Diana Mk.III Back on the Road! With Pics

[Nick]

Thanks to everyone on this site, and especially Bob, for all the helpful information that contributed to putting another Duc on the road. Still a few minor issues to attend to, after which she'll again be used as her makers intended.

A work in progress (in my workshop):



On the road:





In the garden:

[Bevel bob]

Hi Nick, Looking good!, the high bars make a lot of sense with the footrests and gearchange , mine has clip ons and rear sets and is very tiring ,restricting rides to non traffic roads, the front guard looks more like Dianna style ,is that correct? ,not that mine is right either ,does the motor rev out with that silencer? It was too restrictive for mine and too small at the outlet. I just got back from the northern Itallian lakes where i spotted a few great bikes just parked in the street, including a beutifull yellow scrambler in Canobio.

[Nick]

Yes, I've never liked low bars either. Aside from being uncomfortable, their lack of leverage can, I feel, make them unsafe in emergencies.

I think the bike is completely original (except the bars), as I bought it from a young guy 30 years ago who didn't know much about bikes and hadn't ridden it very much. I haven't changed anything on it.

It runs pretty good, I ride it on the freeway, etc. However, I have no basis for comparison other than my Sebring, and I've never ridden any other 250's besides my Scrambler. Too, the valve springs are original, so I don't rev it too high.

Ahh, to ride a Ducati in Italy.....

[DewCatTea-Bob]

[quote= Bevel bob ...
" the front guard looks more like Dianna style ,is that correct? "

____ I believe it's a Scrambler-fender.
(The Mark-III seen on 'Philly Throttle' had the correct front-fender.)


Duke-Cheers,
-Bob

[Bevel bob]

I would think the orriginal valve springs would be good to max power revs 8500 as my 250 does not suffer significant bounce up to 10,000 ,not that i plan to go there again on purpose!!.If the silencer is orriginal i would be interested in what the outlet diameter is, i understand that a bigger outlet was fitted to the Mach1 and Mark 111's.Current repro's don't seem to offer that. These bikes take off after 6000, shame to not enjoy that.The front guard was also fitted to the Dianna's according to my American Road tests.Was it a battery bike or direct ignition from the alternator?. I was sick not to have my 250 in Italy , Towbar and trailer is in the plan.

[Nick]

Now that I think back, when I got the bike (for $100 in a non-running condition) it had high dirt-bike bars with a cross bar. And as you say, that's a Scrambler fender on there, so perhaps the bike was modified somewhere along the line. It had street tires when I got it, no rear-set pegs, no battery (that I can recall), and no side covers/tool box. The tach, seat, tank and other bits were all as is. All I had to do to get it running was repair a broken coil wire.

Thanks for the heads up on the valve springs, I'll worry less about them now.