Tim O'Mahony's 1978 900SD Darmah

[Peter Mille]

@Tim, if the wheels are Campagnolo's, The word "Ducati" is stamped on them, and the year "1978", they are magnesium for sure!
I know because I have the same wheels in my Mille Special ( they came from a '78 Darmah).
I wanted my Duc to be as close as possible to the original Hailwood racer, when I built my bike!
After a few years small "bubbles" apeared on the surface of the wheels, when you scratched the "bubbles"open, white powder came out!
That's when I found out the wheels were actualy made of magnesium.
I than had the wheels blasted and powder coated, but after that moment started my research, because I was worried about the strengt of the wheels.
I found out that a period of about 15 years is a safe life span for magnesium motorcycle wheels.
The wheels beeing more than 25 years old at that time, my worries grew!
I wrote a letter to Campagnolo in Italy ( they still excist, are in the bycicle bussines) but they were unable to answer my questions about the strenght-lifespan of their wheels!
Anyway, as I read more and more bad stories about old mag wheels, and even a motorcycle friend had seen them collapse during a classic motorcycle event, I wanted other wheels.
Some months ago I found two brand new wheels, an original Oscam Mille front wheel, and a rear Oscam wheel from a Ducati F1.( both aluminium, and almost the same design like the Campagnolo's, the rear is 3.0 instead of the original 2.5, so I will fit a 140 tire...!!
Today they are going in my Ducati!
I will keep the Campagnolo's for show purposes, but will NEVER drive them again!
( I was told if you will be sure about the strenght for those wheels, you should have them X-rayed anualy, and have the results judged by someone who knows....!! Mag wheels will corrode from the inside out, even if the outside looks good....!!!)

Good luck, Peter.

[tim61]

I finally posted a bunch of photos of the Darmah at this URL:
http://community.webshots.com/user/darmah78
Unfortunately, I don't have the "before and after" photos, as my ex decided I didn't need any of my old pictures...

[tim61]

I finally got around to taking some pictures of the decals we made to recreate the original Campagnolo wheel decals. The originals were pad printed on a clear vinyl sticker. These repops are cut from black vinyl using a computerized sign cutting machine. They are nearly identical to the originals I took off when I had the wheels powdercoated.

I actually have a few extra sets of these left over if anyone else is restoring a set of Campys.

[tim61]

This is the "Ducati" decal

[tim61]

The other new addition is the kickstart rubber. Steve Allen was looking at the bike at Laguna, and pointed out it was missing. I had no idea, because it was gone when I found the bike.

Steve suggested the older "Sport" style rubber with the checkerboard pattern. Good call, Steve! I love it!

[GONDARMAH]

Hi Tim, your bike is fantactic. I have the same model but without steering damping because is impossible find it.
I think that your steering damping is not original Palioli, isn´t it?
Can you tell me where is the bike procedence of your steering damping to looking for it ?

[tim61]

Unfortunately, I have no idea about the damper. It was on the bike when I found it, along with the fuel taps that point down, which I am told are not original either. I will take some close up photos and post them, along with any identifying marke or labels. I am pretty sure the bike never left the USA, and it did only have one owner, but other than that, I am not sure of the history.
Tim

[tim61]

I finally installed the new seat cover from Andy at Desmo.net. This is an incredible cover...great fit, and so close to the original you can't believe it!

[tim61]

From any angle, this is a great looking cover!

[tim61]

For those of use that are overly anal (that would be ME!), I can say that this cover is so accurate that the only way you can tell it is a repop is that it is new. The heat embossing is exactly like my original. The only difference I could find is under the cover where you can't see it. The original cover had a pad embossed to the underside that leaves an ugly outline around the embossing after a few years. So, this cover is IMPROVED!

Those of you who decide to use this cover will find that the original passenger strap is held in place with 1/4" pop rivets. After some searching, I found the rivets, only to find that the gun for a 1/4" rivets is about $120!!! So, I drilled new 3/16" holes next to the 1/4" holes and used 3/16" rivets instead.

[GONDARMAH]

Hi Tim, I have the same model, DARMAH 78, but I have a problem with the spaces of the axel of rear wheell. Can you put a couple of photos of them? I must be something missing..... ??

[BevHevSteve]

your problem is in the sprocket carrior, the bearings are shot and need to be replaced, see what I put in your topic........

[tim61]

What I learned on my summer vacation...

Don't jump on the throttle in first gear on your stock squarecase, or you may pop the transmission out of gear, causing these really nice, round, and chipped first gear dogs...

[tim61]

[tim61]