250 single rims

[sjm44]

I am in the process of restoring a 1966 250 Single and am not sure what rims size is correct. The bike is either a 250GT or a 250 Monza (not sure how to tell other then the manual pictures). In either case the manuals that I have indicate that the rims should be 18" x 2 1/2". The bike came with TAKASAGO 1.85x18 chrome rims. Which is the correct size? And did the Singles come with TAKASAGO rims or should they have been Raedelli. The bike will be for street use and I would like to use either chrome or polished stainless steel.

Any help would be appreciated.

thanks

[JimF]

I'll just start this off by telling you they never came with Tagasako rims.

That being said, the Tagasako rims I have seen are of very high quality. My only beef with them is that the Tagasako logos that I have seen are bright red in color, of a large script and a font that looks anything but vintage (from the 1950s/1960s), and anodized into the rim so as to make the logo almost impossible to remove. On a small Italian motorcycle like a Ducati the logos seem to me to be rather visually stark, noticable and out of place.

As for the brands that came on the bike, Raedelli and Barruzo are just two brands that came on the singles when new, and I think there may have been others but almost certainly they were all Italian brands.

I don't know the rim sizes off-hand, but if I recall the rims were sized as WM-1 or WM-2 depending on the width of the intended tire and also by the spoke hole count so as the match the hub it was being laced too.

Others with more and better information will post soon.

Jim

[ajleone]

Jim makes a good point that your exisintg rims are not a bad choice, just not Italian and not original. You will be looking for 18 inch rims WM1 for both front and rear for this bike, 36 spoke, assuming you have the original hubs. Take a look at the tech section of this website for more details on the parts diagrams.

Not sure what options exist for polished stainless steel, but Domi Racer has repro Alloy (matched to Borrani style) rims WM1's 18x36 spoke and ItalianBikes in Italy has Radelli rims (on sale too !).

http://www.italian-motorbikes.com/index.htm

https://www.domiracer.com/homepage.html

Lacing-up these wheels is pretty easy, just follow the instructions in Tom Bailey's book:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DUCATI-SINGLES- ... es&vxp=mtr

Tom has some great tips about the hubs, lacing and alignment - well worth the $30 for the book IMHO.

Shoot some pics of your bike and post it - it is always interesting to see what folks start with and end up with.

Tony

[sjm44]

Thanks for the information on the rims. It is interesting that my brother is also restoring a 250 single and his bike also had 1.85x18 Takasago rims. That is where all the confusion came from. What would be the chance of both bikes acquired in different areas having the same rims? Both bikes have the original hubs.
Anyway only one of my rims is useable, able to be re-chromed so I will be hunting for some replacements. This is not going to be a show bike so I don't have to stick with Italian rims.

[amartina75]

the Takasago rims the others were talking about with the red lettering are alloy rims and relativly new. it sounds like you have older chrome takasago rims. they were probly taken from a jap bike and put on your Duc. most jap bikes came with Takasago rims, or DID, both are good rims. older Takasago alloy rims were available in a sholdered profile, they look just like the Akront sholdered rims. you will likely not find anyone willing to rechrome your rims for a reasonable price (or at all). it will be cheaper for you to buy new ones. look on ebay, search Radaelli or Akront. a seller called Parmabike sells Radaelli rims for $119 and Akront copies for $129
as for size you can use lots of combinations, it is up to you really, i would recomend 1.85x18 front and a 2.15x18 rear

[JimF]

You could be right about the rims being older Tagasako. The Tagasakos I am thinking of are alloy rims, so chroming would not be an issue.

I have Baruzzo rims that long ago needed re-chroming. I asked Buchanans (the spoke people) and they told me that only a couple places in the US could re-chrome rims without wrecking the nipple holes. They said they wouldn't even take rechromed rims for lacing except from South Bay as most chrome platers ruin the integrity of the nipple hole. I don't know if that's true, but that's what they told me.

Buchanans told me to use South Bay Chrome, 2041 S Grand Ave, Santa Ana, CA 92705. They said South Bay could re-chrome rims without wrecking the nipple holes.

At the time I told South Bay that I was concerned that the re-chroming might 'fill in' the Baruzzo logos which are just a fine line stamping. To my thinking I wanted to keep all the logos on the bike viable. I could buy new rims, but I wanted to use the originals. However, there would be little point to re-chroming the originals if the logos disappeared in the process.

m-baruzzo-2.jpg

South Bay assured me they could do the job and they did. The logo says "M. Baruzzo -Torino" on both sides of the rims, and I think on one side the worst that happened is that one instance of Torino became Torinc, that is to say I lost a little bit of the "o."

Now it's been about 15 years so for anyone wanting to rechrome original rims maybe a call to Buchanans is warranted to insure that South Bay is still held in the same high regard.

Jim

[double diamond]

I took some rims and mufflers to South Bay chrome. Asked them to just strip the plating from the mufflers so I could work the dents out and then bring back for plating. Instead, they did a very poor job of filling the dents by brazing and re-plated. Ground the “Silentium” script off the muffler. Basically destroyed the part. Ground the manufacturer stamping off the rims to the point where it can barely be identified. Also, a few years later a big rust blister developed under the chrome. It appeared that most of the work in the shop was new chopper accessories. Restoring/replating old parts is a whole different game than plating new parts. I wouldn’t send restoration parts to them. At any rate, if you can find an acceptable new rim it will be less expensive and less grief than replating. Matt

[JimF]

Thank you for posting about South Bay.

It's a shame they have gone over to the dark side, concentrating more on choppers and less on preserving and restoring classic components.

What's worse is what they did to your parts.


You mentioned your Silentium... I once used Queen City plating based on a recommendation of another Ducati single owner to restore my Silentium. It was dented and rusting where the dents were.

I told them that preserving the Silentium logo was vital to the project, and I also told them that I was going to use the muffler as opposed to it being a static item on a 'museum' bike.

It came back looking perfect, but after multiple uses (heat/cool cycles) the metal used in the repair of the dents seems to have a different coefficient of expansion than that of the muffler. At first the chrome blistered in the repair areas, and eventually the chrome plating split.

I know that new Silentiums are available, but sadly the logo and other stampings on the new parts are much different than the originals. I don't understand why details like that are disregarded by the people that make the parts.


JIm

[graeme]

In Australia it's environmental issues that have killed the plating business's.
Can't find anyone that will reverse chrome to remove the old chrome, instead it seems they all sand it off now.
Cad plating is all but gone.
Shame, but I suppose that's the modern world.

graeme

[double diamond]

Jim, I remember following your Mach 1 restoration and your experiences with getting the rims and muffler plated. It was on your experience that I decided to try South Bay Plating and considering the results with your rims, my experience was disappointing to say the least. Unfortunate result with your muffler too and as I recall you paid a small fortune to have it plated! I can imagine how replating an old muffler and then actually using it as intended (i.e. heat/cooling cycles) could be problematic. I agree with you concerning the replica Silentium mufflers. Not only is the logo wrong but the bracket and end cone are not as original as well. I’ve experimented with stripping old plating so I can do the prep myself. Removing the chrome is relatively easy, it’s the nickel that’s problematic but there are solutions that will do the trick. But then we’re back to the “good/reasonably priced plater” to do the final plating. BTW, same environmental issues with plating here in California (imagine!) but if one realizes how toxic plating chemicals are, perhaps it’s a good thing. Matt