Ducati Cucciolo

[Tim Tom]

brakes?! We don't need no stinkin' brakes!!!!


That's a nice looking frame there Pete. Got potential for sure, now give it some brakes. Big ones. Maybe those new-fangled-mountain-bike style disc brakes.

Actually looks like almost as work to do on the frame as your putting into the engine! But it will be worth it as you know. Cant wait to see how this ends up.

[pete]

Hahaha yes brakes are on the agenda

I'm afraid I'm going to have to go for the authentic style rubber ones though, no disc brakes like that in 1949

[surviverguy]

Pete, to straighten those handlebars- turn that top vertical bolt back in until it touches the neck, then back it out about 4 turns, then strike it downwards with a hammer! That'll unlock the wedge in the neck.

[pete]

Pete, to straighten those handlebars- turn that top vertical bolt back in until it touches the neck, then back it out about 4 turns, then strike it downwards with a hammer! That'll unlock the wedge in the neck.

Saw your reply in an email notification today and tried it tonight... got it! Thanks

An update will follow shortly...

[pete]

Ok, so I decided I should get a mock up done tonight before I start pulling all the bits off the frame.

So first off I dug out the two pedal cranks I have (only need one):





I gave them both a bit of a clean but picked the one with the least amount of grunge to use for the mock up.

I figured out the piece that screws onto it to attach it to the pedal crankshaft and the other mystery piece that's a cover for the screws:





I then proceeded to remove the pedals, chain, and crank from the Malvern Star in preparation for the mock up.

Firstly, a bit of a size difference to the 450:



Crank area's not too bad, just a little surface rust, and there's a grease nipple there which is actually going to get in the way of the motor mount:



The chain master link came off reasonably easily but it'll still need replacing:



Some of the head stem looks new, some looks old:



The two stars are definitely there:



Seat stem looks ok and you can make out the serial number in this one, still not sure if that validates its age or not:



Cont...

[pete]

Rear dropouts have surface rust but look ok:



The pedal crank and bearings actually look to be in reasonably good condition. I think someone may have actually used the grease nipple to keep grease in there:





You'll have to imagine a left pedal is on there as the modern left one I have doesn't quite fit on the Ducati pedal crank, but here it is with the motor, fuel tank, and pedal crank sat in place:







I can't wait to get this going

[surviverguy]

Saw your reply in an email notification today and tried it tonight... got it! Thanks

An update will follow shortly...

Looks much better with the handlebars facing forward. I'm glad that "trick" worked out for you....

[Adler]

Wouldnt it look better with the tank mounted to the toptube?

[surviverguy]

It looks like the headset was assembled wrong. The pieces are out of order? I think the piece that's currently 4th up- might be the bearing race and should be reversed (upside down) and be piece #1 from frame upwards. Then the bearing would go in the race (green paint), then the knurled ring, then the larger of the two nuts, then the spacer and the small nut last (as it is now).
I'm not sure and it's hard to tell from just pictures...(I used to be a bicycle courier and bicycle mechanic!)

[surviverguy]

Wouldnt it look better with the tank mounted to the toptube?

Toptube and all the way forward....like a GS (LOL)?

[Tim Tom]

Wouldnt it look better with the tank mounted to the toptube?

Hmmm interesting idea... Lets find out!! To the photoshopping machine!!

First is Pete's mock up:




Attached to the top tube:




Attached to the down tube in a different way:




Hmmmm....

Honestly I think where Pete has it looks pretty good. Not to mention greatly reduces the amount of fuel line needed

A quick google search showed tanks mounted in all sorts of configurations, but I think this one looks pretty good. Similar to where Pete has it now.

[UncleMike]

Such an interesting project.

I'm guessing he'll want that heavy, sloshing fuel as low as possible. Doesn't make much of a difference on the 400lb motorcycle, but I bet he feels it on the 40-lb bike.

[pete]

Thanks for the feedback guys!

Survivorguy: Thanks again, that trick worked a charm!

You could be right about the heatset although to be honest I haven't looked that closely yet except to loosen it up and take a quick peek at the bearings. I'll find out for sure once I pull it apart.

Adler: I'm inclined to keep it where it is, as Tim's photo shows they seem to be setup to be mounted low. The two reasons I thought of are as UncleMike said about C of G but also I don't know how well the 60+ year old float valve will hold up with the fuel tank up too high. At least the fuel tap is a standard on/off type...

Highway Glider: I thought I could just sacrifice the nipple but there may be room to relocate it, didn't even think of that! That's an excellent idea with the cut off bolt too...

Tim: I don't know how you do that stuff with Photoshop but well done again

Now that I've seen it others ways I'm definitely keeping it on the down tube there.

That is definitely an inspirational photo too! If I can get mine that nice it would be awesome! They've obviously welded a couple of brackets on to mount the tank and I wonder if there's any chance of finding some forks like that?

UncleMike: Thanks! And I reckon you're spot on there, even though the tank is small it will definitely be noticeable weight up too high.

[UncleMike]

That's a more modern frame and it looks like those forks were a necessity to expand the wheelbase and make room for the engine. Look at the rear drops and mounts and the fancy-schmancy filleted lugs.

[gremlin]

that bike is from the 1980s. there was a revision back then to put shocks on the bikes like they did way back when every one was slinging motors on them.