Getting an Elefant is one cup of tea but maintaining and riding it is something entirely different.

Toto is fascinated by one of the original Dakar Elefants at the Ducati Museum 2013

There is certainly no rational logic to ride such a beast. There are much more carefree and much cheaper bikes on the market - especially 25 years after Mikel’s animal left the factory. On more or less paved roads, a BMW GS was probably one of the perfect bikes to do long distance travels. The 2016 Honda African Twin or the 2016 Multistrada Enduro were the best ever big, street legal off-road bikes the world had seen so far.

It is not certain that these are the better bikes because “better” is not a objective term . It depends on what the person who rides it is passioned about. As motorbike riding today is something that rationally doesn’t make sense at all, it is not even worth to go into these kind of discussions. The only thing to be mentioned here is, that an Elefant lady doesn’t come for free. Who ever falls in love with her and wants to ride her, has to deserve her first. And who ever deserves her, is only decided by the Elefant herself. Probably that is a wisdom which is true for al female Italian beings ,but it is specially true for Elefants.

Mikels Elefant wan’t specifically happy about standing for months is a Garage after getting purchased. A few weeks after finding the animal and getting it back home, Mikel did ride it for some days with a short term number plate. It behaved astonishingly well. There was at short trip to an Italian bike meeting from a german Guzzi club in the region and a visit of the 2nd hand bike festival in the south of Luxembourg. Mikel discovered how heavy the Elefant was after filling the Tank up to the top. This was the first time when he dropped her almost to the floor.

Mikel had also his first small steps of “off-road” experience with the Elefant. One thing she made crystal clear from the very beginning: This wasn’t a Supermotard bike. It was a bike only made for one single purpose: Going fast on the straight, with no matter what ground was under her tires. Serpentines would be a nightmare with this animal. Riding for the first time in life with 160 km/h on the gravel was on the opposite side really impressive. The trick was certainly the long wheelbase, the over-dimensional wheels (front 21 inch - rear 18 inch) and the motocross tires.

JOIN International Motor Show in Luxembourg 2014

The bike disappeared in a dark corner of the garage and came back almost two years later, because it was requested to be presented at Luxembourg's most famous Car & Bike expo in 2014. The engine was still running well at that time. The bike had a big success at the expo. After the event she went back to her corner in the garage.

Next potential outing was the International Cagiva Meeting in 2015. Short notice Mikel hat two weeks before that meeting the silly idea to prepare the Elefant. The battery was flat and got replaced. The bike apparently still did run fine but it didn’t made it to France but that’s another story.

The Meeting in 2016 was approaching and the Elefant still hadn’t moved for several years. It would be time now to change that. From Luxembourg, Voges was just a few kilometers down the road but Tuscany needed a bit of Elefant care upfront. The Elefant hasn’t been on the road now for a long time. It had no numberplate and was not registered in Luxembourg. Exact 21 days before both should hit the road together, Mikel opened the garage. The Elefant looked half sad and half suspiciously back at him.

The battery should be fine as it was changed only one year ago. Since then it was connected to stationary power via a suitable charger. One push on the button and it started. Things looked good. 21 days - no reason to worry. Next step should be an almost full garage service. Mikel discovered that this baby wasn’t one of those Ducati’s which was easy to work on. After removing all the plastic stuff the baby wasn’t shiny and new anymore. Front fairing, side covers and tank are hold together by almost as much screws as a 1098. This was clearly an advanced 80s design and it was invented before Tamburini did design his 916 masterpiece. A 916 is the best designed bike to work on, ever. Every part is carefully invented. This animal on the opposite side had as much cable mess as a 851, which is by the way a horrible bike to work on.

Mikel expected the frame to be very similar to the Paso frame, that Tamburini designed first, when he came to Ducati. There are certain similarities but it is a totally different frame. While the Paso frame is designed that the vertical cylinder is inside the frame, on the Elefant the frame is on top of the upper cylinder head. It made the bike incredibly slim, which wasn’t visible when the huge tank was mounted on top. Most of the Ducati frames, with the exception of late bevelhead S2 frames (and to some degree the Panigale) are very stiff. The Paso frame is very stiff as well but it is a compromise.

The Paso was requested by the Castiglioni’s as a creature that should compete with all the Japanese sports and all-round bikes. By cutting half of the back from a Paso frame, you could certainly loose a major part of the overall weight and help to balance the weight to the front. The elefant was different. This was not a touring bike at all. Who ever designed that beast had a race bike in mind. Mikel was smiling when he imagined a german biker newspaper arguing that a GS probably would carry more overall load on a long distance trip than a 900ie. This was simply not what it was designed for. Someone did design it to win races and nothing else. Ergo: Everything else for this bike was a compromise.

