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I took part in the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride yesterday and, on the Guildford ride, there were approximately. 1000 bikes taking part.

I thought I might see other Ducati singles but my little yellow desmo was the sole representative and in fact I didn’t see any bevel twins either.

On the bright side, my bike was getting an awful lot of attention

Ian

I think that this is an age thing Ian, many riders of old Ducatis are getting past it, and younger riders are not interested in old Ducatis. At this very moment my 900 Desmo is for sale, and when it has gone it will be the first time in 50 years that I do not have a Ducati Vee Twin in my garage. I do have two Ducati Singles still though....



Cheers,

Colin

Yep, I was talking to a couple of blokes in their 40s and their idea of a classic bike was something from the just before the millennium

Aye Ian, ferreted away, being polished, or just ferreted away and both corroding away internaly, whilst the rubber seals etc. perish!

My 450 MKIII is the only one that I see out and about being used throughout Central and the Southern Highlands of Scotland. I too have another 450 MKIII in big lumps and the late 350 MKIII, with the wonky barrel of this parish! I know of an immaculate 250 MKI, a 1969 450 twin filler tank, another 450 MKIII, a 250 Desmo, 750S being rebuilt, a 750GT that is immaculate, along with a oily rag Sebring that may occasionaly appear at VMCC events and a very clean silver/blue 900SS that is taken for fairly frequent local canters.

There is a perception, true in many cases, that Ducati bevel engines are expensive to get into good order, difficult to work on, along with dodgy electrics/paintwork on the cycle parts. With skilled labour costing at least £50.00 + VAT for all the jobs that you can't do and most machines requiring kickstarting on the "wrong side", for many the only reason to own a Ducati single or bevel twin is for the aesthetic, or an "investment" and like stamps, Clarice Cliffe/Poole pottery, Vincents, BSA Gold Stars, they have their day in the sun and then fade. Just look at the prices realised by Bonhams, including their commission, at their last Stafford Show auction to see what sort of "investment" some motorcycles are. See also the prices realised for the machines sold by "Made in Italy Motorcycles" at their dispersal auction when they stopped trading.

Keep wearing them out Ian, keeping Nigel busy and Mdina re-ordering stocks to keep us running.

Good health, Bill

Further to my earlier post and being a bit .......! I visited the DVLA website where specific vehicle data in an Excel table up to the latest available period of Quarter 2, 2024 can be downloaded.

It would appear that the singles are lumped into the Ducati vehicles that are "Missing" their details e.g. model and cc!

So, all that can be gleaned is that in the 2nd quarter (April - June) 2024, 3,288 Ducatis, with missing details were licensed for use on the road and 8,396 Ducatis, with missing details were SORNED. It would appear that only a third of un-specified Ducatis registered with the DVLA could be used on the road in that quarter.

Useless info and just makes me more determined to keep wearing the 450's tyres out!

Good health, Bill

Similar to Bills observations, here in Northern Ireland there are I'm sure a number of elderly Ducati's stashed away as "investments" (I don't think that has gone that well recently) but very few actually being used on the public road, a friend I have lost touch with in the west of N.I. had a couple of singles "on the road" but maybe not now, there is a guy near me (whom I havn't actually met) who has a street scrambler single that has appeared a few times, and then there is me with my 350mk3 which is definitely up out and running......anybody else left out there in this part of the world???? who knows! I am just turning 70 in a few weeks and frankly my 250 desmo has become too uncomfortable to enjoy riding, so either I keep it as a piece of automotive art in my front hall or just sell it on........but to whom? some other ould duffer who is also past his best on "a racer for the road". Obviously no one is ever likely to scrap a Ducati single anymore (they certainly did in the late 70s!) but the gold rush nonsense has gone and only a small handful of eccentric youngsters will carry on this old exotic motorcycle nonsense into an uncertain future.
Cheers George
PS As Bill would say just keep on wearing them out, while you still can......because by hook or by crook they will stop our particular type of fun.

Hi George,

Congratulations (or commiserations) on nearly reaching the dreaded seven o; I got there a few weeks ago and have the same problem as you. I have owned my 900 Desmo for 40 years and have always considered the clip-ons and rearsets comfortable, but now it is almost unrideable: my feet are up in the air behind me, the tank is in my chest and my arms seem to reaching to the ground. It is very heavy and worse than that, very top heavy, and the clutch and throttle are SO heavy! I am scared when wheeling it about because I feel that I will drop it any second. I cannot believe how I rode this bike all those years. Anyway, I have bitten the bullet and put it on eBay and hopefully it will go to a good home.

I will be really sad to see it go, it represents almost my whole life and is woven with memories of exciting journeys and good times, but I do not have the space to keep an ornament. I think that ageing is a process of acceptance; we are not the same person that we were when we were young.

Cheers,

Colin

It seems, at 63, I might be the youngster in this group

I can see the same issues coming for me. I don't currently have any issues pushing around my two bevel twins (a Darmah and a 750GT) but the 450 is certainly a lot easier! The issue I do have is similar to you Colin - clip-ons and rearsets are getting a little uncomfortable, particularly with one rebuilt knee and the other half buggered from a skiing injury.

I can see a time when I will have to swap it for something more 'sit up and beg'. In the meantime, I'll just carry on.

Ian

Hi Ian,

Enjoy them while you can! I am reminded of the garage which used to do my MOTs years ago where one of the mechanics (now deceased) had a 900 Desmo. After he had retired I asked the boss how the guy was getting on and he told me that he had called in on the Desmo but:
"He is too old to ride it; we had to turn it around for him and he was wobbling about all over the place. He couldn't kick it over."

Cheers,

Colin

Morning George and Colin, that makes me the "Old bu**er" then! By a year!

Earlier in April purchased a NTV Revere 600 K, as we have no machine suitable for a pillion between us, I thinking it would be similar to the BROS 400. A 1989 model that was new, instock at Noel Oerr's, Belfast, until 1996! However, the weight dynamics are very different, especially when you get that 18 litre tank topped up and my wife on the back! But once under way, it's a managable bit of kit and like the BROS, once "on the cam" has a good turn of foot. Known as the "Belfast Barge"! All the bikes apart from the 450 and the Morini 125H, weigh in at 380lbs/175 kilos plus and coming down in cylinder capacity doesn't help matters, just look at the weights of the Honda 350GB, RE Guerillia, etc., with all their Euro5 additions.

Muscle loss seems to be the problem, with me, as I've lost 5 kilos in as many years, since stopping work, maybe I should get back on the chainsaw again?

I still find the rearsets and Norton swan neck bars on the stanchions on the 450 a comfortable set up for 150 + mile canter, but need a wee nap after, these days.

Good health, Bill