I also have that book. There is a picture of one similar to mine -in purple colour, not standard BTW-. Thanks for taking the time to browse through the pages until you find a similar bike. There is a half-size book by Roland Brown called "On two wheels", that is exactly the same "Classic motorcycle" book. Don't ask me how I know...
Sanglas is almost unknown outside Spain, except in Ireland -where the Army was using that very same bike-, and in Germany, where a few were sold and there are some loyal clubs. Sanglas was the only big marque that built 4-strokes roadsters, as Montesa, Bultaco and Ossa had a great international success, but mostly on off-road 2 strokes.
In a country devastated by the civil war, it took a lot of entrepreneurial spirit to build a motorcycle industry from scratch. There was a boycott to Spain so there was no way to import things, and the dictator Franco promoted the "autarchy", that is, to produce in house as much as possible without having to depend from imports.
The first Sanglas produced was introduced... without tyres. There was no way to get them. The aluminium for the crankcases was recycled from the army kitchenware. It was so porous that the cranks had to be coated with a special varnish from inside.
The Sanglas singles were not as powerful or quick as the Bultacos or Montesas, and were even more expensive, so they didn't have much success in the market. But Sanglas managed to win contracts with the Guardia Civil -a spanish corp similar to the state troopers that had competences on traffic, imports and exports, terrorism- and many local polices, and that was a steady flow of income.
The model I've bought is the 400E, a 422 cc single that was the first to have electric start. It needs a "decompressor", a lever that keeps the valve open before pushing the start button. Otherwise, the shaft of the starter motor gets bend if it is unable to overcome the initial compression without momentum. It has a "tiny" 40Ah battery under the seat.
I love it because of the nostalgie factor, as there were many of them on the roads in public service. Also, is a homage to a now extinct spanish motorcycle industrie that was created from scratch 40 years later than everybody else and was able to sell their bikes all around the world.
The 500 cc single was a later addition, at the end of the 80's. That was never a Guardia Civil model but it is a good sportster, capable of 100 mph. They are less coveted so maybe I will get one if the price is right. As a proof of the lack of resources, all the models across the range shared many components, so it's common to see "Frankenstein" models with mixed fenders, gas tanks and exhausts.
The one I bought served in the Guardia Civil and was bought in an auction. Nowadays, police or army vehicles are not auctioned anymore, though there are auctions of public-use vehicles such as the Post service, or court vehicles.
I couldn't help to smile ear to ear while I test ride it the other day. As opposed to the Suzuki, I was riding a bike that served for my country and I felt the need to keep that heritage. I could have never imagined I would speak like that, guess I'm becoming too old... ;-)
In the eighties, Sanglas was not able to cope with the competition. They signed a contract with Yamaha to buy them near a thousand twin engines, that were rebadged as Sanglas and installed in Sanglas bikes. The spanish government -something as Reagan did- put a high import tariff on them, so those bikes ended up being very expensive. It was the Sanglas 400Y, that sold well in the local market, but just because there was nothing better. Anyway, my bike was built in 1974, years before the Yamaha era. When I look at mi 400E -the best thing Sanglas can do in 1974- and my CB750K1 -three years younger-, it was clear that nobody could stop the japanese back then. Let's see if the chinese can do it today.
Raul
