66 Ducati 250

Looking forward to the final product. This project has me looking for a ducati single for myself
 
Alright, update time!

So before I got the front end assembled, I couldn't get the top triple to fit on the steering head because of the tapered bearings that were on it. Therefore, I got my hands on some original ball bearing races, some 3/16" ball bearings and easily put it back together like stock.

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Next came the forks.

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I stopped by the painter again last week and checked in on how things were going. I picked up the rear fender and headlight bucket. Those went on easy enough. Wheels together and no she's a roller!

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Next comes the motor...and you all know the rest!
 
I was down at Moto Guild changing tires last week, it reminded me of your project. Its looking real good.
 
Thanks guys!

doc_rot, you'll have to come by sometime that I'm there! I guess I keep missing you or I don't know that its you. Have you seen the bike there? Its usually under a blanket on a work table.
 
SeekingZero said:
Thanks guys!

doc_rot, you'll have to come by sometime that I'm there! I guess I keep missing you or I don't know that its you. Have you seen the bike there? Its usually under a blanket on a work table.

I'm fortunate to have a garage right now so I don't go in there except to use the tire changer. I haven't seen your bike in person, as you said it's been covered up.
 
doc_rot said:
I'm fortunate to have a garage right now so I don't go in there except to use the tire changer. I haven't seen your bike in person, as you said it's been covered up.

Cool, you are very fortunate indeed. I have a garage as well, but it has too many bikes in it...I know, first world problems. 8) Feel free to send me a ping if you know you'll be by and are interested in checking it out in person.
 
Next update!

Things are moving right along as I continue to identify bits I still need and pieces that aren't quite working out. The seat bracket arms didn't quite want to fit in the frame right without rubbing a lot so I did a bit of vise bending to get them situated and put the seat on.

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Then I put the spring on the center stand, added the countershaft sprocket and chain, aligned the rear end, and mounted the exhaust which needed a spacer not to hit the center stand.

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I also put other bolts in there holes that I hadn't previously had, such as the swing arm shaft clamp, and started work on the rear brake pedal and foot pegs. The foot pegs I have may be too far gone to reuse and the brake pedal is a bit bent, so nothing is quite complete yet as i continue to check fitment.

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So finally, I moved on to assembling the headlight. I just need to get the grommets for the bucket and wire everything in there. Waiting on a 12V regulator until I start the wiring.

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More work planned for this weekend!
 
This is by far my favorite build on here right now. Ultra clean, and great detailed work.
 
Thanks again guys! I'd have more updates but I'm waiting for the last few parts to finish it up. Era-specific clip-ons have been hard to find but I've finally tracked them down. Once the 12V regulator comes in, I can fire it up. And the last thing that has been time consuming is fitting the cables on. Not much else left to do, so depending on my schedule and how many issues I run into, I could have this thing complete at the end of the month!
 
The last bits...so I think...have been ordered and most have arrived. The 12V regulator was among them and so the wiring has begun in earnest. I picked it up from Classic British Spares as one that is meant to run on the old Triumph's/BSA's and that lot. Its a 2-wire magneto + Pos & Neg that should do the job nicely. I also got a battery that should work as well, and got started tonight.

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I ran out of both bullet connectors and time or I might have gone farther. Before I was done, I also wired up the tail lamp so that it will be ready to connect and tested it with a 12V dual filament bulb I had lying around that fit perfectly.

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I still have to run the wires to the tail lamp, to the coil, to the brake switch, and up to the headlight and tie it all together in there somewhere. That's a job for future me...
 
I just realized I never updated my own thread with the finished product! I'm a little embarrassed...

Let me make this right.
 
I finished this build back in February and I can't believe I didn't give you all an update. Shame on me. In my defense, I've been really busy with a lot of awesome things!

Welcome to the final installment of the build! I left off with the wiring and that is where I will continue...in a bit. First, because its beautiful, I got the front fender put on as soon as I got it back from the painter.
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Then put the seat badge on with some stainless rivets.
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And the clip-on's arrived!
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Now, onto the wiring after that easy stuff was done. I got the taillight mounted and wired to the brake light switch, which only works on the rear brake because safety standard of that day were a bit more lax, or the Italians thought that putting a switch on both brakes might have been too practical...

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I then disassembled the light switch to rewire and diagram it.

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Then ran the wires up to the headlight.

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In retrospect, using just red and black wires gets tricky for a wiring diagram and tracing wires... Oh well. The wiring got done regardless.

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I also decide to switch the chain guard out from the scrambler one I have to the Mach 1 style. I think it was the right choice. I got a piece of pipe foam for the tank spacing and it turned out perfectly!

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I got the levers ordered and installed and just had to finish cutting the cables for each one. Once cut, I soldered the new ends on which was actually pretty fun. Here's a video!

https://youtu.be/FyzxJ019O2c

I tidied up all the wires and cables after that.

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Then on to setting the timing.

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Then adding oil!

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Finally I was ready to start it.

https://youtu.be/HU39ISPm5TA

I realized after that that I couldn't get it to idle without choke that my timing was still off. Had to fix that and adjust the mixture a bit and it finally ran perfectly! And just in time for the tank!
 
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you a year of enjoyable work for me! There's an awesome guy that comes by the shop to take professional shots of the bikes as his hobby, so he got a couple of the little Duc for me. And then I thought it would be cool to pose it next to its younger big brother. 1966 vs 2006!

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Here's the first ride. Still working out kinks here. Since then, I've done 30 miles straight with no issues. Longer rides to come!

https://youtu.be/L9ht6CvNQlQ
 
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