how many 860 gte's...

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smooth860
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how many 860 gte's...

Post by smooth860 »

im a new member with a 1975 860 gte. i was wonder out of all the 860's produced that year how many were gte's?
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Craig in France
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Re: how many 860 gte's...

Post by Craig in France »

Welcome to the Forum.

A quick dive into Ian Falloon's Standard Catalog proposes:
601 plus 238 for the States = 839.

Ian also gives the following figures for the 1975 production year:
GT: 477
GTS: 512.

Ian's figures are taken from the factory production sheets that he found.

(My first Ducrappi was a 1975 black and gold GTE, btw ... :) )

Ciao

Craig
smooth860
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Re: how many 860 gte's...

Post by smooth860 »

Out of the 839 how many of those would be in black? I'm guessing that number would not be known or just a guess anyway but I thought I'd ask...
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Craig in France
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Re: how many 860 gte's...

Post by Craig in France »

smooth860 wrote:Out of the 839 how many of those would be in black?
Black, as in plain black? None, I would think. AFAIK, the factory paint scheme always had a two-line horizontal decal on the sides of tank; a 3-line decal on the top of tank; and a narrower 3-line decal on the mudguards. Here's the original GT advert, with the stripes in black:

Image

Here's Phil Aynsley's GTE, with the stripes in silver:

Image

And here's an original red tank, again with the stripes in silver.
Image

My bike was black, but with the stripes in gold.

Btw, the full color range was bronze, green, blue, black and red.

Ciao

Craig
smooth860
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Re: how many 860 gte's...

Post by smooth860 »

this bike has no decals and the paint is fairly new. is the decal kit reproduced anywhere? he is a quick video of the bike in case you would like to see it.
http://youtu.be/TqSnQ09OXLA dont mind my garage mess its a work in progress. by the way thanks for the info
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Craig in France
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Re: how many 860 gte's...

Post by Craig in France »

Nice. A few comments:

1. Bizarrely, while the right side switch block includes an electric start button, the bike doesn't have an electric starter! Not that it worked too well, even when new ... And the battery took a real hammering. I suspect someone go fed up with it, took the starter off and replaced the engine cover on the clutch side with a cover off a kick start bike. This is what the electric start cover looks like, btw (again courtesy of Phil Aynsley):

Image

2. The bike looks very complete, clean, and in good condition. A nice buy. I see it has the second, lower style of seat, as well as twin discs - both introduced towards the end of 75. The Aprilia blinkers are rare - look after them. The rear light may have been changed - in theory, it should really be a square CEV unit. But given the factory's tendency to occasionally fit whatever was on the shelf at the time ... maybe not.

3. The dash board is missing its central sticker. Steve Allen, the owner of this site, has them here:
https://store.bevelheaven.com/stickers- ... h-sticker/

Be gentle with the plastic moulding. It cracks very easily, down towards the mounts. Replacements are available from Steve. But best avoided in the first place.

P.s. Steve also has a few other period decals which would look nice - Ceriani fork sticker, Smiths speedo (I think that's a Smiths speedo?) etc. Have a browse.

For the tank etc decals, speak to Steve. I can't see them on his site, but he may be able to help. If not, I think I know a man who can ... Also, Steve is bound to have a battery strap.

4. The original handlebar switches used to leak, corrode and stop working. But I see that the left side one, which is/was the worst offender, has already been replaced - a good sign, IMO. And it's been done with a period and Ducati-correct one (this style of switch was fitted to the parallel twins and some 900 SS). Seems someone knew what they were doing. It's why the choke lever has been changed and relocated, btw.

5. Check the fuse box. Again, it's not reliable - contacts corrode, come loose etc. Best replaced with a modern quality item. But if the existing one is an Aprilia item, don't throw it away - it has a value for a collector!

6. Be gentle with the gear shift lever. It's aluminum and guess what? It can snap ...

Otherwise: run it on a quality synthetic oil - 10-40, 10-50. But DO change it frequently - every 2,000 miles. The weakness in these engines is the big ends, and failing to change the oil frequently is almost always involved when they go bang. And they are expensive to fix. "Oil is cheaper than bearings".

But a nice bike!
Last edited by Craig in France on Fri Feb 22, 2013 5:15 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Craig in France
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Re: how many 860 gte's...

Post by Craig in France »

P.s If you want to put an electric start back on, there's quite a lot of what you need currently on sale in eBay. Go item # 251233036525.
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Craig in France
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Re: how many 860 gte's...

Post by Craig in France »

Btw, there's an original black and gold 860GT rear mudguard on eBay right now, item # 120940925690.

The asking price is way too expensive IMO. But here's what it looks like. The reason I'm posting the picture is so that, in case you ever think of re-doing the decals, you can see that this particular decal doesn't go all the way up the guard.

Image

The same seller has a fair amount of other GT bits for sale, btw. As I said, I find his asking prices high; but included is the (notionally) correct rear light, item # 120940945254.

(He's even selling an original battery strap ...)

Ciao

Craig
Mayor08
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Re: how many 860 gte's...

Post by Mayor08 »

Hi Smooth 860, I am also a new 860 owner and am in the process of wiring in new left side controls and am looking at options for relocation the the choke lever onto a new mount. Could you post a couple of pics of your choke lever?
perratjorn
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Re: how many 860 gte's...

Post by perratjorn »

P5200033.JPG
Hello I own -75,860 it is registered in 1976 as a gt but is equipped from the factory with electric start, dual disc brakes, low seat, stainless steel fenders. The only thing that's changed is the rear shock absorbers and it is all red.

Sincerely perra.
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Craig in France
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Re: how many 860 gte's...

Post by Craig in France »

Nice perra!
perratjorn wrote: I own -75,860 it is registered in 1976 as a GT but is equipped from the factory with electric start, dual disc brakes, low seat, ...
Yes, all that agrees with what Ian Falloon says about some of the 1975 production - see the photo and caption on page 21 of the 860, 900 & Mille Bible. And here's another one, found on the Net (http://bringatrailer.com/2012/01/08/1975-ducati-860-gt/):

Image
perratjorn wrote: ... stainless steel fenders.
THAT, on the other hand, I haven't seen before ... :-D :shock:

Ciao

Craig
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abmartin
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Re: how many 860 gte's...

Post by abmartin »

A friend had a red '75 860GT with electric start. Unlike the photo it had a single disk up front and the standard rear upturned saddle. The starting system didn't really work as it couldn't turn over a cold motor. The bike ended up in Australia.

Bruce
1979 900SS
Fredericton, NB
Canada
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