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

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...

Quick and dirty

Okay, I havent had the time to do some proper foto shooting, but to get an idea of the bike how it is right now, this one is made with my iphone..(I know, quality sucks bigtime..)
Ill try to post some better photos lateron.

been a while..

It been a while since my last post on this blog. Nevertheless workin' on the virago and the Duc went on. There have been some major changes.
The virago is now in his last stage. We have almost finished it.
There are still some minor things to do.
We removed one of the two brake discs in the front and we changed the color of the engine in black. We used "kachel-zwart" for this and it really worked well.
Its a kind of shoe-polish you can use to turn your old cast-iron stove black again. We like de result..
We also removed all the paint from the tank and the side caps. So its all plain metal. The finshing layer is done with owatrol. nice...









The duc is coming along nicely aswell. Ive moved the battery out of sight. It is now situated underneath the rear-axle.
Also did some minor things like making a proper mount for the gastank, and paining the rear of the bike.

Now im working on bracket for the steps, the brake lever and gearshifter.
Trying to make everything as minimalistic as possible. well see how things come around. :-)
Owh do check out michiels responsible grinding technics. Gloves, ear protection, goggels.... I think he lost his leg here.. :-D

The new seat

The new seat arrived yesterday. It really is a nice piece of work!
Thanks Ramon! A really well done job!
I really like the classic style of the off-white in combination with the black tank.
Still have to paint the rear off the bike (is now blue-ish)

Michiel also had some rear air-shocks laying around. We tried them on the duc.
I think they fit the bike. Haven't had the chance of takin it for a nice ride, so im not sure how they react. Bit they look very ok!






Michiel also took the virago for a last ride befor we started takin it apart for the paint job. How cool is this bike. :-D

did some nice work!

Last week I had some time to do those last important things on the duc.
I received my tail light from Louis and I made a nice bracket to mount it together with the awfull license plate tot the back of the bike.
I really like the result.




Also made a ground plate for the buddy (to be..) Things are beginning to look "finished"... I couldnt resist takin the duc for a nice evening stroll.
The noise coming from the exausts is still too loud, still need to do something about that. But nevertheless it is very driveable.



A yes the air filters... did some really custom home made stuff action here. The cups are made of tea-filters (xenos) and I glued them (two component glue..) to the original intake-rings of the Dellorto carbs....sooo very easy... :-D

now and then..

Ok just for fun..
this is what it was.






and this is how I ruined it. :-D

...*&^( licenseplate

Ok...there's always the part u have to do stuff to your bike you really don't want to.
mounting the licenseplate is one of those things...
They always seem too big...too ugly and off course there's no place to put it.

I tried to find the least ugliest spot on the bike.. but im still not sure.
Which of the two do you thing is the best?
dont pay attention to the rear light. This one is just to get an idea.
There's a new one on its way.. :-D

we're gettin there

Of course, in my two weeks of a well deserved holiday, I found some time, workin on the Duc.
With the help of Miob we managed to make a first test tour around the neighborhood.
I was reeealy pleased with the amound of power the 650cc two cilinder engine provided.
It could really keep up with the CB750 of michiel.
Of course we also lost the tail light.. Its somewhere out there in the betuwe, despite our search, was unfindable.

Anyway, we also made a start with the exhausts. This way things seem a bit extreme but we like it. I'll have to make shields on the pipes so I wont burn my legs.
I almost finished the left exhaust pipe. still need some more bended pipe for the right side.