Rickati

Starting in on the little Ducati powered motorcycle. The top photo shows a stock 250 frame I borrowed from a buddy on the frame jig. The new frame will be similar to the stock one with the exception of how the swingarm mounts. A stock swingarm pivots around the main frame tube. The new swingarm will pivot in between a couple of bosses welded to some sideplates, like most latter day frames do. The next photo shows the main frame tube, down tube, motor mount bosses, and top shock mounts. The third photo shows the top loop jigged up ready to weld on the shock mounts. The boys still have to make a couple of more pieces for the jig before we can remove the stock frame and start welding pieces together.

The bottom photo shows the motor mounts on the mill set up to engine turn them. The school bought a used mill for the program last year and I wanted to use it a little to see what it needed to get it ship shape. Come to find out, it's in need of quite a bit of TLC. The spindle brake doesn't work, the lock for the quill is cobbled together, the table feed screw has about one full turn of slack, it doesn't want to shift from high to low gear, and the power feed handle and part of the casting it goes into are missing. Something else for me to fix but it will be nice to have in the shop. When I started engine turning the motor mounts, I found out that the dials on the feed screw won't stay adjusted either. That's a real pain in the ass. Kind of defeats the whole accuracy thing when you're stepping over .250" for every little swirl. And there are lots of little swirls. I did the second one on my machine at home and it was a breeze.

I got the motor for this project in a Rickman frame that was made for a 125 Zundapp motor. Someone tried to adapt it for the Ducati in a lost cause. Basically it was a total loss for the Rickman frame. It seems that once the motor was shoehorned in, the guy figured out that it wasn't going to work and gave it up. I'm using the front end and maybe the rear wheel and swingarm - not sure about that yet. The rear wheel has a few issues. If so, it will become known as the Rickati. Sounds like some type of Italian cheese but that's a good thing. If not, it's just going to be a bitza. The accepted term for something thrown together from a bit of this and a bit of that. With the Preston Petty rear fender, the HD Sprint tank and who knows what else, it definitely will qualify.