Ducati 250 Desmo Rebuild

Buy a set of left handed twist drills, things like bleed nipples that have a hole through them suddenly become easy to remove because the drill will catch on the seized part and more often than not spin it out. If it fails then reach for the screw extractors.
 
Hmm, just found a Ducati 250 Strada up and running but needing some TLC!

From memory these ugly bikes were manufactured under license in Spain and has 'soft' cams. I've seen an electric start version on the streets here and not so long ago you saw them all the time ...

screen-shot-2017-12-31-at-08-26-33.png


First thing to go would be that fairing ...

What do you think guys?

Regs

Simon

PS on further investigation I think the Strada was made in Italy whilst the Forza was made in Spain:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XskRBI5Ubt0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNUX9nS4L9s
 
PS the subsequent video to the Strada is a fantastic bike - boring vid but hang on until minute 2.50 when you see the glass panel over the camshaft bevel gears - lovely-jubly! :)

 
PS the subsequent video to the Strada is a fantastic bike - boring vid but hang on until minute 2.50 when you see the glass panel over the camshaft bevel gears - lovely-jubly! :)


That top bevel is bathing in oil!

Why put that dumb music on when we want to hear the bloody bike
 
Would you believe the other nipple just about fell out :blast

I gave it a good few light taps with a hammer cold, got it really hot, gave it a couple more taps then just tried the spanner on it, blimey, it was like it had never been tightened up :eek:
 

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Hmm, just found a Ducati 250 Strada up and running but needing some TLC!

From memory these ugly bikes were manufactured under license in Spain and has 'soft' cams. I've seen an electric start version on the streets here and not so long ago you saw them all the time ...

screen-shot-2017-12-31-at-08-26-33.png


First thing to go would be that fairing ...

What do you think guys?

Regs

Simon

PS on further investigation I think the Strada was made in Italy whilst the Forza was made in Spain:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XskRBI5Ubt0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNUX9nS4L9s

Dump the fairing and it’ll be a great classic machine and probably a lot easier to ride than the Desmo. So, if the price is right and you want it, buy it
 
.............

PS on further investigation I think the Strada was made in Italy whilst the Forza was made in Spain:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XskRBI5Ubt0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNUX9nS4L9s

Probably a good thing.

IIRC some of the Spanish built ones were a bit shoddy and not well put together, whilst some years production were good ~ I think you really need to know what you're looking at with the Spanish ones.

Now what you REALLY need is an old Sanglas 500 :)

Andres
 
Dump the fairing and it’ll be a great classic machine and probably a lot easier to ride than the Desmo. So, if the price is right and you want it, buy it

Cheers EBBO and before I break my New Year's resolution not to hijack other people's topics already here's a few tips:

You'll be pleased to discover that there's no head gasket - Ducati made 'em gas tight :) - but there is a tiny rubber '0' ring for the oil line that you have to replace every time to whip the head off to drool at your valves. Back in '77 these cost about 90p at the Ducati counter - this was when a week's pay was about £30! - while down at the Yamaha counter for about 6p you could buy identical rings for the float drain on a FS1E (another great project for someone - all I had back then was the use of my mum's Mobylette - and testosterone made me ride it all the way - 8 miles! - into Shrewsbury every Friday and Saturday night for some underaged drinking and heavy petting up an alley while the last bus went its way just after closing time ....

... now what was I saying about wandering off topic! :) You'll also want to change the oil every 1,000 miles as if I remember rightly the sump only held 1 litre!

I worked with a guy who'd converted his 250 Mk III to 12 volts and he gave me a copy of the method - Xeroxed back then! I think it was him who said the Haynes manual was crap although I can't really see why. :thumby: Anyway, as you look to be rebuilding the wiring from scratch it strikes me as a good idea to do this - it might be worth asking Andy about this as he's a clever sod!

So, have you made an inventory of the bike, parts missing etc. yet? I must say this thread is really getting me keen to knuckle down and do something similar! :)

Probably a good thing.

IIRC some of the Spanish built ones were a bit shoddy and not well put together, whilst some years production were good ~ I think you really need to know what you're looking at with the Spanish ones.

Now what you REALLY need is an old Sanglas 500 :)

Andres

Actually that was 'Plan A' Andres. Sanglas's are really lovely bikes and fairly easy and cheap to come by here. Until now my idea has been to fill a gap in the underground bunker where I keep my bikes and 'classic' NIVA once the extensive building works on our house is finished, hopefully before July, and spend the 'change' out of my lump sum of toys such as these - not forgetting a Renault Traffic for Mrs S and the Malamute!

But this a a Ducati were talking about so all common sense goes out if the window as even then @ €1,500 I think I can give myself an 'advance payment' - I'm just waiting for a good time to speak to Mrs S ...

Moreover, the bunker is in Tremp, that is to say surrounded by some of the best roads in Europe and good though they are a Sanglas will only be fun for looking at the scenery - nice as that is - but did I say it's a Ducati were talking about! :) It's not just about nostalgia - although my 350 Mk III gave me the best biking fun I ever had and is the only bike I regret selling - I want a bike that is fun to ride too.

Back to your point about quality. All Ducati's of those years were a mixed bunch - my Italian built 450 DESMO was a pile of crap - although the Spanish one's did have a mixed reputation, i.e. the (in)famous 24 Horrors racing models imported into the UK in 1971. But the vey desirable Scrambler models were actually manufactured in Spain and assembled in Italy before being exported to the US - as well as a few falling off the ship at Southhampton, including the one owned by a bloke down my street in Oxford who also had a girlfriend who was a dead ringer for Debby Harry - B*****d, B*****d, B*****d!!!

