Bultaco Rapitan and Rapitan Sport Electric Motorcycles

The Bultaco name should be familiar to anyone who is clued up on their historic Spanish motorcycle brands. From 1958 to 1983 they produced a number of road and race machines and were quite successful in competition, particularly in off-road racing. Before closing for business in the early ’80s, Bultaco became famous for producing some of the most competitive off-the-shelf off-road bikes in the world. The 250cc Bultaco Pursang was the most popular model the company sold in the US.

Now, just over three decades after the last Bultaco rolled off the production line in Barcelona, Bultaco is back. This time around however they’re following the winds of change, and going all-electric. The company has been developing a number of prototypes including the Bultaco Rapitan, the Rapitan Sport, a lightweight E-bike and something called the Electrical Urbanmotard. In a fitting tribute to the competition nature of the original Bultacos, the electrical drivetrain of the new machines has been trialed in the World Electrical Motorcycle Championship, where the company placed an impressive 4th in the overall rankings.

The Bultaco Rapitan and Bultaco Rapitan Sport prototypes unveiled this week in London are an accurate preview of the production models which will be built next year in Barcelona. The company will still retain an “innovation center” in Madrid.

The electrical drivetrain of the Bultaco Rapitan is designed entirely in-house by the company. This means they have been specifically tailored to the bike instead of merely being modified from existing technology. The company haven’t gone into great detail regarding the electrical motor and battery setup yet, saying only that the motorcycle uses regenerative braking to improve range, and the battery is a lithium-ion unit.

The revival of the Bultaco name comes thanks to LGN TECH Design S.L., a mechanical and electrical engineering firm founded in 2010 by José Germán Pérez, Raúl Pérez, Juan Manuel Vinós, Gerald Pöllmann and Jorge Bonilla. The new venture also benefits from the backing of the Bultó family, descendents of Paco Bultó, the man who founded Bultaco in the fifties. The company plan on producing an initial run of 2,000 motorcycles, with production output increasing as the company expands into other markets including the US, UK, Germany and France.