Mini Ducatis?

delagem · Post by **delagem** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 2:00 pm

Ok, anyone else have any interest in silly motorcycles, such as these YSR50's? Here's a stock one, and two "Ducati Replicas":

The one on the left is mostly stock, with a racing carb and Toomey pipe. This one goes about 60mph (stock they go 47mph). The one in the middle is a replica of my 748 Pro Thunder racebike, it has a liquid cooled YZ80 motor, lengthened aluminum swingarm, and a bunch of suspension mods. Goes over 100mph. The third is my friend, Greg Woodman's, mostly stock. Unfortunately, his motor grenaded right at the end of our 100 mile ride yesterday. Friggin' Two-Strokes! Ah, well, they are fun, and pretty good for a couple of mopeds...

redpaso · Post by **redpaso** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 1:35 am

They are pretty cool in a fun sort of a way but I think that my knees would get in the way too much & I would do my worst biking injury on a PeeWee50. Not the sort of war story that makes you a legend in the local pub......but for my 8 year old....well???

Teh detail is certianly impressive & apparantly so is performance

fasterdammit · Post by **fasterdammit** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 5:47 pm

And here I thought you meant something like this (in the foreground):

delagem · Post by **delagem** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 7:26 pm

No, no, you can clearly see by the logo's that your bike is an older, 70's bevelhead; the two in my pic are late models, a 748 and a 996... I thought Greg shoulda called his a 999, because they've both got ugly front fairings! (I really like the "sharknose" upper on the yellow one)

Red, you'd be surprised on the comfort, I think I've got as much legroom on these as on the 750 Paso! (although, if you read my posts, I complained about legroom after lowering the rear and installing a Corbin seat)

fasterdammit · Post by **fasterdammit** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 8:02 pm

(I wish that was mine!)

I'm missing the trellis frames on those YSRs though ...

haha

But your AMA rep is really good looking. Is that a headlight I see peeking out under the sharknose? I was thinking the "996" nose looked a little more like a cross between an F1 and a SS/FE ...

Michael, is the yellow one yours? Same with the stock one?

I'll bet you guys got some good double-takes from passers-by ... :laugh:

delagem · Post by **delagem** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 9:07 pm

Yep, good eye on the headlight! The big problem with a YZ80 powered YSR is the lack of a lighting coil, therefore no lights. I run a 4 or 5 amp hr battery in the YSR tail (whatever is handy to steal out of my race bike or KTM), and run a total-loss lighting system.

The headlight is a two bulb fog lamp/parking lamp combo; I put a 30 watt bulb in as a high beam, and a 5 watt bulb for low. You can't even really tell it's on, but so far the police haven't bothered me. I figure if I get stopped, I'll show them the high beam, and they'll leave me alone. But I can only run the high beam for about 30 min's before the battery is dead. The low beam and tail/brake will run all day. No turn signals, horn, etc.

delagem · Post by **delagem** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 2:29 am

Jake, hey, I just noticed, that REALLY is a bevelhead motor in that thing! Where did you see that? That's pretty clever...

I hadn't thought of putting a small Duc motor in a YSR before, but now that I'm thinking of it, a 600 monster motor is cheaper than a YZ80...

DesmoDog · Post by **DesmoDog** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 12:19 pm

delagem wrote:Jake, hey, I just noticed, that REALLY is a bevelhead motor in that thing!

That'd be the engine out of a 160 Monza Jr. which is based on the earlier 100/125cc bikes so it's physically smaller than the later 175/200/250 engines... I've got another picture or two of that bike somewhere but I've forgotten the details on it...

I'm thinking you'd have a bit of trouble getting a 600 twin onto a YSR. Maybe if you lopped off one cylinder like a Supermono and went from there?

delagem · Post by **delagem** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 12:38 pm

Hey, now you're talking! A Supermono! All I know about running a twin as a single is they shake like crazy; I've done it twice on my 900... I guess that's why they designed the Supermono with a double conrod arrangement. (I don't suppose anyone ever sells Supermono motors dirt cheap on eBay, eh?)

I'd have to check on sizes, but there are people with DT175's and YZ125s in their YSR's, the exhaust winds up being the biggest problem.

It's a neat idea, but I've already got a stack of air-cooled YZ80 motors in my shop, waiting for a rebuild and install. Supposedly the YSR lighting coil fits right inside the motor, solving both problems. They don't make as much power as the liquid-cooled YZ, but I'm getting a little tired of trying to keep the front wheel on the ground in 4th gear anyways...

fasterdammit · Post by **fasterdammit** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 7:24 pm

delagem wrote:Jake, hey, I just noticed, that REALLY is a bevelhead motor in that thing! Where did you see that? That's pretty clever...

You got that right.

That shot is from the swap area at last year's Vintage Motorcycle Rally in Mid-Ohio. As I recall that guy had those four Ducatis, and a couple really nice Guzzi Ambassadors.

There was all KINDS of great stuff there. An awesome weekend, even if it did downpour at least once a day. I just missed getting the Paso in on a parade lap - that was my only disappointment.

Tons of pictures from the event - including a couple SuperMonos - here (and a bunch of pictures not from the event, too)

DesmoDog · Post by **DesmoDog** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:11 pm

fasterdammit wrote:Tons of pictures from the event - including a couple SuperMonos - here (and a bunch of pictures not from the event, too)

I just took a look at your pics. Nice! But... the 907 you have listed as nicely restored? It's a never-restored, one owner bike... that's in my basement right now!

I'm looking forward to this year's event at the end of the month.

delagem · Post by **delagem** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 11:25 pm

No kidding, is Mid-Ohio already upon us? Shoot, it looks like AHRMA conflicts with my races at LRRS. Is there still an AMA Grand Championship race associated with the races at Mid Ohio?

fasterdammit · Post by **fasterdammit** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 2:40 pm

DesmoDog wrote:I just took a look at your pics. Nice! But... the 907 you have listed as nicely restored? It's a never-restored, one owner bike... that's in my basement right now!

Craig - *that* was your bike? I knew your 907 was there, but I didn't realize you were in the historical tent?! That's awesome - congrats (belatedly)!

MV is the featured marque this year, right? I couldn't make it this year ... but I certainly wasn't going to miss it last year!

DesmoDog · Post by **DesmoDog** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 7:37 pm

fasterdammit wrote:Craig - *that* was your bike?...

Yep, that was mine.
http://ducatipaso.org/modules.php?name= ... opic&t=669

I'll be there this year too, but likely won't have a bike with me. At least not on the way down! You never know what will happen if I stumble across another 160 Monza Jr...

I wonder if one of those engines would fit in a YSR50 frame? Hmm...