Project 999

I think most would agree that Ducati should have fitted a rear hugger to the 749/999.
The look without one is good, but the shock is right in the firing line of any road crud etc, which is especially daft if you have an expensive Ohlins or similar shock.

I've been looking for an aftermarket hugger for this project 999 since I got it on the road, I'm using the bike quite often, and am also fed up with the build up of crap around the bottom of the rear shock.
All the time the roads haven't been salted I'll keep using the bike so need to do something.

There are a couple of aftermarket options available for the later Black swingarm, in Carbon and fibreglass, but I don't actually like the look of them.
What I want is a hugger that looks like it was factory fitted, so should really be in moulded plastic.

With that in mind I had a play in my workshop yesterday with an old OEM M900 rear hugger that was broken in the chainguard area.

I cut it back to make it shorter, trimmed it back around the original 999 Chainguard and made a couple of small hidden brackets.
It's still longer than the aftermarket ones appear to be.

I'm more than happy with it to make the bike more useable this time of year whilst I keep my eye out for an aftermarket one I actually like:

 

I have my 999 back up on my lift bench as I'm chasing yet more spilt Oil

I've never known a Ducati engine to leak from so many places like this one does, even though the breather system is clear.
And it appears like I have 2 leaks.
It's again coming out of the end of the Stator wires into the connector, despite dropping in a new (Pattern)Stator and wiring to cure it, and somehow the fuel pump mounting plate in the bottom of the tank is covered in Oil even though the vertical cylinder cam cover gasket and all the cam cover bolt seals are dry.
It must be spraying from somewhere.

I've run the engine with the stator wire disconnected, and it's definitely coming out under the insulation of 2 of the three wires at the connector end, so I need to find a new solution to that. Anyone have a working genuine Ducati stator to sell?

But anyway, I got distracted.
Whilst running the engine with no fairing on, and being low down on the Right hand side of the engine looking at the Stator connector under the Horizontal cylinder I was shocked to see the Clutch cover plate wobbling around like jelly.

Now I'd have thought I'd have noticed this before, but with the fairings fitted and my NHM 1/2 open cover fitted it was probably hidden.

My initial reaction of course was that the big nut holding the central hub on had come loose, but with it stripped down it was tight.

Next I tried to see if there was a serious bearing failure allowing it to float around, but again no.

With the plates out and the pressure plate fitted with 2 springs, spinning the plate showed that it was definitely moving around within the basket.
So next I spent some time measuring the DP Pressure plate to see if there was a machining issue, but found nothing.
As a test I put a standard pressure plate on, and that wobbled around too - Bugger.

At this stage of course, considering I'd brought this bike accident damaged I was worried about the shaft being bent, but at purchase the standard undamaged cover was on the clutch.

At this point I tried to measure the central hub in relation to the basket, which is hard in situ, but it was definitely showing that the hub was wobbling about in a repeatable way, as if the shaft was bent.

I took the hub out and set it up in my lathe to measure it for any manufacturing defects and I'm sorry to say Ducati fans, that the central hole in the hub is not concentric to the teeth on the outer face of the hub by 0.75mm, which is really bad manufacturing control.

Luckily I have a spare hub from an old 900 Carbie engine which appears to be exactly the same, but even that when set up in my lathe shows it's out of line by just under 0.2mm.

I put the other hub on the bike, torqued it up, fitted the pressure plate and springs, and found that the problem had reduced massively in line with the replacement hub only being 0.2mm out of true against the original being 0.75mm out.

So, that's yet another thing to check on any Ducati engine/bike I buy in the future.
I'm hoping that on the road I'll notice some vibration missing.

Back to chasing Oil leaks then.

 

Nope, garage not heated Bigjimmyb, so plenty of mugs of tea, wooly hat and an old bike jacket to work in are the order of the day.
Oh, and two pairs of socks and my old walking boots.
Can't risk getting fuel on my best ones.

 

I had another look at the leaks this afternoon.

The whole of the rear most side of the Vertical cylinder appears to have a mist of Oil on it, as well as the bottom of the tank in the area above it. Also around the crankcase vent.
And the Oil appears to be pooling in all the places it can on top of the crankcase.

I whipped the tank off and confirmed that all the cam cover bolts with their special washers and seals are dry, and that no particular area of the Cam cover gasket appears to be leaking.