The Elefant needed a new pair of tires. The old ones did look like new but beside being years old, they were probably made for the Sahara and not for 98% tarmac use case. As Mikel did know nothing about Endruo tires, some studies on the web were required. The outcome was a bit disappointing. 21 inch front and 18 inch rear is not a combination that is currently sold on a standard GS. Especially because the tires had to be almost as thin as the tires on a mountain bike. Nothing recent was at that time on the market that did fit. Finally the decision was to go for a Conti tire model that was already some years old. In the test they were ok except for riding in the rain.

Every spare part got replaced and all fluids exchanged. The cabling was a mess. Plenty of cables had been cut and modified. That entire harness was full of mud. Another design issue: On a street bike you wouldn’t care too much about it, but off-road all the mud from the front wheel ended up at the voltage regulator and a bunch of connectors, that are located below the tank. In combination with the quality of electric components on Italian bikes beginning of the 90s, that wasn’t a relief. After replacing the rims and changing the oil it was time to start the engine. Everything seamed to be fine. Mikel installed some crash bars. The day would come were he had to lift the bike from the ground and it seamed to be heavy enough. The crash bars would be helpful to get the bike up again.

Naked the lady doesn’t look heavy at all

The plan was to take the bike next Monday morning to the Sandweiler for the registration process. For that he had to ride it to Luxembourg city on a Sunday evening. It was an roughly a 50 km ride. He did that road every day twice before Irene had the apartment in the city. Still two more weekends before the journey would start. Everything was fine except that it was raining outside.

After 10 km Mikel noticed that something was wrong. He did switch off the light which started to dim. OMG this looked like the battery rapidly became empty. Wait a moment - this was a Dakar bike it should have something to measure the battery power on this pre-war board computer. In deed, Mikel could see the voltage coming down. That wouldn’t last until Luxembourg city.

It was incredible how much power this Elefant did consume while the battery was not loading. While a 70s bike like Mikel’s Moto Morini 3 1/2 could start with one kick and without a battery at all. This thing almost needed a nuclear power station on board just to stay in motion. He tried turn around and go back as soon a possible. Unfortunately he couldn’t turn the bike and keep the engine running.

The day ended with Mikel pushing the Elefant 2 kilometers down the road. Then he found some guys who could push him to restart the Engine. He made it almost home, but had to drive with Irene by car for another 2 kilometers, to get another battery and bring the Elefant home.

Mikel had now his first experience with pushing an Elefant. And it shouldn’t been that last. The beast was heavy as hell. That was the first weekend and there would be only two more weekends before the journey would start. There was no other option than leaving the bike on the county side and drive by car back to the city. The next day would be a normal work day.

During the week he ordered a new regulator and fortunately it arrived in time. The issue was was not so much that the delivered regulator wasn’t an original part. The regulator ordered was for and Elefant IE and the one arrived was for an Elefant AC. The real issue was that it didn't work. After Mikel lost hours with this hopeless 3rd party piece, he disassembled the 1098 and took the pressures pacemaker from her. The 1098 regulator was a next generation piece and hopefully it would last better than that regulator from the early 90s. He had already discovered that the regulator that was installed on the Elefant wasn’t the original piece either. The plus and ground cables to the regulator came straight from the battery. A common modification that was done on a lot of Ducati’s form the 80s. Unfortunately the modified cables and connectors didn’t look very healthy at all. The best was to replace all of that.

After removing plenty of old tape and fixing all those issues, the bike certainly did look more trustworthy. This was weekend number two. It was Sunday evening and Mikel had only one full weekend left. But finally everything was fine now and there were still almost 10 days before the journey would start.

Outside it was raining like hell. Now - that wasn’t new. Mikel did jump on the bike and did ride in direction Luxembourg city. He had the prehistory Dakar computer in front of him, constantly displaying the voltage of the battery:14.1 V. Everything would be fine.

After 12 km the ignition of the Elefant stopped working. That didn’t happen slowly but suddenly in an uphill section on the road. It was only 2 km further than the magic point that the Elefant didn’t want to pass last weekend. The battery was fine. It was already dark outside and it was raining.

There was no other option then pushing the Elefant 2 km back to the next village. Mikel left the bike on a gas station and had another 2 km walk to get a car. He had to collected the Elefant by trailer. It was still raining and everything was as wet as it could get. There was just a short time for troubleshooting. He couldn’t find the error before he had to go by car back to the city.

Final weekend before the Italy trip: The Elefant was still not registered in Luxembourg. Now things slowly became worrying. The the error was found quickly and it was something totally stupid. A fuse on the right side of the cockpit had no contact anymore. The issue was due to vibration and old material. It had nothing to do with a real electrical damage.

