So the big day came my daughter armed with an iphone and my dad armed with a fire extinguisher, time to press the start button. YYEEESSSS it started but instantly dumped fresh engine oil on the floor as soon as the oil pressure increased. My daughter thought it was funny anyway. On closer inspection it turned out to be the oil cooler, looked like I had probably fractured it myself, fitting the oil pipes. (muppet!!). Could have been worse, and a replacement was soon sourced, happy days.
With the new oil cooler fitted it was time to dress her up for the first time and get an MOT. First time pass with no advisories WooHoo !!!! Just a quiet word of advise from the chap at the test centre ." your headlight is S**t !! They are all S**t " "I wouldn't take it out at night unless you've eaten a whole sack of carrots". He has got a point I've replaced the bulb , split the headlight and cleaned the refleactor and polished all the internes and its still S**t. But how good does she look ? and now I can take her out and show her off. The following weekend was the first trip out with pals. I would go in front just in case, followed by 3 mates who had been very complimentary about my handywork when we met at the petrol station. I was having a blast I could hardly believe how lovely she was to ride,. Almost 30 years old to the day and as much fun in the twisties as my 899. As we came into the next set of 30's Mark passed me on his ST2 and flagged me down. "Mate..... I can smell engine oil from 2 miles back " .My heart sank a little, I stuck my finger in the exhaust and it came out black with oil. I was beginning to regret not dropping the pistons from the bores and checking the ring gaps. Time to limp home.
So what now ? The heads had been rebuilt with new valve stem oil seals, so it had to be the rings. Out with the engine again then, much easier the second time. I priced a Ducati ring set but it made more sense to go for the JE High Compression Pistons which were cheaper than the Ducati rings (only) to fit the original pistons. Stripped and back together in no time. Time for a gentle run out . A trip to Yorkshire to meet a like minded friend of mine, James and his SS Great roads, friends, bacon,Ducatis, whats not to love ? 200 miles ,almost without a hiccup. I say almost, the carbs are cause for concern at this point. The fuelling is good generally but close the throttle fully and she will stall and man can she backfire on overrun, enough to make small children cry and scare the birds from the trees
The carbs were a bit of a mess when I bought the bike, some standard jetting, some dynojet parts, K&N air filter etc . So I had replaced everthing with a standard Keyster jetting kit and standard air filter. I cleaned and scrubbed everthing with carb cleaner and re assembled. This was a mistake, I clearly hadn't been able to clean them properly which was my issue now. I removed them again and without separating them had them ultrasonically cleaned. Having them cleaned properly, reassembled, and the air/fuel screws set 3 turns out has cured all the problems I was having. My final issue to resolve was usual laboured/lazy starting. Lots of people seem to have made their own cables but I decided to splash the cash on a set of Exact_Fit starter cables which I fitted this weekend. They have made a significant difference, it no longer sounds like the battery is about to give up and starts first time. All in all this has been a great experience which has made a crap year more bearable. I will do it again, maybe a 748 next time