I cleaned everything down as well as I could and ran the engine for a while.
Around the Crankcase vent got a little wetter where the rubber tube is clamped to the Plastic boss. I found that the clamp was done up as tight as it could be, but the rubber was so soft the ends of the clamp had come together and the tube could still be moved on the plastic.
It looks like the rubber has degraded over time being soaked in Oil and is sweating oil as well as not sealing around the Plastic boss.
It could be that there is a mist of Oil in that area that's being moved around and deposited on the move by air currents.
I'll try to get hold of a new rubber tube to test the theory.

 

I also cleaned down the stator wiring again and removed some of the outer sleeve so I could see what was going on a bit better.

With the engine running and the Stator connector disconnected there was an odd drip from two of the cables.
It's definitely coming up the inside of the insulation and out the end where the Crimped terminal is on the end.
This isn't an unknown issue, but I feel a little unlucky that the Pattern wiring has succumbed in the same way as the original(see earlier in this thread)

I'm going to get hold of a used genuine Ducati Stator, hopefully one with a longer set of cables from a Monster as I also plan to swap the original Old tech Reg/Rec for a newer Mosfet one from a Multistrada, and relocate it to a better position with more airflow around it.

Changing the stator means draining the Oil and coolant, and changing the Reg/Rec means removing the awful design Electrics box on the 749/999 range, so the bike will be in bits for a while.
I may look at creating a better design Electrics box whilst I'm at it.

To quote Lady Nasher, it will keep me out of mischief for a while.

 

West System Products are good quality and often available from Chandlers etc, but eye wateringly expensive compared to buying from trade because of that.

They are however packaged well for retail sales, and I find they tend to have a longer shelf life even when opened because of that.
For my boating exploits I normally have a small amount of both their Epoxy and Polyester systems in my Garage for use when I need them.
The most useful thing they sell are really small, but again expensive, bottles of pigment in many different colours.

If I need more than a small amount of materials I buy decanted product from my local trade stockist, but you can't argue with being able to pop down to a local Chandlers on a Saturday or Sunday morning and buy a small amount of product when you need it that day.

 

Last weekend I finally found time to swap out the leaky Stator for a used replacement from a 749.

But extended the cables over to the other side of the bike and mounted a later style MOSFET Reg/Rec from a Multistrada using the Horn bracket and some NHM parts.

 

I'm back to wondering what to do with this bike.

It looks fantastic(IMO), goes and stops really well, handles great, and always puts a big smile on my face.
Of my 3 Ducatis it's also the one that will probably rise in value more than the others in the future.
And I've wanted one since they first came out.
I've also really enjoyed rebuilding it. I know a lot of you don't understand that bit.

But the smile only lasts 3/4hr before I can't feel my right hand, my damaged left Hamstring starts to complain, and now my hips that suffered years of abuse Waterskiing and in Scrums are also starting to seize when I ride it.
My 1000SS/SL Hybrid gives me the same problems, except the hand, but I can ride my M1000 for hours with no complaints.

I've also said that I really want to do some more miles, particularly before I'm not able to, and would like to do the miles on something just a few years old and built for the job, a Multistrada Enduro.
But I've run out of room in my workshop, a 5th bike(my youngest also has a bike in there) would make life a pain when I want to get one up on the bench and work on it. Also of course I don't have the funds for another bike.
I can't see myself selling any of the 3 bikes, but if one did have to go the sensible one to let go of would be this 999.

 

Thanks Expired Road Racer.
It is a real dilemma for me.
I did have a look at the riding position, the footpegs would be really easy to sort, but there isn't a lot of room upfront for higher bars.

Even if I get it comfortable, I'm never going to be able to throw a tent and panniers on it and spend 8hrs at a time riding it or take it off the normal road network. It would also release more funds to cover a Multi than either of the other two bikes, which I'm also more emotionally attached to.

Not sure what I'll do at this stage.
I'm also aware of course that if I do manage to get a Multi Enduro in my life there's a chance any other bikes I have just won't get ridden.

What I need is for that elusive project damaged repairable 1200 or 1260 Enduro to pop up at a good price forcing me to sell whichever of the other bikes I can sell quickest to secure it.

 

Thanks Matias.
I certainly wouldn't sell it in the next couple of months, mainly because Practical Sportsbike Magazine have mentioned an upcoming feature on the 999 saying how it's time to re-evaluate them as they are so good.
When they featured the 900SS a few years ago prices rose over the following months.

If a damaged Enduro popped up I'd cover it short term but probably put both the 999 and 1000SS/SL up for sale and see which sold first.