thinking about buying a older duke ..bevel drive

have been thinking about getting older duke - most likely a 900ss bevel i
guess.

But unsure as to whats available, how much for , and what to look for, what
to avoid.

naturally id like to go for a 900ss , but there seesm to be a fair bit of
difference in models, from what i can gather.

ie the 900ss look similar until the 1982 models come in with "dual seat" and
the darmah models which i gather are unfaired and have handlebars as opposed
to clipons.

i previously had a 95 900ss and at a pinch i get another one or say a
monster. not much else to go by in the way of air/cooled beltdrives, i think
im too heavy for pantah and 750 f1 arent all that common.

any suggestions or things to look for, would be most appreciated.

dave

"CoRkS" <trigarti*67*@iinet.net.au> wrote in message news:<3f8c0d11$0$23586$5a62ac22@freenews.iinet.net.au>...
 > have been thinking about getting older duke - most likely a 900ss bevel i
 > guess.
 >
 > But unsure as to whats available, how much for , and what to look for, what
 > to avoid.
 >
 > naturally id like to go for a 900ss , but there seesm to be a fair bit of
 > difference in models, from what i can gather.
 >
 > ie the 900ss look similar until the 1982 models come in with "dual seat" and
 > the darmah models which i gather are unfaired and have handlebars as opposed
 > to clipons.
 >
 > i previously had a 95 900ss and at a pinch i get another one or say a
 > monster. not much else to go by in the way of air/cooled beltdrives, i think
 > im too heavy for pantah and 750 f1 arent all that common.
 >
 > any suggestions or things to look for, would be most appreciated.
 >
 > dave

The choice of models is really a matter of whats around and how much
you can spend.

All the bevel dukes are slow steerers when compared to the Pantah and
F1.


However, the main consideration is the grief factor that relates to
the engine.

There wouldnt be too many bevels around that havent done in the big
end. The trouble is that when this happens there can be considerable
carnage in the motor. The bits of steel go through the entire oil
system, stuff the bores and pistons and gear facing and maybe some
bearings, and are generally really bad Kahma.

So the quality and thoroughness of the engine re-build is paramount.

Unfortunately its a bit hard to know whats been done unless there are
receipts to be seen.

Quite often its a case of replace the cylinder liners, re-ring and
re-use the pistons and gears and see how she goes. This can work
quite well in practice however there will always be a question over
the gear facings and eventually they will go through the case
hardening, probably on the top two gears.

So bevel engines are a bit of a lottery when you purchase. They are
however good torquey engines and provided you keep the revs above 2 K,
use SAE 50 and change it every 2 K they will go a long time on the
later stepped big ends.

The valve guides, stator, and regulator will fail and must be replaced
at some stage.

If the bike is smoky on the front cylinder it could be a bad engine
rebuild (worn cylinder) or valve guides worn out.

Even when a botton end is about to let go it can still be very hard to
detect by listening to the motor.

A good motor should have no knocks, gears whir nicely but no growling
or squealing, and some valve noise.

If the motor shakes at speed it could be carbs worn or out of
adjustment, uneven compression, mismatched/worn pistons or a poorly
set up crankshaft.

The oil clutch will slip a bit at change points however if it occurs
under load or at high speed then it needs replacing.

If the gears dont change easily and smoothly then its possible the
bike may have been dropped on that side and bent/burred the selector
tabs in the selector box.

Swing arm bushes wear out and are a job to replace. The rear cush
drive and sprocket bolts can also crap out and stuff the hub.

Thats about it apart from the usual frame, wheels, things for any
bike.

They are great bikes. I've had my old 860 for 20 years so it cant be
too bad.

Just expect the un-expected

Rob<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->