mounted the new swingarm

We had a very - very- very good day today. The weather was awesome, the virago got fixed and we also mounted my new swingarm on the Duc.

Before....with the "old" verlicchi-swingarm

It was quitte a hassle to remove the swingarm without the mid-stand, but we were creative as always..

With the "new" original swingarm mounted...yeah

Fits the bike perfectly...

Still got some finishing up to do, and I havent had the chance to take it for a ride. But I think this one is a stayer.. :-D
The alu verlicchi swingarm is so incredibly light, compare to the standard swingarm. Nevertheless the great look of the standard swing is worth the few extra kilo's for me, as I'm not going to race with this thing anyway. :-D

We also worked on the virago today. The starter fix we did last time, didnt help so we had to demount the whole thing....Again!!
Anyway, we made some modifications inside the starter itself, by welding and fixating the inner friction-clutch-thing. We also plugged in some new bougies...
Surprisinly the Virago started up after not running for 4 weeks, and only with once single touch of the starter button..
We almost given op on this bike, the starter-systen just has given us so much trouble, but the bike itself is so very brutal and runs like a cannon ball. Anyways...its time for us to end the virago project. And now with the working starter, we can..
But first were going to do some fotoshoots with it. :-D

The virago

nice..

 

Very very awsome xs650...

via pipeburn.com

My mother in Law..

Yeah, last wednesday, my parents in law brought me a very nice present.
Tadaa!

The guy who owned (the parts of) this alazzurra lived in the same town as my parents in law...so that was a done deal :-D 
I think this is going to look great on the duc. It is actually bigger that I thought it would be, also feels pretty solid. The previous owner finished the swingarm with a pretty nice paintjob.
I'm not sure if i need some spacers between the swingarm and the weel, but we'll see..

Verlicchi swingarm..

Turns out that the "ugly" swingarm of the Duc is actually a Verlicchi type, from the famous Italian custom frame-builder. Still I think changing it with the standard type will do the caferacer look some good.

The frame of the duc isnt all that rigid, its quite flexible. Puttin on the standard swingarm isnt going to improve this Im afraid. So I'll think I'm not selling the Verlicchi just jet, just in case.

 

We also took the virago and the duc for a little test run in the neighborhood. Because of the changes of the exhaust and the air filters of the Duc, we needed to adjust the carburettor jets, he has a nice drill for this. 

The Duc now runs very well, nice..

Tomorrow we'll be visiting the Rusty Gold Swap Meeting in Amsterdam, I'm planning to go on the Duc but its 70 km's.. , never dit more then 30 with the Duc....

I hope all goes well. I'll try not to loose too much parts on the way :-D

Update of tha duck

Its been a while since I last posted something usefull on this blog. I just havent had the time for it.
Got a really cool son last January, his name is Max! Could this got something to do with my lack of time..
Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, we made some nice pictures ofthe duck.
Lost my licenceplate (including the brackets that were welded to my frame) but I got a new one..
Also finished the steps and gear shifter. Still need to find a proper rear break pump.
The battery is now underneath the swingarm. The amount ofparts under the seat is now very little. Looks minimalistic this way.

More of the photies michiel made can be found on his new website http://www.shedbuiltbikes.com/vincents-ducati/

The rear swingarm of my duck is quite ugly. Im not sure if a swingarm (made from round pipes) from a pantah is compatible with my bike. I think it is, where all parts are almost identical between the alazzurra and the pantah.

I think this would improve the classic look of the bike.
Damn I got some polishing to do...