Members Bike - Stu's 1982 Ducati MHR 900

[Stu_MHR]

Hi All

Another MHR owner... very long story. Bought new in Johannesburg in 1982 (I lived there from 81-2000), and repurchased from the guy I sold it to in 2004, by which time he and the bike were in Germany and I was in UK.

Full story (and I mean all of it...) is on www.ducatimhr.co.uk... don't start unless you have a spare few hours, I can go on a bit... just hit my WWW button!

Currently stripped to repaint the frame (in Feb last year) and still reassembling. Found the big ends gone while I was fiddling (surprise, surprise) and ended up redoing the whole bottom end. Anyway it's all coming together now... I'm aiming at back on the road in about 2 months tops (he said, hopefully).

Nice to meet you all... there are a couple of bikes on here that look very like mine...

Stu

[stevel]

Welcome Stu, good to have you here. Tried your website and WOW, what a labour of love, tonnes of info there, if I was rebuilding an MHR that would be like finding a goldmine!! Nice one, but as you say, a lot of reading :wink: The engine section was delight to read. Anyway, good luck with the project, keep us posted!

[Stu_MHR]

Thanks, Steve

The site is more for me than anyone else, but pleased you enjoyed it. The bike is important to me, a big part of my youth, and most of the history stuff was written while I was waiting for the bike to come home from Germany. I suppose it's a midlife crisis, rekindle your lost youth, kind of thing. My wife says it's better than me running round with a twenty something from the office... which is a nice attitude to a husband's obsession!

The motor... ah. Must get that, and the page, finished.

My heads (flowed big valve jobs, bought off ebay) are currently having some studs repositioned and should be back here next weekend. After that it's all go...

[Paivi]

Amazing read, Stu! Loved the story about the German yeti!

How great that you've got your old bike back. Best of luck with the restoration!

What a wonderful and patient wife you have in Lynda! Well done that woman!

[Stu_MHR]

Hi Paivi... man that was a BIG German!

Yes, Lynda's amazing... not really interested herself in the bikes, but lets me get on with it with no interference.

Stu

[biscuitandpotato]

Love it, i 'found' one recently in a warehouse full of bikes. Its been stood there for 20yrs apparently, complete bike but in need of restoration. The owner is wiiling to flog it, i'm just trying to get a price off him for it!

[Spikey]

if its the one at padgetts i think he wanted 6k for it

" spike "

[Stu_MHR]

Be careful... these are great bikes but they are very expensive to work on. Rebuilt bikes won't fetch much more than £7-8000 ish unless they're mint, and if you're the one buying with money in your hand I'm sure prices get real negotiable real fast.

Mdina Italia is selling a new one (29 miles on the clock?) for 12k.

Both represent pretty good value for money compared to buying a well used one and restoring it, especially if you can't work on that motor yourself. (I did... but yet to know if it was succesful!).

The only reason I bought the one I did was because it was my old bike. I got it in 2004 for about £3500 and had to import it from Germany and reregister it. In real terms I paid too much... but it's worth far more to me (and the guy I was bartering with) than another one in the same condition would have been. To put it in perspective, at that time there was a reasonably good, on the road, black and gold SS for sale up the road for 4k. If I'd known what I know now I should have snatched his hand off.

I'm into this one for about 6k at the moment, doing just about everything myself, and it's a long way from finished. It won't come out at less than 7500, and that's as a rider, not a concours machine. If you bought one for 6k and then started restoring, you probably wouldn't finish this side of 10...

[jbird]

about bloody time we got some new blood in this section, nice rep, and by the way no mhr is worth £12k, unless its mike the bike's????

[Stu_MHR]

and by the way no mhr is worth £12k, unless its mike the bike's????

Well, yes, I agree with you... I just bought a brand new 955i Daytona for 5k... and it's a hell of a lot more bike! But my point is it wouldn't be difficult to spend 10k trying to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse. If you were thinking about buying one for £6000 (too much!) and then restoring it, buying a new, unmessed with, original bike for 12k would be a bargain. (And believe me that price would be negotiable if you wanted it...)

Personally, I wouldn't want that particular bike anyway... it's an 84. The early MHRs to 82/3 were basically an SS (which was a better bike by the way - same bike, less "stuff": I have no illusions about MHRs!). The later ones were messed around using S2 bits (bad) and weren't the same at all. Some even had electric starters... (what will they think of next?)

If you want a bevel drive Duke, the best advice I could give would be either buy a totally non original bike, and mess it around on the cheap to be whatever you want it to be and don't think about 'original', or buy one in as good condition and original as possible, and never mind the price. Paying good money for one that appears to need 'a little work' will probably end in tears... it's never a little work.

Case in point... I took mine apart to repaint the frame and replace valve guides and ended up finding a damaged big end (no surprise on this motor)... of course there's no point in changing the big ends without doing the mains and that gearbox bearing feels a bit rough, might as well do all those while we're here... Doing it myself it cost me about £750... Tony Brancato quoted 'about 2 grand if it all goes smoothly'.

Adding 'about 2 grand' to the price of a 6k bike that needs a respray as well for example, and you're getting desperately close to the price of a mint original low miles bike, if not past it in reality.

Then again, it's a labour of love... just make sure there's enough love to get through the bad times!

[biscuitandpotato]

Thanks for info Stu, I dont have 6K to spend and woudn't pay 6 for it even if i did :wink:

yes Spike, its the one at Padgetts, the warehouse has been converted into a Honda showroom now, Alan gave me a tour of the warehouse shorly b4 they started the works, thats when i saw it along with a brand new 851, which will also need work as it stood there since new!

[Spikey]

ooooh a new 851 !!! wish my wallet was a bit bigger !!
mind you it could be as big as you like theres still nowt in it

" Spike and little spikelet ahhhh"

[biscuitandpotato]

yup, bran spank, not registered

[Stu_MHR]

Finally threw the motor back in last weekend, and it's looking good.

Carbs, loom, ignition system and exhaust... find the old tank... 5 litres of fresh 98... Taps on, Ignition on... 3rd Kick... Blam... she's away.

Looking a bit rough again, still lots to do, but the motor I built works.

And those Conti replicas sound just the way I remember them!

[Stu_MHR]

I took the MHR for its maiden ride today following a two year rebuild.

30 miles at speeds up to 85 mph. Nothing really in there to run in, just lots of new roller bearings...

Doesn't look much like an MHR anymore, but I like it!