Really sweet didn't know that lol, can you tell I have never owned a Duc before. Should I look at changing the disks then? You have got one peachy bike, any advise you can give?
Jim, orginally the bike would have the snow flake discs as on the two bikes above. The floating brembo discs were fitted on the 888 sps, 748 sps and the foggy reps. I would leave them on. As they are fully floating you will notice they rattle, they are also iron so rust if not used. To add to the list of checks would be the clutch, sprag bearing, ohlins fork seals as they all wear out sir...
Watch out for the centres of those discs wearing. They will have side-to-side movement but should have no or little radial (forward to backwards) movement. Thet look like late 998s/r calipers, as they are gold, not silver, as fitted to the 749/999 models. Keep an eye on rocker flaking and flywheel nut torque. Looks a cracking bike you have got.
Sounds and looks like you have a superb bike there ! All i can say is that come a nice dry day you will just love it ,the sound is wonderful ! Have good time. !
This could be a dumb-ass question but, is there a trick to starting these beast's? The dealer said they can be a bit of a pain, I flattened the battery trying to start it yesterday. He said not to give it anythrottle and when it starts to first give it a little bit, when she's going press in the fast idle/cold start button. The manual says to press in the button and then try to start it. I did get it going eventually but, even so what a mission turns over like a hippo rolling. Am i doing something wrong?
Battery needs to be in tip top condition, (its not really big enough) check that the connections to battery, solenoid, starter motor and earth are all clean and tight and you should be OK. No throttle is usually the expert advice given, but I always give the grip one twist and let go, then hit the starter and be ready to engage the fast idle button when it fires up. I believe the later 996s have a different gear ratio on the starter pinion and gear to make things a bit easier, starting the 916SPS is definitely an acquired art, and expect to be buying a sprag clutch or two - which is not a cheap hobby - if you keep trying to start it with poor battery and connections. Then warm it up gently, find a nice empty stretch of twisty road and ENJOY.
With a good battery, starter motor, wiring and sprag bearing it should be fine. Been through all of them on mine. The starter motor you can rebuild with new brushes. The sprag bearing wears out, the charging wiring is marginal (check the three way connector on the rectifier) and also check all the wiring from the battery through the solinoid and of course the battery and should be OK. Assuming the rest of the eng is OK should fire up.
cheers guys. Assuming that I will need a sprag clutch as some point, wheres the best place to get parts from?
You'll know when Mr Sprag fails as the starter motor will just whiz around without engaging the starter cogs... I know this...:frown: I mostly use Moto Rapido for my spares.
If you need all the bits then ducati dealer or suitably recommended independant is your source. There has been mention of some KTM parts being the same, and cheaper, but I'm not enough of an engineer to advise that route. If you need to replace the sprag and associated bits IT WILL NOT BE CHEAP, but you can't have Ferrari performance and expect to pay Vauxhall prices.
Is they bike not covered by warranty? I only got it a couple of weeks ago... surely if it's the sprag then the dealer should sort it out?
Yeah its got warrenty. It's not gone yet, the guy said they were known for being tricky to start I just didn't think that it would be quite so tricky. I guess the fact that it was only about 5 degrees outside at the time didn't help much.
This is why many owners keep them on an Optimate (or similar) charger, so that the battery always has max power on startup. I left my 916 off the charger for a few weeks last year and when I wanted to ride it, it would (slowly) turn over but didn't have enough power to fire up. I've since bought a new battery but it pays to keep it in tip-top charge, and don't try to use a lightweight battery you do need that reserve for starting.
DD is correct. Decent battery and tender... If in doubt read the Hyanes manual section on charging circuit to make sure the bugger is charging ok.
You may consider putting an Odyssey battery on her. They are very heavy and not quite the same size, so you have to hack the battery tray a bit and use tie zips. I have one on my ST4s and not had starting issues ever. For your SPS, keep the mods as little as possible. The SPS are gaining in value at the moment as long as they are kept original. Guys that go with Ergal coloured after market parts make them look like Christmas trees and totally ruin the look. Discreet things work well like others said. 4 pad calipers (in gold), possibly earlier cast iron floatting discs (though the rust is a pain in winter), rear sets (as standard ones are slippery), carbon fiber airtubes as the standard ones are just naff. I always change my Ducatis to reverse shift as well. Makes so much more sense, I have ridden reverse shift over 10 years now and never looked back. Don't touch any of the rest. I had a full carbon SPS with race forks, mag yokes, etc. and to be honest it looked better left original. For tyres, I had original Michelins that were just sh1te. Get yourself something else. Modern Michelins are actually really good (got those on my ST4s). I prefer the 180 rear section on those bikes though now you can get different profile 190 sections that may be worth a try. Keep the SPS as is, ride it, get yourself another project if the customisation gremlins are really after you. For servicing, just get the mechanic to pull the cams and check the rockers at every service. Cams are sharp, dig into the rockers which flake easily. No matter if you do not do many miles, ... if fact even worse if you don't because oil runs out of the heads and rockers take a beating in the first few min of running. Also important to let the bike warm up to the 70C until you push it.
C'mon Phil its a motorbike not a Picasso, it should be ridden hard and put away wet. And if its covered in tat, who cares as long as the owner is happy :biggrin::biggrin:
