Italian classics

xbacksideslider · Oct 12, 2010

davamb said:
As for the 860. I dunno now. Maybe my tastes have changed or it was not suited to its time. Still don't like the vertical muffler seams though.

If memory serves Pinifarina was involved in the styling???

Looks like a schizophrenic grass hopper.

The Italians make beautiful machines when they stick to curves but when they lurch, in a spasm of modernity, to angles, they screw the pooch, every time. I mean, put a Diana beside a Monza, a Sport or a GT beside that grasshopper, a round case bevel beside a square case bevel.

mikegray660 · Oct 17, 2010

daveh said:
mikegray660 said:

Never to may Italian bikes
here are mine..

Click to expand...

Nice collection, and if your Lav is early 80s (?) it would span three decades. The 750GT interests me. How does it compare with your Commando? More photos??

Edit: just noticed in the small print that your Lav is 70s!

Dave
the ducati is a great bike - much smoother than the commando and like most italian bikes of that time frame has long legs - great on sweepers but not as nimble as the commando & isn't as fast as the commando. If there is any complaints i have about the ducati is that the cost of parts is even more outrageous than commando parts and the support/aftermarket upgrades is not nearly as extensive. They also have gone insane in $ for one now days - i paid like $1200 20'sumthing years ago -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b40nz4UdP1M

daveh · Oct 17, 2010

Mike — thanks for posting the pics and video. Very nice and looks like it's ridden. That's the first time I've seen someone start a right foot kicker with the left foot! Agree about the outrageous spares prices and some of the pattern stuff for the singles is rubbish. I'm on the other side of the pond and I find that Commando spares are quite reasonably priced by comparison.

Dave

willh · Oct 22, 2010

My Italian From many moons ago before it was stolen. Not really a classic but I enjoyed it.

Govig · Oct 23, 2010

My old Duke

GRM 450 · Oct 23, 2010

A '78 ? Left gear change, Borrani rims and 4 bolt discs. It looks as if you liked it, I like it ! I had a 1980 black and gold, it had FPS mag wheels. Not as nice as the Borranis. Beautiful!

Govig · Oct 23, 2010

Correct an early 78. It was the first model with Bosch ignition and should have the mag wheels. I doubt if there's anyone crazy enough to still ride on those though!

daveh · Oct 23, 2010

Willh — I bought a '91 belt drive 750SS, just like yours, in 1992. Until then, I had been a bit of a Luddite and had owned bikes of ten years old or older. It was my first modern bike in many years and my first modern Ducati.

Govig — lovely 900SS. I was lucky enough to ride a '77 (left gear change model). What surprised me was the quicker steering of that particular bike, a lot quicker than other bevel twins I had ridden and almost on par with my Commando. It had had a complete nut and bolt rebuild and I never got to find out if the headstock angle or the ride height had been altered.

Dave

GRM 450 · Oct 23, 2010

Willh, I bought a repairable write off '95 750 SS to use for a doner for a TT2 replica. It was a good honest 750 that did nothing wrong and was way more comfortable that the TT2 it turned into. (but not as much fun)
graeme

Govig · Oct 24, 2010

Gorgeous. Needs a bigger battery though.....

daveh · Oct 24, 2010

Yes, it is gorgeous and the workmanship is exemplary. Isn't that the battery laid on its side in front of the ECU on the rear sub-frame? If it is, it looks quite big to me. Didn't the race bikes have a smaller battery in a slot cut into the seat/tail unit?

I bet it has surprised riders of modern bikes on a twisty road!

willh · Oct 24, 2010

Beautiful job on the TT2.

gtsun · Oct 24, 2010

Govig your bike is beautiful, I can only dream of having a bike like that & riding it around Europe. To own it AND live in France! You must have done something good to have pleased the gods of good riding !!

GRM 450 · Oct 24, 2010

"Isn't that the battery laid on its side in front of the ECU on the rear sub-frame? If it is, it looks quite big to me. Didn't the race bikes have a smaller battery in a slot cut into the seat/tail unit?"

Yes it's a big battery, too big as it turns out, but I'd already spent the money to buy it. The engine is close to 13:1 and I wasn't sure a smaller battery would turn it over. Maybe this battery might end up in the Norton. The "ECU" is the regulator, the engine is carbed not injected. It weighs 155 kg with 10 litres of fuel and the 5 kg battery, so the battery helps make the suspension work.
graeme

Govig · Oct 25, 2010

Thanks gtsun, you're too kind

Mrs Govig still doesn't know how much its restoration cost...... When I bought it 3 years ago it had been in a damp cellar for 10 years in boxes.

pelican · Oct 25, 2010

what's the bike behind it? seafoam green? pretty

Govig · Oct 25, 2010

Darmah?

GRM 450 · Oct 25, 2010

Yes, correct. SS Darmah

speirmoor · Oct 26, 2010

Beautiful machine! Where did you source the tank for the replica do you remember?

daveh · Oct 26, 2010

I will have to take some chill tablets — I missed Govig's joke about the huge battery on the TT2 and mistook the regulator for an ECU

Italian classics

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