Even though it was a struggle to get the Ducati Monster 620 engine into the Aermacchi frame, I did do it. So I know it can come out. Disassembly is the reverse of assembly, right? But precisely how it could come out eluded me. I told myself that in a worse-case situation, I could just cut the rear cylinder studs, since they seemed to be the biggest obstacle at the time I installed it. Even after doing that, coaxing it out took several hours in a couple of different sessions before I successfully removed it.
I listed the engine in the “Free” section of Craigslist, along with the spare set of bare dummy crankcases I had purchased earlier, just to be rid of it all. At this point, the Monster 620 motor is—in my mind—an unholy, detestable, lard-assed pig of an engine. At 120 pounds (without the rear head), it’s just way too heavy to make a crippled 309cc single out of. And it’s so large I never should have brought it anywhere near to a ’73-’74 full-cradle Aermacchi frame. I look at it and just see that outsized clutch, sagging sump, and overall weight and girth. I’m amazed that I got it in there in the first place. The “Aermacchi-Ducati Special” needs a new name, because the original concept is officially dead. It turned out to be a Very Bad Idea, one I want to be rid of.
