I have to confess that when I see a motorcycle like this, it brings back many memories of the first classic motorcycle I had, a Ducati 250 De Luxe with Ducati 24h engine. But the one, which I bought very young, never reached the finishes and refinements of this Carallo Sport manufactured by Radical Ducati to participate in this year's Motogiro.
The motorcycle that we see is part of the base of a Ducati 125 single cylinder four-beat. The luck is that when getting down to work, the idea was not to make a restoration of the original model, but to make a motorcycle as new as possible with the base of the original Ducati. And of course, they have been left with a motorcycle that, in addition to being very beautiful, has improved the weaknesses of the original. These Ducati, like all motorcycles of their time, ran at 6 volts, which together with the current requirement to drive all day with the low beam makes them easy victims of electrical problems. And I don't want to tell you how little a 6-volt bulb can illuminate.
In the engine, the camshaft has also been replaced by a more racing one and a new piston and cylinder were fitted. And of course everything renewable has been renewed, bearings, gaskets, seals and all those parts that cost little money comparatively but can annoy you by disabling the motorcycle at the least opportune moment. The exhaust has been handcrafted and has been placed at half height to gain free space under the chassis. The brakes are not their original ones either, but they have been replaced by authentic “black leg” of the time riding a Grimeca front double cam with shoe holder Amadoro and behind the original drum has been preserved, but adding an air inlet to ensure good cooling.
The bodywork is not the original, since a Tarbo deposit from another 125 of the time and around everything else has been completed. A tail made of fiber Aermacchi 125 complete the line of this beauty. The truth is that Radical Ducati has built a very beautiful bike, with classic lines that attract attention, and that I am sure this summer will have been one of the attention points of the Motogiro D’Italia.
The bad thing is that it leaves me with the taste of the never finished projects, because that first classic that was my Ducati 250 ended up being sold for four dollars and without having finished it. And nowadays getting back on a motorcycle like that, with the crazy prices that are currently put it even more out of my reach. Who knows if one day what I publish are the photos of my recovered classic Ducati.
