new to ducati singles and forums

[ruffnut]

Good morning to you all,
this is two first for me 1. being a member to any sort of a forum 2. being the owner of a single cyclinder ducati. i hope to master using and being involved with forum decussions with more use, but never to have owned a bevel single ducati before is a bit daunting to say the least, having read some of the topics posted on this forum site i wonder if i have bitten off more then i can chew. the bike that i have just brought is a ducati vento, paper work sugest that it is a 1978 model but i have been led to believe that the spanish may not have been the best a keeping records on these bikes ?
so some questions to start with is do the frame number and the engine number have to match, mine does not, i was led to believe that this bike was a matching number bike ? from these numbers can i find out the year ? where can i go ?
a bit about me and the bikes that i own a present, i have a 1981 pantah 600sl, which i am in the middle of making into a cafe racer style normaly i would not do a conversion like this on a bike but the bike was not standard when i brought it nearly 20 years ago the bloke before me changed a lot of things so i thought that i may as well do some thing like making it a cafe racer i may not get the chance to do this again
the other bike is a 2008 monster triclour which i've owned for 4 years this bike i will keep as orignal as i can, the changes that i have made are things that i can reverse easly and quickly.
gone on a bit here sorry i hope to hear form someone who could help with my questions, thanks ruffnut

[Jon Pegler]

There were a number of changes made to the Vento during its short production that can help with identifying its year.
The engine and frame numbers will give a good indication of the bikes age.
The engine and frame numbers will not match each other, although they may be fairly close.
A 1978 model will probably be in the 73--- number series.
Do you have FPS wheels or the later 5-spoke cast wheels, a bit like the Italian Speedlines?
The FPS wheels were only used up to 1978.
There may be a date printed on the back of the headlamp reflector, which will give you an idea of manefacture.
Also, the clocks have a date stamped onto their cases.
Finally, if the original Brembo hoses are fitted to the brakes, there may be a yellow date tag on each of them.
Post a photo and/or let me know the frame number and I may be able to be more accurate with a date.
Where in the world are you, as cycle parts can be hard to find unless you are close to Spain?

Jon

[ruffnut]

you are correct that the engine and frame numbers are different but only by a number of 21, both numbers are 74--- , i have gold coloured 5 spoke wheels, i will check for possible dates in the other areas you indicated but haven't as yet, i think that i will have some trouble getting parts as i live in north queensland in australia along way from spain
thanks for the pointers, ruffnut