Ducati's Return

Fall got away from me work-wise, and I never did send off the crankshaft to Syd's Cycles for rebuild. When November rolled around, however, I decided to just drive the crank and cylinder down to St. Petersburg, Florida, and then do some cave diving while I waited.

I departed Madison the first week in November, and 23 hours later I arrived at Syd's door. Malcom welcomed me in and gave me a tour of the place before we settled down to discussing my parts. I had never seen an intact Ducati single outside of photos, so the place was like a museum - a Monza, Mach 1, Mark 3, and several others were around the shop. A couple motors were in the process of being rebuilt, and I asked a lot of questions and soaked in as much information as possible.

Two weeks later I returned to pick up my newly rebuilt crank with a new connecting rod assembly, a cylinder bored .020 over with a new forged piston, as well as all new bearings, gaskets, and seals. I forgot to take a pic of the shop.

I haven't accomplished much since my return. I had to hone the crank journals with emory cloth in order to get a nice fit on the main bearings, I've rebuilt and shimmed the lower bevel housing, and I've cleaned up the engine cases. I did order new wheels, spokes, and tires, so more updates should be coming soon.







The bearings shields will be removed before the bearings are installed in the cases.