While cleaning out some old document folders on my computer, I stumbled onto my first conceptual visualization for a Bultaco 360 road bike. I created this around 1992 or 1993.
Pretty bitchin’, huh?
I stitched the front end and bodywork from a 1974 Mototrans Ducati Vento 350 into a Model 121 (1974-ish) Pursang 360. I did do a few specific tweaks, including extending the seat and shortening the back of the fuel tank, but fairly minor stuff overall.
Okay, so it isn’t too impressive today. But It simply reflects the technological limitations of pre-Internet home computers of that era. I used images I scanned from a book with a grayscale Logitech ScanMan half-page roller scanner. Trust me, this was a huge step up from tracing vellum or freehand pencil drawings on graph paper.
Looking at it now, I found myself wishing it wasn’t so blurry, jaggy, and muddled. I uploaded the image file to ChatGPT and asked it to enhance and interpolate. A few spots are understandably wonky, but on the whole it’s an attractive and suitable illustration of the concept.
It occurred to me that I have access to much better versions of the specific factory press photos I originally used. I could easily recreate my image from scratch at a higher resolution:
Here it is, a less pixelated version of my original, early ‘90s vision of a custom Bultaco roadster:
Only a couple years later, circa 1996, I had already moved on, embracing the idea of Suzuki “cross-star” cast wheels. In many aspects, though Version #2 was both less attractive and less in keeping with the overall aesthetic I ultimately pursued with Bultakenstein.
All this is largely moot, of course. When I finally started building the bike, the availability of affordable parts and fabrication practicality influenced my choices at least as much as any preconceived vision from a decade and a half earlier.