1980 Ducati Darmah - I Bought It!

[Travman]

I saw this Ducati Darhma a few days ago and couldn't get it out of my head so I test rode it today for about 30 minutes.  I am pretty sure I'll buy it tomorrow.  It has about 12,000 orginal miles.  It is a two owner bike.  The non stock items include the seat, handlebars, fairing, and the nice Conti mufflers.  I've seen Darmahs before but never really paid any attention to them.  I think I like this one becasue of the fairing which balances out the big tail end.  

The Conti's sounded great. It was a very nice riding bike and very comfortable for a sporty style bike. It had a lot of charachter and had good vibrations, but not to an annoying level.  It was a little heavy for a sporty bike, but very stable.  The exhaust was loud, but not annoyingly so, and only when I was giving it a lot of gas.  It was not modern day Ducati fast, but more than fast enough for a classic bike (much, much faster than my Guzzi 850T)  

The only negatives I noticed were the stiff clutch, almost impossible to find neutral, a little cold natured, and no kick stand (side stand only).  What is it worth?  It is at a Ducati dealership, so I know it wil cost a little more than a private sale.  Sorry for the poor quality pics, but it was dark inside.  So, what is it worth?  They have it listed at $9K.  

[red baron]

Seems awful steep to me. Is there any collector value?

I would think it's with in the 3k to 5k area.

[Speeddog]

KBB says $7280.

http://www.kbb.com/motorcycle/retail/1980/ducati/darmah-ss/67052/?r=189024061340193340#survey

Other than the lack of a sidestand, the negatives you listed sound par for the course.
There may be some tweaks to ease the clutch pull, and improve the neutral-finding, but it may be as good as it can be already....

Looks pretty nice for an old crock. 

[garryc]

May be different in US but in OZ I would expect somewhere in the $12  K range.
As far as collecter value approx 5500 ever made, a bit over 1700 came to OZ in the first place.
If you do buy there are a few things to check, lots of good info on bevelheaven.com.

I never use my sidestand anyway, they do come up for sale occasionally expect to pay a fortune for any bevel parts.
Surflex clutch kit helps with finding neutral but don,t expect miracles and don't ever expect the neutral light to work.
There are a few options for lightening clutch pull including old yam lever better leverage, longer clutch arm sold by bevelheaven, google ducatimechanicca for instructions on hydraulic clutch OR as they say in OZ harden up princess

[Travman]

KBB says $7280.

http://www.kbb.com/motorcycle/retail/1980/ducati/darmah-ss/67052/?r=189024061340193340#survey

Other than the lack of a sidestand, the negatives you listed sound par for the course.
There may be some tweaks to ease the clutch pull, and improve the neutral-finding, but it may be as good as it can be already....

Looks pretty nice for an old crock. 

So is KBB pretty accurate for older bikes?

[fastwin]

Seems steep to me too. Are those S&W shocks? That would be period era suspension. And it looks really clean. I had a friend who had the same model in it's day. Nothing else to add other than the AMS Back in Black Sport 1000s and the factory 2007 Sport 1000 LEs were modeled after this bike. I should know. I owned one of the AMS bikes.

[ducatiz]

A low price for a Darmah SD would run around 6k nowadays.

I was offered $6500 for my Darmah SS over 5 years ago.  The same guy called me a few months ago and offered me $10k.

The differences in the Darmah and the 900ss of the same period are small, mainly cosmetic.  The engines were the same as were the carbs and exhaust, only the frames were slightly different. 

The 1980 Darmah SD may have the 40mm Dellorto pumpers and the larger intakes with the large valves.  Check them.  Those look like Silentium cans though, which means small carbs.

Weak spots include the starter chain and the sprag.  electrics are pretty solid except for the nippondenso coils.  Are those Silentiums or Contis?  If they are Silentiums, you can core them and get better performance however, doublecheck the carbs as the Silentiums came on the models with the smaller carbs (32mm PHF)

It looks very clean.  The seat is not original but that's to be expected with the shite vinyl they used.  That fairing is not original.

If you get it, beware that the engine is VERY tricky and VERY complex.  The old 2-part cranks are a pregnant dog and parts are hard as hell to find.  Start searching for them NOW. 

I have a box of oil filters, shoot me your address I'll send you a couple for free.  You won't find them too many places.  Forget it.

Do not use full synth oil, I use valvoline 4t regular 20w50 and it loves it.k

The biggest mistake people make nowadays when buying a bevel is believe it is a motorcycle. It is not.  It is a piece of mechanical ancient history.  Treat it that way and it will last.

[TitanMonsterS4R]

I saw this Ducati Darhma a few days ago and couldn't get it out of my head so I test rode it today for about 30 minutes.  I am pretty sure I'll buy it tomorrow.  It has about 12,000 orginal miles.  It is a two owner bike.  The non stock items include the seat, handlebars, fairing, and the nice Conti mufflers.  I've seen Darmahs before but never really paid any attention to them.  I think I like this one becasue of the fairing which balances out the big tail end.  

The Conti's sounded great. It was a very nice riding bike and very comfortable for a sporty style bike. It had a lot of charachter and had good vibrations, but not to an annoying level.  It was a little heavy for a sporty bike, but very stable.  The exhaust was loud, but not annoyingly so, and only when I was giving it a lot of gas.  It was not modern day Ducati fast, but more than fast enough for a classic bike (much, much faster than my Guzzi 850T)  

The only negatives I noticed were the stiff clutch, almost impossible to find neutral, a little cold natured, and no kick stand (side stand only).  What is it worth?  It is at a Ducati dealership, so I know it wil cost a little more than a private sale.  Sorry for the poor quality pics, but it was dark inside.  So, what is it worth?  They have it listed at $9K.   

That places look very familiar.   

[Curmudgeon]

Agree with ducatiz about the particulars. That bikini fairing is very un-Ducati IMO, BTW. Had a 900SS of the period. The Contis came loose in the crate from Berliner, the importer and everybody swapped them immediately. The SS had 40's already. Would be nice if this had both Contis and 40's too. Steers like a CVN though. 

Not a perfect restoration by any means but a local one here.

[Curmudgeon]

That places look very familiar.   

No doubt. 

[ducatiz]

I think those are the elusive Marzocchi E82 shocks as well.  They were middle of the line, but pretty rare nowadays.

[ungeheuer]

*sigh*

I loved my black/gold Conti-piped SD900.................

If you do buy it..... I wanna hear more 

[monstermick58]

I nearly bought one of those when I was young and single and still had money in my pocket, went and bought a Suzuki GS750 instead 

 It looks clean, just go and buy it !







                                            Mmick

[ducatiz]

I nearly bought one of those when I was young and single and still had money in my pocket, went and bought a Suzuki GS750 instead 

 It looks clean, just go and buy it !

as the owner of an '81 Darmah SS...

...you were wise...

[yamifixer]

IMO that price seems about a grand high. but without seeing it I don't wish to poo poo it. A good friend of mine has one pretty much a twin to that with out the fairing and it is his baby.

Love riding behind him and hearing those contis at a low growl.