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Motorcycle Book Store > Motorcycle books beginning with D
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Ducati Twins Restoration |
Author: Mick Walker
Published: 2003-10 |
List price: $29.95
Our price: $26.95
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As of: November 21st, 2008 12:23:40 PM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 Too generic, mostly useless
I own a 1973 Ducati Sport so I bought this book hoping it would help me, but it didn't.
Overall it suffers from an identity crisis: it's not a maintenace guide, it's not a restoration manual and it's not an originality guide. And since the author is definitely a good and capable one, the problem comes from the basic error that the book tries to cover both Bevelheads and Pantha bikes, succeeding at serving well neither.
It doesn't detail fitfalls or advices pertaining to restoring, or even just maintaining, one of these old Ducatis (and for example rebuilding a bevelhead engine could very well require a booklet by itself) but it's limited to very generic statements, like replacing the whole wiring harness on an old bike and using a wiring diagram to do that. Mmmmh...
So since there's nothing specifically about Ducatis, you might be much better served by one of the many guides to restoring a GENERIC motorcycle, because those go into a lot more details, although general enough to apply to any bike.
And since it covers too many years and models, it doesn't even try to be an originality guide either, because of the sheer amount of variations and changes over the years which couldn't possibly be contained in 240 pages.
In fact, for the 750 bevel-head Ducati models, Ian Falloon did just that with more than one book (three in fact), the last one of which (The Ducati 750 Bible) is by far the best. And even THAT one could do with even more details, although it covers only one family of bikes, 750 GT, Sport and SuperSport, and only four years of production, 1971 to 1974
So whatever you're looking for if you're interested in this book, you're better off buying something else.
Overall quite disappointing, as much as I've enjoyed so many other books by this author tracing just the history of other bikes and marques.
Disapointing
If you are going to get a book to help you restore your Ducati twin,you better pass on this one and get a good shop manual .There is litle material of use and the content is mostly a repeat of is other Ducati books .You would expect a step by step knowhow aproach with usefull imputs like the Dave Richardson Guzzilogy book for Moto-Guzzi .A good restoration book is about guiding the reader with how to hints,tips and tricks from pros that have done it many times .There are lots of photos that will show you a Ducati part with a typo description an no more ,like for example (this is what a Ducati clutch looks like +PHOTO.
 This is the best book of its kind on the market.
The fact that it may be the one and only is beside the point! Anyone attempting to maintain or restore one of these Ducati models would be well served to buy Walker's book. The price is steep, but the money will be very well spent.The author, Mick Walker, is unusual in that he is a well respected expert, yet he avoids the slavish PR blather common to many Ducati writers. He paid his dues as a long time dealer and rider, and his approach to the bikes is respectful but pragmatic. Walker writes in a clear, easily readable style. He comes across as someone to spend a few hours drinking beers with in the garage while wrenching on that old Ducati. The book is also full of excellent photographs, exploded diagrams, and a comprehensive technical specifications section. The text includes exhaustive detail on and the strengths and weaknesses of everything from paint colors to the various electrical systems. More important, it includes useful insights and practical recommendations derived from years of hard work, trial and error. Based on the age and increasing rarity of these machines, Walker's book is an invaluable resource. One of the most appealing aspects of the book is that it depicts a dollarwise approach to restoring or owning a Ducati. Most motorcyclists may find that laughable, but, if so, they haven't read Walker's book. This is gem.
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