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Yes,the 80's stying was ugly when new, lol......The cat has no interest in bikes ,people food, litter boxes, or most anything not related to being a cat... I find the most challenging thing for the naked frame look is a decent looking and fitting seat and the handlebars. Guzzi style swan neck clips look the part but are expensive. I am not against drilling two holes in the upper yoke for risers for conventional handlebars.... And remounting the gauge panel. I do have a set of fork mounted replica Tommaselli headlight brackets....
I think I have at least one extra Marzocchi top triple tree clamp with mounts for upright bars that need an appropriate home. plain Ducati stuff, not the sexy $$ goodies.. If you keep the bike and have interest, maybe we can swap notes & measurements
I tried to start the bike again..but it just backfired softly and a few flames from the exhaust....The ignition pick ups on the flywheel are known to be a problem when they get old...They check out at 220 ohms each but the wiring insulation is flaking off...I'll fix the wiring and see what happens....The valve timing is correct, 125 psi compression on both cylinders with the engine cold and sitting for a week. It has to be an ignition issue. New pick ups are available but there's no way of knowing if the ignition contrl boxs are good and the factory service manual that came with the bike has little info on the ignition... So if new pick up wiring doesn't do the trick...the bike will be for sale....I don't want to spend a bunch of money and time on this bike.....
the two cylinders have ignition systems that are pretty independent, so with a defective pickup it should still start one cylinder , having both pickups fail at the same time seems unlikely. there are a pretty limited amount of faults that would affect both cylinders.
If you had to buy a bunch of that wire, i would be interested in some of the leftover.
The same basic ignition system is used on the V50 and V50 II Guzzis, may be more information in that manual. I'll be fixing the pickup wiring on a '78 V50 later today - even the NOS pickup the customer supplied has the insulation falling off.
You may know this,but I found it helpful when replacing wires on pick ups because the are polarity sensitive. " When all is installed, stick some plugs in your plug caps, ground them, power up the ignition and get a thin-bladed screwdriver.With the ignition turned on, place the screwdriver blade across the magnetic poles of one pick-up and pull it off sharply. You should see a spark at the corresponding plug.If you see a spark as you APPROACH the pick-up, the polarity is incorrect. In this case, simply swap over pick-up connections. Repeat for other pick-up"
great progress! if also converted mine to naked , and ended up with a set of pantah TL bodywork, the ultimate in early eighties weird styling....
If someone is looking for an Alazzurra project my brother has one. Red reduced effect that was running before parked. The paint on the top of the tank was ruined by a cover but I believe it is all there.Just PM me and I will get you in touch. Bike is in SC.
Well, I'm done with the Pantah. It starts and runs and sounds good but refuses to idle. Despite replacing the stator regulator it still has feeble charging output...Its got all the fairing parts so a good project for someone who wants one of these bikes......I'll post it in the classifieds here....
I don't know why but I always lusted after the Pantah and to a lesser extent the Cagiva Elephant.
how off road worthy is the little Elefant ? I'm sure it's no yz426. I've got a thing for Pantahs.
Making progress on the Pantah...I did get the engine fired up,with fresh oil and filter...the carbs need attention so it ran poorly at low speed. But it reved up ok and after running in place for about 10 minutes there is no smoke or funny noises..The engine is turbine smooth ... The charging system is out to lunch...the rotor was fried. Probably why is was parked 29 years ago. I installed a new stator and regulator for a 90' s Ducati as an upgrade...Did a lot of repairs to the electrical system because many wire terminals were corroded. Replaced overheated small gauge wires with larger sizes in a workman like manner....New ATC fusebox to replace the Euro fuses. A relay now handles the main electrical load. Disassembled carbs for cleaning. A new cheapie rear tire, rebuilt rear master cylinder, new brake pads. Cleaned the rust from all the rotors using old school physical labor. Along with removing rust from various cycle parts. New petcocks and fuel hoses...The valves are within adjustment specs.I readjusted the timing belts , most overtension them. I will replace the belts after the test ride... A few minor details and an actual test ride in the next few days... If it all functions fine and the bike is enjoyable to ride, I'll keep it...The body work will be left off, the look will be a naked bike like an early Monster.....No original parts or the frame will be altered so it could be be brought back to original by someone other than me
Where the pickups ok. The wires run inside the case and 40 yrs later they disintergrate. You changed the rotor so assume the pickups checked out?Kev
That's looks really nice Charlie! The Pantah is the right size for me and I think the styling is top notch.
500-650 Pantahs have nearly perfect ergonomics for me, at 6’2” tall. And I’ve always like the original 500 styling, even more than the 600s etc, so its great to see this bike being saved before it was hacked up. It’s a bike that needs to be conserved and will much appreciate given time.