Italianiron/Britiron Classics Ducati & Norton Frame Offerings

And in the beginning, there was a 4 time World Champion racer by the name of Tony Rutter who with the help of chief engineer, Pat Slinn, made history with the early Pantah belt-driven Ducati TT racers. Divine providence would find their work exemplary and their successes, many. We are excited to offer through TGA/Molnar Precision LTD copies of these TT racer chrome-moly frames that we manufacture today in addition to the TT, Pantah & F1 bodywork kits. We are proud to offer these faithful copies of the components of Tony Rutter's original class winning racers and now done to Andy Molnar's precise manufacturing standards. Shown below is a photo of Mr Rutter on one of his historically significant Ducati TT racers that he made famous racing. Also of historical note is that Tony also raced a John Player Norton successfully with Peter Williams as talent would commonly migrate between different successful marques. 

At Italianiron & Britiron Classics and working in conjunction with TGA/Molnar Precision LTD, we love supporting the world of vintage racing motorcycles and enjoy specializing with two of the most famous marques to race in international motor sports, Ducati and Norton. We are also very excited to work in collaboration with Molnar Precision LTD in Preston, England UK as we offer a complete portfolio of chassis, bodywork, and specialty race bits for our Ducati powered TT and F1 racers as well as for the Molnar Manx Norton and Norton Commandos just to name a few. Shown below are two of our recent Ducati builds, TT 1 with 750 cc engine in "blue on red" livery and TT 1000 with 1000 cc S2R engine in "silver on red" livery that will perform well on the track as well as on the street. With our products and "know-how", you too can build something as special as the two builds shown below.

It has always been a goal of mine to share the step by step procedures to build one of our TT racers by creating albums of these builds on my Scot P Wilson/Italianiron FB page. Through these blog posts, my desire has been to assist that vintage motorcycle enthusiast and builder with what it takes to use our products and with your mechanical aptitude to create and build a vintage Ducati or Norton racer or to build an exclusive, custom vintage street bike. We have the complete offerings to assist you in your build. All that you need is a donor bike like a Monster or Supersport to start your custom Ducati project. Shown below is our 1000 cc Ducati Monster S2R engine in our TT 1 frame with our TT 1 bodywork kit in the glorious "silver on red" livery. We collectively believe that this is the "engine of choice" when building a very competitive and formidable TT Racer. This project represents one of the most exciting new international vintage race series as well. In an effort to expand our enthusiasm, we did wire it for use at the track as well as for spirited use on the road. 

We collectively believe that we provide the "ultimate" frames for your Ducati racer projects. Our frames are direct copies of the original TT2/TT1 Verlicchi frames raced and made available by Tony Rutter. Our frames will fit a 500cc, 600cc, 750cc,  Pantah type engine as well as Supersport and Monster 800cc and 900cc engines to include the 1000/1100cc DS engines that are ideal as the ultimate Post Classic "Superbike". Manufactured from chrome molybdenum steel, our frames are available with 25mm tubes (18.52 lbs or 8.4kg weight) for the smaller Pantah and F1 based engines. We use 28mm tubes (19.18 lbs or 8.7kg weight) for our frames that will mount 800 cc and larger Ducati engines. Please note that frames manufactured for 1000 cc and larger Ducati 2 valve engines are made to use 12 mm instead of 10 mm mounting bolts, therefore, some modifications will be required. Our frames can be supplied without powder-coating (raw) or alternatively, our frames can be powder-coated in black or red at additional cost. Our bare TT 2 & TT1 is shown below. https://www.italianiron.com/products/ducati-tt1-tt2-frame-swingarm-kit-by-two-wheel-classics

A racing frame that will soon be available is the TTF1 Racer and shown below. This frame will accept both of our TT bodywork or F1 bodywork kits for race or street applications. This frame will also fit a 500cc, 600cc, 750cc, Pantah type engines and include 800cc and 900cc, 1000/1100cc DS motor for the ultimate Post Classic "Superbike". What makes this frame distinct is that it is equipped for use with a rising rate suspension that team Molnar Ducati Racing uses with their vintage Ducati 1000 cc twin cylinder race bikes. This frame is also manufactured using chrome molybdenum steel. This frame will be supplied without powder-coating (raw), or alternatively, the frame can be powder-coated in black or red at an additional charge. We used a frame similar to this one that was made for use with the rising rate suspension on a very early TTF1 project build. We used a complete swingarm and rear suspension from a Ducati 851 that mounted easily into this configuration. Monster and Supersport swingarms are also useable and OEM items are available through our Italianiron inventory.  Please contact me at Italianiron@msn.com if you have questions specific to your desired build.  

Another very popular chassis & bodywork kit is made for the Pantah racers. I had a great deal of fun building my Ducati 650 Pantah racer. In my case, I had an OEM frame that we converted to take the Verlicchi F1 swingarm with a mono-shock. I was extremely pleased with the final result!! There is also an album of this build on my FB page. As this frame was not chrome-moly, we welded additional gussets to strengthen the structural integrity of our OEM frame to be used on what was intended to be a street legal machine as well as being a race bike. As I live in the Sonoran Desert of the American Southwest, I elected to use a Pantah 500 half fairing that I had in my inventory of Ducati bevel drive and Pantah bits that I purchased from Toine Biggelaar and his father, Jan in The Netherlands for more cooling and more air flow. However, we do offer a complete bodywork kit for the Ducati Pantah Racer that includes a full fairing.  

