finding and creating research material

I've been reading up about this bike on all sorts of sites. Wikipedia didn't have a page for the Bronco, and the Ducati Singles page ignored the non-Desmo singles, so I created a stub.

Some of the pages I've liked are jfairstein's 1964 Ducati Bronco page, and the Ducati Singles page at liebold.com. Like Wikpedia, most of what you find is all about the bevel-drive Desmo bikes, as is the case with Mick Walker's book I mentioned below. But much of the information is similar, and the principles and strategies for restorers are of course relevant.

I've also been browsing the eurocarb ltd Dell'Orto store, and Moto Guzzino Vintage Italian Motorcycles. Road and Race Motorcycles in Australia is likely to be invaluable; I heard good feedback on them at DesmoNorthwest. I emailed Road and Race to ask if their 12v upgrade was avialable for the magneto alternator on the Bronco; unfortuately no, not yet, but they might scare up the parts I need and some day might make an upgrade kit.

So besides shopping and reading, I took a drive last week out to Carnation, WA to Giordano's Vintage Motors to see what sort of bikes they had. Indeed, there is an impressive array of 100-175 cc Hondas all the way to Triumphs and a Norton Commandos. I wouldn't mind one of those small Hondas, though the prices were over $600, nearly twice my Bronco for bikes in not much better condition. They also had a Sears Allstate Gilera, which they wanted $550 (!) for. It was about the same as my bike, though not missing as many parts. I realized then that those bikes use the same Aprilia lights and switches, and Silentium muffler, and Dell'Orto carb. So when I see Gilera parts for sale I take a close look, just in case. I also noticed the Gilera had a fender nearly identical to my bike's, which suggests they salvaged it from a Gilera after one of the apparently many wrecks it had.