Evening all Just signed up yesterday from the island of Jersey (NOT New Jersey!) as I was after some advice on some gauges I bought, but will hopefully get involved in a few discussions in due course - I've been lurking for a long time now! I've had a 2004 Monster 620ie for a few years now and love it! I never used to like naked bikes and was considering a Honda CBR600F or a VFR until around the time I got married 3 years ago, when, coincidentally, my budget became non-existent! I picked up the Monster fairly cheap as it had been sitting around outside for a couple of years, and it wasn't long before the mods started! First up was a tail chop, LED rear light and indicators, sprayed satin black belt covers and a good clean and rebuild of the back end which was filthy. Over the next couple of years I fitted some stainless fasteners, a fibreglass belly pan (birthday pressie from the wife!), reflective rim stripes, a pair of MIVV slip-ons I got cheap from the Netherlands, MFactory levers and folding bar-end mirrors, white number panels on the seat cowl, and I removed the bar risers and fitted some new bars. Then the problems started First I had starter problems, usually solved by hitting the starter motor with a spanner! A month or two later my gauges started flickering and I had more problems getting the bike started, then one day the regulator/rectifier started billowing smoke from under the seat, so I decided some more drastic work was needed! 9 months later and it's all back together having been stripped to the frame and forks for a mostly DIY restoration. It was only supposed to take a month or two, but I'm a bit of a perfectionist... The paint on the engine and covers was 75% missing and, where present, badly peeled, so I had the heads and barrels removed and got the whole lot soda blasted after a long tedious masking job. After an even longer, more tedious masking job and a few coats of various silver, black and gun metal paints, along with new CA Cycleworks belts and gaskets, an SSR crankcase breather to replace the broken original, shims, new plugs, etc., the engine was sorted. The loom also needed repairing, as the main +ve wire to the instruments looked like it had been cut right where it goes around the head tube and was only held together by a sliver of insulation! I also cleaned up the exhaust, replaced various nuts and bolts with copper plated or stainless ones, painted corroded brackets and mountings, painted the rearsets, fitted a new MOSFET regulator/rectifier, re-routed a load of wiring, got the belt covers and belly pan hydro dipped, then put it all back together and held my breath! Fortunately for me my spanner foo was strong, and the only tweak I needed was to remove a shim from the crank position sensor (due to the thicker cover gaskets) to sort the lumpy idle, which I'd been told to expect. I've since chopped down the hugger and changed the fuel pump (which died a few weeks back) and now just waiting for a free weekend to fit some fork mount DRL/indicator rings, a new LED headlight (using a MotoWheels adaptor in the existing bucket) and some heated grips! I signed up here for advice on using some Paul Smart gauges to replace my stockers, as the left-hand (speedo) lens has been broken since I bought the bike, which drives me mad! I've had no joy finding a replacement case, so it looks like replacing the gauges is the way to go. I picked up the Paul Smart's for very sensible money on eBay ages ago before I knew about the ECU pairing issues, and would much rather be looking at those than the boring grey originals anyway! Hopefully it'll mostly be done before mid-October when my first offspring is due, but realistically I don't think it'll ever be really done! Not sure you can link directly to FB album images, so here's a link to an album with some before and after pictures: 2004 Ducati Monster 620ie | Facebook Sorry for the long first post! Cheers, Mike
Welcome mikey Tell us about some of you trans-island road trips and the time you hit 49mph in the dead of night
Har-de-har-har! I was waiting for that! It's certainly no bikers paradise, but it makes up for it in other ways! For the most part the national 40mph speed limit makes a lot of sense as it's all twisty roads and lots of junctions, but there are plenty of places you can open the throttle a bit when it's quiet It also means I'm not too fussed about getting bigger bike, as the Monster 620 is a nice size for round here. Mike
I've been along the five mile road at plenty more than 49mph and most recently in a '60's Mustang [emoji51] Great island. I'm over there first week of Oct. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Nice! Are you over on the bike this time? I suspect my riding is going to be limited to the work run for a while come October, as our first child is due :grimacing:
I come over about 5 times a year for work. Have been doing for about 12 years now. I imported a bike from over there a couple of years back too.
Nice! Hope you have a good time. Actually, given you're flying Fly(may)be, I hope you get here! :tonguewink:
