Visitors gallery

If you have something interesting to show us Italian bike related. Your restoration, your pride and joy, a pile of bits !! or maybe that rally you went on. Pick your best shots ( up too eight) and send them too us and we will put them on this page for the World to enjoy....

Dont forget to give us your name and any relevant details that will add interest to your pictures.

Hi John
Your web site is a cracker.Thought you might like to see some of my bits and pieces.The pictures are the Ducati Monza Junior from frame through tank to finish. All done by A D Hay. The other three are the Morini 250 at the Forth Bridge, the Settebello at the Royal & Ancient Golf Club and yours truly with the Morinis......All the best. Alan

Mark Rothwell spent some time and money having this rebuilt from new after taking delivery of it a few years ago, he says it's run perfectly ever since.

Project MHR sold to David Long last year now up and running in all it's glory.

Now safely home in France…I test rode 5 kilometers, and then rode it 450 Km in one go home to Orgeval (west of Paris). Only slight glitch was loss of 1 set of brake pads from front discs! Amazing but true. Discovered at Dover – I unlinked the second disc and got here home with a single front disc only. My wife thinks I’m a nut…………

Stolen from Licolnshire May 08, any info please contact Nick .

FLEETWOODNICK@aol.com

Surely the best looking Bimota ever, this fantastic example is owned by Peter Bullard and was once his only form of transport, the restoration work with painstaking attention to detail all carried out by Tim Waddingham, one to be proud of chaps

Michael Thomson enjoying his Ducs, including the 250 Desmo we sent down to NZ for him last year.

After buying bits off you for god knows how long, I've finally got my number 1 '75 900SS on the road, so I thought a couple of piccies would be in order. It definitely isn't mint, and I screwed up the fairing decals, but if I'd waited until it was 100% I wouldn't be riding it this year! Now I've got it rolling I can concentrate on getting the other one exactly right

Hi John, like you I had to ride the Giro in biblical weather while the UK basked in sunshine. The Cucciola was the prize, and yes that's a proper 750SS shipped from Oz for the Giro; way to go'eh?

Your shop owner, his mechanic and a few dangerous looking characters set off for the South of France in May. Between themselves they managed to work out how the camera worked and these are some of the results ! Anglo French relations have been put back twenty years.

Richard Jones modified restored Laverda bought from us back in about 1998,
didn't look this good when I sold it to him, believe me it was rough!!! Nice
to see you use it to Richard.

1977 3CL now with JE forged hi compression pistons
Jota exhaust system
GSXR1100 wheels and discs conversion by Piet
Avon Storm ST radials 110 front and 150 rear
forks shortened 25mm and fitted with Racetech Gold Emulators
Brembo 4 pot front calipers with adaptors by Redax
14mm Nissin m/cyl, R1 clutch lever, Manic Salamander bar end weights
extended clutch arm, left hand gear change
rearsets, Bandit rear caliper, RGS swinging > arm,
520 chain conversion
Falcon shocks
IIS ignition c/w 250W generator > conv.,
TEK coils, Odyssey PC625 dry battery
Mikuni RS 36 flatslide smoothbore carbs (Redax again)
GSXR switchgear and grips
Holeshot fairing and terrible paintwork
Perfect.

Here she is less fairing and a few tweaks, will hopefully be run in and out having a vigorous exercise at the VMCC Festival of 1000 Bikes at Mallory in July. This Bike was originally Rob Deans and was on your web site as ‘back from the dead’, I have just carried on the process really……..

Roland Fritsch

I bought my SS in 1981, not used at all during the last 25years, last year I thought " now or never ", back on the road thanks to Michael Nitzsche team and Mdina Italia, I have spent a huge amount of money returning it to its original beauty, worth each single penny.

Fabulous Gilera 50 Restored by Vince Stonys and his dad Ian, look forward to seeing the Regolaritas when they're done

beautifully restored 900SD , 99,951 kilometres, just about to go round the clock, engine re-built by DTS, brilliant job, sound and feels like new

I sold the bike when I worked abroad (regretted that) and just bought it back from the same guy for the same price! all original except pattern Conti's and Lucas Rita. I made a cover in aluminium to replace the supplied Lucas plastic one. side panel also chopped and modified to finish off the exposed end. electric starter removed. the bikes been all round Wales, England and France

Akira Kosaki bought this from us back in about 1997, believe me it didn't look anything like this then.
a fantastic restoration Akira.

Neil Ridgewells

ex Dave Cartwright TT racer, now restored to it's former glory.