Shown below is our Pantah race frame. This Pantah race frame is an exact replica of the original frame for one of the Ducati factory's most successful production racers. In the case of our Pantah frame, it is made out of chrome molybdenum steel tubes. "With MPL applying modern manufacturing methods,  you can be assured that this frame is considerably lighter than the road frame often used by racers" according to Andy Molnar. I would have much preferred to use this frame with my 650 Pantah Racer had it been available when I originally started to work on this project. These Pantah frames are lighter and stronger than the OEM item and made with better, more modern, and technologically superior materials and construction. Our Pantah frames are designed to fit all capacities of Pantah based engines, from 500cc, 600cc and 750cc and where the rear carbs attach to the rear of each cylinder. Our frames are also available in raw form and not powder-coated or available with either black or red powder-coating at an additional charge. Chrome-moly copies of the original swingarms are most commonly purchased with this frame that requires the use of two rear shocks. https://www.italianiron.com/products/ducati-pantah-race-frame

Also as discussed previously, there are numerous swingarm options available for you, the builder. Many builders elect to use the same Monster, Supersport or Alazzurra swingarms that come attached to their donor bikes. I personally prefer the design of the original TT 2  and mono-shock swingarm configuration for our TT Racer projects. Also, Ducati 888/851 rear suspension and swingarms have been mentioned before as we have been used them in the past with race frames that use the rising rate suspension. In addition to our Verlicchi style mono-shock swingarms used on the original TT, we also manufacture an aluminum box section swing arm to suit your TT2/TT1 frame. In this way, we can provide you with what you desire to make that perfect Ducati racer project. Our Box Section swingarms are direct copies of the original items that will fit a 500cc, 600cc, 750cc Pantah type engines, and also the Ducati 800cc and 900cc, and 1000/1100cc DS engine for that ultimate Post Classic "Superbike". https://www.italianiron.com/products/ducati-tt-box-section-swing-arms-by-tga-molnar-precision-ltd

Thanks to Andy Molnar and his team at Molnar Manx/MPL, we have been having a great deal of fun working on numerous Norton Commando twin cylinder projects. Therefore, it is very appropriate to discuss what is available for the Molnar Manx and the Norton twin cylinder engines. It is essential that we discuss one of the motorcycle industry's most famous frames, the Norton Featherbed frame. This frame is ideal for your Manx, Triton or Specials! These Featherbed frames are manufactured from CNC bent T45 tubes, precision tube lasered at the ends and TIG welded. Headstock and swingarm are cross tube bored post-fabrication to ensure perfect alignment to the swingarm spindle. Swingarm spindle is carried on needle roller bearings with radial needle bearings to cope with the side loads and give minimum "sticktion". Our frames are manufactured exactly as Norton drew it, and according to Andy and his team, the Norton factory engineers knew what they were doing! Molnar Manx Racing can claim 3 Championship wins in as many years and over 50 race wins to prove this point! These Featherbed frames from Molnar Precision LTD can also be suitable for other projects and custom builds. Frames are offered in bare metal (raw) or powder-coated as specified for an additional charge. Please send any questions to me at Britironclassics@gmail.com for Norton enquiries. https://www.italianiron.com/products/molnar-manx-featherbed-frame

For those specialty racer builders, MPL also offers another piece of significant engineering history from the technical drawings of Colin Seeley. MPL in addition to using what they learned from building their Manx frames, have managed to bring the Seeley MK2 frame to the marketplace. Starting with a Catia 3D model to ensure that it was clear where all points should be, they use CNC bent T45 tubes, precision tube lasered at the ends and TIG welded in a full jig. Headstock and swingarm cross tube are bored post fabrication to ensure perfect alignment to the swingarm. 20mm hollow swingarm spindle is carried on needle roller bearings with radial needle bearings to carry the side loads and give minimum "sticktion". This Seeley MK2 frame is suitable for a wide range of projects and engines. It is supplied in either bare metal or powder-coated at an additional charge. Please send any questions to Andy at sales@manx.co.uk or me atBritironclassics@gmail.com for Seeley MK2 enquiries. https://www.italianiron.com/products/seeley-mk2-race-frame-by-tga-molnar-precision-ltd

At Italianiron and BritIron Classics, we celebrate the skills of many of the world's finest racers and especially racers of note such as Tony Rutter and Peter Williams. These racers have had great success and received world acclaim for racing two of the world's most significant marques, Ducati and Norton from the early days of the sport of motorcycle racing. Let us "Fuel Your Race Passions" is not just a slogan but a commitment whether you are building a vintage TT Racer for competition or a Ducati F1 vintage street bike. Please contact me at Italianiron@msn.com or Britironclassics@gmail.com with any additional questions. Similarly we are also excited to support enthusiasts for Norton Manx and Norton Commando racers through Molnar Manx and BritIron Classics Norton. Listing items has been slow due to amount of orders that we have been working on. If you do not see something that you need, please contact me. 

Please know that we have 2 additional Norton Commando 750 frames in inventory. We are also excited to support enthusiasts for Norton Manx and Norton Commando racers through Molnar Manx and BritIron Classics Norton. In addition to numerous NOS and OEM Norton items, we have  Norton Villiers LTD VIN plates for Norton 750 Commandos available as well. It is our hope that you get immersed into the history, the passion and the early technology of these amazing machines. Let us "Fuel Your Race Passions" to keep the sport of vintage motorcycle racing alive and well!!