Trail Rider Magazine

42 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com Vintage Feature Vintage Feature 1976 Puch "Twin Carb" 1976 Puch "Twin Carb" By Kurt Flachbart By Kurt Flachbart This month's vintage feature is one of our treasures- in the collec on and about as close to a unicorn as you'll probably ever find in this magazine. As with a handful of other cool old rides we've featured in the past, this 1976 Puch Twin Carb belonged to my good buddy Howie. With an eye for collectable motorcycles like no other, Howie could see the value in rare bikes long before they were considered rare or collectable. This par cular bike was the cream of the crop. Unlike the vast majority of motocross bikes of the '70s, the Puch MC250 is as close to a full-on, factory works bike ever offered to the public. For those unaware, Puch (pronounced pook) was founded in 1899 by Johann Puch in the town of Steyr, Austria. As with many early motorcycle companies (such as KTM), Puch began as a bicycle and moped manufacturer. During World War II, Puch played a significant role in the war effort by providing military supplies and manufacturing. A er the war, there was a huge demand for inexpensive cars and mo- torcycles. Puch filled this need with several models, along with a small 2-stroke vehicle similar to the Fiat 500. During the 60s, Puch built small-bore 2-stroke street bikes marketed by Sears and Roebuck under the Allstate brand. The engine design was par cu- larly unique with two individual bores/two pistons within a single cylinder, a split single 2-stroke. In the 60s, Puch entered the growing off-road motorcycle market with a 125cc MX bike. For the 1970 season, Puch hired Harry Everts of Belgium (father of 10- me world champion Stephan Everts) to race Southern California events. Although this raised brand aware- ness for Puch, the company was primarily recognized for its Allstate brand, sold through Sears, and was not considered a serious firm. For the 1974 season, Puch decided to take the bull by the horns and hired Everts once again to cam- paign the en re 250 Grand Prix season. At the me, Puch didn't have anything near capable, and so he designed a new, purpose-built motocrosser manufac- tured en rely in-house. Everts' results were impres- sive, earning Puch a third overall in the champion- ship series. Coming off the high of a successful '74 season, Puch pulled out all the stops by building a machine with an engine design that's unique even to this very day. Constructed of sand-cast magnesium cases and en rely hand finished, the Puch "Twin Carb" was as trick as it gets, with two individual Bing carbure- tors feeding the single cylinder 2-stroke. One carb is mounted in the tradi onal piston port configura on; the other feeds into a rotary valve directly into the

• Cover