Thought you might be interested in my job at the moment. I've had the bike for years and it had to come apart for some repairs and tidying up. The frame is finally painted and the motor is so sweet..
The first bevel gear driven camshaft I saw was on my friends Ducati 200cc circa 1970, I liked it then, even though I didn't fully appreciate what I was looking at. I still think that those singles look like there have been some quality engineering design involved, very neat and compact engines with a lot of attention to detail, far superior to the English designs of that era.
My brother-in-law has a 1972 450 mk3 which he has owned from new. Here is a picture from Bristol BIAMF 2010 BIAMF_24_04_2010_ (268) | Flickr - Photo Sharing! I understand that there were very few of this particular model imported into the UK. He was the person who got me into Ducati's in the first place
Thanks for the interest there Guys, I have made progress with it, got a new swing arm pin and freshly reamed swing arm bushes. The wheels were rebuilt about five years ago with new stainless spokes and I rewired it before I stripped it down. the motor looks all good but there was a bit of wobble in the sprocket bearing so I have split it and will replace all the gearbox bearings. Lots of other little jobs under way and it is nice to see that there is interest in this lovely old bike, I have had it a long time and ridden it hard and far. Keep posting in the forum about the nice older models! I'll put some pics on later when it starts really coming together. Billy.
Thanks again. Mr R.- your bike sounds really good, nice model! Mine had a new rod kit just before I bought it, I still have the old one in a bag. The main bearings are perfect and I have had no problems with the engine at all. I could pour cash in forever but its all good, I know it is, Ive had it since 1996! It was just getting scruffy. Been fiddling about freshening up the top end of a 1930 aJs I have had for a long time too, what do you reckon? Billy.
That looks good Billy would like to ride one, one day to see what it's like with hand gear change and those handle bar lever's. May be its me but i do like the old engine design and would like to have a huge oak sideboard with just the engine's on display, just look at your AJS engine compared to a modern one.
