Ducati Bevel Twins 1971 to 1986

Ian Falloon was born in New Zealand in 1952 and studied engineering and music at Victoria University, Wellington. After a career as a symphony orchestra oboist was brought to an end by a motorcycle accident he began writing articles about motorcycles for magazines. His first book, The Ducati Story, has run to several editions and has been published in three languages. The success of The Ducati Story led to a series of Ducati books and histories of Honda, Kawasaki, BMW, and Moto Guzzi motorcycles. He has now written many books about motorcycles, mostly historical but also restoration guides. With an interest and passion spanning decades he now concentrates on collecting and restoring older Italian motorcycles, particularly Ducati, MV Agusta, Laverda, and Moto Guzzi. Ian Falloon lives in Australia, and is ably supported in his projects by his wife Miriam and sons Ben and Tim.

Chapter One Historical Background. How did these bikes come about? What was their ancestry?

Chapter Two The 750 GT 1971-78 The first twin was limited edition but soon became a bone fide production model. Once forgotten, the round-case 750 is now one of the most collectable of all Ducatis. But these are a minefield for the restorer, with multiple variations in component specification.

Chapter Three The 750 Sport 1972-78 Ducati's first pure sporting V-twin. Very often poorly restored because they didn't weather well. Now extremely desirable, but only if correct.

Chapter Four The 750 Super Sport 1973-1974 The most collectable of all V-twins. But still people get the colours and decals wrong when restoring.

Chapter Five Sport Touring Square-case twins, 860 and Darmah 1974-82. These may have been the production mainstay but as the most affordable there is renewed interest in restoring them correctly. Very few exist in original form so no one has any idea what is correct.

Chapter Six 750 and 900 Super Sport square-case 1975-82. The quintessential bevel twin. Now highly prized and often poorly restored. Every year the technical specification changed so these are difficult to restore.

Chapter Seven Mike Hailwood Replica. 1979-86 The most popular bevel twin in its day now represents decent value for those wanting a sporting bevel twin. But many have been butchered and they are difficult to restore to original.

Chapter Eight 900 SSD Ducati and S2. 1979-85. Unusual and unloved. They may be a bargain but it is worth restoring them correctly.

Chapter Nine Engine, Ignition and Carburetion. Broken into model types, round-case, square -case, Mille, valve spring, desmodromic, points ignition, Ducati Elettrotecnica ignition, Bosch ignition (and modern alternatives to these types) Amal and Dell'Orto carbs. (You can see you cannot simply rebuild one engine to cover all this. This Chapter is already 150 pictures and 10,000 words and not finished).

Chapter Ten Chassis. Frame, swingarm, wheels, brakes restoration. Steering head bearings (the one thing universal on these bikes), steering lock, swingarm bushes, front fork rebuild, shocks, Lockheed, Scarab, Brembo brakes, front wheel spoked and cast, rear wheel spoked drum brake, rear wheel cast and spoked with disc brake. Tanks, side covers, fairings, and seats. Footpegs, levers, and grips.

Chapter Eleven Electrical systems. Alternators, regulators, fuse boxes, headlights and taillights, turn signal indicators, switches, instruments and dash lights. Wiring diagrams. Practical look at wiring these bikes but they are all different.

Appendix Technical data and specifications. List of resources.