On the final Sunday evening Mikel was again on the way to the city. It was raining as usual. This time the Elefant had no issue at all. Initial thoughts, that die Elefant might not be willing to go back to her home country, were gone and everything was fine. The only worrying detail: There was no spare time left. Next morning it has to pass the Douane, Immatriculation, Agréation and finally the mandatory Scrutineering. Both arrived in the city and beside being wet as usual there was no major issue.

Next morning while it was still dark outside Mikel got up early and went to the Douane... of course in the rain. That first part of the day went well and an hour later he was on the way to Sandweiler. Sandweiler was usually pre-booked 6 months in advance. He prepared himself to spend the entire day there, waiting for someone to work on his folder. You can describe the control station in Sandweiler as an incredible administrative piece of art - this is at least the best way to see it with a smile and it prevents losing all patience. In the early afternoon, after waiting for hours and passing several counters, Mikel found himself back at the final counter. So far there was just paperwork and payments. Now this was the place that would decide over life and dead. Fortunately his number did light up at a counter, where the guy behind it was somebody well known to him. He and Mikel did ride bikes together in the 80s. Now they had a walk together outside of the building where Mikel proudly presented his Elefant. While the final paperwork was in progress, Mikel could hardly believe how lucky he was. Everything seamed to work fine.

He got some temporary papers and had now just to pass the mandatory technical control, to come back and get his final papers and that was it. While he was arriving at the Scrutineering part in Sandweiler, the guardian had no understanding for the situation. It was already late afternoon and the people here would be too busy to have a look at another bike that had no reservation. Mikel would have to come back on the next day.

Mikel decided that this wasn’t the end of the world. It was a great day because the major parts were done. As Mikel wasn’t working for for a semi governmental institution yet, he went to work. After finishing some stuff,  he did start to enjoy the Elefant for an hour or two. The rain had stopped and life was great. It was a very high and heavy animal with very bad breaks - at least if you are used to break a bike 100% on the front wheel. A few hours on an Elefant didn’t make a street rider into and Enduro rider. He slowly got used to handle such a big animal in the city. How to break in front of a traffic light and take then only the left foot down to the ground, while the right foot did remain on the break. Slowly he did feel more comfortable.

On the next day it was again raining like hell. Mikel had an appointment at Sandweiler in the afternoon at 2 PM. A friend did organize that for him. He went with the bike to his working place and he became nervous like hell, as closer the clock went towards noon. The bike was outside in the rain. He could see the bike from his window. It looked like a very big wet Elefant and it did look not comfortable at all.

30 minutes to early, Mikel decided to leave the work place and ride to Sandweiler. He got into his wet suit and on the bike. Usually the bike started without any issue... Every time but this time it didn’t! Mikel tried everything but there was certainly no ignition. He checked all the fuses and took a candle out. There was no spark!

After 40 minutes the chance to get to Sandweiler in time was over. It was one of the most frustrating days of the year. He did call Irene and told her that there would be no Elefant going from Luxembourg to Tuscany. Surprisingly she seamed to be quite happy about it. She didn’t argue about anything so far, but she didn’t trusted this Elefant. Mikel and his Elefant did make her life complicated for the last three weekends and going with two Monsters to Italy would probably be much safer.

After removing the top-case, Mikel left the Elefant behind him in the rain at his work place. He turned a last time around and had a look back. He could swore that he saw the animal staring back at him in a very defiant way. She would stay here for 4 weeks in the rain if it was necessary, but she would not go back to Italy where she came from 25 years ago. This is how Mikel finally ended up with the Monster on the way to the Elefant Meeting 2017.

