Monza Junior production date

[DucMonzter]

Can anyone confirm the correct first year of the Monza Junior 160 production? I've seen both 1964 and 1965 in various sources. I've been asked to display my bike at a local show and would like to give the correct year. My bike has a low serial number and round-style bodywork so it's definitely early production. The foil nameplate only reads "Anno 196_"

Thanks,
Jeff

[Vintmoto]

Production started in 64 for the Monza Junior according to my information.

[Moto Chuck]

Production started in 64 for the Monza Junior according to my information.

This agrees with Mick Walker's Ducati Singles Restoration.

[Ventodue]

As not unusual with models from this period, opinions differ ...

Of the twelve published sources I've looked at:
6 say 1964
5 say 1965
1 says 1966.

Hmmm ...

Dealing with the 1966 date first. This comes from Motociclismo and is simply explained by the fact - and everyone agrees on this point, at least - that the model was released late in Italy. So we can discount this date.

So, 1964 or 1965? Well:
Two of the leading Ducati authors, Mick Walker and Ian Falloon, are themselves inconsistent in what they say, Ian Falloon even going so far as to claim both years on the same page in Ducati Overhead Camshaft Singles . Of the others, Tom Bailey says 1965, Alan Cathcart says 1964. And then there's the danger that lesser authors just repeat what they read, of course ...

So back to Ducati literature:
There is an owners handbook dated July 1965. This claims to be the first edition. BUT the model illustrated is the second version of the Monza Junior (square tank, long side panels). So not convincing.

Ah ha! There was an earlier "Supplement to Instruction manual, Over Head Camshaft 160 MONZA Jr" (sic). And it's date?

December 1964.

So that's what I would go for! But I may be wrong, of course ... One way to check would be to go thru some bike magazines of the period and see what what being advertised for sale at the time.

[Jon Pegler]

Just to confuse things a little further, the 160 parts book illustrates three models on page 11.
The first picture is of the earlier round tanked 160 with a caption '1st ed, 1965 (USA)'
The second picture shows a square tanked 160 with a date of 1965
The third picture shows another square tanked model with a date of 1966

Was the 160 on sale before 1965 outside of the US, or was it exclusively sold in the US in 1965?

Just another confusing Italian mystery.
Spanish 160s certainly started being produced in 1965.

Jon

[Ventodue]

Ah ha! The plot thickens ...

1. The parts book I have is an earlier version, Jon, showing only the first two models. But neither the model illustrations nor the book itself are dated:



2. As to:

a) Was it available outside the US prior to 1965?
Seems not. Everyone, including Motociclismo, agrees that the model was a Berliner 'Special Request', and was therefore first sold in the US.

b) Was it sold exclusively in the US in 1965?
Again, I suspect not. Mick Walker says it was sold in the UK in 1965 and Marc Poels says likewise for France.

However they concede it did not sell especially well in either country. As to its relative success in the US, Tom Bailey puts this down at least partly to its low insurance band. Don't know how that might have operated/not operated elsewhere.

(And of course, this was also the time that Stan Hailwood was rapidly losing interest in being the UK Ducati importer, so I guess that may have contributed too).