Hi, I have just (June 2015) acquired a 'barn find' 1991 all original 900ss. It has been stood since 2000 (15 Years). During this time, a battery leaked acid all over it. I have plans to restore it in time for April 2016. I'm going for 'as original'. I like the idea of a smart engine mostly hidden by the fairing. Here are the 'sold as seen' pictures for now. With fairing Left and naked close up on engine <edit>a long way from something nice - This is how it ended up </edit> With fairing Right and naked lots of nice elephants all over That's it for now. Any advice, experience, or warnings gratefully received! This is my first attempt at anything like this. <edit> I realize these pictures don't show how bad it really was - I have added more</edit>
I had a 1991 white frame just like it, I wonder if it is my old one ? Do you mind me asking if the reg is anything like H781 *** ? It was a great bike, the only complaint I had was the carb icing in the cold weather, apart from that all lovely. I cant help with rebuild advice as I`m marginally less competent mechanically than a tortoise but good luck !
Hi Dukesox - the original owner was a Mr Cain, purchased in October 1991. It is on a J plate. Thx for the moral support!
Wolfram, I remember how exited I felt when I got my 92 J plate black wheels. 3 years later the frustration is starting to creep in but to be fair it's my own fault it's still in bits, I pi$$ about too much. I think once you start stripping and cleaning a few bits it won't look so bad. Looking to keep mine original. If I can help in any way just let me know. Cheers Gaz
Good luck with that, they do look great white frame and white wheels. Just finished a tidy up on my 750ss. Take lots of pictures as you take it to bits, freezer bags and a felt tip for parts also leave notes of what they are in the bag too. Be especially mindful for cable and pipe routes, which are tricky to work out months later.
Agree, bags, felt tip (biro), pictures, boxes and more pictures, especially of wiring route as said (so I can use them), write on where bits go, brief description and sketch if needed because months could turn into years. Cheers Gaz
With the current ease with which you can take a photo with a phone now, I always make sure I snap away from as many angles as possible with good lighting before dismantling. This method has proved invaluable for me when it comes to re-routing all the cable and control runs around the headstock
thats a great looking machine, so jealous of it, would have looked great in my garage, gone well with my 750 and 400. As for photos, if you do miss or lose any I'm sure one of us Will be more than happy to assist you with anything you need. Is the engine seized? Both of mine had been stood for a number of years and both were fine.
Here's some inspiration from the upnorth forum image | Explore Lindsay fae Angus' photos on Flickr. Lindsay… | Flickr - Photo Sharing! And the restoration thread Project Superspurt
Hi Wolfram, I'm nearly in the same state as you are restoring my 94 750SS. 750 Ss Restoration In Spain | Ducati Forum I will follow your thread so that we can exchange tips Good luck with that lady.
thanks for the messages, I've been working on the garage. Putting some shelves up to put all the bits on.
I'm a purist when it comes to the early bike, and would leave the engine colours STD. Make sure you change the belts before you turn the engine over, just got a pair of belts from a very nice man on the forum, surprised he hasn't said any thing yet!!
I think I'll change my name to 'hamfist'. The current breakage list includes: 1) wrung out 2x horizontal cylinder cam cover bolts (despite the other two coming out good with evident copper grease on them) 2) hacksawed the lower right-left fairing connector bracket in half, as I could NOT hold tight the 'captured' smooth 'nut' encased in rubber. I also cut the rubber off both to try and get a purchase - no good. So - i'll need a technique for this, as there are some holding the rear bodywork - any ideas? 3) broke the clip holding the tank hinge bracket pin in. 4) 'broke' the fuel delivery spigot. I say broke, it basically fell apart when I hinged the tank back 'too far'. left the spigot in the pipe. will want to replace with a stronger alternative! 5) sheared off left side top front mudguard bolt Also going to need a new battery box... anyone have any tips for replacements? I might do something like this instead - SS 900 carby battery box - Ducati.ms - The Ultimate Ducati Forum Still undecided about how stock to keep it.
Hi Phil, the aged rubber wellnuts can be problematic, the internal brass ferrule breaks free & spins uselessly, if you can gain access to the rear portion with small molegrips sometimes it's possible to gain purchase. Nice garage! no shortage of headroom there. Carry on the good fight. WAH
I went through the same exercise with my 91 900ss. I bought mine 3 years ago and spent a year sorting it out. The best advice I can give is to decide right at the start what you are trying to achieve. I bought my bike with a years mot and it sort of ran. My goal was to have a white frame/white wheel model in reasonable nick for not too much money. I set about cleaning it, posted some pics on here and got good advice. I just kept taking bits off to clean and I ended up doing a full restoration. Each part that I cleaned/replaced/painted made the part next to it look crap so that would then need sorting out. I would have been better off just stripping in entirely to start with. About half way through the job I changed my goal and decided that what I wanted to finish up with was a well sorted bike, back to original condition, good enough to last me 10 years or so, in essence a brand new 1991 900SS. Including purchasing the bike I reckon my little project cost me around 6k. It's cost me less than a new bike and although it's not worth 6k on the open market, it's worth every penny to me. She's a beauty and I know what's been done to it so it should be reliable. There's an incentive to keep it tidy too so in years to come it should be an appreciating asset. The best bit though was just doing it. I got so much enjoyment and satisfaction. Worth every penny. Moto Rapido were great for spares. Many parts are still available but be aware that there are some bits on the 91 that are no longer available and 92 parts are different. Louigi Moto rebuilt my motor and were a goldmine for little bits and bobs. Rich is a good mate of mine and he let me rummage through his stores where I managed to find all sorts of no longer available parts that you'll need if you're going to get really picky about keeping it original. I'll follow your rebuild with interest and chip in where I can with advice.
Ahhh! I discover the technique on the LAST ONE The hole in the frame tang is big enough for the brass ferrule to pass through - so no need to undo them, just use a punch on the rear of the bolt and the rubber pops through the hole!
OK, This is the next stage photoshoot - just prior to the removal of the wiring loom. I'm going to extract the wiring loom next. I'm thinking once i have done that I will remove the carbs and exhaust. I'm going to fit blanking plates to the inlets and then pressure wash. Any tips on where to buy blanking plates and bungs? For those of you who want to print out the English portion of the 1991-1996 Ducati 750ss 900ss Service Repair Manual (the 334 page one), I have made a list of just these pages. Here they are: 1, 3, 7, 9, 10, 16, 17, 18, 19, 32, 34, 38, 39, 43, 44, 51, 54, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 210, 211, 213, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 244, 246, 247, 249, 250, 252, 256, 257, 259, 260, 261, 263, 265, 268, 272, 273, 277, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 286, 288, 291, 293, 294, 297, 302, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 313, 316, 317, 324, 327, and 328 *hangs head in shame*
