The bike had been standing in a friend’s back garden for some time before I purchased it and had to be trailered home. Another friend, who was the previous owner, came along to start the beast, much to the annoyance of the neighbours and my uncontrolled hysteria. After that event it was literally first prod each and every morning.
My first long run of a mere 50 miles revealed a very oily rear pot (and my boot) and a nasty misfire between 6000 and 7000rpm. Total ignorance led to lots of instant gasket around the rear rocker box (not the real problem as it turned out) and removing about half a pound of rust, paint and general crap from each carb.
The next few months were quite uneventful until it started running on one cylinder, which it didn’t like at all, but this was fixed by buying a new throttle cable and unjamming the choke.
I then moved and the bike was stripped down with a view to a respray and general overhaul. I then moved again and got married. My wife listened politely to my feeble minded rantings and looked really impressed when several lumps of motorcycle appeared in the garage. She also said something that changed my life: "Why don’t you do it yourself?"
To all you hardened and oil stained chaps out there who are saying who is this prat, I am one of those people whose skill with a spanner is limited (haven’t got a clue). But out came the manual and down went the engine. In fact, as long as you line up the timing dots on the rear cylinder, taking it apart is quite straightforward.
Removal of the rear cylinder head was met with groans of despair, it looked as if something had gone drastically wrong in there - the top of the piston was dented and scarred and the combustion chamber was mangled. Panic, a new cylinder head would cost £500. I phoned a friend who agreed to have it looked at. The cylinder head was cracked (a common fault, so watch out), it needed a new exhaust valve insert and the valve pocket re-cutting. This cost me £85 and the exhaust port threads were also re-cut.
The rest of the engine was quite healthy although several nuts were coming loose due to the lack of lock washers - the clutch was beginning to eat its way through the outer cover, for instance. New lock washers, Loctite and a bit of heave-ho cured the slipping clutch putting the alternator in the right way worked wonders.
I know you shouldn’t do it, but I cleaned out the sludge traps in situ, as I didn’t want to split the crankcases unless I had to - needless to say, they were absolutely packed. The main bearings felt fine so I left them well alone. Back together with the timing reset (my bike is fitted with Lucas Rita ignition which gives a nice fat spark) the engine ran nice and smooth.
The bike was also re-wired and just about finished then it’s back to deafening the neighbours and suffering the contempt of SS owners. On the whole the GT is a nice, powerful bike, whilst the engine is not the Desmo version it has bags of torque and once into its stride will hold its own against many superbikes. For anyone who wants to get into Ducatis on the cheap, the GT or its more sporting mate, the 860 GTS, are not a bad start - there’s nothing to stop you fitting clip-ons or Jota bars, or using some of the more sporting pieces of clothing from the flashier looking bikes... I’m saving up for some Contis now.
Phil Squires