Looking for Buying Advice on a '66 250cc Scrambler

[66Scrambler]

Hi All,

I found an old Ducati single listed for sale near me, but I was hoping all you knowledgeable people could help tell me more about what I'm looking at. For some background, I've got more experience with working on cars, but at least some of that mechanical knowledge should translate.

It's listed as a 1966 250cc Scrambler, although I wouldn't be surprised if it's a hodgepodge of parts. The seller says the motor kicks over and has good compression, but that's about all the info they provide.














I'm looking at it thinking that it'd be fun to get running and occasionally ride on the weekends, but it would by no means be a concours restoration.
Do you think there are good bones there to work with? The seller is asking $600, so it would be pretty reasonable to get into.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

[Duccout]

Well, it obviously needs a lot of work, and looks like it has had a hard life, so it may cost you a lot to put right, although $600 is very cheap. You pays yer money and takes yer chances.....

[66Scrambler]

Well, it obviously needs a lot of work, and looks like it has had a hard life, so it may cost you a lot to put right, although $600 is very cheap. You pays yer money and takes yer chances.....

Thanks for the response Duccout, I think that's a fair assessment.

Let me know if you see anything that you think would be especially problematic to repair.
It seems like there might be some modifications made to the frame that I'm a little worried about. Like that bracket welded near the neck.

[tobydmv]

I think I have the same bike and paid slightly more for mine. Looks like my 5 speed narrow case scrambler. Id say that is a safe price but get ready for a lotta work. If you dont want it after buying it, you could part it and i'd take some donor parts. I think your in the states by the look of that license plate and probably out west somewhere by the looks of that grass.

You have a good eye spotting that frame repair near the neck. Thats a bizarre weld job. Looks like square tubing or something, might be steering stops for the replacement forks who knows...? That sure looks like a TLS brake hub which is not Ducati. Id guess the bike ran into something, probably a car and damaged the front end and maybe that downtube as well so they swapped in a front end from a Honda or something. The forks kinda look stock but I cant tell from the pictures. My scrambler had a similar bodge where they welded steering stops for a Suzuki front end onto the down tube. **Be sure to pull the gas tank off and look at the top tube**. It should be straight where it connects to the head/neck tube. I bought a Monza a few years ago that was also wrecked and the top tube was bent near the head tube but hidden under the gas tank. I think this changes the frame geometry and can be fixed but if you can find someone who knows how.

To make it right you might need a new frame and front end but you have a possibly good motor, seat pan, and gas tank which are hard to find. My scrambler also came with a phantom front end. In my case from a Suzuki and they shaved the brake plate and welded fork stops on the frame to make it all fit....back yard engineering I guess. You also have what looks like the same Mikuni kit that my bike had. The phillips screws on the cam cover are scary. I wonder what prompted that job....

If its anything like mine was you will need new stator coils or at least some rewiring and severe cleaning. To get the mag flywheel off you'll need a special puller and another puller to get the clutch cover off. Beware the Mag is not keyed to the crank!!. So before you pull it off make sure you time and mark it!!!

[66Scrambler]

I think I have the same bike and paid slightly more for mine. Looks like my 5 speed narrow case scrambler....

Thanks for the thorough reply Toby! I appreciate you taking the time to write that out.

You've definitely given me a few things to think about and look into.

When I saw this bike and started looking into them I was blown away by the design and art that went into building them. I guess I need to figure out if this one has had a little too much "backyard engineering" to get back on the road though.

If I check this bike out, could I use another bolt from the case to check if the threads for the cam cover are still intact?
Using phillips screws there definitely seems like a bad sign.

[Duccout]

I didn't like the Phillips screws either! Seems a strange thing to do, so my guess is that the threads are stripped and the Phillips are slightly larger and not metric. Should be easy to helicoil those threads though.

[double diamond]

The engine, exhaust pipe, seat,tank, rear wheel and swingarm are Ducati. The rest is not. Looks like the front downtube and rear engine mount were cut from the original frame and welded to some sort of Japanese frame. See the weld just above the rear engine mount where it’s joined to a smaller diameter backbone tube? Not much Ducati there. Folk engineering at its best. Reminds me of the widecase/narrowcase framed hillclimber that appeared here several years ago.

[Jon Pegler]

Even the tank has had the front mounts modified from the original Ducati ones.
I wouldn't touch it myself.

Jon

[Duccout]

I think that Jon is right, looking again at the pictures, the bike would need almost everything replacing, which is not impossible, but basically, all you would be buying is an engine of unknown condition, so $600 for an engine - is that a good deal?