Darmah fairing mounting? - Ducati.ms

mizike77 · Dec 6th, 2011, 6:56 pm

I dream of an SS, and I think the SSD is one of Ducatis all time beauty's. Both of these bikes have eluded me so far. Well i seems another SD Darmah will be finding its way to my house if all goes well with the sale.This one will be a 78.
I have a 79 Darmah already, along side my 78 900GTS. So, I think I would like to make an SSD clone. Everything I do I want to be able to turn back. So the bike will remain black and gold. I am thinking fairing, clip ons, and rear sets. I will need brackets for the fairing, gauges and headlight?
What I want to know is who has done it, where did you get parts, what works and what doesn't? Do I have to shorten cables and wires? Thanks all, Mike

Ricoyam · Dec 7th, 2011, 1:04 am

Mike,
I just sold my one owner SSD this year to buy a DB2. My advice would be to just wait and buy a genuine SSD. The reasoning is that while pretty rare, they are undervalued and not very expensive to buy. You will probably spend more to convert your SD than it would take to trade up and the resulting conversion would not be as valuable as the genuine.

mizike77 · Dec 7th, 2011, 4:46 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ricoyam

Mike,
I just sold my one owner SSD this year to buy a DB2. My advice would be to just wait and buy a genuine SSD. The reasoning is that while pretty rare, they are undervalued and not very expensive to buy. You will probably spend more to convert your SD than it would take to trade up and the resulting conversion would not be as valuable as the genuine.

I would love to buy an SSD. But there aren't any around for sale. I am picking up my new Darmah tomorrow after work. As far as detracting from the value, everything I want to do I will be able to turn back. I just want the SS/SSD look and riding position. The new darmah had lots of hot rod motor work done to it back in the mid 80's. I think the bike is the perfect candidate.. I just need to know what parts will be needed to achieve my goal. How do the guages mount on an SS/SSD?

MHR1000Mille · Dec 9th, 2011, 3:07 am

Hey Mike

I have 2 SSD's and they are the real deal

1 that I have fully restored that I'm keeping and the other is a 12'ooo miles bike original paint etc etc , only thinks not genuine are the front brake master , rear shock and screen and I think the seat might have been recovered cant remember if it was that bike or not apart from that she is genuine , I will be selling her as I will have my 76SS back soon and I'm downsizing to just 2 bikes

Where are you located ?

I just noticed that your in the US , the Bike is a US plated bike and the same guy that shipped her over also shipps back to the US
Shipping charges from the US to Australia were AU$900 , I'd say that would be the same back to the US , he shipps to LA dont know how far that is from you but there you have it
If your interested let me know she was rego'd up until 2 months ago

Cheers Marty

Bevel · Dec 9th, 2011, 3:29 am

I bought a brand new SSD in 1981 for $3999.00 Au on road.

It was the biggest piece of crap id ever owned.

Had 3 cyl heads replaced by 3,000 klms ,

Kept pulling the inlet valve though the head when you revved it ?

Looked the part , but was shit to ride and couldnt even beat a CB550 in a straight line drag.

3rd time I got it fixed I went across the road and swapped it for a 81 GSX1100EX.

Even if it was running well . It was still a crap bike.

Slow , Slow , Clunk , Slow , Clunk , Shit! Gotta stop and turn , Bump , Bang ,
Clang . A Classic Shitheap !

Only time anygood was when stopped for peckerheads to look at
and tell you how wonderful it was.

Some things never change

MHR1000Mille · Dec 9th, 2011, 3:30 pm

Hey Kelvin

Sounds to me like your more a a boy racer that couldnt afford what he wanted when he wanted it complaining , B!tching about anyone and anything he can because its not good enough going by the replies you have made thus far at this forum , good one Mate 1st class !! NOT

The SSD or even your 860 that you own now were never a go racer bikes and there are such thinks as Lemons even in the bike world you know

How many points you got left on your Licence that should tell the hole story dont it.

Speaking of Lemons, go and suck on Mate !!!

Ventodue · Dec 10th, 2011, 1:28 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bevel

I bought a brand new SSD in 1981 for $3999.00 Au on road.

It was the biggest piece of crap id ever owned.<snip>

A provocative contribution ...

So you owned a bike which repeated the same fault on 3 separate cylinder heads

? Hmmm ... To me, that says more about you, or your mechanic, than your bike.

As to your statement that your SSD couldn't beat a Honda CB550 in a straight line drag. Well, from what I read, the claimed top speed of a Honda CB550 was 102mph. So obviously your SSD wasn't working properly. But if you were destroying cylinder heads - and it's in the head that an internal combustion engine makes it's power - I'm not surprised ...

Ciao

Craig

Ricoyam · Dec 10th, 2011, 10:58 pm

My SSD was trouble free for 30 years of ownership. Well maybe not totally trouble free but it never had to have the heads off.
Yeah, not too fast but I didn't take any guff from any thing smaller than a 750. I doubt it was any faster or quicker than the '76 Suzuki GS750 that it replaced but it handled so much better and was so much more rewarding to ride it didn't matter. Most of the guys I rode with back then were on Nortons, BSA/Tri triples or Guzzis. We weren't stop light racers.

The guy I sold it to was trying to flip it. I can see if he still has it.

Ricoyam · Dec 11th, 2011, 6:07 pm

I guess we could answer your original question about the differences between the SD and SSD.

The fairing mounts with a special bracket that bolts to a plate on the steering head. I'm told that most SD's have this plate. That bracket also mounts the headlight, turn indicators and instrument cluster. There are also two mounts that clamp to the main frame and support the "wings" of the fairing. The fairings and windscreens are different from the regular SS models and I've recently found out the even those differed between years.

They use clip-ons that are exclusive to the SSD. I had replaced mine with a pair of adjustible Telefixs.

The rearsets came in two different versions. Originally they were higher and a bit further back. My bike had the lower ones. Ergos, to me were pretty good but I'm short and it was a long reach to the bars. I can't imagine a taller rider with the higher pegs. Brake master and shift linkage changes were also made to accomodate the rearsets.

A small change was also to the left side panel. the back side of it has a series of holes not found on the SD side panel.

machten · Dec 13th, 2011, 7:06 am

From Bevel...

Quote:

Looked the part , but was shit to ride and couldnt even beat a CB550 in a straight line drag.

Any time you want to line up with your arse on a CB550 and mine on an SSD, or even my SD let me know. Throw in some curves, you won't even get to smell my exhaust. Jeez, my 74 750 Sport would embarass a CB 550 in a straight line. Some corners and you wouldn't see it for dust!

What a load of crap.

Kev