New boy....

[johnavico]

Hi Everyone - I've just joined the forum. I used to ride a couple of Ducati singles years ago when I lived in Austalia - I particularly enjoyed a yellow 250 Desmo which I had for a while. I now live in Italy, in the Appenines, and would like to buy and restore a Desmo, either 250 or 350, Silver Shotgun or yellow, a 350 Silver Shotgun being the favoured choice. Looking forward to taking part in the forum.... John

[JimF]

Welcome,

I would think you will have a wide selection to choose from given where you live. In the US our selection is seemingly limited to the what models were imported and during the window in time that our importer was in business.

Let us know what you find as you shop for a motorcycle and what you buy. I for one would like to live vicariously through you as you buy an old Ducati and ride it within the beautiful Italian countryside.

Jim

[johnavico]

Thanks Jim, I'll try to do that.

[DewCatTea-Bob]

[quote= johnavico ...
" I'll try to do that. "

____ Well John, I 'second' most*everything Jim has stated !
It would be of much interest (to many of us here), if you could let us-all see most-EVERY Duke-model that you happen to come-across during your quest, (or at-least those finds which you'd actually consider) ! _ As it would be great to have an English-speaking fellow-member over in ITALY to give us an idea of the current-day rareness of old-DUKEs still out-&-around within that mother-country - (or should I rather say: the Mother country ?) !
(* I've noticed that Jim has begun using the word "motorcycle" more-often than the term 'bike', for these past later years,, possibly because I've much criticized the use of the mere 'bike' term being too-often used in-place of the nickname 'Duke', [which I've attributed to the likes of 'new-boys'].) ...
____ I'm somewhat content that you've (rather neutrally) used "New boy" for yourself,,
however I'm left with doubts that you actually meant-to purposely describe yourself as a 'new-boy' in particular, but-rather probably merely-just meant to refer-to yourself as a new-member here.
Cuz what's referred-to as a 'new-boy', are those-sorts who weren't yet alive back when DUKEs -(Duc.singles) were still being produced by Ducati, but-yet have since come to've discovered & realized for themselves just-what DUKEs, (or 'bikes', as they rather-undesirably still say), really-are.
__ Here follows a link to a related thread-page with an early-use of the term 'new-boys', (which a fellow-member had mistakenly taken certain exception-of to being used in reference to HIM).
If not really worthy of being linked-to for THAT,, it's still well worth the look-see just to get another gander at all the great pix that fellow-member DesmoDog was so gracious to have posted for us (along-with his related VERY forum-worthy posts) ! _ So (at-least for our newer members), it's certainly worth checking-out this link... viewtopic.php?f=3&t=35&p=1901&hilit=new-boys#p1901


Duke-Cheers,
-Bob

[johnavico]

In this case Bob, "new boy" was meant to mean new to this forum. I was around when the singles were new, and I lived in the city (Newcastle) where Norm Fraser (the importer to Australia) had his shop. My first single was a 250 from 1967 (ashamed to say I don't know the model) which I bought in around 1973, and didn't keep for long (electrical problems). Then about 1975 I bought a yellow 250 Desmo, about 3 years old. I loved this bike, and kept it for a couple of years. It had the wonderful drum brake system on the front, and was very reliable. A friend had a 450 Silver Shotgun, which was very impressive to ride, but I don't think I was capable of starting it.

After moving to Italy, I bought a "restored" 1957 175T. This was a disappointment, partly because much of the work had not been done well, and also because I was comparing it with my old 250 Desmo, which was not a valid comparison. I then decided to go modern and bought a Ducati 620 Monster - I did some enjoyable riding on this, but kept falling off.....

So now I want to go back to the type of bike which I enjoyed so much and never fell off. I'm going over to the Adriatic coast on Thursday to have a look at a 250 Desmo, dismantled, but fairly complete. I'll issue a report.

Thanks for the link.

[johnavico]

I've now bought a 250 Desmo, in fact the first one I looked at. It's in big pieces, but pretty complete, the main missing items being exhaust system and hand levers. I'd had my heart set on a Silver Shotgun, and this one has the yellow bits, so, rightly or wrongly, I bought it without the yellow bits and headlamp. My plan is to buy repro silver bits and a Silver Shotgun headlamp, if I can find one.... I haven't brought it home yet, so will post photos and details when I have done so.

The vendor has quite a few interesting (not-for-sale) things in his collection: a yellow 350 Desmo, lightly restored; a very early (1957) 175T, in good original condition; a 200 awaiting restoration; a 450 scrambler; and a tiny 50cc Moto Morini, very nicely restored. If he agrees, I'll take photos on my next visit and post them.

[Eldert]

Hi John

repro Silver Shotgun fiberglass you can get from europlastsucci.com in Italy

de headlamp will be a little harder to find i think .

Regards Eldert

[johnavico]

Thanks Eldert. In fact, I can't find the correct ones on the europlastsucci.com site, but Motocicli Veloci in Milano list them.

[Eldert]

Hi John

europlastsucci makes them for sure . that where all the other resellers get them from .

Eldert

[Rick]

Here's the catalog page, with part numbers:

Europlast Silver Shotgun.jpg

In the US manufacturers rarely sell direct, but it may be worth a call.
Rick