A stock 160

The testbed...

First Mock Up

Progress Pictures

Yes, I'm building a hardtail Ducati single.

It's kind of hard to pinpoint when this project began or even why I decided to build it. I guess the main reason was it would be a relatively inexpensive way to get my feet wet modifying frames. But it's also something of a counterpoint to all the huge tire, high powered V-twins out there these days, not to mention the theme bikes that seem so popular with some people.

I had been wanting to build a bike like this based on a Sportster engine (and still might) but I had a lot of Ducati parts sitting around already, I was familiar with the brand so I had an idea of what the stuff I didn't have would cost, and what the heck, I'd never seen one before and wondered how it would turn out. If it becomes obvious this is a bad idea, I can always switch direction and build a vintage flat tracker instead!

The bike on the upper left uses the same frame that I'm starting with. It is NOT the bike my frame came from. The red bike is a different project entirely. Details are here. The 250 on the right was used to provide some answers on frame geometry and what would fit where. I've got other plans for the 250 so it will be donating a few parts to the hardtail project, some just for mock-up until I can find replacements, others on permanent loan since I planned on replacing them anyway.

This project is still new so there's not much info on it yet. A lot of plans, not much progress. For now the pic in the lower right will have to do, it's the first mockup where I was trying to decide if the wheel base should be stretched a little more? It's about one inch over stock in this shot. I did decide to go with it at this length; the hardtail section is in place so there's no turning back now.