the 350 has arrived; first problem with it

[Ventodue]

Another Vento owner! Excellent! Congratulations!

As Jon says, if you need any reference photos, let me know. I have a few (but Jon and Eldert are the real experts on these bikes).

P.s I should add that Phil Aynsley has taken some great ('But, of course' ... ) shots of an unmolested Vento.

I hope you'll keep it as it is and not try to convert it into some pseudo-Bologna bike. They're really quite different and, IMO, should be respected as such.

They were made in Barcelona. Have a look at that engine number again. I think you'll find that the first two letters are MD ( =Mototrans Ducati), not DM ( = Ducati Meccanica). MIne is 74425, btw.

Those chain adjusters are the ReaL Deal, btw. As is the exhaust clamp in the head - not one of those silly Italian finned things . The drain plug/filter should be different too.

¡Saludo!

Craig

[cooperplace]

Hi Craig,

Thanks, yes, I'm keen to keep it stock. The previous owner wanted to turn it into a Bologna bike, so I've acquired the bike, which is fairly stock, plus a box of bits. It lacks side covers and the boxes they go on, so if you know of a source, I'd be grateful. The frame no is MD73872 and the engine no. does start MD not DM. it's 73858. Do you know what year yours is? I'm unsure of this one.
Are they worth more or less than Bologna bikes?

Thanks again.
Peter

[Ventodue]

Well, I've sent an email to someone in Spain saying I'm interested.

Just a 'Word to the Wise' ...

My experience of buying stuff out of Spain has not been great: I've had parts arrive smashed because of poor packaging, I've received wrong parts (despite having supplied part numbers, photos and dimensions!), I've had stuff that was quite simply broken, I've returned stuff and never been refunded etc.

So, given the cost of mailing and the difficulties of ever getting a refund, my advice is tread carefully and don't over-pay.

Btw, Gowie reckons he has some Mototrans stuff. But (for me anyways), he's always, 'About to sort it all out ...' . He did try to send me a tank once. But unfortunately I agreed to his proposition that he should treat it internally first. But, the story goes, the treatment reacted in the tank, it caught fire (edit: 'almost'. See posting below), and that was the end of that ...

Craig

[Ventodue]

Thanks, yes, I'm keen to keep it stock.

Excellent, Peter!

It lacks side covers and the boxes they go on, so if you know of a source, I'd be grateful.

I'll keep my eyes open. MOTOS PANIAGUA in Medellin has been advertising this pair of covers for what seems like ages now; but, since he seems to be a general bike breaker, it may be that he doesn't actually have them . He's not someone I've dealt with, btw.

http://www.milanuncios.com/recambios-y- ... 364382.htm

There's also a pretty ropey pair for sale here. At €80 the pair, they're a tad pricey IMO. €60 will normally get you a pair in better condition. (But then again, "They ain't making no more ...").

http://www.lamaneta.org/mercadillo/vent ... num=109007

Do you know what year yours is?

Jon's your best man for dating these bikes. Mine has a first registration date of 1 Jan 1982. Which could be meaningful .. or not.
P.s I gave you my frame number instead of my engine number, btw: it's actually 74349.

Un saludo

Craig

[Ventodue]

He did try to send me a tank once.

This one (photo by Phil Aynsley):

Tank Phil A Sept 2009.jpg

And here, In Ian's own words, is what happened:

"I have been holding off the reply hoping something positive would come out of our dilemma.

We (well, everybody in the world, really) has been having problems with glass reinforced plastic fuel tanks. We had a new resin supplied just before we worked on your tank. It was washed out and dried, holes plugged and the resin mixed with catalyst and poured in. What normally happens is the resin is rolled around in the tank until all surfaces are coated and the excess is poured out. What happened after only 20 seconds or so was that the resin began to gel and was no longer liquid. Fortunately the gent doing the work recognised the problem and dropped the tank into a drum of water to prevent it bursting into flames.

So we have a complete stuff up. The volume of the tank has been reduced by half a litre or so and the end result is not useable.

[cooperplace]

interesting. The fuel tank on this one remains an unknown. I'm hoping it doesn't have any leaks, splits etc.

[Jon Pegler]

Peter,

I would still guess that your newly acquired Vento is from early 1978.
I rebuilt engine number 73664 some years ago and that had a crankshaft with the date 3/78 stamped onto it.
As your engine is only a couple of hundred numbers above that one it would indicate a build date of 1978.
Mototrans didn't make more than about 400 Ventos in any year with a total production of about 1500.
There are a few possible ways of checking the bikes age.
The original Brembo brake hoses have a yellow date ring around them, if they are still fitted.
The speedo and tacho have a date stamp underneath
The headlamp reflector (if you have one ) has a date printed on it.
The engine numbers on Ventos usually are stamped DM350 rather than MD350.
Quite why Mototrans did this near the end of their production I am not sure as all the early motors start MD.
It could have coincided with them supplying motors to Italy in the early 1970s.

Jon

[cooperplace]

Hi Jon,

Many thanks, and yes the engine number is prefixed DM350. I'll check those other locations.

Cheers

Peter

[cooperplace]

Thanks, yes, I'm keen to keep it stock.

Excellent, Peter!

It lacks side covers and the boxes they go on, so if you know of a source, I'd be grateful.

I'll keep my eyes open. MOTOS PANIAGUA in Medellin has been advertising this pair of covers for what seems like ages now; but, since he seems to be a general bike breaker, it may be that he doesn't actually have them . He's not someone I've dealt with, btw.

http://www.milanuncios.com/recambios-y- ... 364382.htm

There's also a pretty ropey pair for sale here. At €80 the pair, they're a tad pricey IMO. €60 will normally get you a pair in better condition. (But then again, "They ain't making no more ...").

http://www.lamaneta.org/mercadillo/vent ... num=109007

Do you know what year yours is?

Jon's your best man for dating these bikes. Mine has a first registration date of 1 Jan 1982. Which could be meaningful .. or not.
P.s I gave you my frame number instead of my engine number, btw: it's actually 74349.

Un saludo

Craig

Motos Paniagua has quoted me 120 Euro +shipping for the pair! if you know of any other sources, that would be great.

[Ventodue]

The engine numbers on Ventos usually are stamped DM350 rather than MD350.

Yes, sorry - I slipped up in my earlier posting (just as well Jon is here to correct my failings ... ):

Engine number prefix = DM
Frame number prefix = MD.

(What you say sounds well plausible, Jon - i.e that the engines got the DM stamp 'cos they were likely to go into (ha-ha) 'Bologna-built' bikes).