Small parentheses: On the next day it was raining like hell. Mikel did work most of the night to mount the top-case and the baggage to his Monster and made her ready for the trip. Irene and him were on the road to Italy. Mikel’s Monster suddenly stopped working after 40 km. The place wasn’t far from the place where the elefant was waiting in the rain. He told Irene she should ride with her bike to the apartment and wait there, while he tried to find the issue. It looked like the batterie was dead. He left the bike on a petrol station and went by bus to the local Ducati dealer, to buy a new regulator and a battery. Fortunately the material was available and he did ask the dealer to fill-up the battery. He explained that he was on the way to Italy and his Monster was waiting at a gas station. The dealer responded that it would better to take a loaded battery and fortunately he had one that was almost new and certainly fully loaded. Mikel did buy the stuff and went back by bus. He removed the baggage, disassembled the bike and installed the new parts. After rebuilding everything he did press the starter and ... the bike wasn’t starting at all. He did call Irene and told her that their bike holidays ending here. She wasn’t in a good mood... Suddenly during the call it became clear that there was one last chance ... impossible - but the vendor might have sold him a dead battery... He did explain to Irene that he would call back in 10 minutes and hung-up. He did remove all the baggage again and pushed the bike up for 400m on top of a hill. This bike was by far lightweight compared to pushing an Elefant. While pushing the bike up the hill, Mikel was sure that his stubborn new friend was somewhere behind all this ... Why now? The Monster was always running well. It did consume so far only one regulator and that was 10 years ago in Switzerland. On top of the hill he did jump on the bike and it did start immediately. It was late afternoon and due to the rain it was already getting dark. Irene didn’t want to leave Luxembourg anymore on that day. - On the next day they started early. The rain had stopped. Irene asked if they should wear rain suits. Mikel gave as usual the wrong answer ... They hardy did pass the French boarder and were as wet as they never had been in their entire life... The rain stopped after San Gottardo and a gorgeous bike holiday started there while the Elefant decided to stay in Luxembourg in the rain. As soon as they were approaching Italy the Elefants influence was gone. Its spell didn’t reach further than Passo San Gottardo.

Back from Italy obviously the first thought was about the Elefant. It was standing now for almost four weeks outside in the rain, waiting for Mikel to come back. Now the weather was great here as well. The first image after all that time was rather sad but it looked still stubborn to him. Beside the breaks, plenty of other small parts were oxidized. The brake disc on the back was broken in two pieces. There was no logical reason why. Apparently no one did touch the bike. Mikel had never seen something like that. When he left her die disc was still in one piece. Maybe it was a sunny day in combination with the cold rain. They took the bike on a trailer and brought it to the apartment.

Some weeks later Irene had an entire series of appointments at Sandweiler booked to pass with her Monster. She obviously did pass on the first try. Now the next due date for the Elefant was set. In the meantime a new rear break disk and some break pads had arrived. Mikel started carefully to communicate again with the animal, to see in what mood it was. There was definitively no ignition spark. There was power on the ignition coils, but only for the time that the fuel pump was working ... on the circuit diagram that seamed to be correct. That diagram was kind of fascinating. There was a dedicated harness for the race part of the electricity. It took care about the engine. A 2nd, in-depended circuit took care about all the rest. It was clearly a race bike! The pick-ups went straight to the ECU. The ECU was a first generation Weber-Marelli IAW P7, as it is used on the early 851s. It was the program of the ECU that would decide what happens if one of the Pick-ups is damaged. After measuring both pick-ups it was clear that one of them was dead.

Changing the back break was a pain in the ass. The break cylinder was over-consumed. Mikel had to completely dissemble it in pieces and clean it before he could get the break pads in. There is something about Enduro riders and back breaks that Mikel might get one day. It was clearly a difficulty to get it, when you did grow up with bikes in the early 80s as a street racer: To consume a back break was nearly impossible, as they did hardly touch a back break at all.

The new pick-up hadn’t arrived until the weekend, so Mikel had to steal the pick-up from his 851. Slowly the Elefant started to consume all the parts for Mikels other bikes. The Sandweiler date was on a Tuesday morning at 7:30 AM. Mikel had only Monday evening to change everything and get the bike assembled again. There was no way to start the bike when it was finished, as that’s wasn’t permitted in Irene’s city apartment. That meant getting up early next morning and see if the baby would love him on not.

The next morning the Elefant wasn’t sure about what she wanted. Yes it was running, but only on one cylinder. So what to do now? Mikel could forget to disassemble the bike again. There was no time. Apparently the pick-up was working, so why did this beast then decide to run only on the vertical cylinder. There was nothing to loose, so lets see what the guys in Sandweiler would say.

An Elefant on one cylinder goes about 110km/h fast and you have to keep it on the gas while you are in front of a red traffic light. It was not fun to ride, but Sandweiler was just 10 minutes to go. The guy who measures the CO wasn’t recognizing anything. Apparently the CO was ok. If you pass that step you can switch the bike off and push it inside. That was unfortunately not possible with an Elefant because it is to heavy to push it out of the break test stand. Mikel had to turn it on twice while he was inside the building... and it made noise because he had to keep the revs up on one cylinder.

The 2nd guys who actually did check the bike was more than happy to receive Mikel. He apparently did ride an early African Twin end of the 80s and didn’t see an Elefant for ages. It looks like all his memories from the 80s came back and he was in a very positive mood. He checked the bike and found it in a good state. The last guys that checks the breaks could see that the back break was new and he was happy as well.

Mikel could hardly believe it: He got the stamp and the Elefant was now street legal.

Time to fix the one cylinder issue. North Africa was waiting for them...