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Lead crankcase seals on Duke single engines??
Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 12:29 am
by john jupiter
hi Guys,
Were our singles originally given lead crankcase seals like the Ducati twins? I've got a few Ducati singles but none have a crankcase seal and I'm curious.
Re: Lead crankcase seals on Duke single engines??
Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 7:27 pm
by double diamond
One of the sump screws is drilled for the lead seal bt I've never actually seen a sealed crankcase. Pretty common for the oil pump though.
Re: Lead crankcase seals on Duke single engines??
Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 3:02 am
by lsk12
I have a lead seal on my 1972 1200 mile 250.
Re: Lead crankcase seals on Duke single engines??
Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 6:23 am
by DewCatTea-Bob
[quote= lsk12 ...
" I have a lead seal on my 1972 1200 mile 250. "
____ I've seen this before on later w-c.motors, but I guess they eventually get broke-off & lost (probably due-to vibration). _ I don't recall ever seeing them on n-c.motors.
Dukaddy-DUKEs,
-Bob
Re: Lead crankcase seals on Duke single engines??
Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 1:15 pm
by john jupiter
Cool, thanks for the responses. There is a 74' 450 on ebay that also has the lead seal. I have super low mile narrow case, and wide case but none have lead seals(however 1968 is the latest model year). It might make sense that the singles started getting the seals when the 750 twins where introduced, around 72', but thats is just a guess.
Re: Lead crankcase seals on Duke single engines??
Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 7:49 pm
by double diamond
Looks like the same wire and seal as used on the oil pump.
Re: Lead crankcase seals on Duke single engines??
Posted: Fri May 16, 2014 9:41 am
by nalimugmug
002.jpg
IMG_1952.jpg
IMG_1948.jpg
Just had a look at the cases of three Mach 1s I have, only one of them has the wire/seal.
Pic of seal and case number for reference. I have the original bills of sale from Bologna for all of these bikes, the one pictured is dated 8th June 1966.
The other two although missing the wire/seal have both the rear most allen bolts drilled to accept a wire/seal. Im 99.9% sure that the two cases without the seals have never been split, so were they installed in the first place?
Cheers
Bob
Re: Lead crankcase seals on Duke single engines??
Posted: Fri May 16, 2014 11:27 am
by Ventodue
nalimugmug wrote: ...so were they installed in the first place?
Or they may just have fallen off, Bob. That's what happened with the seal on my twin, for example ...
Craig
Re: Lead crankcase seals on Duke single engines??
Posted: Fri May 16, 2014 3:33 pm
by LaceyDucati
Ditto Craig
My GTS 900 had the original seal on the engine up to 2009, but on returning from a 3000 mile blast down to Portugal and back it was no more!
Having a seal simply means you and previous owners have not used the bike as it was intended to be used or possibly a sign of a buggered engine! No doubt purists will soon be seeking replica seals

Falls into the catagory of car owners from the 70's who left the plastic on the seats all the time they owned it!
Best Wishes Nigel
Re: Lead crankcase seals on Duke single engines??
Posted: Sat May 17, 2014 1:03 am
by joe46ho
"There is a 74' 450 on ebay that also has the lead seal"
This 450 you are talking about is in my area, and i have seen it in person several times, and i believe it HAS been apart at some point, so the previous owner most likely installed a lead seal to duplicate the factory look...
That being said I don't know which engine had them and which didn't but my monza jr. still had an intact seal when i got it... But it also had less than 500 miles on it.
Joe