The Ducati 250 Scrambler was tested in my very first issue of Cycle World, August, 1962. I considered scanning the small B&W photo from the test into this post, but I chose this photo instead because it is larger and in color. I do not know exactly what model year the one pictured is, but I would guess about '65 or '66. The 250 lost a little emphasis in the U. S. market when the company introduced its 350 and 450 Desmo models in the mid-Sixties.
There are many similarities and a few differences between the model pictured and the '62 model in the road test. The tank is slimmer and sleeker on the later model. The seat has a chrome strip at the base on each side instead of a row of rivets. The front shocks changed to rubber gaiters from body-colored covers and the rear fender extends a little further at the rear underneath a larger tail lamp. A small, slim muffler has been added to the exhaust, although thankfully not adding any length to the short, sporty, downswept pipe, and the tires are more of a road tread than the Trials Universals on the 1962 model. The main styling element that seems to have made a step backwards is the elongated headlamp on the later model. The '62 has a pleasantly abbreviated model. All of these changes except the headlamp shape would have been typical styling and functionality updates a manufacturer might have made during the early '60's time period.
The 250 Scrambler was an interesting machine from many angles. The simple tube frame had a large backbone and a single downtube enclosing the engine, with thinner tubes comprising the rear subframe. The engine was a SOHC, gear-driven design producing thirty horsepower. Standard gearing offered a top speed of 82 mph, a zero to sixty time of 11.5 seconds, with the quarter in 17.3. A full selection of alternate sprockets was also offered, allowing a top speed up to 100 mph or much shorter gearing for cow-trailing with quicker acceleration. There was no speedometer fitted, but a tach was optional. The price for this little Duck in '62 was $669 and it weighed 277 pounds. Compare these figures to the high-volume Honda CL-72 introduced that same year in a similar price range. The CL-72 was a SOHC twin producing 25 horsepower with twin carbs. Its performance was almost identical to that of the Ducati with standard gearing. The obvious differences were that the Honda was much more of a street machine with instruments, battery, full passenger accommodations, and a claimed weight of 315 pounds. What's not to like in a bike that was essentially an off-road Diana?
See also: Ducati Diana
Ducati Falcon 80
3 comments:
I think that 30 hp is a figment of some Italian's imagination. In a street bike like the X-6 Hustler, 29 hp was good for mid-15's in the quarter mile. Other Italian imports had unrealistic power claims, e.g. the Benelli Sprite 125 which may have had an honest 10.8 hp yet claimed 15. The Sprite 200 was rated at 14 hp in its home market, the same engine advertised at 20 hp in the US.
Ducati's racing singles could be quite hot, to be sure. It is their lower tuned models which I think suffered from exaggeration. Cycle Magazine ended a lot of this malarkey when they began dyno testing everything.
You are right, of course, Mark, about the inflated power ratings of some of the Italian models. I am currently working on a book about Sixties convertibles, and the research I have been conducting on the Italian spyders brings back memories of similar inflated horsepower figures.
In the case of the more highly tuned Ducati 250's such as the Scrambler and Diana I don't feel like the horsepower ratings were exaggerated at all. In the 1960's I owned both a Scrambler and a Diana. Both were rated by the factory at 30 HP. The performance of these bikes were effected tremendously by gearing and exhaust systems. The Diana I had was a 1965, which was the last year of the Diana and the first year of the 5-speed. I purchased it from the local Ducati dealer in 1966 who had raced it in the Novice Class at Daytona the previous year but it had never been sold before I purchased it. The dealer removed the racing saddle, fairing and rear mounted gear shift lever and brake lever and put it back just as it was when uncrated from the factory except for two minor engine modifications, a drilled out clutch hub and a Ducati 175 flywheel which allowed it to rev a little quicker. The bike was equipped stock with what could be termed as "road race" gearing, which was to say the least "very tall." Cycle World magazine published a road test on the 5-speed Diana in their November 1964 issue. They tested it at 16.1 @ 81 mph in the quarter mile. The problem was according to their chart the bike wasn't half way through fourth gear when it crossed the finish line. I feel that this and just about everything else said in the road test was right on the mark from my experience. In 1966 I used this bike as my daily transportation and raced it at local drag strips on the weekends in the Atlanta, Ga. & Chattanooga, Tn. areas. The local Ducati dealer that I purchased the bike from suggested using a 14 tooth countershaft sprocket instead of the 17 tooth that it came with. Doing nothing more then changing the countershaft sprocket produced a 14.90 ET the first run down the strip. As I continued to learn the bike improvements at the drag strip continued. I had a Scrambler straight pike that I put on it for a few days because I really liked the sound it made when backing off the throttle. However I noticed the engine wouldn't rev to full rpm with the straight pipe but was torquee on the low end. I realized that the straight pipe could not be used at the drag strip. The muffler that came with it was totally useless except for puttering around on the street, so I always used the factory megaphone when racing the bike. With the megaphone the bike would rev to 10,000 r.p.m., although beyond 9,000 would just be excessive "wringing out" of the engine so 9,000 r.p.m. was the optimum point to shift gears. The Cycle World road test indicated the bike would do 109 m.p.h. at 9000 r.p.m. in fifth gear. I don't doubt this one bit. I feel that my bike would easily do over 100 with the stock "road race" gearing and the factory megaphone but the Veglia speedometer was about as useless as the muffler so I can't verify that. In 1967 I no longer used the bike on the street, removed the lights, fenders, and purchased the racing saddle from the local dealer and raced it only. In the two years of drag racing the Ducati Diana it was never beaten. The largest bike it beat was a BSA 441 Victor, but included Honda Super Hawks, Suzuki X6 Hustlers, Benelli's, Yamaha's et al. I had previously owned a 1964 Yamaha YDS-2, which was a pretty peppy 250 in it's own right, but there is absolutely no comparison of performance between the two. The above write-up claims the Scrambler will do 100 m.p.h with the proper gearing. I would say it could easily do it with the proper gearing, exhaust system and tires. The Ducati Diana 250 in particular was a unique bike for it's times due to its ability to be both a street and racing bike at the same time, but it was more racer then street bike. It was a cafe racer several years before there were cafe racers.
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