Hello all, I have recently acquired a 94 750SS that seems to be in some decent condition but needs a full overhauling. It’s my first ducati, so it will take me time and lots of advice. My plan is to fully disassemble, fix what is broken, repaint and rebuild her to as much “as new” condition as possible with some changes and performance upgrades (clip ons, radials, etc..) but trying to keep her spirit intact. So the story begins…:Watching:
After bringing the lady to my garaje, I did a full test ride to chech for errors, broken things and missfunctios. Quite a bumpy drive! First of all I noticed a total loss of power when reaching 4k rpm. Looks like fuel is not reaching properly or it takes to many air but is a very anying feeling that the engine loses punch and – even it does reach 9k rmp – it does not push the drive train.. ¿any advice on that? Second, after stopping to have some beer and tapas, It did not fire again. :Banghead: No battery at all. So, second main issue: It does not charge the battery (sounds like a lose cable or a broken rectifier) After kick starting her, on my way back home, third issue! Ran out of gas but the indicator was not lit. I was sort of expecting this, so I let her go down hill to a nearby gas station and back home. :Smuggrin: Now it was moment for a closer look of what could be repaired and what else was in bad state. Several different things seem to be broken No horn. No brake light when pulling the front brake lever (tough it works with the rear). A total mess of untidied wrapped cables. Engine in rusty condition. Several breather and drainage pipes cut loose or disconnected mmm. loos like a lot of tidying up and cleaning.
Ummm, did it not come with clip-ons and radials.... :/ Open the airbox, fit some lighter, less restrictive silencers, fit a jet-kit to suit, then fit a coil kit and you will have a much better to ride, more responsive machine
No Oil epressed: Extremely unbelivable mileage (less than 20k kilometers in 20 years.?? c'mon!) Broken and poorly repaired rear grab handle (possibly due to a monoposto fairing that got broken) But a nice carbon fender I will surely keep. :Happy: Good news! After reconnecting some lose cables on the front, battery was charging back again, so no need to fool around (at least by now) with a new rectifier. And also I recovered the horn sound (though it sounds like chitty chitty bang bang) That’s all for now. I would love to hear your comments or suggestions. Any advice with the 4000rmp power loss would be very much appreciated. Now I will start to stripe her down to the bare bones to send the frame, wheels, and some other parts to be sanded and painted while trying to repair the rest. It is a low budget project with very high end finish expectations, so do not expect weekly updates, though I will post any new changes whenever they happen. My last bike took me more than two years to fully restore. (there is a full thread in a Spanish forum if you are interested) More to come.
Thanks Old Rider. After opening the air filter i noticed that there are two "black doors" that slide, one on each carburetor, when you twist the throttle with the engine started and runing, only one was opening in mine and I can tell you I pulled the throttle till flames were bursting from the pipes... Should it be like that? or should they both open? Tom
The front brake not lighting the brake light will be down to the microswitch or its connector, that is operated by the front brake lever. Cleaning up the connector contacts might do the trick. What are the symptoms of the flat battery? It could be the battery itself - how is the fluid level? It could be the top fuse in the bank of fuses to the left of the dash. I used to have terrible trouble with mine not making proper contact. I had to fiddle with mine to get the contacts in the holder to make better contact with the fuse itself. Then it was fine.
Black doors?? Take a look at Ducatisuite - Google it - there is a section in there on carbs, with photos - do yours look the same?? Ducati Suite- Jet Kit / Pod Filter Install Whatever carbs you have, I'm sure the throttle should pull both evenly - no wonder you're having performance and revving issues.. I bought myself a Morgan Carbtune Synchroniser, which enabled me to balance my carbs. On the standard Mikuni carbs, there is a crosshead screw between the carbs that you can just see from looking up from over the front wheel with a torch. This is what controls the balancing mechanism. I'm wondering if you might have flat-slide Keihins fitted but that seems unlikely on a 750. Most people who'd go to that much trouble and expense for more performance would simply get a 900...
He means the slides I guess...........If one isn't lifting, I bet the diaphragm is split....... With no oil and only one carb working, I'm not surprised it doesn't 'go'.......... But............how the hell did you kickstart her, bearing in mind one isn't fitted to these bikes? Looking at the white frame and sticky out indicators, are you sure it's a 94 model....it looks earlier than that.
Either that or he did what I did when mine wouldn't start.............. .....my wife didn't like being kicked, though.
Sorry for my awful english Arquebus. I meant bump-start (just let it roll downhill shift second gear and release clutch, same you would do with a car.)... Is a true 94, but I suppose she has been on the track. Frame registration number grants it is from 94 and the original frame color is faded gold like the rims, but it was painted red,... and the white,.. (i belive if i continue scratching layers of paint I will find some ancient ruins of lost civilizations.. :Smuggrin Frame, rims, and some other parts will be sent to powder coating when dissasembled Fairing is a cheap fiber racing replica and front blinkers were bolted on to it quite quickly. (they arent even symmetrical) All this will be repaired with time.
LOL !! My wife was following me in her car with a power starter, clamps, and a jerry can of gas... Luck it ran out of fuel some 50 meters downhill from a gas station anyhow. She woul not have pushed the bike a single inch.
It's worth getting an actual book. You can get on-line versions ofthe Ducati work-shop manual but it tends to assume you are a mechanic and are also in quite strange English, unless you speak Italian. There is probably a link to one on this forum. I think i have a digital copy if not. The Ducatisuite site is a useful resource for maintenance and modifications, even though it's based on a Monster. Your English is remarkably good.
Oh and check the frame for cracks in front of the tank where the top rails meet the headstock but at the ends of the welded in gusset/brace. Cracking there is very common! If you don't have cracks, a guy on this forum sells a brace to support the rails and reduce the flexing - a very worthwhile investment to stop you getting cracks. At one time, Ducati would supply replacement/exchange frames free of charge but not now - I think I may have had the last one. I used to check for cracks every time i rode it - one day they were there,,,
MUCHAS GRACIAS SEÑOR!! Thanks for your patience. After reading the thread in this forum talking about frame cracks, I made a thorough revsion of mine and it seems to be clean. I will look for the supporting brace seller, as it seems to be a good idea. anyhow it had a broken dowel on the subframe that supports the instruments and light (we call that the "spider" in Spain) see the picture I'tll try to weld it next weekend and also to reinforce the mirror mounts with and added dowel (as per the thread)
