1969 desmo 350- first days

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djstedman
Posts: 18
Joined: Fri Dec 13, 2013 10:34 pm

1969 desmo 350- first days

Postby djstedman » Fri Dec 22, 2017 8:10 pm

All who responded to my valuation thread, thank you as your guidance has enabled me to purchase a fine example for a fair price to both parties involved!

One of the amazing things is I’ve been looking for one for a few years and this one was found less thann 10 blocks from my house! Once I brought the machine home, I went trough the carb as it was seized. After cleaning it out and lubing the cable, I noticed the throttle chain was pretty worn as the pins had substantial play. It seems like every ducati I’ve ever worked on has had a clapped out chain. Do these wear rather fast? The mileage on the odometer is just under 4500 miles, seems like the chain should last way longer than that... maybe the motorcycle has more mileage than shown, I have not run it down the road to see if the speedometer is still working, if it is not I would certainly not trust the odometer readings.
As for the overall condition I am super happy, no stripped threads so far, the rocker clearances were as expected and started after just a few hrs of fettling. It may need a timing adjustment as it seems excessively prone to kick back.

It needs a few parts which I will put a request in the part section of the classifieds if anyone can help out please respond!

As for the tin tag, what is the best way to prevent it from deteriorating further, it hangs of on the right and left edge and needs to be reattached before it gets ripped.. Also is there a difference between a Desmo and MK3 Desmo?

Doug

double diamond
Posts: 555
Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2011 1:20 am

Re: 1969 desmo 350- first days

Postby double diamond » Tue Jan 09, 2018 9:49 pm

Doug,

Glad to hear you’ve brought your Mk3 D back to life.

The foil tag on the steering head is attached with some sort of adhesive. Something like 3M weatherstrip adhesive would be a good choice. I would suggest removing the tag altogether, clean both surfaces and glue it back in place.

The model designation for the Ducati widecase street models 1968-70 was “Mk 3” with a “D” decals on the sidecovers distinguishing the desmo cylinder head option. Another decal identified engine displacement. The 1971-74 models were identified by “Mark 3” or “DESMO” decals on the sidecovers with another decal identifying engine displacement. Where the 1968-70 Mk3 and Mk3 D were nearly indistinguishable, the 1971-74 Mk3 and Desmo models were significantly different from the previous models and from one another.

Matt


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