The fall and rise of a works SFC engine

[Vince]

Pretty sure they made Mag swingarms as upgrades. I used to read the old Speedzila website Ducati section; the bloke who ran Ducati Atlanta used to encourage a competition on upgrading very expensive V4 Ducatis. You were nothing without Carbon Wheels and the Magnesium Swingarm; then you needed to go to the shorter trail adjustment in the triple trees. They sold 10s of thousands of Dollars of upgrades. It was hysterical to read.

 

[Alzero]

We used to put Monster clamps on 900SS and 750SS bikes to put the trail back in after we raised the rear to the desired swingarm downslope angle. They were 25mm offset IIRC instead of the stock 28mm.

 

[sfcpiet]

Pretty sure they made Mag swingarms as upgrades. I used to read the old Speedzila website Ducati section; the bloke who ran Ducati Atlanta used to encourage a competition on upgrading very expensive V4 Ducatis. You were nothing without Carbon Wheels and the Magnesium Swingarm; then you needed to go to the shorter trail adjustment in the triple trees. They sold 10s of thousands of Dollars of upgrades. It was hysterical to read.

What's the use?

They're already red out of the box, no manner of mods will make 'em any faster...

piet

 

[Vince]

I bet it made them more difficult to ride on public roads. It was just a dick-measuring contest. The money spent was eye-watering. Made my Laverda investments funny in comparison. The Carbon fibre wheels were insanely expensive and fragile to boot.

 

[Paul Marx]

IIRC, back in the Troy Corser and Doug Polen days Ducati ran and sold bikes with magnesium crankcases that had a service life of 300 hours. A customer from San Francisco brought one in to be measured and aligned that he bought for track days.

Standard Ducati crankcases were known to split when racing.
Paul

 

[Ian Short]

I bet it made them more difficult to ride on public roads. It was just a dick-measuring contest. The money spent was eye-watering. Made my Laverda investments funny in comparison. The Carbon fibre wheels were insanely expensive and fragile to boot.

I have over 20k miles on my BST carbon wheels (on a Harley bagger) and along with my Ohlins suspension it has been a fantastic upgrade. Lots of potholes and frost heaves here in Canada so they haven't been babied and the cost in 2018 when I purchased them wasn't obscene at $3500usd.

Removing unsprung rotating mass is always a great perfromance mod.

 

[martymoose]

Who issued that race number.......

 

[Paul Marx]

Wasn't the subject something to do with magnesium ,parts half a century old?
I was a bit worried about the mag wheels on my TT2 when it was running.
Paul

 

[steph]

the machine in Roberto's time ..
most likely with its original cylinder head.

 

[steph]

the famous engine, 1973 version, with its alternator, starter and new frame, ready for the 1000 miglia of Imola races.

 

[sfcpiet]

Who issued that race number.......

Are you superstitious Marty?

Somebody suggested I apply a number... any number.

piet

 

[sfcpiet]

the famous engine, 1973 version, with its alternator, starter and new frame, ready for the 1000 miglia of Imola races.

View attachment 106450

Thanks Steph! Good pics of the alternator side are rare. German mag Motorrad ran an article showing the engine alone but no details of the actual alternator used were included. I'm suspecting something like the ubiquitous Lucas RM was used, this fits pretty snuggly into the rear part of a stock belt cover.

According to the info I have those colour shots were taken in Sweden. Anderstorp? F750?

piet

 

[piranha-bro2]

Great shots. Highlight the development work that went into the 24hr factory bikes. I still wonder why they didn't offer a sportier version of the SF, like midway between the stockers and the SFC - the crank for eg, would have been a nice touch, rearsets, an alternator etc. And I guess those Fontana brakes would have been far too pricey and exotic to make their way onto my SF1.

 

[Paul Marx]

Great shots. Highlight the development work that went into the 24hr factory bikes. I still wonder why they didn't offer a sportier version of the SF, like midway between the stockers and the SFC - the crank for eg, would have been a nice touch, rearsets, an alternator etc. And I guess those Fontana brakes would have been far too pricey and exotic to make their way onto my SF1.

Because the market ordered 1000 cc triples.
Paul

 

[steph]

German mag Motorrad ran an article showing the engine alone but no details of the actual alternator used were included.

The photo of the engine above is from the Italian magazine Motociclismo #10 of 1973.
The "same photo" was also published in the German magazine Motorrad #22/73.

The photo you're talking about is unfamiliar to me.
Would you have any copy ?
Or the magazine perhaps ?

 

[sfcpiet]

I remembered it differently Steph, but that's the article I meant. Mainly about the Chott with only a short mention of the SFC.

Do you have any further info on those colour pics?

piet

 

[steph]

According to the info I have those colour shots were taken in Sweden. Anderstorp? F750?

Quite possible, but I can't say for sure.
We should ask Roberto.

 

[steph]

Do you have any further info on those colour pics?

Nope unfortunately.
The photos are from a Facebook post, but I don't know anything else about them.

 

[sfcpiet]

The frame shares several characteristics of later Bimota products.

I have a letter from Augusto Brettoni suggesting a connection to Bimota around 1974. Giovanni Laverda also spoke to Roberto Gallina about the bike and apparently Roberto confirmed his commissioning the frame from Massimo Tamburini.

I've reached out to both Roberto and Michele Gallina but haven't recieved any responses.

piet

 

[steph]

One of the photos of the 2012 eBay listing