I have a 1990 I bought new, need new motor though will be a retirement project, ideally a 1100 evo motor...
Been away for work for a while. I am back home now and was able to continue with the project. Let’s catch up, shall we ? First, I was able to get the fuel tanks done. All filters and pre-filters replaced by new ones and finally only one fuel pump needed to be replaced. Fuel delivery shouldn’t be an issue on these two.
With the front end out of the way, I decided to check on the Chosen One’s (#0054) steering bearings. The locking screw of top nut used to adjust the bearings play was over torque at some point and the nut was destroyed. I was lucky enough to very quickly source an OEM NOS replacement. With all those marks I decided to replace everything: bearings, tracks, dust seals. The lower bearing was a bear (no pun intended) to remove. I had to grind it bit by bit… Putting the new one in was much easier after having the lower triple spend a night in the freezer and the new bearing 10 minutes in the oven. Looking and feeling all nice and new now.
Next I decided to look into the belts. As you must have already understood, I now mostly work on #0054. I will get back on to #1282, with new belts, when I will be ready to sell it. So here’s what I found under the belt covers of #0054. Belts themselves looked okay, but overall not very impressed, very dusty and some surface rust. Again, I decided to replace all the pulleys by some brand new ones and associated hardware. And a lot of elbow grease, of course (mostly WD40). That went well until the horizontal cylinder fixed pulley decided to act up on me. That son of a b*%$ snapped when I tried to unscrew it… Well, sorting this one out took extra careful drilling (starting with a 2mm drill bit and then moving up in sizes) and the use of a helicoil. But it worked perfectly. I’d be lying if I said this was not a stressful experience as it was my first using this type of tool. But in the end, it came up really well. Beginner’s luck?
I am also getting ready to check/adjust the valve lash on this baby. Valve covers are with their weird OEM mustard yellow paint. I think it looks good on a black engine, though. With only 12.000km, the valves have probably just been able to sit and now is a great time to do this. I ordered everything I will need from LT Snyder (who does ship again to Europe with UPS) and decided to give a try to the MBP retainers. I perfectly understand these may be overkill on this bike which I intend to use as a weekend cruiser, but I wanted to try them out of curiosity and because it should help space valve adjustment pretty significantly. These Supersport are a serious pain in the butt, as you have to remove the rear shock to access the vertical exhaust valve cover…
Something I have not mentioned yet. Keys woes … These bikes come stock with two keys: - 1 for the ignition - 1 for the saddle + helmet hanger locks. #0054 came with only one key (ignition). #1282 came with two keys but the saddle key decided to snap on me the first time I tried to use it… I found a good locksmith near us who was able to successfully duplicate that broken key, allowing me to finally open and remove #1282’s saddle and to study and find a way to open these saddles without a key. When I was finally able to open #0054 saddle without a key, there was a nice surprise waiting there for me: a perfectly well preserved tool kit! No tools missing, and even a couple extras!! Once again, I was able to source an OEM NOS lock/latch mechanism with two brand new keys and everything is now back to nice looking and functional. I decided to celebrate this little victory with a nice key ring. Impossible to find anything « Ducati/Cagiva » era, so I went with Cagiva only. Still works for me!
Removing that saddle was a great step as it finally opened the way to the rear of the bike. Saddle undercarriage needed a bit of TLC. Very dusty under there as well, but in it’s original configuration.
I was then able to get to the rear wheel, shock and swing arm. The swing arm is a beautiful piece of aluminum designed by Verlicchi. With it out, I was able to check for cracks in the usual places (L & R pivots + shock upper mount). Nothing to report. Once cleaned, that thing looks brand new.
The rear shock is a Marzocchi PBS1R. It’s been sent to get professionally reconditioned. In the meantime, I took care of the wheels. Both adorned with 20+ years old tires, that still looked like new (Pirelli Dragon in the rear and Michelin Macadam in the front). Unfortunately, these had to go. I love the sculpture of the Pirelli Dragon GTS. Beautiful, imho. These have now been replaced by a brand new pair of Pirelli Angel GTs. I also cleaned the discs and replaced all 6 rear wheel rubber cush drives. The chain was super stiff and I decided to replace it along with the sprockets. I will stick with OEM 15/39 and 520.
On the electric side of things, I wanted to test Motoelectric starter cables upgrade kit. They seem to have experience with the late 80’s Ducatis (750 Sport, F1, Pasos, 900SS) and their kit is really awesome. But costly, especially once you factor in shipping and customs from the US… Check the difference between OEM and upgraded wires in the second pic. I am really happy with this mod. With a brand new lithium LiPoFe4 battery (SHIDO LB16AL-A2) and Mosfet r/r from Carmo, I shouldn’t have starting or charging problems and touring this bike around France should be delightful. At this stage, not much is left on the frame, which allows deep cleaning of both frame and engine. No intent to remove/repaint the engine this time round. I like the way it looks as is. For now anyways. More to follow with clutches, valve train, etc. Stay tuned!
Well I started late march and didn’t post regularly, more like by bursts, so that’s probably a false impression.
I do like the braided finish on the starter cables. Been trying to look the company up but i keep getting a warning about their site not safe don't open? have you had any problems.
Absolutely no problems with their website. It’s just a bit old fashioned with tons of reading and info cramed into each page. It could use a bit of « user friendliness », I think. https://motolectric.com/products/hicap.detail.html
Thanks for the link. Im still getting -This connection is not private and there website certificate expired nine days ago- warning don't open, Will try another time Edit, found them on ebay.
I used this URL link, which appears to be the same as that above: https://motolectric.com/products/hicap.detail.html ; and 4 browsers gave a range of messages querying the security of the site certificate, possibly having expired 10 days ago! Apparently the website owner needs to address this, to prevent the warnings and allow secure access. Hope it's sorted soon. Tom.
Worked on the valve lash adjustment yesterday. I put the MBP collets on, which are truly a blast to work with. Aiming at 0.10/<0.05, I managed 0.11/0.04 on both cylinders admission. To get the same on exhaust, I unfortunately have to order two intermediate opening shims. Hopefully, I should get them by the end of next week.
