OK, I've got my little 175TS project home now, although only done a bit of reading of the various books that came with it. It seems that the 175 engine is not over-endowed with power so as I need to strip and rebuild it anyway, I was wondering about swapping some parts if I can find them to make it a bit more capable for modern traffic conditions. One option is to make it more like the Sport specification which looks to be higher compression. I don't know about camshaft differences. Is the compression ratio achieved with a different piston, or with the cylinder head, or maybe both? I could also look at going to 200cc. According to the book, the stroke is the same, so can I put a new liner in with the bigger bore, or do I need a different barrel? And would it fit with the existing crankcase, cylinder head etc. I have a parts book for the 175TS but have not tracked down on-line versions for the 175 Sport or 200. Ian
Your best option would be to phone either Nigel Lacey at Lacey Ducati on 01597870444 or Brian Silver at Moto Marianna 01344487928. Both are really helpful and only too happy to share their wealth of knowledge. Nigel races bevel singles, is very familiar with parts interchangability and sells a wide range of spares. Brian restores and works on vintage Ducati singles/twins and has competed in the Moto Giro d'Italia on half a dozen occasions too if you were interested and rebuilt the crank on my 175TS as well as arranging a rebore. Both are good friends of each other and highly respected.
With a machine of that era, if you can get it to look and run as nicely as it did when it was new with the same power output and all standard parts, you will be doing very well indeed. May I suggest you hold back on trying to modify it for increased power and larger capacity until you know what you are doing.
I hope you've kept your bike as a 175. Would be a shame to change it too much, unless it's already a bitsa. Best to get it going well first, then think about whether you need to change it. The small singles are really good fun to ride, not much power but good handling which more than makes up for it. A good place for parts is classicducati.com
I must admit I haven't looked on here for a while - seems to be more singles knowledge via Motoscrubs. It's staying as a 175, but I'm changing to a higher compression piston, as per the 175 Sport spec. Seems to be all that's available. Quite slow progress but I've had the barrel re-bored for the oversize piston and the head is rebuilt ready to fit. Tank has also been de-rusted, dents removed and painted blue/silver to match original Lechler painr colours. Sticking point is the crankshaft. I took it to Nigel Lacey to get it split apart and the big end is in a bad way. After a worldwide hunt for a replacement rod kit, we've decided to get a 250 rod refurbished by Alpha Bearings. The rod will be bored out and a hardened sleeve fitted to act as the bearing surface. 250 rod is the same length but has a bit more material round the big end. Currently working on cleaning up the cases and replacing bearings, kickstart etc while waiting for Alpha.
I have a quantity of old narrow-case single parts to spare, these are 160 parts but might fit a 175. Would need cleaning up, polishing, etc. If you need any, feel free to start a private conversation with me (envelope icon in top right hand corner).