... I bought this bike new in Johannesburg in 1982. Did 30000 miles on it before selling it to a friend in 84. Managed to buy it back in 2004 from same friend, now in Germany, and imported it to UK. Bike had done only about 5000 miles in 20 years. Spent the last 2 years rebuilding it, stripped it to bare frame for powder coating and cases apart to replace big end... SS fairing because the MHR one tried to kill me. Twice. Colours are a rehash of the TT2 job I had on it in the eighties... but it looks better now!

done 23000 miles never been rebuilt, just a broken gearchange spring in all that time!!

Paul Hewitt from Toronto has built this lovely NCR rep
with this awsome exhausts he's made.

Before

After

1976 750SS , used stainless nuts and bolts, fitted Koni shocks and fitted the optional Imola tank, other than that it was restored by me to as close to original as I could get.

1977 900SS unrestored, still on it's 32mm carbs, 18000 original miles, runs like a dream

Hi John, here are the picture of the dash lights.
The bulb holders are from old mercedes door mirror side repeater flashers. If you remove the old bulb & wiring connectors then drill a hole in the light base the new bulb holder can be fitted. now you can just replace the bulb when blown not the whole light unit.

I thought it might interest you to see the attached (prized) photo. I had it enlarged, sent to Taglioni who signed it with ‘Auguri per la tua duchessa’ (congratulations on your duchess). The dedication and signature are hanging at home albeit the Guggenheim Museum would be more appropriate!!

Colin Darlows superb selection of Ducs, and I thought my SS was long, take a look at his SD!!!

I have attached some photos of the bike if you are interested. I have owned it since 1975. It has 82,000 km on the clock and the engine has never been split – original seals still in place – but it has had a bore hone and new rings. Recently it has developed the not uncommon habit of jumping out of 1st gear and I am looking at replacing the 6-dog 1st gear with a 3-dog equivalent. I should renew the big end bearings too when the engine is apart I suppose although there is no indication of any problems. Apart from that, I have had only minor problems - valve guides requiring replacement.

Non standard bits include fairing, rear shocks, air filters, front caliper (swapped the Scarab for a Brembo) and braided SS brake hoses but I have all of the original bits and pieces and the owner’s manual.

Grant Dugids Laverda special starting to take shape. Here are a few more pix to highlight the frame mods. Extended steering head, braced downtubes, monoshock mount on spine tube, triangulated swing arm, lowered battery box etc, etc. It won't look pretty for a long time as I need to make a loom from scratch, finalise welding/cutting etc and sort out the myriad of special brackets etc

From Australia, this is Neil McGuires
Very late, very nice 79 GTS, engine No:855201

Well, John... we finally got there. Old J888SPA and I have made it out onto the Queen's highway to see what all the fuss was about.
It took a degree of patience, to see out the Christmas hols, and the wet and windy start to 2007.... but the wait has been most definitely worth it. A stunning bike in every regard... one might say it was every bit as fabulous as you told it it would be.. but then such compliments might go to your head..!!! Seriously, a great buy and my thanks for your help in getting her down from Ipswich and into my clutches. Oh, yes... there's something (attached) for your pictorial records....! Cheers, James.

Paul Dale and his 750GT, bought new by him and he's still riding it!
Possibly the only GT750 original owner still riding his bike!

"Took the pictures for the invite card to my 60th birthday party in a month or two. The card will say "The Boy Racer turns 60!" My wife's idea, obviously. No, the hair is real and not dyed - I put it down to 32 years of Ducati ownership!!!!" ..............

Can't be Paul because I've had one 26 years and I am going grey and only 44!!!!!, Regards John :-)

Hi John, Here are some pic's as promised. Sorry about the background, the Jenkins premises are a bit crowded at the moment! It seems that something nasty from the Far East has crept in to one of the pic's, but at least its got a Vee form engine. The 916 has had a bit of a reprieve. It was really rather rough but I found a chap on e-bay who was selling copies of genuine Ducati eproms for non std exhausts for £18, and so I bought one. What a difference! Its gained 20-25% midrange torque (which is a lot not to have) ,that means its just about possible to keep up with the gear changes in the lower ratios, and the driveability is 100% better, the throttle actually connects to the rear tyre now. I can genuinely say its awesome, just like the AMA guys!

The bike is my Alazurra I purchased new in 89. It now has FZR400 front suspension and wheels and capacity is 749ccm. The header is from PCS Daytona that used to race these bikes in Florida in the late 80s and early 90s, and with the balanced length downpipes it really boosts midrange torque. Works great with the Alazurra cams, gasflowed heads and large valves. Next modification is Keihin FCRs, if I can only find out how to fit them, downdraft or sidedraft in the front ? 37 mm or 39 mm or maybe 35 mm even, and so on. Information is getting hard to get by, and the only websites seem to be in Japanese.

John,
Thought I would forward you a couple of shots of the bikes now they are "completed" and being ridden.

