My ducs in a row......
- Thread starter dewjantim
- Start date
warpedworm
I could agree with you but then we'd both be wrong
Ah, an "Ally". I finally got mine last Spring after 25 years of lust & desire ;D
Nice bikes!!
Since you seem to have a good handle on Ducati, I have a question.
I'm considering a Paso or 750/900 ss. which do you think would be
a better purchase?
Also, where do you get parts for your Cagiva Ally? I'm in the U.S.
Nice bikes!!
Since you seem to have a good handle on Ducati, I have a question.
I'm considering a Paso or 750/900 ss. which do you think would be
a better purchase?
Also, where do you get parts for your Cagiva Ally? I'm in the U.S.
dewjantim
duc in the park.....
Hi Warped, congrats on your new Alazzurra, the bike that Ducati forgot. They are the same bike as the Pantah except for the bodywork and cam timing, actually a much more usable motorcycle. This one is my second 650 SS. Have you removed the end baffles yet..... just drill out the rivets in the end of your exhaust and pull them out, then you will have the pipes that Ducati intended you to have. Sounds great and runs better without them. Dunlop 501 tires are the stickiest tires and if you drop the front end an inch (raise the fork tubes in the triple trees) it will handle much quicker. As for parts...... eBay is the best place. Ducati-depot usually has the best prices there. NAPA auto parts carries oil filters, although they are slightly shorter than the stock ones they seem to work fine. There is not much specific info on these bikes , nydesmo.com is a good website to check out. Also most of the Pantah mechanical info (except for the 500s') will also apply to the Alazzurra. As to buying a Paso or 750/900SS, it depends on what you want to use it for. The SS is probably a better sport or track bike, but for something to ride long distances on the Paso is much better. I like the 750 Paso best...... I bought a 906 new and it was faster, but I still like the 750 better. If you are going to use it a lot, I would buy the 907 IE. It was the best Paso made with the larger engine with the 851 style block, water cooled, and fuel injected. It won't overheat in traffic and has improved aerodynamics over the 906 and 750. Now if you like the SS better and still want to take trips it is best to buy the 92'-98' models. They are much more comfy than the 99'-up bikes, even though they are considerably slower. My 99' is A LOT faster than the 95' that I had..... now it may or may not be stock because I bought it used (15000 miles). It feels almost as fast...or as fast.... as my 851 Superbike. I am going to find out this summer.....hehehehe. Prices have probably hit rock bottom for the Paso, I paid $1500 for mine (not running and looking awful) last year on eBay. It was in Florida close to where my brother lives so I had him pick it up for me and I went down and stayed during Bike Week to fetch it. I brought it home and put $500 in it, took the fairing off and cleaned everything, then put it back together, buffed out the paint, and painted the black bottom green, then got it running. Two thousand is pretty cheap for a nice Ducati of any kind. I have the same money in my Alazzurra also...... bought for $1700 and added new belts and tires for $300, plus a ton of work and cleaning, buffing, etc. You should be able to get a nice older SS for about $3000. Be sure to check around the frame neck for cracks...... it seems as though these bikes were OK unless they were abused by wheelies, which many of them have been. Lots of wheelies always resulted in stress cracks. If you want a bike for an investment.... I would get the Paso. Initial buy-in is cheap, most of them are fairly stock, and total production was only around 6500 units for the whole series. For now the 900/750 SS is the more desirable bike....... many (not me) consider the Paso ugly. But, even the early SSs' were mass produced (the early white frame ones and the SL 900 excluded) and will not give as good a return on your investment in the future as the Paso. You might want to consider a 750 Sport which was only available here in the states in 1990. Four hundred of these were made for the US market and 100 of the 400 were made for California. These bikes are not only rare but also cheap..... a nice one can now be found for about $2500. They look a lot like the F-1 street bike (I want one bad) which was really a racer with lights. Now, all these bikes either have the Pantah based or 851 based rubber band engines. The older bevel drives are a different animal completely. One more thing...... you need to check the belts on your Ally and any other Ducati you buy with the belt driven camshafts. Sometimes they dry-rot and break..... they should be changed every 10-15000 miles with frequent checks between replacement. There are also several small things that you can do to these bikes (Paso and SS) which make them easier to live with and run better. They will cost very little money..... just some of your time. So when you get one just PM me on this forum and I will fill you in on my private, super secret, Ducati tuning steps.......later man.... and good luck in your quest.
warpedworm
I could agree with you but then we'd both be wrong
Hey, thanks for the info. By the way when I said: "Nice Bikes" I meant all of yours.
