Monday 16 May 2011

Monza, the slow way round

Couple of Monza Juniors on EBay right now: starting to make money, but cheap as bevels go and a tatty one still has potential. Basically a 160cc version of the late fifties bevel 125, the Monza Junior was Berliner's (US Ducati importer) attempt to steal the Honda CB160's market share. Failed of course, but plenty got built and although some folk will tell you they were the biggest selling Ducati of all time, I've never seen evidence to support that. And with over 200,000 Cucciolos and 40,000+ Monster 600s sold it seems unlikely...

Especially as Berliner refused the last shipment of 1,800 Monza Juniors, most of which finished up in the UK. This makes them more plentiful that the 125 Sport, torquier and far cheaper - a plan emerges, especially when Ducati frame and engine numbers aren't on record anywhere and anyway, the DVLA aren't interested
So if you fancy building a useable Giro bike, or as the inimitable Pip Higham puts it "A replica Gran Sport for the price of a shed rather the paying the price of a house for a real one (above)" look no further. Just be honest when you sell it on...

1 comment:

  1. mmmmm, handsome. you'd not want to be riding the GranSport with anything less than tight fitting leathers, right? I'm picturing a tackle/ venturi interface problem and think that the venturi may edge it in the tensile strength stakes.

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