Motoscrubs.com

Good morning to you all,
this is two first for me 1. being a member to any sort of a forum 2. being the owner of a single cyclinder ducati. i hope to master using and being involved with forum decussions with more use, but never to have owned a bevel single ducati before is a bit daunting to say the least, having read some of the topics posted on this forum site i wonder if i have bitten off more then i can chew. the bike that i have just brought is a ducati vento, paper work sugest that it is a 1978 model but i have been led to believe that the spanish may not have been the best a keeping records on these bikes ?
so some questions to start with is do the frame number and the engine number have to match, mine does not, i was led to believe that this bike was a matching number bike ? from these numbers can i find out the year ? where can i go ?
a bit about me and the bikes that i own a present, i have a 1981 pantah 600sl, which i am in the middle of making into a cafe racer style normaly i would not do a conversion like this on a bike but the bike was not standard when i brought it nearly 20 years ago the bloke before me changed a lot of things so i thought that i may as well do some thing like making it a cafe racer i may not get the chance to do this again
the other bike is a 2008 monster triclour which i've owned for 4 years this bike i will keep as orignal as i can, the changes that i have made are things that i can reverse easly and quickly.
gone on a bit here sorry i hope to hear form someone who could help with my questions, thanks ruffnut

There were a number of changes made to the Vento during its short production that can help with identifying its year.
The engine and frame numbers will give a good indication of the bikes age.
The engine and frame numbers will not match each other, although they may be fairly close.
A 1978 model will probably be in the 73--- number series.
Do you have FPS wheels or the later 5-spoke cast wheels, a bit like the Italian Speedlines?
The FPS wheels were only used up to 1978.
There may be a date printed on the back of the headlamp reflector, which will give you an idea of manefacture.
Also, the clocks have a date stamped onto their cases.
Finally, if the original Brembo hoses are fitted to the brakes, there may be a yellow date tag on each of them.
Post a photo and/or let me know the frame number and I may be able to be more accurate with a date.
Where in the world are you, as cycle parts can be hard to find unless you are close to Spain?

Jon

you are correct that the engine and frame numbers are different but only by a number of 21, both numbers are 74--- , i have gold coloured 5 spoke wheels, i will check for possible dates in the other areas you indicated but haven't as yet, i think that i will have some trouble getting parts as i live in north queensland in australia along way from spain
thanks for the pointers, ruffnut