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Vintage Italian Ducati Motorcycle
1974 Ducati 450 MK3 widecase single ( aka Ducati 450 Mark 3 or Ducati MK III )
UPDATED October, 2009 - Scroll to the bottom !!!
August 2008
This is what the bike looked like, summer of 2008. It is a 1972 Duccati 450 Mark 3 (MK3). It is not a Desmo, but it's still pretty cool. The same guy owned it since 1974, and aside from the paint and the tail piece of the muffler (and the tail light), it's in reasonable shape cosmetically and excellent shape mechanically. It's a blast to drive and when it goes back on the road this spring, it will look as good as it runs !
The restoration is underway. Initial paint of the correct (or pretty close - at least it is blue). Polished-up the chrome pieces and painted the botton of the forks, since they were pitted.
Masking for the gold treatment. I used photos off the internet and masked the area. For the tank, I made a pattern, similar to what we did for my son's scrambler. If anyone wants a mask, send me an email and I can get you one.
Gold treatment - note I did this one wrong - should have done the gold first, then paint the blue. Oh well, next time !
Now for pin striping and Decals
Ready to go back on the bike - but I'm going to put a little more clear coat on first.
March 15
I was not happy with the tank - I got the correct decals and started over again. I also got the correct tail light from an ebay auction, to I repainted that as well.
May 17 2009
The final product - correct tail light (CEV 9313) and headlight ears (Verlicchi) on the road and running (see the video below) !
October 2009
See the complete set of pictures: 450 Mark 3 after paint, decals and polish
See the video: 450 MK3 Video
contact me: tony@coolitalianbikes.com
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