Ducati 750 Sport

[nr.]

I guess this may be of interest to some, so probably worth a mention. Despite never having owned an Italian bike before the Dart, I now appear to have two. I say 'appear' as I'm not completely sure yet that the other one is all there:



When it's all put together, it should be a 1990 Ducati 750 Sport. Obviously, a long way to go. But I rather think I'm going to like this one. If anybody has any experience with these bikes, I'm all ears - at the moment I'm really in a bit of a learning phase. And happily I've found that Mdina Italia stock crankshaft shims, which has made the first job a lot easier already

As before, there's going to be words and pictures at https://nronketti.wordpress.com/ - although I won't make any claims as to the quality of either.

[MickeyMoto]

Nice bike. No experience with a Ducrappi.

Morinis are frustrating enough

[3potjohn]

You should try a T160. 35 mpg, as low as 30 mpp of oil, waterproof trouserlegs, ( the unacceptable face of Castrol) con rods that come of at 115 mph ( I was young)
Apart from that bloody brilliant, no transducers or anything new fangled.with a Piper 3 into 1 the sound was fantastic.SVH681P where are you now?
My previous bike ,an American Export T150 KYT something,known as the Amoco Cadiz had a patch where its rod came out.
John

[MickeyMoto]

SVH681P where are you now?

John

I'd look in nr's big, black bin...

[nr.]

I'd look in nr's big, black bin...

That's the sidecar

[Vitesse]

I've ridden a few of the successor - the 900SS. Good bikes.

Did the 750 Sport have the single big Weber carb? Iirc that was a nightmare to set up and swapping for twin carbs was the way ahead - or that could have been the 750 Paso. 16 inch wheels too?

[nr.]

I've ridden a few of the successor - the 900SS. Good bikes.

Did the 750 Sport have the single big Weber carb? Iirc that was a nightmare to set up and swapping for twin carbs was the way ahead - or that could have been the 750 Paso. 16 inch wheels too?

Yes, on both counts. I'm going to rebuild it as standard to start with, and then decide if I want to modernise it - first thing will be a 17" wheel conversion if so. The lack of readily available tyres in the right sizes makes it a bit of a dead end otherwise. Shinko list the R880/881 in the correct sizes, but they seem to be hard to come by in the UK, and shipping a single pair of tyres internationally is a bit expensive.

[Vitesse]

Yes, on both counts.

What a lot of random knowledge I carry around in my head! As I recall it was a Webber 44mm twin choke thing? Same as the first 900SS. Generally regarded as bloody awful in general use, although Baines reckon that with a LOT of effort they would give more power than just about anything available at the time. Mikunis on the later 900SS were much better and easier to set up.

I thought that some "classic" 16" tyres were available these days - Contis? Can't see anyone getting too upset if you switched to a 17" though.

[danomar]

The Weber carburetor can be set up fine, but a set of Mikuni flat slides is nicer.

There is a trick with the voltage regular—I seem to recall it needs to be rewired with better wires to work properly. There used to be a Ducati Paso and Sport website with details about it. It has been many years since I dealt with it, but I seem to recall it is a relatively simple modification.

I think that particular motor runs best with twin exhausts, but many people fit a 2-into-1 to save weight.

I cannot think of many other glaring issues with the 750 Sport. It is a decent bike, but when compared to other Pantah-powered bikes, it is a bit under-powered and the handling is only good, not wonderful. Not much can be done about it. If you are going to build the motor, the first thing to consider is higher compression pistons. That alone makes a big difference in performance.

[nr.]

That's really good info, thanks. I've found quite a good source of info. at http://forums.ducatipaso.org/viewforum.php?f=13, with links to parts books, workshop manuals, and quite a lot of other useful information to digest! I may take a look at some high compression pistons while I've got the motor in a million pieces already. I was a bit undecided whether to replace the pistons anyway, but if that's a good and easy route to a bit more oomph, it probably makes sense to look at it now.

The other thing I'm pondering is converting to 17" wheels to allow better tyres. This also seems to be reasonably straightforward - but that's a way in the future. I'll get the thing running first.

Thanks again,

[danomar]

The other thing I'm pondering is converting to 17" wheels to allow better tyres. This also seems to be reasonably straightforward - but that's a way in the future. I'll get the thing running first.

The Paso 907ie used 17" wheels with very good results, but I think Ducati tweaked its steering geometry along with the larger wheels. There are some good 16" tires currently available (such as Metzeler), so do not write off the original wheels just yet. The 750 Sport handles sufficiently well, but I am not convinced 17" wheels will make it handle much better. It is a bit slow-ish steering as is. I seem to recall most owners retaining the original 16" wheels, but DucatiPaso.org would be a good place to ask.