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I didn't mean to buy this one it just happend.
A couple of years a go I found an ad for this bike. But someone snatched it right in front of me. That someone happend to be a friend and my former boss.
Anyway yesterday he came and asked me if I still was interested in it.
I said yes, if the price is right.
Of course the price was and here I am with a new bike in the house.
I'm going to do a gentle restoration. I will try to save the paint since it's the original and there are no dent just some minor chips and some scuff marks in places.
Everything else is going to be torn down and restored.
Nice. How hard are those side covers going to be to find? I bought that tank at a Barber swap a couple years back for too much money and it turned out to be a dud. So much braze was everywhere and it had a few pounds of Bondo.
and just as a matter of interest, an XS650 motor pretty much fits straight into one of those, it was a common conversion in australia where they sold quite a few of them, shortly followed by quite a few of them blowing their delicate little italian hearts out
you end up with good italian looks, handling and brakes with the reliability of a japanese motor
It's fun. Everybody seams to hate this Ducati. Even Ducati them selfs. ;D
Well I'm going to try to get it running and have it driving. I have read up on it and it needs a lot of servicing according to the owners manual.
And yes this engine has some issues, and yes it is the engine that made people think Ducatis where unreliable.
We will see how it goes. As a mechanical design engineer specialized in engines and engine design, it's a beautiful engine and the details are just awesome. that goes for the whole bike.
Spotty you are sent to the bench. Basta!
I would never put a Japanese engine in a Ducati.
But if it's a Bimota then it's OK with a Japanese engine in the frame.
Oops. So I took it apart.
Haven't seen anything that is really broken.
Some minor things on the frame need to be addressed. Someone has been welding some nuts on the frame for the luggage rack.
The chain guard has a crack in it. And the stand has a part broken off. So from now on it's mostly cleaning parts.
Big tumbs up.
no offence intended, just looking into my crystal ball to see an oily version of the future.......
seriously i have all respect for someone persevering with obscure italian machinery, i did my riding apprenticeship on crappy old vespas and lambrettas which were unreliable enough to start with, then start throwing tuning parts at them and make sure you've always got the money in your pocket for a tram ride home.....
a friend of mine has an obsession with similarly obscure spaghetti burners, he has quite a few tiny little 50s parilla's and the like as well as a morini camel, a 60s alfa Gulietta and the rarest of the lot a fire captains alfa 4WD form the 50s, it looks like a tiny little land rover but bright red with a stinking hot alfa twin cam in it
Got you!
I know exactly what you meant.
As a engineer, just looking at Italian engineering you are astonished how nice everything looks. Sure some times it doesn't work. But damn it looks good.
I done my share of bad engineering at work, trying out new ideas doesn't always work out as intended.
Im trying to source missing parts. Got a really nice rear light and license plate holder from Germany today.
Need a rear light. I'll see if I can find one on eBay or maybe I can find a reproduction. It's from a Aprillia!!!
Also trying to find the paint code, not as easy as I thought. I left the gas tank at a automotive paint store to se if they can match the color.
I would definitely love to get my hands on an old Ducati but man are they becoming expensive. It might have its problems but I'd way rather ride this than a brand new one
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