I've just spent a pleasant hour reading up the history of Mototrans, the Spanish firm that built Ducati's while import restrictions were in force and see that the Strada was built very much at the end, when it was almost a matter of using up parts in stock before the receivers came in ... but the 1981 model, i.e. the one eon sale, with a disk brake on the front looks OK, at least in theory, as it didn't introduce any untried modifications.

Oh, well. I've mailed the seller, a big firm a day's drive away up in the Basque County, and may make them a silly offer. They're near San Sebastian, which Mrs S and I have always wanted to visit - so if anyone knows a good hotel that is OK with 45 kgs monster dogs we could see some progress! :D

Meanwhile - phew! - ¡Feliz año nuevo!

Simon
 
Simon, I haven’t an inventory as such, that’s too organised for me! What I’m doing right now is try to sort out re sleeving the master cylinder and trying to find the clutch lever mounting (which also carries the choke lever and light switch).
 
.................................

Actually that was 'Plan A' Andres. Sanglas's are really lovely bikes and fairly easy and cheap to come by here. Until now my idea has been to fill a gap in the underground bunker where I keep my bikes ................................
But this a a Ducati were talking about so all common sense goes out if the window ......................................

Oh, well. I've mailed the seller, a big firm a day's drive away up in the Basque County, and may make them a silly offer. They're near San Sebastian, which Mrs S and I have always wanted to visit - so if anyone knows a good hotel that is OK with 45 kgs monster dogs we could see some progress! :D

Meanwhile - phew! - ¡Feliz año nuevo!

Simon

And bon any nou to you :beerjug:

Sounds like you've got your heart set and for all the right reasons :) Good luck :thumb2

Without wishing to hijack the thread I'm on the look out for a good, restored Bultaco 370 MkII Frontera. I'm currently talking to a guy near Benidorm who has a lovely one but the discussions aren't going well so.....if you know of one or come across one whilst Ducati shopping please let me know as I need an excuse to pop down to Spain soon :bounce1

Andres
 
Progress report: Got the work bench cleared and got the frame on it! hurrah!!
 

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Started trying to get the centre stand pivot out, its seized solid of course. It was seized 40 years ago too by the look of one end, its all mushroomed over from being bashed with a hammer. It's normaly held with circlips, the other end had two, none at all this end :D

So it was out with the blowlamp and got the pivots steaming hot, then feed it with very thin oil which it seemed to drink up ok (capillary action I hope). Tomorrow I'll get some 8mm rod and try and draw it out.

PS, The frame has been repainted, I had wonderd.
 

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Simon, I haven’t an inventory as such, that’s too organised for me! What I’m doing right now is try to sort out re sleeving the master cylinder and trying to find the clutch lever mounting (which also carries the choke lever and light switch).


Ha ha, maybe 'inventory' is too posh a word but I can't think of another. But I wonder if the time lost searching for missing parts is one of the main reasons that so many projects seem to fail ... I guess it will help if you're not looking to do a 'concourse' bike with everything 100% original - remember that a lot of parts from this Ducati days were a) junk, and b) no two Dukes seemed quite the same anyway! I remember Laverda's great advantage was tat they used Suzuki switch gear, hence brake/clutch assembly all in the same cluster ...

And bon any nou to you :beerjug:

Sounds like you've got your heart set and for all the right reasons :) Good luck :thumb2

Without wishing to hijack the thread I'm on the look out for a good, restored Bultaco 370 MkII Frontera. I'm currently talking to a guy near Benidorm who has a lovely one but the discussions aren't going well so.....if you know of one or come across one whilst Ducati shopping please let me know as I need an excuse to pop down to Spain soon :bounce1

Andres

Ha ha, well spotted amic meu!

You shouldn't have too much trouble finding Bultaco's here - one here for starters! - why the Mk II in particular?

Meanwhile my 'dealer' is pissing me about a little - not so unusual - but at least it gives me more time to choose the moment to speak with Mrs S - sourcing a new rear shock for the Beta Alp for just €300 rather than a Wilbers @ €550+ is a step in the right direction ...

Regs

Simon

PS Andres - I guess you're Spanish/Catalan?
 
Ha ha, maybe 'inventory' is too posh a word but I can't think of another. But I wonder if the time lost searching for missing parts is one of the main reasons that so many projects seem to fail ... I guess it will help if you're not looking to do a 'concourse' bike with everything 100% original - remember that a lot of parts from this Ducati days were a) junk, and b) no two Dukes seemed quite the same anyway! I remember Laverda's great advantage was tat they used Suzuki switch gear, hence brake/clutch assembly all in the same cluster ...

I'm working toward as finish as close to original as I can, the time scale is to be on the road for Spring. So far I'm finding metalwork better than Jap that I'm used to. Swing arm pivot pin is massive and the steel is rock hard, I've had to stone off the ends to get it to fit nicely through the swing arm, the bushes are bronze? and have grease ways cut into them.
 
Trying to draw out the centerstand pivot with a draw rod and lots of heat was a total waste of time, heat and effort :rolleyes:

I ended up cutting the stand free from the frame then cutting the pivot out of the stand with side cuts. I then used heat and the vice to push them through. Sounds easy, took three nights :D
 

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Stud extractors arrived, can't budge the seized brake nipple, bollox, but at least I havent snapped the extractor :p
 


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