Ducati Darmah

S

Scout63

Junior member
Location
Orleans, MA USA
A friend in South Carolina connected me with the seller of this 1980 Darmah yesterday. I had mailed my friend a big gift box of parts for his Guzzi CX100 last year and he returned the favor in a big way. I bought it and will have it shipped home in early September. It has never been titled, fueled or run. It was owned and displayed by Ducati dealer since new. I’m not sure what to do with it. Either display it and clean up any corrosion, or start riding it. No matter what it will need some attention. I do have a spare set of Contis….
 

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That’s exactly what I had back in the day. Suggest polish and look at. It looked lovely but felt slow and heavy and is the reason I bought a ‘79 Jota. Chalk and cheese IMHO.
 
As soon as you start riding it you'll start upgrading it. There's a lot of upgrades known now, starting with the starter clutch.
That's pretty much the first thing you'll have trouble with.
 
Max said:
That’s exactly what I had back in the day. Suggest polish and look at. It looked lovely but felt slow and heavy and is the reason I bought a ‘79 Jota. Chalk and cheese IMHO.
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We used to go to Bathurst Easter bike races in New South Wales. We groaned when one of our regular group rolled up with his Darmah. In a group of 180 Jota, GS1000S and GS750 Suzukis, a Z900, a R90/6 Beemer and a Guzzi 850 T the Darmah was the slowest in the group, always slowing us down. I developed the opinion that they were a triumph of marketing over actual quality of experience. It always seemed to require fettling, too, when all the rest required was putting fuel in…
 
Scout63 said:
A friend in South Carolina connected me with the seller of this 1980 Darmah yesterday. I had mailed my friend a big gift box of parts for his Guzzi CX100 last year and he returned the favor in a big way. I bought it and will have it shipped home in early September. It has never been titled, fueled or run. It was owned and displayed by Ducati dealer since new. I’m not sure what to do with it. Either display it and clean up any corrosion, or start riding it. No matter what it will need some attention. I do have a spare set of Contis….
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Probably best to sell it a fortune and buy a few Laverda.
Paul
 
Any bike in that state, never even been ridden, will be worth a fortune compared to one that has been in use. Any bevel Ducati is worth a fortune these days, but in it's current unused state you could live for quite a while on what it could earn you even if you don't touch it and find the right market. That said, they are great bikes to ride. I reckon you are a lucky fella with a tough decision to make.
 
I’d leave it as is and put it up on Bring a Trailer or Cars and Bids, then use the money for one of the custom Laverdas we’ve seen lately. There are collectors that pay insane money for New In Box bikes, I don’t know why, but they do.
 
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