new Ducati owner in Seattle.

[250ish]

I bought a Ducati Bronco and a Ducati SC250 last week. They are both really rough. The 250 is pretty bad. The price was right and they have clear titles so I had to get them. I'm not going to restore them to showroom condition. The 250 will be a a nice mild custom and the bronco will just get cleaned and running. I need a bunch stuff for the 250.
Carb
Rear Hub
wiring loom
shocks
Stock gas tank
Complete head lamp assemble

Anyway, for starters I'll be taking the bikes apart and cleaning everything. When I start putting them back together I'm sure I will have a lot of questions.

[JimF]

Welcome to the forum.

The Bronco's don't seem to me to have much of a following. It seems to me that your first decision, that is to bring the 250 back to life, is the smartest decision you could have made so right out of the box you are doing well.

I have some spare parts but they are street bike rather than scrambler parts, but I will continue to monitor your posts and needs. You'll find other people as well on this forum that will step up to help you if they can.

As far as mechanical help goes, I have always found the people on this forum to be there for me as I am sure they will be there for you.

Not trying to implement a 100-point restoration will save you a large bundle of money.

Keep in mind that Ducati in the 1950s and 1960s used the same local (Italian) suppliers as the other Italian marquees (Parilla, Gilera, Benelli, MV, etc.) were using; suppliers such as CEV, Aprilia, Veglia, etc. and so if you don't restrict your eBay parts searches to "Ducati this" and "Ducati that" you can find parts that fit, that are authentic to the era, that look to be the right part visually and will fool everyone except only the sharpest experts and stretch your budget in the process. Unlike now there was no 'branding of these bits to match the marquee of the motorcycle they were being attached to.

Be patient and be thorough and you will be rewarded with a gem of a motorcycle when you are done.

Jim


http://www.ducati.com/history/60s/scrambler/index.do

[250ish]

Thanks for the welcome. I know the Broncos have a very small niche so I will be spending the minimum to get it back on the road.

Here's my first question. The 250 has the original designation plate on the steering tube. Is there a way to remove this and reapply it once I have had the frame painted? I saw I can buy a new plate and punch the numbers into it. Is that and "OK" thing to do?

[JimF]

My Mach1's plate was just stuck to the tube with some adhesive and was loose when I got the bike. You could try taking some dental floss, and from the back side of the steering head wrap the floss around the front of the steering head and drawing it tight so it follows the curve of the front of steering tube. Wiggle the floss up or down to sort of cut the placard free. That would be my advice as far as what to try first.

Even if you buy another blank placard it would be nice to save the original. It will also come in handy to have if you want to try and match the font and size of the stampings that were originally used.

Maybe you could use a heat gun or hairdryer to soften the adhesive. A heat gun might damage paint, but then I think you are likely to be repainting the frame anyway. I am not sure how detrimental high heat would be to the foil tag either, so I would go with minimal heat to start. Go slow and get lots of opinions just like you are doing now. Do what you think best and let us know what worked or didn't work for you so the next guy can benefit.

Jim