I always liked the Ducati Sport Classics and had a chance to talk with Pierre Terreblanche about them at one of the Motogiros and visits to the factory. I teased him about not having proper Conti replica mufflers and he replied that once I bought one they would sell me mufflers as loud as I wanted.. of course the production pipes had to pass certification on noise and emissions etc.
The style has the cues from the old bevels but for myself and others, the width of the tank, seat and rear tyre were a bit different.. Great idea though and I think this has spurred interest in the original bevels.
Early this year a friend from work emailed me about someone who had a Ducati.. looking to sell it.. It turned out to be a Sport that had low-sided and been written off by the insurance company as 'irrepairable'. This fellow had picked it up with the intent of flipping it but there was no interest as the frame couldn't be re-licenced..
A while before that an 860 GT frame was up on ebay and the poor unloved thing went for $10.
I am thinking of leaving the original bevel front frame tubes intact as they reach down to the area of a pair of lugs on the bottom of the front cylinder. These wouldn't be for the major strength though I might fill the fins to strengthen the area, but it would leave the frame more original looking.
The geometry will be somewhere between the two as I want some of the old bevel handling. I may go with a conventional front fork for the looks and would like to fit a 4.5 in rear rim and a 160 tire as a more reasonable size.
The goal is a bevel styled classic with the modern hardware; my own version of the Sport Classic. | | 860 Frame on DS motor.
Seat heigth will be lowered as on the Darmah etc. | | |
