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Please
notice each photo is numbered, and, the statements below have numbers
above which correspond to the relevant photos for those statements.
Enjoy. |
1, 8, 9, 12
I found this basket case 74 750 GT in 2006.
The original owner had purchased it new and put about 40,000
miles on it and then decided to rebuild it.
His brother disassembled the bike and they lost interest. So the
parts went into boxes and the bike sat in pieces for close to 25
years.
The parts went through a couple of moves and parts were lost
along the way as well as the title and memories of just how the
bike was equipped from new.
After 6 months of work to acquire a new title I started the
project...
I got three boxes of parts, the partially disassembled engine,
and the body parts.
16, 17,
29, 30, 32
I already have a nice original GT and I wanted a
Sport but by 06 the prices for 750 sports were already through
the roof.
This bike was a late 74 and although I had enough parts to put
it back to original it had some of the undesirable traits of the
860's that were to be introduced in 75. So an absolute original
restoration was not what I wanted.
I decided to make it a custom (sorry all you purists but it's my
bike
I think I have more hours of polishing than in the entire rest
of the restoration process.
14, 15,
18, 31
After we had the appropriate parts powder-coated
and plated we started the assembly and rebuild of many
components.
My wife Candie helped me along the way and she deserves a great
big THANK YOU for her involvement, effort, and patience.
The engine was a joint project with an old-time Ducati tech
because I didn't feel confident to shim the cams and gears but I
still did much of the work. It got new Sport pistons and
valves/spring and new bearings/bushes/valve guides etc.
21, 23,
15, 14
The suspension is Works performance both front and rear and
Candie and I rebuilt the forks.
19, 23
I wanted something special for the brakes...
Parts for the bike were sourced from all over the
world including US, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, Canada,
and Japan, but Steve at Bevel Heaven was a major source for this
project. His 996 superbike brake parts, the custom machined
adapters from Germany, and the suspension, along with many more
parts came from Steve.
13, 22
I found a set of correct Borrani Wheel rims locally - it was
kinda like trippin over a gold nugget!
A lot more polishing and a new set of stainless spokes and we
were rollin!
11
I decided that because my favorite roundcase was
a 750SS (who's isn't?)
the body work for this bike would be replica SS with an Imola
tank and single seat.
Rick Covello in Canada custom made all of the bodywork and the
tank to fit my bike.
He used a clear gel-coat on the tank so I could incorporate the
fuel sight gauge into the paint scheme like the original Imola
Race bikes.
My favorite colors are the black and gold of the 900 SS bikes
from the 80’s. My favorite paint scheme of all the roundcase
bikes is the "Z-stripe" from the 74 sports. So it was just a
mater of combining them onto the Imola/SS bodywork.
24, 25
After a final fit and paint prep it was time to
paint.
28
A special tribute to Cook Nielson Phil Schilling
and their historic Racing effort with the 74 Ducati was added to
the paint scheme.
26, 27,
6, 7
There’s still a ton of work to do as the final
assembly continues.
3
Finally on August 29 2009 - three years after the
project began, the bike rolled off the lift a completed bike for
the first time.
2, 4, 5,
10
I was so excited I was shaking, after such a long
and sometimes frustrating project it’s hard to believe it’s
finally done. I have a few final touches I want to change in the
next few days but for all intents and purposes it is finished!
Hope you enjoyed reading about my bevel odyssey.
Mike
[email protected]
PS. Next is a ‘65 Norton 750 – Steve, ever think
about branching out?
Note from Steve: This is one
of the nicest special resto-rod Ducatis I have ever seen. Well
done Mike. |
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