Flashback – Italjet 350

As the Spanish industry suffered industrial turmoil Italy was waiting in the wings. Tim Britton remembers…

Designing and building a motorcycle from scratch is fairly simple, everyone knows a wheel is needed at either end and an engine in the middle with some form of tubing to keep them all in the right place. This configuration has been settled on since the motorcycling year dot, it wasn’t always the case of course and even a cursory glance in the archive here at CBH shows some eye-opening designs have been tried and dismissed since the idea of a motorcycle emerged.

So, as we said, it’s easy enough to create a motorcycle… making it work and work well enough to win world trials events is a much harder proposition.

With Bultaco in trouble their reigning world champion Bernie Schreiber had to look elsewhere for a mount and the lad was snapped up by Italian manufacturer Italjet. Problem was Italjet didn’t have a bike suitable for Schreiber and it would take time to produce one so, as an interim they bore heavily on a Bultaco but finished in Italjet green. This stop-gap model got them and Bernie into the world contest while they developed their own all-Italjet machine.

Even so when it appeared it seemed a lot of the design was influenced by the Sherpa – its frame, forks, dimensions and so on – though there were differences to porting and primary drive. Unfortunately for Italjet the pairing with Bernie didn’t quite work out despite some excellent world results in the first year. By his own admission he isn’t a development rider and this was what Italjet needed.

Press reports and tests of the day show the JT350 Italjet was a decent machine and when Charlie Harris got his hands on it for a test he found it was good to ride. The Italjet was a visually handsome machine, company founder Leo Tartarini was known in the industry as a superb stylist and with engine design by experienced trials engineers things were on track to be quite special. Though retaining the Bulto influence Italjet reworked the primary drive to do away with the chain and add a primary kickstart so it could be started in gear. The engine dimensions were similar to the 325 Bultaco but thanks to re-worked porting produced slightly different power. Ignition was by a flywheel magneto, Motoplat for the JT350, in common with most other makers and getting the mixture into the Nikasil coated alloy barrel so it could be compressed and ignited was the task of a 28mm Dellorto carburettor.

Because the primary drive was now gear rather than chain its configuration meant the engine ran the opposite way to the Bultaco and the piston thrust face was now against the exhaust port portion of the barrel which was deemed good as far as cutting down on the piston wear was concerned. In fact the engine internals received high praise indeed from all who viewed them, the webs ‘bullet proof’ seemed common and the con-rod was singled out as being from the same company who made them for Ferrari (an Italian car make apparently). Equally robust was the six-speed gearbox which got praise for having a ration for every reason. There was a slight grumble over the addition of the primary kick-start action as it widened the engine a little and made the rear brake lever awkward to use but this was a minor point and could be improved by shortening the lever. There was actually an advantage to the engine being wider as the kickstart lever missed the footrest so had a long swing to it and the engine fired up easily, hot or cold.

On the go the JT350’s wheelbase, 51in, was remarked on as being a bit too short for the size of bike but was a reflection on the changing trials scene and tight turns were quite simple. There still had to be a steady hand on the throttle though as it was quite easy to loose grip or tuck in under full lock. Suspension was excellent and the forks were ‘torsionally stiff’ and well damped. On the prototype version braking was classed as marginal but the new machine on test received praise for its brakes. The incoming fashion was to ride with a finger on the clutch so trick turns could be executed, with its light action the clutch was ideal for this new type of riding.

Overall the riding position and general feel of the bike was deemed good with the important footrest to handlebar ratio being good. The footrests themselves were placed further back than most machines had at the time which aided turning without making the rider feel they were stretched on full lock. For getting the engine going a smooth throttle action was needed and here the Italjet didn’t disappoint though it was noted the action was a little heavy. Often a rerouting of the cable or easing of the throttle spring can help in such situations.

Once on the go there seemed little it couldn’t climb over, 12 1/2in of ground clearance helped here which, allied to a substantial bash plate meant no likelihood of damaging the bottom of the engine. In common with the Bultaco it was inspired by the frame was open at the bottom with the engine and alloy bash plate forming the link between the front and rear bits. Unlike the Bulto though there was plenty of clearance at the swinging arm and under the front mudguard so no mud-clogging in muddy trials.

One area which didn’t receive praise were the tyres and it was felt changing them from the Michelins supplied to Pirelli would bring a substantial advantage… in case you’re going ‘gulp! What?’ be aware this was just before the advent of the Michelin X1 which proved the company had taken note of the feedback and done something about it and come up with a tyre which changed trials.

To sum up most testers felt the JT350 would be more of an expert’s bike than a novice’s mount, to be fair so would any other of the ten current big bikes, however anyone parting with the £1400 asking price would get a well-made machine which worked superbly.