up racing VMX in the NSW HEAVEN
series, and racing kept me busy for the next few
years until my body cried enough! I obtained all the
genuine parts and information I needed to fully
restore the bike as it was raced at the 1967 IOM TT.
I started the restoration in earnest in mid-2016 so
the bike could be finished by June 2017 – the 50th
anniversary of its 1967 IOM success. The first task
was to make a new expansion chamber (using
standard Metralla race kit specs), modified to tuck in
under the engine as per photos of the original bike.
I made a new tank strap, race stand, rear sprocket
cover, tacho mount, front tank mounting bracket and
fixed the original steel race kit seat base, made a
cushion and had it professionally covered with black
leather – rough side outwards. The frame, swing
arm, triple clamps, rear brake torque arm, headlight
shell and foot brake lever were stripped down, bead
blasted and painted gloss black (one coat of rust
proof enamel straight onto the bare steel, as per the
original). The wheels were stripped down, the steel
spokes were cleaned up and re-zinc plated (the
original finish), the hubs bead blasted, polished and
the ribs around the outside painted satin black. The
original nickel plated brass spoke nipples were still
good so I re-used them. New wheel bearings and
seals were fitted. A pair of old Dunlop “triangular”
race tyres were fitted as these were used in the TT,
a 2.75 x 18 front and a 300 x 18 rear. These are for
display only, as I plan to build a spare pair of wheels
fitted with modern tyres so I can safely ride the bike
on the street. Meanwhile I had all the chroming and
zinc plating done and restored the front forks, fitting
new fork oil seals and valves in the damper rods and
refilling the forks with 85cc of ~30 weight hydraulic
oil. The Girling shocks were rebuilt and filled with 5
weight fork oil, they now work perfectly.
BULTACO METRALLA MK2 TT
“A pair of old Dunlop ‘triangular’
race tyres were fitted as these
were used in the TT...”
Tacho drive is taken
from left side crank.Original-spec Amal Monoblock
carb with its rubber cap.The “efficient
exhaust system”.