basketcase comes aboard

[basketcase]

Hello all, I just joined up and would like to share my bikes. First about me: Married guy with 2 boys, living in the country in SE Pennsylvania. I grew up on Jap dirt bikes, But once I learned how to drive, and about girls, i sold the bikes. Later in life I got my motorcycle license and wanted a Harley. But my wife got preggers and the bike went out the window. Now me and the kids have dirtbikes.
The Ducati's: My Dad raced 'Duke's' back in the 50's and early 60's. Also Zundapp's and a 125 Harley. Mom told him ' Its the bikes or me'. He chose her and sold his bikes, but still loved motorcycle's. One day in the early 70's he brought home a 1965 250 Ducati in a box. Got it for free. He put it together and pushed it in the corner. It sat for over 30 years that way. He also picked up a parts bike in about 1976. A 1964 250. We always talked about getting one going but life just dosent let you do the things that ya want to do sometimes.
So dad passes away last year,RIP Dad, and I gotta clean out the house. My kids say 'Wow..Look at those! Lets get it started Dad!' How could I say no...
On to the pictures..

[JimF]

Welcome to the forum. When you get that bike running think of how happy your dad would have been. What with your sons the bike will bridge three generations of your family.

That muffler is kind of unique in that it's very rare to see one without any dents in it. If you opt for some other muffler don't throw that Silentium away, it's worth some cash.

I think you'll love riding the Ducati - they are special in a way that you can't describe to people who haven't ridden one.

Let us know what we can do to help.


Jim

[basketcase]

Thanks Jim. I also have some parts in a box, like a headlight, speedometer, megaphone and some other stuff.
I will get some pics of that and the parts bike too.

[basketcase]

Got some more pics of the parts bike.
A old school Preston Petty rear fender.

[basketcase]

A couple more.
Look at the size of that rear sprocket!

[basketcase]

Here is the box of parts. The spedo has over 9k on it. What would this headlight housing be from?

[JimF]

That headlight is from a Ducati single, circa 1967 or 1968 I think. It probably came off the same bike that originally had the blue and white tank.

That style is what is commonly referred to as "square style" and there are stories floating around about who invoked the change from rounded fenders, tanks and speedometer buckets to the squared-off look. (I guess the question is were the Italian stylists changing the look of Ducatis to modernize them for the late 1960s on their own, or where they under American influence, perhaps from the Berliner brothers.)

There are also stories about a shipment of square styled bikes being rejected for import to America by the Berliners which I think is true, but I don't know if it was owing to the styling, or declining sales (possibly related to the styling) or just a cash flow problem with the Berliner brothers.

In any event, many people have looked to replace their square style body work with round versions from earlier machines which has created a shortage of rounded parts and high prices for anything round in any condition.

Other people embrace the square styling. Either way you feel about it is fine.

By the way, I'm pretty sure I have the same shoes as you!

Jim

[basketcase]

By the way, I'm pretty sure I have the same shoes as you!

Red wings. Very comfortable and durable.

[DewCatTea-Bob]

" Look at the size of that rear sprocket! "

____ That obviously doesn't appear to be a common factory 60t.steel-sprocket... is it aluminum ? _ The largest rear-sprocket I've ever had was an aluminum 72t model, (don't know who made it),, however yours appears a little smaller. (?)


" Here is the box of parts.
What would this headlight housing be from? "

____ That headlight-shell is that of a 1966-Monza/Sebring Duke-model.
__ To elaborate on that which Jim has mentioned,, Berliner had noted the relative success of the early-60s Honda 300-Dream, and-so wanted to get-in-on that market as well,
and-so asked Ducati to try to create a (likely 300cc) Duke-model with a similar type of H.Dream-styling & appeal. _ However, due to Ducati's budgeting-concerns,, they simply (& rather cheaply) altered the existing styling of the already established 250-GT (for the 1965/66 switch-over), so as to employ their-own squarish-styling that would look & appeal (hopefully) even better than the H.Dream-model's unique appearance. _ And evidently Ducati's squarish-designers were so confident of their own new/unique squarish-like design-style, they then felt it safe enough to mass-produce the same square-style parts for fitment to ALL their regular street-models (at least for that 1966 model-year).
__ But in my-own opinion,, it wasn't the squarish-type styling itself that made the H.Dream sell so well as it did, but rather,, it was styled to look somewhat like the SCOOTERs of those days, so as to provide a bridge (so to speak) to make the gap easier to cross-over for many of those wishing to move-up from a mere 'scooter' to a real 'motorcycle' .
I'm sure many other fellows such as myself (and older) back then, were fairly well aware of this situation, which very much helped Honda towards taking-over the cycle-market, back in those days. _ And surely Berliner no-doubt had a fair understanding on what the situation actually was with the Honda-Dream success, but it seems that the conception was not completely translated/understood & dispatched properly by Ducati (with their 1966-attempt [to provide Berliner's dream-bike] ).
__ For myself, I preferred the square-styled Duke-models for the same reason I chose DUCATIs... I'm not much the same as Joe-average, and-so choose to STAND-OUT (with most everything I do) !
Although I concede that the pre-66 Duke design-styling was/is more pleasing to the eye.


Dukaddy-DUKEs,
DCT-Bob

[basketcase]

Thanks for the info Bob. So my headlight was made one year, 1966?