When I read it back today, it looked like I was talking about the "Allys", although they are nice too.
Mine has a S&S 2-1 pipe on it so it sounds really nice, the guy I bought it from gave me the stock pipes, but said I wouldn't like the sound. He just wanted to keep the parts with the bike. He has a racing Ally and 5 other Ducatis, 2 racers/3 street, nice guy and has helped me with a few things already.
I had one of his friends, who is close to me and has a couple Ducs teach me how to change the belts and adjust the valves. Actually he did it, I just watched. Not as
scary as everyone makes you believe. Next time I do it he told me to come over and he'd watch me. That way if I make a mistake, he can go, "Are you sure you want to do it that way? ;D
I'm also thinking about just buying another Cagiva and making a cafe out of it.
The one I have now I'm really not going to be pushing it too hard. I used to roadrace and I've pitched enough bikes away, and I'm also getting too old to
fall down.
Were are you at? I'm in Harvard, IL. about 70 miles NW of Chicago or 70 SW of Milwaukee.
When I read it back today, it looked like I was talking about the "Allys", although they are nice too.
Mine has a S&S 2-1 pipe on it so it sounds really nice, the guy I bought it from gave me the stock pipes, but said I wouldn't like the sound. He just wanted to keep the parts with the bike. He has a racing Ally and 5 other Ducatis, 2 racers/3 street, nice guy and has helped me with a few things already.
I had one of his friends, who is close to me and has a couple Ducs teach me how to change the belts and adjust the valves. Actually he did it, I just watched. Not as
scary as everyone makes you believe. Next time I do it he told me to come over and he'd watch me. That way if I make a mistake, he can go, "Are you sure you want to do it that way? ;D
I'm also thinking about just buying another Cagiva and making a cafe out of it.
The one I have now I'm really not going to be pushing it too hard. I used to roadrace and I've pitched enough bikes away, and I'm also getting too old to
fall down.
Were are you at? I'm in Harvard, IL. about 70 miles NW of Chicago or 70 SW of Milwaukee.
dewjantim
duc in the park.....
So far, all the maintenance I have done has been pretty straight forward, now I haven't worked on the FI systems yet. I only have one Alazzurra, I might have put two pics in by mistake.... the end bike is my GTL 500 which looks kind of like an Ally also at first glance. I live in Ashland, Ky and probably have more ducs than there are in the whole area. Everybody stares at them when I take them out, which I do often since I ride all my running bikes. I have never roadraced or even been to track school.......although I enjoy a good street race from time to time (win or lose). Some people even say that I am fairly fast for an old fart.....hehehe. Good luck with your next Ally. If you want some sharp bodywork for not a fortune you might try Air-tech. They have several nice fairings, even a dual headlight Pantah fairing which should fit your bike with no problem. Also the F-1 seat and fairing should fit since the frames are similar, not exact, but close enough for them to fit. I always order my parts from Dutch and he will usually give me a discount for a large order. If you are looking for anything let me know and I can probably find it for you........later.... Dewey.
warpedworm
I could agree with you but then we'd both be wrong
That would be great. I went to Rockerbox for the first time last year, took the Cagiva
and some people actually knew what it was
My wife and I roughly counted 2,000 bikes there, with more coming and going all day long. Just about every make of bike and scooter you could think of, and as an added
bonus, very few Harleys (lol) A very rare occurrence in Milwaukee!
We rode up there by ourselves last year, but I know a lot of people here ride up together from various points.
Stay in touch.
and some people actually knew what it was
My wife and I roughly counted 2,000 bikes there, with more coming and going all day long. Just about every make of bike and scooter you could think of, and as an added
bonus, very few Harleys (lol) A very rare occurrence in Milwaukee!
We rode up there by ourselves last year, but I know a lot of people here ride up together from various points.
Stay in touch.
dewjantim
duc in the park.....
Sounds good to me. Hopefully I will bring my Ducati GTL Cafe Racer. I know what you mean about HDs', every bike night in my area is chock full of Harleys and cruisers and I have grown tired of all the chrome and HD crap....... not that I don't like HDs', I have an Electra Glide and a Sporty, I just like to see something different. I added you to my buddies list and will keep in touch......Dewey.
warpedworm
I could agree with you but then we'd both be wrong
It's really neat just riding along listening to the Ducati engine with a big smile on your face and then hearing yourself saying "AWESOME" out loud inside your helmet!
