My New Ducati

Common sense tells you to never buy a basket-case.

Common sense says that you'll never break-even with the purchase and it'll be more headache that it's worth.  Common sense also says to just buy whatever you want in running condition; it just makes more sense.

So, with my common sense tied to a chair in a dark portion of my brain, I went to look at a Ducati that had been sitting in a junkyard for 10 years or longer.

And I bought it.

And I paid $150 for it.

And it's a basket-case.

I've had a long-standing love affair with the single-cylinder Ducatis from the sixties.  I love their styling, I love their bevel-drive engine and I just love their light-weight, nimble handling. 

My basket-case single-cylinder Ducati turned out to be a 1965 350 Sebring.  1965 was the first year of production for the 350 and, in classic Italian tradition, was named after Ducati's victory at Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida.

It was pretty rough.  The headlight was missing, the wiring was non-existent and the whole bike was covered in a fine coating of rust.  The seat was a wreck and the original Silentium muffler was, sadly, corroded beyond repair. 

In short, it looks like hell and I don't have any idea if the engine will even turn over because the kick-start lever is missing.

But its condition doesn't matter.  When I saw it resting up against that beat-up camping trailer, it tugged at my heartstrings and a few minutes later it was in the back of my truck. 

Well, first I needed help getting it in the truck. 

The chain was rusted to the rear sprocket and wouldn't turn.  Oh, and the rear brake was jammed on.  So, with the help of two other guys, we dragged the bike from its resting place and heaved it into the bed of my truck.  After strapping the bike down, I was on my way to the fanciful land of Ducati ownership.

Once it was in my garage, I could sit down and look at what I've purchased. 

I believe that no matter which bike you buy, whether it's a rusty old Ducati or brand-new superbike, you have to sit down and look the bike over.  This way, your mind gets to wander and you can begin to visualize yourself on the bike, or in my case, what the bike will even look like.

Looking at your new bike, you can see yourself riding it, imagine what it will sound like or imagine the scenery you will pass.  You can imagine yourself parked by a beautiful overlook with the bike in the forground and a picturesque view in the background.  You can imagine yourself tearing up through the gears and you can make the appropriate vroom noises to accompany your fantasy.

Drifting out of the fantasy, the veracity of the bike in front of me hit really hard. 

What the hell was I thinking?

I'll tell you what I was thinking: I have to rescue this bike.

I felt so sorry for it that I had to rescue it from its hellish misery and put it back on the road where it belongs. 

The last few days have been a flurry of activity.  I took a few of the covers off of the engine and was relieved to find it was spotless inside.  Even the oil in the crankcase looked alright, though it was really black.

The rust on the tank, fenders and frame looked severe but a few minutes with a wirewheel showed it to be mostly surface rust.  There is some minor pitting in a few places but it's nothing that can't be smoothed over and painted.

There is a ton of work that needs to be done to the bike.  The wheels are junk, the carb is gunked solid, the exhaust nut is frozen in place, as is the spark plug and it needs a wiring harness, lights and controls.

But I now own a single-cylinder Ducati and therefore, I can't stop smiling.

Well, here's my new Ducati.  Not quite as nice as, say, a 999R but it's still a cool bike.  Underneath all of that rust is a cool little soon-to-be Italian cafe-racer.

With the bodywork removed you can see that there really isn't much to a Ducati single.  I started to grind away some of the rust but I would be there until the end of time.  I bought a sand-blaster instead and in a few hours, I had the paint and rust off of the frame and I had myself covered in sand. 

Cool.  I can't wait until that is polished.