And this was what i bought as a miss sell, had no idea had been sat around for years and years. It slipped on hardly any lean on the first corner I cruised through. Did my research AFTER I bought the bike. I just fell in love when I saw it. Bottom line was there were a raft a recall work that needed sorting and the dealer wanted nothing to do with it. Thankfully the importer of laverda 3x motorcycles were superb and took the bike in for a week and totality ugraded her for me ( engine mods, new clip ons and and all sorts of stuff) shame they were nearly 200 miles away and cost me a train ride whilst they fixed her.
Still, even though I had problems I did get hooked on laverda and sold the 650 to buy one if these ( not my actual bike)
Kind of miss my SS, just felt a bit slow when group riding with some of the Ducati sporting club guys so bought a 999
The Sport and the SS are the same mechanically, they just differ in equipment levels, the Sport has a steel swingarm, not alloy, 3 spoke wheels not lightweight 5 spokes, non adjustable Marzocchi front shocks, not fully adjustable Showa's, a Sachs rear shock not an Ohlins, possibly-not Goldline brakes? There may be some other differences but I can't recall them at present. All engine/g-box parts are the same. The lever on the left handlebar is NOT a choke, it is a fast idle lever, the ECU measures engine and ambient temp and pressure and adjusts fuel mixture accordingly by using a stored preset of values in its memory, an Open loop fuel injection system. HTH.
If paperwork says 2011 and it was first registered and used in 2011 you would have a hard job claiming it was mis sold however if paperwork claims its a SS and its only a S then you have an open and shut case for misrepresentation had grief with DVLA a few years ago importing a harley, DVLA changed model spec on paperwork from XLCR to XL, those two letters make a difference of about £10000 in value, had a several month battle with DVLA clowns to get it sorted the bike is clearly a s model, you need to get a professional valuation of teh differencfe in value between than an a SS model and claim compensation for the difference
Don't quite understand that still, as if what you're saying is true the bike should start no problem without using the 'fast idle lever' as the ECU should provide more fuel to the engine when it is cold. The bike however DOES NOT START without cranking this lever to the max when cold, It reacts just as a choke, when Cold this has to be cranked, leave bike till the rpm's go to about 4k idling, then lower the lever to min which puts the bike at 1.5k rpm and does not shut off on it's own? how could this be if the ECU controls the fuel level?? Why does the bike not start when cold without using this lever?
They also show up idiot bike journos, who make comments like "the system still needs a choke for cold starts", not realising the thing on the handlebars that used to be a choke lever is now just a fast idle lever. This is just a mechanical way of holding the throttle open a little more than the usual idle setting to raise the idle when the engine is cold. A few of the BMW models – F650GS/CS, K1200 and R850/1200C use a ECU controlled throttle stop stepper motor to do this fast idle bit automatically, giving the rider one less thing to think about (but also taking control of the idle out of the rider’s and technician’s hands). So, let’s start with a "map" to see what’s there. The map contains the info the control software uses to tell the injectors how long to open for, and the ignition circuit when to fire the spark plugs. The ECU itself is just a little, specialised control system computer, totally unaware that it is making a motorcycle go vroom vroom. The map is different for each bike model – capacity, state of tune, etc, whereas the same ECU can be used, with the appropriate map, in any bike (or car, truck, boat, etc) designed to work with it. I just looked this up So from a girly view the fast idle let's in a little more fuel to help on cold days so everything ticks over easier. It injects a bit more fuel to burn Where with a carby you have to think for it by controlling the choke from start up to idling without stalling
Chokes....Stranglers.....Fast Idle.............I remember my Guzzi, one whack of the throttle when cold and it would start just like that....Pumper Dellortos, brilliant...... .....even better was the 50's 500 Enfield Bullet.......I used to tape a piece of cardboard three quarters across the Amal carb bellmouth....that was enough to get it running, and then ripped the cardboard off..... Whether its a choke, fast idle, or a dollop of extra petrol, it's just to get the engine started. AL.
Aww Al the guy doesn't really know help him out a bit... Put it in terms he can understand I tried lol For me carby means you control the fuel to start and then close down so it idles without stalling Fuel injected is automatic but unlike a car needs some help with the fast idle to add extra fuel on cold days I'm I on the right lines
Here's the spec for the Ducati Supersport 900S from Ducati's website. Unfortunately there's no picture but it should look like this;
Thank you Ducbird, I understand that bit, just never seen that before, any yamaha, honda, suzuki, bikes that I've seen 2000 and up injected, have not had a 'fast idle lever' the injection was controlled solemnly on it's own and didn't have to be 'helped' I guess the italians like to be 'special'. Thanks for the explaining. I guess my question was more so 'why' rather than 'how does it work', as compared to other brands / bikes I've seen.
Some stuff here you find interesting. Ps when did last have a belt change? http://www.ducati-upnorth.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-3799.html
I have receipts for the maintenances done, I can see that the timings belts were last done in June 2012, I'm assuming don't need to do them for a while? That's also when the last oil change/filter and such were done.
Concensus is every two years for the belts, though you can get the tension checked periodically if you're worried. More to the point, have you been out and about riding the thing? Enjoying it?
I'm really enjoying the bike, in the last 3 months of owning it I've done 3.5k miles. It's a really nice ride, I do find the first gear too long though, and second comes in too late.... i've been reading, found the default for my bike is a 15 front 37 back teeth on the gearing sprockets, I've read people usually change the back to 39 give it more push / acceleration, sacrifice a little top speed, but when do you ever go 150 mph... i did get it to 135 once, it was really surprisingly steady... but it's not worth getting caught, so im thinking of changing the back sprocket to 39 tooth, people also say change the front instead to a 14, as you will not have to change the chain for al0onger one,, dont know worried about wearing out chain / sprocket fast if the front is too small... I'm ordering some NGK spark plugs and a K&N air filter, maybe some pipes in the future, if i get the cash I will replace the ECU with a performance one, not going to do much more than that it's a nice ride the way it is
Excellent - these bikes are pretty nice as standard, aren't they? I'm trying to keep mostly mine that way.. One thing even the journalists did when the (previous model) bike was on test in the '90s was swap out the sprockets, for the very reason you've found. It's a common mod. I have a 14T front sprocket on my bike, as that's what the shop had in stock at the time, but would happily go up at the rear sprocket instead next time it needs changing.
