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34 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com Vintage Feature Vintage Feature 1975 Bultaco 360 Frontera 1975 Bultaco 360 Frontera By Ted Guthrie By Ted Guthrie Bultaco Compañía Española de Motores S.A. was founded in 1958 by Mr. Francés Bulto and immedi- ately set about producing excep onal motorcycles for street use and for various forms of compe on. Early racing efforts focused on road racing, but Senor Bulto soon introduced a series of bikes for the off-road world, which eventually led to models such as the Sherpa T Trials, the Pursang Motocross- ers, and the Astro dirt-track bikes. Addi onally, the Spanish firm is very well known for its Enduro models, which include the Alpina, the Matador, and later, the Frontera. Each of these three Enduro models was quite dis- nc ve from the others. The Matador, for example, was well known for its torquey motor and durabil- ity, and is remembered for unique features such as a fully enclosed chain and two-piece "pivo ng" handlebars. Then there was the Alpina, which basically combined elements of both the Matador and the Sherpa T Trials bikes. Best suited for ght going, the Alpina excelled with its precise handling and also featured an excep onally torquey motor. Having enjoyed considerable success with both models, Bultaco in 1975 decided to take the evo- lu on of the Matador and Alpina a step further by introducing the Frontera. This new model was developed to be everything Bultaco's exis ng En- duro bikes were, but with a greater focus on seri- ous off-road compe on, par cularly ISDT Qual- ifiers. To accomplish this, Bultaco started with their Pursang Motocrosser's chassis and suspen- sion, detuned the MX bike's engine, added more flywheel iner a, and employed Alpina's wide-ra- o transmission. Also u lized was the Pursang's downpipe, a rather risky prospect for a machine that would invariably be bashing through rocks and over logs. But Bultaco added a skid plate to the pipe's vulnerable sec on, plus employed a gigan c, baffled silencer/spark arrestor. In fact, if there is any one feature that makes the Fron- tera recognizable compared to any other Enduro bike of the era, it's that huge, bazooka-like pipe. Other features included Enduro-ligh ng, a re- se able odometer, a three-gallon fiberglass fuel tank with an unobtrusive, built-in tool tray on