Hi and thanks for adding me. I’ve been asked to re commission a Ducati 350 of 1971 vintage. It belonged to my daughter in laws father who sadly is no longer with us. I don’t know much about it as yet so I’m hoping for some help and advice from the experts on here. Cheers Dave.
Witty is still around. John Wittman lives in Spain now, but you can find him on Facebook. He might remember the bike, and he might be able to sell you spares for it.
I did read that somewhere else. It’s difficult trying to unravel what’s been done to the bike. I’m assuming the engine is ok as apparently it was running. But there are two carbs with it so not sure which is the period correct one.
I'm no expert on that model, but in my experience, pretty much all Italian bikes of that era came with a dellorto carb.
I think you’re right but I have seen images and read some came with Amal carbs. The bike came with 2 amal carbs neither fitted. Would love a 10 minute conversation with him, would unravel a load of questions.
This is a really good site for old Italian technical manuals. http://www.rpw.it/Documentazione.htm Just had a quick look at what I think is the parts manual for your bike. Looks like up until 1970 they used a 29mm Dell orto SS1 carb. From 1971 switched to a 29mm VHB. It may be that someone swapped to an Amal as new old stock of the above are pretty much unobtainable.
Welcome in and here's a couple of links that may prove useful: Back to Classic have parts diagrams for all the old 'uns - https://www.ducaticlassics.com/Parts/ Hate to push you away from this jolly community but there is a message board that caters for all things single and there are a few really knowledgeable guys on it - http://www.motoscrubs.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=3 One of these guys is Nigel Lacey and I would heartily recommend him & his parts shop - http://www.laceyducati.com/ducati-parts/
Quick up date on this. Changed the cable from the alternator with help from Lacey Ducati for parts and tools (super helpfull). Rebuilt the smaller Amal carb and finally got the engine running which sounded sweet as a nut. As has been suggested i am trying to retain its patina and only re commisioning rather than restoring. I have stripped down the front end and rebuilt but am having trouble with the front forks, they dont seem to want to spring back all the time and get a bit stiff! Any advice would be appreciated. Happy New Year all.
Glad you contacted Nigel. He's really is a super knowledgeable guy and as you say is super helpful too. Remember forks of this era don't have guide bushes and rely on the stanchions sliding directly within the fork leg. So it's good to first check with a dry run that these two can slide together with no snatching to ensure both are straight and clean. Do the fork springs have in their own internal tube? This stops the spring 'bulging out' during compression and catching on the sides of the stanchion. See item 21 - https://www.ducaticlassics.com/parts/250-350-and-450-desmo/all/marzocchi-35mm-front-fork I saw similar traits when recommissioning the Darmah. Sometimes when pulling it off the side stand the forks would stay in the same position but you could extend them by pulling up on the bars and it would settle in that position. This did, and to a lesser degree still does, baffle me and I have just put it down to the friction between the sliders & leg that (probably) form part/most of the damping. Compared to modern stuff the forks are quite crude & harsh and when riding it is difficult to ascertain if there are any issues caused by this. I have certainly not noticed any ill effects & possibly when in motion the weight & inertia of the wheel/bike overcomes any stiction that maybe present