The 900SS is originally an English bike bought back to OZ 21years ago by a good mate and myself after a 12 month adventure around Europe on it and an 82 BMW R100RS. I have replaced the mags with wires and updated brake lines with braided lines. Otherwise, engine is rebuilt (by Gowanlochs) and paint freshened by my good mate CJ (who did both the bikes for me). A recent track day at Eastern creek (JAN 07)showed me there is plenty of life in the old girl yet, it ran and handled as only a duke can! My mate CJ bought his 80 Jota along for a run as well (included a photo from the pit). The SS has a Gianelli pipe which sounds wonderful on song down the main straight. My daughter is now the real owner of the bike, I have passed it to her a an investment for her future, she cant wait to ride it, but in the mean time Dad gets to have fun.

The 82 MHR is a restoration after I purchased the bike in a very sad and depleted state. I have sourced parts from all over the world (Kudos to Mdina Italia here for great service) to ensure I have returned her to her full glory. The front suspension is a set of 38mm M1R Marzocchi's that Gowanlochs imported for a limited period back in the early 80's, other than that the bike is a pleasure to both look at and ride. I owned one in the mid Eighties and just had to have another, when I found this one (and apparently many had looked at it , but it was "too big a task") then I had to have it and I am really happy with the outcome, I still need to locate a couple of small detail parts to completely appease the concourse judge set, (and I will), but its a treat to have and ride.

Please enjoy (as I do!)

Regards,
Grant Medlock

Beautifully restored SS, he replaced the wheels with wires
as it originally came with the dreaded Speedlines!!

excellent SS Built in 1993 from new parts, some changes include: longer tank,
German electrics, rear brake calliper upside down, up rated suspension.

Just in case anyone fancies having a go with parts availability now possibly
better than it was in the 90s it's still perfectly feasible to replicate
this or a 75 style wire wheel SS if you have an SD or 860 donor bike.

Pictured at the Italian Auto/Moto festival held in the St.Nicholas Market
area of Bristol, looks like Bologna to me!

Fantastic SS from Switzerland, and look at the scenery too! No doubt it runs like a Swiss Watch.

Roger Donnans 900SS
restoration work in progress shots and a picture of how he bought it from us last year with a blown motor,
looking forward to the end results.

These are the latest pic's of my 750ss, I now hope to have it on the road by the end of march !
Watch this space !

Rob Deans MHR bought back to life by him and now being ridden and enjoyed by him too.

Steve Gould from the west countrys beutifully restored Mille, one of very
few here in the U.K

Bill Hughes lovely racer conversion, and the 860 as it was when he bought it from us last spring.

Richard Jones really had his work cut out when he bought this project back
in 99, well done Richard, it's lovely.

Hi John
Here are three pics of the Laverda you sold me back in '99. Although it still looks a little rough around the edges, it's evolved into something of a road weapon. The bike now sports shortened forks with Racetech cartridge valve emulators, Nissin 14mm master cylinder, Suzuki GSXR1100 switchgear, forged Jota pistons, IIS ignition with 250W alternator and Fireblade coils, left
hand gearchange conversion (with rearsets) and Falcon alloy shocks. Interestingly enough, I have not had to do anything to the bottom end of the engine, despite the abuse it clearly suffered in Spain. It goes beautifully, and handles far better than a 70s lump has any right to. Many thanks for selling me a brilliant bike.

Cheers

built this lovely GT up from spares, the motor came from me when I was living in Spain, though I got it from the U.K, went to Texas and was then sold on to Mike in Canada. Long way round but it ended up in a good home

Here are some photos of the 1978 900SS I bought in 1984. The motor has been rebuilt by Fast By Ferracci with several modifications, including pistons designed by Ferracci, Mikuni carburettors, reworked valves with modern valve seals, etc.... I replaced the original Speedline magnesium wheels with your wire wheels, and have the Speedlines mounted on the garage wall. The paint, decals, etc is original and un-restored. Bike is maintained and tuned by Ferracci.

Two of Nick Marshalls excellent restorations, the 250's a genuine Desmo and the 750 started life as a GT

Nicks latest project, I tried to save him from himself but some people are beyond help, watch out here for the results.

