Dump the fairing and it’ll be a great classic machine and probably a lot easier to ride than the Desmo. So, if the price is right and you want it, buy it
Cheers EBBO and before I break my New Year's resolution not to hijack other people's topics already here's a few tips:
You'll be pleased to discover that there's no head gasket - Ducati made 'em gas tight
- but there is a tiny rubber '0' ring for the oil line that you have to replace every time to whip the head off to drool at your valves. Back in '77 these cost about 90p at the Ducati counter - this was when a week's pay was about £30! - while down at the Yamaha counter for about 6p you could buy identical rings for the float drain on a FS1E (another great project for someone - all I had back then was the use of my mum's Mobylette - and testosterone made me ride it all the way - 8 miles! - into Shrewsbury every Friday and Saturday night for some underaged drinking and heavy petting up an alley while the last bus went its way just after closing time ....
... now what was I saying about wandering off topic!
You'll also want to change the oil every 1,000 miles as if I remember rightly the sump only held 1 litre!
I worked with a guy who'd converted his 250 Mk III to 12 volts and he gave me a copy of the method - Xeroxed back then! I think it was him who said the Haynes manual was crap although I can't really see why.
Anyway, as you look to be rebuilding the wiring from scratch it strikes me as a good idea to do this - it might be worth asking Andy about this as he's a clever sod!
So, have you made an inventory of the bike, parts missing etc. yet? I must say this thread is really getting me keen to knuckle down and do something similar!
Probably a good thing.
IIRC some of the Spanish built ones were a bit shoddy and not well put together, whilst some years production were good ~ I think you really need to know what you're looking at with the Spanish ones.
Now what you REALLY need is an old Sanglas 500
Andres
Actually that was 'Plan A' Andres. Sanglas's are really lovely bikes and fairly easy and cheap to come by here. Until now my idea has been to fill a gap in the underground bunker where I keep my bikes and 'classic' NIVA once the extensive building works on our house is finished, hopefully before July, and spend the 'change' out of my lump sum of toys such as these - not forgetting a Renault Traffic for Mrs S and the Malamute!
But this a a
Ducati were talking about so all common sense goes out if the window as even then @ €1,500 I think I can give myself an 'advance payment' - I'm just waiting for a good time to speak to Mrs S ...
Moreover, the bunker is in Tremp, that is to say surrounded by some of the best roads in Europe and good though they are a Sanglas will only be fun for looking at the scenery - nice as that is - but did I say it's a
Ducati were talking about!
It's not just about nostalgia - although my 350 Mk III gave me the best biking fun I ever had and is the only bike I regret selling - I want a bike that is fun to ride too.
Back to your point about quality.
All Ducati's of those years were a mixed bunch - my Italian built 450 DESMO was a pile of crap - although the Spanish one's did have a mixed reputation, i.e. the (in)famous 24 Horrors racing models imported into the UK in 1971. But the vey desirable Scrambler models were actually manufactured in Spain and assembled in Italy before being exported to the US - as well as a few falling off the ship at Southhampton, including the one owned by a bloke down my street in Oxford who also had a girlfriend who was a dead ringer for Debby Harry - B*****d, B*****d, B*****d!!!
I've just spent a pleasant hour reading up the history of Mototrans, the Spanish firm that built Ducati's while import restrictions were in force and see that the Strada was built very much at the end, when it was almost a matter of using up parts in stock before the receivers came in ... but the 1981 model, i.e. the one eon sale, with a disk brake on the front looks OK, at least in theory, as it didn't introduce any untried modifications.
Oh, well. I've mailed the seller, a big firm a day's drive away up in the Basque County, and may make them a silly offer. They're near San Sebastian, which Mrs S and I have always wanted to visit - so if anyone knows a good hotel that is OK with 45 kgs monster dogs we could see some progress!
Meanwhile - phew! -
¡Feliz año nuevo!
Simon