'75 860GT in San Francisco

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killfile
Mariana
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'75 860GT in San Francisco

Post by killfile »

Hello Forum,
Happy to be joining y'all. I just picked up my first bevel, the much maligned '75 860GT.
I'm not a purist or a restorer, just serious about my riding, so I picked up a non-stock 860GT that has already had some modifications that I would have made to her anyway. I'm happy to be stepping up to a 860 from my previous vintage bike experience of 160cc-500cc bikes. I'm looking forward to doing some shake down runs, getting familiar with my new best friend, and probably asking a lot of questions of everyone here.

I've also got a 916, as it sounds like many of you on here also do.

Jason.
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Peter Mille
750 SS Greenframe - the holy grail
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Re: '75 860GT in San Francisco

Post by Peter Mille »

Welcome here!
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BevHevSteve
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Re: '75 860GT in San Francisco

Post by BevHevSteve »

Welcome aboard Jason
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killfile
Mariana
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Re: '75 860GT in San Francisco

Post by killfile »

Thanks for the welcomes.
Bike arrived, love it more than anything else I've ridden.
Took it over to the Pacific Ocean to make an reintroduction. I was told this bike started out on the west coast and a previous owner drove it out to the east coast many years ago. I just brought it back here.
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Gardner
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Re: '75 860GT in San Francisco

Post by Gardner »

Nice! I love it too!
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Craig in France
Paso 906
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Re: '75 860GT in San Francisco

Post by Craig in France »

Nice looking bike Jason <> . They are a good ride. Looks like it's had some sensible mods over the years - GTS fuel tank and seat for starters. Double discs as well. And stainless guards. Nice rims, too!

Just to satisfy the curious: are you sure about the year? Can you say what the engine and frame numbers are? Gotta say that looks like a 1975 instrument panel, mind ...

Ciao

Craig
killfile
Mariana
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Re: '75 860GT in San Francisco

Post by killfile »

Thanks guys.
Craig, I'm not sure about anything. I assumed this was a '75 that didn't sell and received the updated bodywork from the GTS line to finally sell.
Frame# 85035X
Engine# 85008X
I omitted the last number with Xs as I'm not used to sharing vins online.

My assumption was that these are quite early numbers, but this is my first bevel and I'm still learning the nuances. I believe the GTS started with 852100 engine and 853000 frames?
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Looking at the Ducati Bevel Twin Authenticity & Restoration Guide it seems this is actually a 1974?
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Craig in France
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Re: '75 860GT in San Francisco

Post by Craig in France »

killfile wrote: Wed Aug 22, 2018 1:44 pm Craig, I'm not sure about anything. I assumed this was a '75 that didn't sell and received the updated bodywork from the GTS line to finally sell.
Frame# 85035X
Engine# 85008X
My assumption was that these are quite early numbers ... <snip>
Yup, reckon you're right. According to Ian Falloon - and since he's the only person who I know has actually looked at the factory records, I think we should believe him :-D - the years and numbers go like this:

1975 (GT model):
Frame numbers, 850001 to 853600 approx.
Engine numbers, ditto.

1976 (GTS model):
Frame numbers, 853000 to 853669.
Engine numbers, 852000 to 853788.

The apparent overlap/discrepancy in these numbers is due to the restyling of the GT into the GTS barely 9 months after its appearance :shock:. This explanation from Ian's 860,900 & Mille Bible
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So as you say, your bike would appear to be very early 1975 (short explanation re. Ducati dating conventions :~ : It's true that the very first bikes were made in calendar year 1974, after the factory returned to work in September. But by convention, Ducati production years always start in the September of the previous year. So, sticking with convention, all GTs are "1975" :-D ).

So, as you say, there's a good chance that the bike came out of the factory with the duck tail seat and the tank with no knee recesses and was later modified. But by who, who knows? The stainless guards, for example, didn't appear until 1977 ... And a gear gazer of course was never offered on a factory bike - altho' the factory itself used them to check the oil flow on every 'just-off-the-line" bike.

Whatever. Still a fine bike. Just been well looked after :-D :-D .
killfile wrote: Wed Aug 22, 2018 1:44 pmI believe the GTS started with 852100 engine and 853000 frames?
See above :)
killfile
Mariana
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Re: '75 860GT in San Francisco

Post by killfile »

Ah, cheers for clearing all that up (as much as is possible with such a timeline).
I know that this bike was abandoned at one point, and the previous owner did a lot of work to get it back in order. It had the GTS tank on it when he picked it up, but he made no mention of the stainless steel fenders. As I tend to do a bit of dirt riding every year on my vintage bikes, the stainless steel fenders are a better choice for me. The previous owner was also responsible for having the shouldered aluminum rims laced up. The back of the frame under the seat looks suspicious to me, and I have assumed it was cut and rewelded. I'll take a picture to see if anyone can confirm that.

Essentially this bike was modified in every way that I would modify a stock GT to be the bike I want, so I decided it was the perfect bike for me, leaving one more unmodified bike for the purists to have. I'm scheduled to go on a 500 mile ride in the rockies in September and need to shake out a few more gremlins before then!
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Craig in France
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Re: '75 860GT in San Francisco

Post by Craig in France »

killfile wrote: Thu Aug 23, 2018 11:16 am <snip> The back of the frame under the seat looks suspicious to me, and I have assumed it was cut and rewelded. I'll take a picture to see if anyone can confirm that.
Ah, that's further proof that the bike started out as a GT with the duck-tail seat. As you can see from below, the back of the frame would have to be modified quite substantially to take the GTS seat.

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(I do wonder just how many GTs were in fact modified by dealers ... It would have been quite a lot of work and I question how many bike shops would have been up to the task.)

And here's another anomaly I've just seen: in the parts books, the GT frame has a part number, 0960.91.200. But not so for the GTS frame. Yes, it's shown in the drawing - flagged 32 as you can see above. But in the list of parts, there is no '32' - see below. It's just ... not there! Weird.

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Fantastic bike to take up into the Rockies! Have fun!
killfile
Mariana
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Re: '75 860GT in San Francisco

Post by killfile »

Thank you for the parts manual images. I took this picture about a week ago to post up to show where I thought the frame was cut, and this confirms it. The paint is quite well done (or should I say it is as well done as the rest of the frame paint) in the area that was cut. I wonder how many other GTs have the exact same cuts?

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