Darmah to get back in action after 13 years

[lomax]

Hi there !

Got my Darmah out of the corner of my garage to get it back to work.
It was stored when I went over to Iowa in 1996/97. My brother drove it a little then, but I just put it into the garage when I came back to Germany.

The condition is better as I remembered, the engine was overhauled and ran great (until it began to bang a little - may be valves just need to be adjusted !?). Any tips ?
Btw - do you guys use unleaded fuel ? I had to put in some special lead additive back then, when the leaded fuel in Germany was forbidden. Were american Darmahs always equipped with hardened valve seats ? I wonder, if I still need to use this lead stuff......

I was shocked, when I opened the gas tank today. I filled it up in 1997 - never took a look into the tank again. See the rust ! Hopefully it is just a crust, that fell down from the lid, because the lid seems to be the source of rust. I will remove the tank, empty it, claen it and (if necessary) restore and seal it.



Before moving the engine, I will take a look inside the cylinders - hopefully no rust there !

I do have a set of Contis and the '79 seat/tail assembly as well (like that more). I payed more than € 100,- just for a used seat leather/foam cover ! Payed € 25,- for the set of Lafranconis in new condition - but that was about 15 years ago .....

Watch the oil pipe from crank shaft to the self made oil filter housing ! Fresh filtered oil gets directly to the crank shaft.

Any tips/commends welcome

Best regards from Germany

Joe

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[wdietz186]

Yeah,The tank is kinda ugly inside.I would do the drywall screws and shake method to dislodge as much rust as possible then seal it with some of that Caswell epoxy sealer to keep any possible pinholes from appearing.Clean the carbs out too as the jets are probably clogged shut and the passages gummed up too.If the engine turns easily with the plugs out and doesn't make any crunch noises when you turn it you should try to run it.I picked up a 650 Yam. that sat since 78 and it was ok except for the brown clay that was the fuel needed to be chipped out of the fuel system. Well that and all the rubber stuff that was rotten.

[Osred]

Btw - do you guys use unleaded fuel ? I had to put in some special lead additive back then, when the leaded fuel in Germany was forbidden. Were american Darmahs always equipped with hardened valve seats ? I wonder, if I still need to use this lead stuff......
*************************************************************
Watch the oil pipe from crank shaft to the self made oil filter housing ! Fresh filtered oil gets directly to the crank shaft.

Hey Joe,

There probably were not too many Darmahs you found in Iowa. Just a lot of corn, cows and tornadoes, huh? I lived in Minnesota for a while and pretty much the only bikes you see there are Harleys and Japanese machines. The closest bevel drive Ducati service I am aware of in Minnesota is Wheels Unlimited - outside of Rochester.

You raise an interesting point regarding the use of unleaded fuel. Here in the United States, I have only used unleaded fuel in my 1977 Moto Guzzi LeMans and 1978 Darmah and am unsure if the valve seats were upgraded at some point prior to my ownership. Both bikes seem to run just fine on unleaded (92 octane) without adding anything.

I like the idea of external oil delivery to the crank. Ironically, wouldn't that decrease the oil pressure and potentially limit the flow to critical components? I'm curious what the consensus is on this issue.

Good to see you are dusting her off. I'm sure it will be exciting to take a long awaited spin on the tarmac!

Chris

[sevicke]

everyone thinks they know better than the manufacturer. scene that b4 with pipes going uo to the cams as well . My desmo doctor couldnt see the point as theres already oilways to doing the same thing.

[Osred]

everyone thinks they know better than the manufacturer.

Sevicke makes a good point, although I think there is always a better mouse trap to be built in many cases. From my viewpoint, Taglioni designed really good engines, particularly later on, and Ducati manufactured them well. I can understand modifying the stock setup and components for racing, but it seems that the OEM equipment was made to work together better than with equipment/parts not manufactured by Ducati for street purposes.

[lomax]

In Iowa I purchased a 900 Monster back in 1996 - just one Ducati-Dealer in Iowa (Des Moines). Not much more than a shed

I shipped it to Germany and sold it in 1999.

Regarding the changed oil circuit I just can tell you, that my Ducati dealer overhauls Ducati engines in his own machine shop for many years and is well known for very good work. When he made the crank, pistons and bearings, he recommended to chnage the oil circuit that way. I think he should have enough experience with bevels to know what is best to extend the life of such an engine ......

Cheers

Joe

[bobnorton]

Hi Lomax, All alloy head bikes have hard valve seats to some degree,usually they are ok unless you run hard,hot and weak, a check on valve clearances will show up errosion of valve seats, classics are not used hard enough to give problems .

[sevicke]

yip thats what thy say about the old jag alloy head so hardened valve seats already so no worries

[wdietz186]

Actually the seats on the bevels are a silicon bronze alloy that is fairly soft compared to steel seats.It is also somewhat self lubricating I think.My understanding of the valve seat erosion problems is the affected seats are cast iron and are cut directly into the material of the head and the iron used is not of sufficent hardness and/or quality to withstand the higher temps and lack of insulation and lubrication that the lead provides.Shrunk in seats are generally made of higher quality steel and bronze alloys that better resist heat and abrasion.Plus the heads are generally made of aluminum and they dissipate heat more efficently.With the lack of any real closing pressure on the valve seats the desmos are actually pretty easy on seats but a good accurate sealing surface is essential.