ducatipaso.org

:lick:



I saw an amazing motorcycle parked downtown in Wellington, outside my favourite secondhand bookshop, a couple of days ago: a Mike Hailwood Replica - the old one. I've seen a few of them before, but the way this one shone from sixty feet away indicated that it was something special.

Closer up, I could see a couple of small extra flared pieces on the fairing, very tastfully done, and the shine on the red, white and green, and on the Contis, was almost blinding. I saw the plate read MHR82. Everything was immaculate.

Another bloke stopped to look, and we both started making strange low noises and saying thinkgs like 'Look at this ...' 'Hey, what about this!', and so on, and then I saw something so beautiful, I could hardly believe I was seeing it. The bevel gear covers had large glass viewing holes in them! They were as big as the palm of your hand, beautifully fitted into the machined alloy, and you could see the bevel gears, all shiny with oil. 'Look at this!' I shouted. I caught a wiff of the oil. This motor was hot! I put my hand down close to the glass, not to touch (I felt I couldn't do that) but just to feel the warmth of the motor. I was getting really excited.

Just then, my crazy old man, who had been waiting in the car, came over to get me away, and the owner of the MHR turned up. I managed to say a few words to him, but he wasn't a talker, and was probably tired of people like me after owning the bike for a year. He said he had no more Ducatis at home, and he smiled warmly when I said I had a 750 Paso. 'They're great bikes,' he said. My old man dragged me off.

Skins,

Last year at a Superbike track day there was a bevel drive 860 / 900. It also had a glass circle at the top of the bevel drive held in with a circlip. I'd never seen it before and I was fascinated.

I think it was there so you could see how much wear had happened each lap... :laugh:

Paul

oooh, very cool. Too bad the owner wasn't very personable. That's too bad, but nice find! I wonder what the story is on it ... ?

It's stuff like that that makes me wish I had a cell phone with a camera on it. Or else just carried a camera with me everywhere ...

That sounds just like my brothers '81 MHR900, except his is in Australia & as he is fastidious & a mechanic it is also in a lot of bits at the moment. They are a special bike, especially when you can see the bevel drive in action.

sooooo sweeeet

the rubber band crowd goes ga ga over a bevel,makes my heart warm. anyone else here besides me on the bevelhead list.there is a strong following on that list from down under. i rarely post there but do enjoy the "talk" of bevel drives. makes me proud to own some. their (bevelheads) alll giddish over mid-ohio rite now.
nice story skins,good eye spotting that one. i'm sure the owner enjoyed the attention,maybe he is the shy type or was just in a hurry, maybe going to work or something.

Wiggs,

I was looking for a 900 SD (in black and gold with the tiger's head on the side) when I found out about my Paso. So their are some of us that are Bevelheads at heart.

Paul

one of my alltime favorite bikes.

That's the only thing I miss on a Paso, seeing the thing that makes you go, the engine...




:lick:

:lick:

Thanks, DuC-Man! I occasionally see belt drives with the belts exposed - racing bikes and so on - but seeing those bevel gears under glass is something else ... like you're seeing something really special, in a glass cabinet, or a work of art on paper (valuable ones are always under glass) but it's engineering ...

well skins,ya really got things going here in more ways than one!
after your post i got the 907 inspected,licensed and insured and rode it to work twice. and your bevel post also got me motivated to install the battery in the 860 gt. i turned the gas on and kicked it some and turned the key on and it fired first kick after sitting for 5-6 months. thanks for the motivation. i gotta admit the gt isn't nearly as nice as the photo's of the bike pictured above. boy, what a nice looking bike and the gear gazer is lovely. i can't run one on the gt because the rita resides there. thanks again skins,you're an inspiration in ways and places you aren't even aware of.

Sounds good, wiggs! Thanks!

(G'day, Melody!)

That S2 is so sweet :lick: I have to agree with Duc-man the one drawback of the Paso is the engine hidden away, but if it must be hidden there could not be a more beautiful skin to hide it under for me the real drawcard to the older Dukes is the beauty in the donk. especially one as tidy as that above