This has been sat in my garage (along with my other three project bikes) for a fair few years. Its about 20% dismantled. It was going to be used as the base for a replica of the original 748ie from 1986/87 as I have what I believe is the only existing race tank from that bike. The motor is NOT the original, this bike spent its entire life being raced in Japan However I have two more frames, a tricolore Strada, and a bog-standard 888 frame which I had already started converting. I am getting the verlicchi swing copied, and a more modern 748 motor should be easy enough to source (even if the swingarm mount will need machining) So should i just bung this at my Ducati guru in Bohemia and get him to rebuild it?
Welcome! How on earth did you manage to get that fuel tank? There can't have been many of those made, let alone available to buy!
I believe that two were made for the works race team. None were made for the public. I bought it from a Japanese collector...weren't cheap either. I intend getting a mould made (as I still want to build the 748ie bike) and then selling/donating it to the Ducati museum.
This is the very tank that is up in my attic right now. This is the 888 frame that I started to modify to make a replica. The original 748ie frame was a chopped up TT1 F1, which wasn't as wide as the Production 851-888 (maybe because they had to fit belt covers on the street bikes? ) So the stock tank doesn't fit properly and flush... I am NOT going to cut the underside of the tank to make it fit, although that would be the easiest option. So I need to get a mould made where that could be altered to fit! There is a Glass fibre manufacturing company in the next village to where I live... I guess the first port of call is to ask them.
I think that's partly why I like it so much. The first car I fell in love with, and the first car I bought was a VW-Porsche 914....that was considered ugly too.
