Thumper Club Forum
Club House => Chatter => Topic started by: Moto63 on February 04, 2016, 08:21:33 AM
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Morning chaps, another nice little ducati cafe racer to gaze longingly at on "returnofthecaferacers.com" site. Lovely little bike...cheers, Michael
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Nice!
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fXlijJY3yUU/VqrK5irdbZI/AAAAAAAAn18/-nq-C2kwWfg/s640/ducati-350-caferacer-2.jpg)
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Yip that's the one...thanks for posting photo,s Steve
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:) :) Yep, I like. Lovely little thing IMO ;) 8)
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Yep, that's loverly :)
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These threads are a wind-up!!!!!! ;)
I get the hint, I need to get the rebuild done, as I have had the bike for 40 years this year! ::)
Thank you.
Bill
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nice bike i hope there,s no trains due :) tommy
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40 years....40years.... Yes Bill I defo think it's time it was rebuilt ;) ;)...hope the photos are a bit of inspiration for you. Keep us posted :)
Ps Tommy..I liked the line about the trains, got me giggling
Cheers....Michael
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Aye Michael,
This is from 1980, after a complete rebuild, having 'wiped out' the right-hand side of the bike at a roundabout covered in diesel! ??? And a fast approach! ::)
Sorry about the image quality, but it taken from a 110 slide and they are titchy.
Having ridden the bike until the early 2000's and noting that the handling could be a bit weird, the second image shows how well that late 70's accident twisted the frame [View close up images in top left and bottom right of the image]! Fixed last year. ;)
So, hopefully...... :-X
My regards, Bill
[deleted to save space]
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That header and silencer would look good on the previous pictured bike rather than the underslung one! :o
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Aye Michael,
This is from 1980, after a complete rebuild, having 'wiped out' the right-hand side of the bike at a roundabout covered in diesel! ??? And a fast approach! ::)
Sorry about the image quality, but it taken from a 110 slide and they are titchy.
Having ridden the bike until the early 2000's and noting that the handling could be a bit weird, the second image shows how well that late 70's accident twisted the frame [View close up images in top left and bottom right of the image]! Fixed last year. ;)
So, hopefully...... :-X
My regards, Bill
Nice one Bill.
Well done.
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Agreed SteveD; nothing special, just the standard exhaust pipe and a cheap short megga, with a removable aluminium end cone. Before you or others ask, the sound deadening material ::) was all lost within the first 30 minutes of running, so all that remained was the perforated sheet metal baffle tube.
Up the main jet to get rid of the 'hole' in the upper rev range and keep the revs below 3 grand in town to reduce the 'symphony' and all was well, but from 80mpg at steady throttle cruising it dropped to 55 - 60mpg.
Alternative 'silencers' as they don't run well with restrictive exhausts are a gutted 'Goldie' that keeps the power mid range (70cm long overall). Mine was cheap and the perforated metal tube rattled inside after 6 months; so out with the hacksaw, empty the rattly bits out and then have it welded up, dress the welds and use matt black 'Sperex', cured in an oven as per can. Some of these bake on insulating coatings might be more robust than 'Sperex' but I haven't gone there.
And the small Supertrapp used for 2stroke and 4stroke off-road bikes: Supertrapp_Universal_3M_steel_dirtbike (http://www.supertrapp.com/product_sections/cat.asp?CatID=35). Mine was cheap "old" new stock and required a bracket welded onto the body of the silencer so that the exhaust didn't waggle about. Yet again, the fibreglass wadding lasted no time at all, so there is no core inside the body and just the 'diffuser' discs keeping the 'symphony' muted. 12 discs is OK, but if you pop 18 on that frees up the flow, yet takes the 'crack' off.
I'll keep you posted.
My regards, Bill
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Nice bike nice of Ducati to think of making a retro bike. I would say that it has a look of the American cafe racer style rather than the period English type of bike. [I await the avalanche of broken pistons and valves]
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Aye oldtimer,
Maybe I should stick with the Morini instead? ;)
My regards, Bill
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Best of luck with the rebuild Bill, I look forward to keeping up yo date with your progress. You thinking of going the cafe racer route?? .. Cheers.....Michael
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Aye Michael,
No, the bike has been morphed over the years and some bits have worked and others not. The wear and tear of using it as my day to day hack from 1976 - 79 on a students earnings meant that oil was SAE 40 changed every 1,000 miles and if anything broke or fell off "Cheapest, needs must!". The electrics were cr*p, and the Bike magazine 12v conversion was cr*p as well (another tale of woe!), but a Ford Escort points cam ground down to fit, with fixed timing on fully advanced and an MZ coil were pressed into service to maintain mobility. Eventually, a full rewire, VW Beetle relays and minimal Italian 'tin' switches, with an encapsulated rectifier and 12v+ zener diode meant that lights were available for most of the time after mounting everything on rubber conveyor belting or old inner tube! ::) The roundabout 'Off' reduced much of the right side of the bike to scrap, including the tank, so odds and sods were used in the rebuild, but not with a "Statement" in mind. It had to work and be reasonably comfortable for 300 miles with my 6' 2" frame and 13 stone aboard! ;)
By early 2000's the bore was getting slack with a recorded 60,000 miles (Smiths speedo!) and 2 sets of Velo Venom piston rings fitted onto the original piston with machined ring lands to suit taking up the slack; 450 rings were not easy to find or cheap at the time! ???
Spares aren't cheap now either, but at least there are some quality new spares being made, rather than some of the 'sweat shop' stuff that was about. Even today, beware from whom you buy parts and don't buy second-hand wearing parts, its a false economy. The cost of a piston + rings + rebuilt crank with new big end and pin fitted, no change from £800 and that was nearly 5 years ago!
Also, the purchase of Sally the SRX 600 as a 'stop gap' to get rid of the "itch", whilst I rebuilt the Duke hasn't helped progress; I had to rebuild Sally after she ran her oversize piston and when the sun comes out, well you and everybody else on this forum knows, you just have to get a single out on the road! ;D
I'll put other stuff onto the 'Projects' thread of the forum once I get my act together. :-X
Slainte, Bill
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Morning Bill, sounds like you've had some fun n games over the years with the old girl. Interesting reading your post tho and like I say I'm defo looking forward to seeing/hearing of your progress whichever route you decide to take....best o luck. Oh and now my arm and foot are defo on the mend I'm also starting to feel "that itch" more n more. I'll have to start getting back in to the garage and get cracking on one of mine otherwise I'll not get a ride in this year. Cheers....Michael
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Aye Michael,
Pleased to read that you are mending; spare parts are neither cheap or easy come by for you either! ;) Go canny.
My regards, Bill
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Cheers Bill. Will do.....Michael