This is his excellent 75 replica built from a very tired (I know I sold it to him)78 model

This is from Scott of Scotland, the picture says it all about his beautiful 750SS,

Rob Lawtons excellent Jota, bought from us in 1994,(we imported it from Spain) restored and rebuilt by Rob several times since and it's still his main bike.
Really nice to see it still being enjoyed Rob.

very well used 860, this is what he says about it:

I got it in '81 I think ... it was in a breakers, looking very sad. I was just a kid at college .. but for £400 it was mine. I was the coolest
kid in the class then :) Its had a few mods, Verlicchi 2:1 system (silentiums rotted out long ago), Lucas Rita, micron fork brace, SS crank, Mahle pistons, numerous rebuilds and re-shims of the box which is now mostly 3 dog gears, crap respray (must get that sorted out) . I've had it pretty much on the road since then, commuted on it, toured on it, even went on honeymoon to Switzerland and Italy on it ... its been quite reliable, but not ridden much in the last 5 years. Just got the bug to put it "right" now and enjoy the sound of rolling thunder this summer :-)

MHR.Owned since ‘1984 The bike has done 61 thousand kilometers in its lifetime and has suffered 1 big end failure when I used multigrade oil back in 1987!

excellent collection, Giro 2006 pics coming soon, and yes he's doing it on his real Duc!!

"Quote" Its a nice old thing to ride, comfy , goes well enough to be useable but old enough to be interesting (and free road tax and cheap insurance!).. mechanical side pretty much sorted, I'm thinking of getting it repainted this winter, especially as I don't like the chrome mudguards...

and his immaculate pair of Ducs, the SS he's just finished a ground up restoration of, the before pictures are how he bought it from me last summer.
Excellent Karl, and it does seem to be on the road before mine!!!

October 1973 vintage. 750 Sport
Mods include 40mm Carbs, Twin plugs, large valves and Mez Porting. Gives a great midrange.

Peter. Australia
A lovely restored 750S from down under, now with amongst other mods, V2
internals and 864cc with Desmo heads.

Paul's 860 special, it's been almost as slow coming as my own SS, though not quite!!, Truly excellent result though.

Kevin Bakers Darmah
which he's owned from new (1984) now done 59,000 miles,
engine rebuilt at about 50,000, other than that unrestored and just used.

Bob Savory'
lovely 1980 900SD 30000 miles, engine still has original seal and she runs like a goodun.

Andrew Nahum
Excellent 750SS on a trip from London to Scotland, great
to see it being used Andrew!!

Richo from Tasmanias Raspberry tart
Loads of money, blood, sweat, tears have gone into Richos early GT, with fantastic results!!!
Just needs the early L shaped kick start lever to finish it off, anyone got one??

This is Pat Harr from Tasmania, excellent 750 racer, he reckons it's cost
him the price of a small Caribbean island, but I reckon it was worth it Pat.
He built it himself, exhaust pipes, tank all bodywork in carbon fibre
vacuum bagged, footrests and levers, built the engine with Vee Two internals
,lightened gearbox, crank. Verlicchi frame, and it now has mag triple clamps
and fantana mag calipers, and now its about to have some nice new custom built
Maxton rear shockies
runs 42.5 Malossi on 98% Methanol.

And after a 3 year restoration.....his beautiful 750S covered 4000Kms last year, 2500 of them at the Giro

Paul Russ, U.K.
This is his lovely 450 MK3 Desmo look-a-like, which went oh so well! and now belongs to Phil Temple, and his current ride a 750GT.

Malc Rookers U.K.
MHR now restored to all it's former glory after waiting around in boxes for 24 years. Excellent.

!cid_01c501c54ccf$ef643430$0301a8c0@johnspc.jpg (551151 bytes)

Allan Adamson from down under -
owns these two superb 75 900SS's (a man after my own heart) the repainted one still with the factory paint marks on the head has only covered 4800KMs from new, the other is just about to undergo
restoration. He also owns this beautiful 750SS and 750S.

Dave Biddlecombe, U.K.
These Three bikes all entered Daves hands in V poor condition and all have been restored from the ground up, superb!!

Rob Tosers 1982 900SS,
Take a look at this to see what you can turn the ugliest factory SS into. This would have come from the factory with that awful late type dual seat, poor graphics, Silentiums and cast wheels.

This is Jon Donachie's SS from Aberdeen in Scotland, with it is a note he sent me about his introduction to Ducati's, I just had to print it because to me it captures so much about bevel Ducati's (and tall blondes!!!!)

John,
hope you have settled in after your move again... thought I would send some pics of my SS that, with
your help, has turned out to be the bike that I've always dreamed of. At fourteen I was on holiday in the
south of France and while waiting at a fuel stop, a scruffy guy pulled in on a 900 with a tall leather
clad, blonde riding pillion. I stood and watched the machine being carefully filled with fuel, prepared for
another stage, watching intently the procedure to get the bike restarted. the couple remounted, aware of me gazing, and gently pulled towards me. the bloke nodded, and as it passed the blonde beauty looked me straight in the eye and gave me a wink....I stood there, open mouthed, and felt the vibrations in my chest as the SS roared away leaving me in the heat with the smell of exhaust and hot metal. it was definitely love at first sight, sound, and smell. I'm on a twe