DUCATI 450

DUCATI 450
“The Brute From Hell”
The year is 1975.
Which of us kids did not want a “dirt bike”?
For the past 3 years, we - myself included - were enamored with the movie “ The Summertime Killer” (featuring the actor Chris Mitchum), not with the main plot of the movie, but with the “dirt bike” featured in the movie.
Dirt bike being synonymous with Enduro bike, Off road bike and more popularly - “scrambler”.
This machine at that time in Accra, Ghana was a one-of-a-kind.
It carried that badge of honor and prestige even though it wasn’t functional - and I guess that’s how it ended up with me.
Yup, you guessed it … because I was the kid not only around the neighborhood but around town that could fix anything.
And after “everyone else” (within my circles) had tried and been unsuccessful, someone suggested that it was time for me to have a crack at it!
I attacked this job with fervent excitement.
Like a trembling, excited and anxious child I could see myself zooming around town on the only dirt bike on our streets, going off-road at my whim and desire and back onto normal streets again.
Wow, what fun it was going to be!
…… let me say at this point that to date - A.D. 2026, it is the only technical job I have ever walked away from without fixing.
Take note I said: “walked away from without fixing”, not “unable to solve or find out why it was not properly operative” that is, until around 2017 or 2018.
to make a very, very very long story short, the Ducati’s problem was that it would start on random days!
There was no rhyme or reason that I could determine for that.
On the days it would start, it gave such a thrilling ride, but for only a few minutes and woe betide you if you shut the engine down or stalled it.
A few specifications I remember from having become so technically intimate with it (to a certain extent):
About 436cc (as per my calculation/measurement)
4-stroke engine
Bevel-driven side valve arrangement
Single overhead camshaft
Chain driven rear wheel
Drum brakes - front and rear
.. and a much-needed de-compression system to allow for kick-starting
The power and torque output to the rear wheel was insane!
This was like nothing any of us had ever felt before.
But one thing we did feel a lot of, was the long walks and pushing the bike back to home/workshop base when the engine shut down.
What didn’t I do technically on this machine to try and resolve the issue?
Your guess is as good as mine.
All the technical requirements for a running engine were present:
Ignition - check
Fuel/carburretion - check
Crankshaft/Valve timing - check (non-adjustable)
Cylinder compression - check
Wiring issues - none found
Dang, what else could it be?


I began to detest this machine because it defied all my technical knowledge and efforts.
It was just mind-boggling!
Now I was pissed!
My circle of friends were waiting for results.
Results that were not materializing.
… and to make it worse, I had no explanation or inkling as to what the issue was!
After many, many months (pretty much almost 2 years) of this technical back and forth, double-checking, triple checking, what did I overlook etc.? the time came to leave for Europe for my professional career training.
I have never laid my eyes on this machine since.
So it wasn’t till the 2017/2018 time period that the bike crossed my mind again.
It was a night when I was in a nostalgic mood and wanted to see an image of it.
Having found several images to feast my eyes on, I found an article on the Ducati Desmodromic valve system - what it was, how it worked and what made it so loved in the industry back then.
After reading the article, I leaned back in my chair and “laughed so loud in my head”, so hard at myself and only then realized that my inability to solve that problem was not because I was physically unable to, but that I was technically unable to due to the fact that I knew nothing about the Desmodromic operating theory!
It seemed plausible that someone had messed with it ahead of me.
In short, I knew not what to do!
So armed now with with more knowledge and exposure today, I say:
“Bring that bike back now, I want to re-visit that technical issue”!!