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November 17, 2008
Side Stand Shenanigans
The 750 F1 currently on its way to my garage from a garage in Oregon (by way of Wisconsin) possesses neither a center stand (as it came with originally) nor a side stand. The center stand removal was probably a good idea, since a common criticism of the F1 is that the stand impaired ground clearance. The limited-edition Montjuich, Laguna Seca, and Santamonica machines all came with side stands. Fitting a side stand from a Cagiva Ala Azzura using the frame lugs for the center stand would be an easy fix, but for the fact that those pieces of the frame have been removed from my F1.
Ducati TT1 and TT2 motorcycles (predecessors to the F1) came with no provision for a stand of any sort, since they were all sold as track bikes. The TT2 I rode around Italy had a small cavaletto that one installed between the frame and leaned the bike on. One carried it around to have a stand for places where a wall was not handy. I may end up fabricating a stand to be used in the same manner.
Another solution is to mount a side stand to the right-hand engine case lugs. Several of the roadworthy TT1/2 replicas and factory racing machines have had them added. The hitch in this plan is that almost all side stands operate from the left hand side of the machine. The TT2 solution will have to work from the right hand side since the exhaust exits on the left hand side. So: I will have to find a stand which operates from the right hand side or cobble something together that is wholly custom. Perhaps the old side stand from the Morini can be made to fit?