55,000 miles on 74 GT, cost of rebuild?

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I have located a 74 GT 750 that has not run in several years. It has 55,000 miles on the motor with no signs of rebuild. Bottom end was caked with oil and dirt. Owner says it started when he bought it five years ago.

At 55,000 will this motor and trans require a rebuild and what might the cost be to have a good Ducati mechanic do the work?

Thanks much from a Ducati lover but nebie.

[nottonight68]

be prepared for large bill,
if it runs-ride it and start saving.
i am restoring a 900ss & have spent aus $4,000 and have'nt touched the motor yet

[wdietz186]

Stephen,If it has been taken care of 55k shoulden't be too much of a problem.The 750's don't make alot of power so the cranks aren't stressed too much.Take a look at the top end and the oil condition,if it isn't full of gunk it is probably useable. I have a 75 GT I've shown little mercy that is going strong at about 50k.

[wdietz186]

Stephen,If it has been taken care of 55k shoulden't be too much of a problem.The 750's don't make alot of power so the cranks aren't stressed too much.Take a look at the top end and the oil condition,if it isn't full of gunk it is probably useable. I have a 75 GT I've shown little mercy that is going strong at about 50k.

[nottonight68]

55'000 miles is around 100,000 kms -thats definitly getting towards the end

[abmartin]

The only caution is that the 750s didn't have replaceable oil filters so they would be more sensitive to poor maintenance. Nevertheless I would be tempted to run it for awhile before making a decision. I've only blown up two motorcycles - one was caused by carelessness and the other gave me lots of warning which I stupidly ignored.

[DesmoDog]

My 750 GT was in pretty bad condition when I bought it, hadn't run in years. Very dirty, etc etc. The odo said 63,000 miles but the cable had broken so who knows how many miles it really had.

I tore it down and sent the crank off to Syds. They pulled it apart and said it was fine. "Looks more like 6,000 miles than 60,000" Malcome told me.

That said, there was an issue with a bearing in the bevel shafts so it had to be split anyway. And if it's apart... you may as well do it all.

I did the vast majority of the work myself on mine, and still managed to spend just under $5k - on the engine alone. That included replacing every bearing, replacing the cams, new pistons (oversized, cylinders bored to fit by Syd's), 32mm carbs, valve guides, valves, pretty much everything.

I'd agree with others here. If it ran when parked, I'd try to get it running again and get a feel for what kind of shape it's in. If it's rideable, put some miles on it before tearing it down.

I bought mine for $700, then put almost $10k into rebuilding it over the next 3+ years. People talk about restoring these things for $5k, but I just don't see it happening for anything near that if it's a true total rebuild, let alone correct restoration. (Which doesn't mean you can't get it running nice for under $5k, it all depends on what your expectations are)

[nottonight68]

i ve seen pics of desmodogs bike-$10k for a brand new 750 gt-BARGAIN
im doin my 900ss -looking at minimum $10k aud and it was a complete bike when i started
ill have a brand new 900ss for $10k

[nottonight68]

emend above comment -make that $15,000

[Chris Bushell]

I bought a 74 750GT out of a chicken shed in February of this year, it had been in there for approximately 15 years and the birds had been using it to roost on, that is everything was covered in droppings.

The engine turned over and had compression, we however decided not to try and start it, as cosmetically it was going to need everything to get the droppings and rust fixed!

This turned out to be very good news when we tore it down:

1) The piston rings were corroded in the groves and would never have freed off.

2) The sump was full of congealed oil, that looked more like this grease, which would have restricted oil flow to the crank.

3) The sludge trap in the crank was full of crap at 26,000 miles and this had dried out and was about to go round the big-end and would have led to a quick failure!

Ok we replaced the rings, all bearings and re-shimmed the motor to get everything right. It cost me about $3,000 in total at todays rate, but I basically have a new motor that starts 2nd kick and runs beautifully.

Over the years I have done countless singles and now work on the principal that it is cheaper to pay $300 for a gasket set and split/clean of the crank, than risk blowing one up. My own 175 Moto Giro bike, that was fully rebuilt in 2001/2, I tore down this summer becuase of a funny noise turned out that the crank was full of crap and needed cleaning out. That has probably done about 10,000 hard miles; but it is telling.

Chris

[nottonight68]

i agree-the sludge trap fills up pretty quick
i blew my ss clutch trying to do wheelstands-20yrs old and only 35,000kms,
it sent crap though the motor-so i stripped it
sludge traps were half full-and i had changed oil every 2,000
i'm convinced this is why my big end has lasted so long

[Chris Bushell]

i agree-the sludge trap fills up pretty quick
i blew my ss clutch trying to do wheelstands-20yrs old and only 35,000kms,
it sent crap though the motor-so i stripped it
sludge traps were half full-and i had changed oil every 2,000
i'm convinced this is why my big end has lasted so long

I think that you are absolutely right on the regular oil changes, I tend to change mine when it starts to show signs of going black or rather no longer clear. The lack of a full flow oil fiilter is a real problem.

I fitted a bypass filter to my 3.4 Jaguar mk2 about 10 years ago, they are similar in that they put a lot of muck into their oil and that really helps keep the oil clean for much longer. This passes through the contents of the sump (2 gallons) about every 5 minutes on the motorway.

[nottonight68]

a man of your standing in uk ducati circles should know the benefits of regular oil changes