I know it's not a desmo...

....and it's really, really stupid to even think of it, but it looks so
lovely. I could just see myself on one of these.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4632235598

 

I like the way the fuel capacity drops by a litre in the space of half
a page.
--
| ___ Salad Dodger
|/ \
_/_____\_ GL1500SEV/CBR1100XXX/CBX1000Z
|_\_____/_| ..79553../..21469.../..31308.
(>|_|_|<) TPPFATUICG#7 DIAABTCOD#9 WG*
|__|_|__| BOTAFOT #70 BOTAFOF #09 PM#5
\ |^| / IbW#0 & KotIbW# BotTOS#6 GP#4
\|^|/ ANORAK#17 IbB#4 YTC#4 two#11
'^' RBR'06 Points: 75 Miles: 317

 

Don't buy it, it's lovely. You'll only crash it.

 

platypus said...

"Personally I have never had a riding experience that quite matched it.
I could talk for hours about the bike but then again I guess you have to
experience it first hand."

Sounds just like my old GT750 Kettle. I coud rant for hours about the
times it nearly had me off and how utterly fucking shite it was.

 

Heh, thirsty buggers. I think 18 litres is correct.

 

There's plenty of bikes I wouldn't consider owning because of my low
standards of custodianship. The thing about the 860s is that they're
cheaper and less desirable than desmo bikes of the period, so it would be
less of a tragedy if I crashed it or left it out in the rain all winter.

What I'd /really/ like would be a round-case 750 Sport.

 

platypus scribbled on the back of a napkin:

Eh? That is a desmo, and a bevel drive to boot. Engine full of
pingfuckits, needs specialist attention for just about anything more
involved than an oil change and is horrendously expensive when it
breaks.

Which is of course, why I just *had* to have one.

However that particular one looks like a money pit to me, plus they
aren't that sought after in GTS form.

 

Lovely. It is a Desmo, btw. The GT was non-Desmo.

First Ducati I ever rode was one of those - and I managed to wear out
the edge of a brand new pair of Derriboots on it.

Heh - "The riding experience is unique thanks to the Marzocchi shocks"
And then some.

 

With old Ducatis like this one the importers used to state "Not to be
used in the rain". For if you ever did so, the chrome would all gang up
together and bugger off somewhere dry.

 

Uhhh excuse me boys, have you noticed the claimed mileage!!

 

Oh they're rubbish they are.Sir wants a nice Pantah.

|
|
\|/

Steve

 

Yup. Shows it's been used, at least.

 

I thought the GT/S/L and Darmah were all non-desmo.

 

No sir doesn't. If sir wanted a belt-drive duck with the power and
performance of a Pantah, sir would unearth a scruffy 600 Monster, sir would.

 

Nah. The GT was non-desmo. The GTS got the desmo gear. The Drama was
always desmo.

 

*Ding*

 

According to Mick Walker's book, the GTS was non desmo but the Darmah, 900SS and
MHR were all desmodromic. Although Ducati could well have put whatever engine
was to hand into a late GTS chassis. Don't know how you can tell from a photo.

 

My GTS, which is a couple of years older than that one, is non desmo.

Note that this does not make it reliable

Regards, Ian

 

I've just remembered. The 860s, badged as such were all non-desmo. The
900s (still 860, but badged as 900s, were desmo)

Sorry for the confusion.

 

It'll get worse as you get older, but you will be even more convinced that
you are right about everything.

Mick Walker again: "The last batch of GTSs was constructed in 1978
using Darmah engines with valve-spring cylinder heads."