Spring is coming to NorCal and while we've not had a wet or cold winter, I simply haven't been on two wheels since before Thanksgiving last year. That is, until yesterday when I took the 851 out for a nice Sunday afternoon ride. I'm lucky to have my choice of Ducatis to ride on any given Sunday and I'm not being disingenuous when I say that the F1 is the I usually prefer to ride. It's just a perfect blend of modern and vintage motorcycle feel, and of course there's that fantastic connected feeling, and amazing sound.

My F1 is undergoing some maintenance right now, hence my choice to ride the 851. Last fall one of her exhaust manifold studs stripped and my garage has been in too much turmoil to start working on it until now. So with some room to work I removed the horizontal cylinder and took it to Nichols Sportbikes where the head will get a helicoil to fix the stripped threads. I'll also be replacing the timing belts as the ones in the engine are not the carbon kevlar reinforced version. I'm also installing a new clutch pack as the old one was worn out. Hopefully she'll be back on the road in the next few weeks. Does anyone have any suggestions on clutch springs or should I just run the ones that were in it?

My search for mirrors continues. I bought a set off of eBay a while back, but the spacing between the holes is wrong. I believe they're 63mm between centers like others I've read about, but the holes in my fairing measured at more than 70mm. Does anyone know of mirrors which had a distance greater than 63mm between centers on the mounting holes which were fitted to F1s?

Finally, I'm curious if anyone has taken the initiative to build a registry of F1s by owner and VIN. There does not seem to be much known regarding production dates and year models of these machines, understandable given the state of the Ducati factory's business in the mid to late 80s, and the fact that many of these machines were never officially exported. It's my understanding that some of the earlier ones were sold for "offroad use only" but ended up on dealer floors and got registered anyway.

The VIN on my F1 is ZDM3AA3L7HB750764. I'm curious if anyone on the board has an F1 with a number close to mine which has a history they're able to share.

Ciao!
-tj in los gatos

You can always re-use the springs you have, and see how it goes. Barnett's are much stronger than needed---too strong unless you want to develop muscles while you are at it. There are too many choices now, as Joni Mitchell would say, crazy. Stock Ducati 1990s generic versions seem to work, and I have mixed three of each from different sets at least once (custom) to make me happy. One thing you might check for: if your release center plate (six bolts to the springs) does not have the post inside going into the clutch shaft (my original came with a plain flat plate) you need to get one with that! It can help prevent "shudder" when you take off.

The stock mirrors were a joke---they were designed to fit on the top of a sports car fenders, and not installed sideways. That is why they never stay adjusted, and then the ball inside eventually breaks off when you do it one more [last] time. I have three holes in my fairing now, because once I tried some Suzuki mirrors---they looked right but never gave me good rearward vision. Then I got a set of the Vitalonis that were supposedly used on Ducatis of the era---they would require a fourth hole! So, there they sit, and now I ride without mirrors; the bike seldom goes to town, it is either out in the country or a track day. There are always bar ends mirrors, but somehow they look like an earlier time.

There is a registry here, but few seem to notice it, or use it.

MikeV



Good luck, MikeV

Mike,

Thanks for the information. I'll likely replace them with the OE units. I didn't know about the post inside going in to the clutch shaft...I'll have to check in to that.

As for the mirrors, I've never owned a Ducati which didn't have mirrors that were a joke, but I'd still love to have a set of mirrors that were factory correct for my F1. It could be of course that mine never shipped with them like some F1s.

Agreed on the bar end. That's what was on the motorcycle but I'm not crazy about the way they look, or that they make the clipon wider, just begging to scratch a car or another motorcycle in my stuffed garage.

-tj in los gatos

tj

The mirrors on my bike are 750mm between holes.The bike was purchased new 4/24/87 (86model)from European Cycle Spec., Garden Grove Ca,vin ZDM3AA3L9GB751770. Attached pic of mirror.Hope this helps.
Tom