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Motorcycle Investor mag

Ducati 400 F3

(by Ian Falloon, Mar 2022)

Middleweight race replica

One of the more surprising things that happened at Ducati during the early 1980s was their reluctance to produce a street version of the all-conquering 600cc TT2.

By 1984 Tony Rutter had won four world championships, and already the factory was campaigning the 750cc TT1 but it wasn’t until 1985 that the production 750 F1 appeared. This evolved into a second series for 1986 and was joined by smaller capacity 350 and 400 F3s.

In the early to mid-1980s Ducati’s production was sporadic and several specific models were produced for the Japanese market, at the time the largest market for Ducati. These models were primarily the 400 F3, this ostensibly identical to the Italian specification 350 F3.

The 350 F3 grew out of the 350 TL and SL Pantah that were designed for a lower tax rate on smaller capacity motorcycles and available in Italy between 1982 and 1984.

The engine was basically a downsized 500 SL Pantah, the 350 with a 66x51mm bore and stroke and the 400 with 70.5mm 10.4:1 pistons. Included valve angle was still 60-degrees and the small valves were 33.5mm for the inlet and 30.5mm for the exhaust.

Carburetion was by a pair of Dell’Orto PHF 30M carburetors without air cleaners. The 400 F3 also featured an oil cooler, not the full-flow 1986 750 F1 version, but the partial cooling of the 1985 F1.

The gearbox was five-speed and the wet clutch cable operated. Claimed power for both the 350 and 400 was 42 hp at 9700 rpm. The 350 and 400 F3 red-painted frame was shared with that of the 1986 750 F1, as were many of the chassis components.

This included the white-faced Veglia instruments and all the controls. The biggest difference between the 750 and its smaller brothers was in the suspension. Non-adjustable 38mm Marzocchi forks were fitted to 400, these having red-painted fork legs and triple clamps. The brakes were floating 280mm cast-iron front and rear, with Brembo P2F08N calipers.

Also shared with the 1986 750 F1 was the early style front mudguard, solo seat, and 18-litre steel F1 fuel tank. Two series of 400 F3 were produced in 1986 and this is one of the second series. Visually the easiest way to tell the two apart was the lack of elephant logos on the fairing on the later bike, and a sidestand instead of a centrestand.

(The example shown here is a 1986 model, being offered for auction by Donington from July 3, 2022.)