My bike's getting in a right state. Surface corrosion on the frame, tatty engine, bolloxed fork exterior where the cable has rubbed. Fairings with bits of filler. Signs of corrosion on the wheels. Rev counter that's never worked due to worm issues. Rattling and jerking all over the shop. But I can't part with it. How much would it cost to turn it into this?
Give me a couple of months and £750 for parts and materials. That worm drive complete kit has rocketed in price since I did mine - then, it was £45 plus the cost of bearings, oil seal and gaskets.
If @Arquebus does get hold of it, you may end up getting something looking close to as good as this - http://ducatiforum.co.uk/threads/1997-750-supersport.40043/ definitely somebody who can sort a ss into excellent condition Pete
The worm drive is over 100 quid from Ducati, I managed to get a NOS one on ebay recently as a spare as they get worn. I may have another spare used one I may let go....
i'm going Aprilia this year, I'm afraid. A late RSV with Ohlins front and rear, no more engine paint flaking off.
That is lovely :hearteyes: (The bike not the fence). Used to have an Aprilia and if all the niggles have been sorted out they're great bikes.
I've been thinking of selling it for 2 years now to make some room - it's my least valuable bike but near the best looking so it's difficult
Thanks for your very kind offer Al. I know you would do a great job, and I know your knowledge of these bikes is second to none. It was something I was hoping to do myself, but I'll have a serious think.
My advice is to decide from the outset what you aim to achieve. If you are just after a running bike and are prepared to put up with niggles like scruffy paintwork and worn cables then it can be done quite cheaply. If you are after a bike that should be good for 10 years with minimal running problems then budget 2.5k. That's allowing for engine rebuild, rebuild suspension,wheel bearings,cables, chain and sprockets, reg/rec, POR15 in tank. And that's with you doing all the work. You can add a few hundred quid onto that for paintwork depending on what state it's in. Then there's tyres. Or you can go the whole hog and get the thing looking like new. Replace/repair any thing that doesn't look new like faded fasteners, worn peg rubbers anodise the ally components etc. I started out aiming for option one, halfway through the job decided option 2 was better, then a while later got really fussy and ended up with bike looking like new. I didn't waste much money by not having a clear goal at the outset, but I did waste a lot of time by doing jobs twice. I did most of the donkey work myself like stripping and refitting but some of the more technical jobs were farmed out,such as suspension and engine rebuild. Total bill for my little tidy up was around 4k plus about 100 hours of my time.
