Same here. In the past I was cash rich, time poor and the London Ducati dealers got paid. No I’m time rich and my nearest Ducati dealer is 350+ km away and the only one in Rep of Eire. So now I do it all myself, thanks mainly to this forum. Keep up the good work
Engine and frame reunited. Treated her to a new ohlin rear shock. With the mileage probably worth more than complete bike. Dry build so far including harness etc
Finished and running fine. Off to mates dyno next for tweaking and optimising A/F. Even treated her to a custom set of stainless footrest hanger bolts and spacers using my wee cnc model maker lathe. Had access to a surface grinder, dividing head and some Carbon. Machined a hex carbon electrode for an ancient spark eroder and after many hours completed all hex fixings. Had to repair clocks and with very little available regarding schematics I had to trace circuit which took a while. Anyway got there on the end. Now onto finishing 1098.
Definitely! Purchased a full polishing set and cerakote lacquer and have great fun with it. With titanium slip Ons and stainless pipes I really thought about getting stuck in but I’m not too keen on mirror polished pipes. It’s a motorbike for use in all weathers and my main aim is to minimise corrosion effects using stainless of different grades depending on tensile requirements.
Once you have polished them the pipes are much easier to keep clean. They will discolour to a bronze shade with heat but it is easily removed.
For the down pipes yes but then don’t match with the titanium slip ons that don’t really polish up that great and look much better with the original sheen. Originally I had the downpipes polished but after the first winter commuting in slush laced with salt and impossible to dry bike left sitting at work all day on street etc looked worse than original. They’ve been on the bike since new and covered the full 150k as you know and through many winters and have stayed really good. Surface rust On downpipes i remove with some 600grit which brings them up a treat with a dull finish. The slip ons are pretty much the same as delivered 14 years ago.
Since my rebuild my monster has been running great but I’ve been trying to sort out a very small oil leak. I tiny amount of oil was forming on the right hand side of the engine on the vertical cylinder just behind the belt cover at the base of the barrel. Initially I thought it was the base gasket and re torqued the vertical head. The leak persisted and on further investigation it turned out the small amount of oil was coming from the vertical cam seal ring behind the pulley and gradually working its way down the head and forming at the bottom. It was a new seal but decided to replace anyway and initially all seemed fine. After about 30 miles the leak returned which really pissed me off. Anyway I’ve now covered some 3k miles with this tiny leak but decided to investigate again. Turns out my cam has developed a grove which I initially thought must have always been there. Has a depth of 0.02mm and lines up perfectly with the seal. After searching forums on machinery with lip seals it’s a common problem. To rectify the problem without buying a new cam I’ll manufacture a spacer in order to position the seal some 1.5mm from its normal position and ensure when driven home will sit perpendicular to the shaft. Some extracts I’ve copied and pasted. A reason to keep your oil clean and any ingress of dirt through the outer dust seal. With my mileage it’s not something I’ve ever considered. The same would apply to a dust seal on a wheel which picks up all sorts of debris and will cut a groove in the shaft. Found this on a machinery forum. If you’ve ever pulled out a lip seal and seen a groove cut into your shaft, this is probably due to particle contamination. Without good breathers, all the dust and dirt that gets into your equipment can destroy not only your bearings and gears but also your shafts and lip seals. Of course, it is always better to exclude contaminants than to try to remove them. Too tight of a fit between the lip seal and the shaft can also create a groove. If you have a used shaft, it likely has developed a wear ring where the old lip seal was placed. You should never set the contact patch to a previous contact point. If this is unavoidable, there are products that you can slip over the shaft to help with the damaged surfaces. This is usually quicker and more cost effective than replacing a shaft. Keep in mind that the lip seal will need to be resized for the added sleeve. Here’s a pic of cam with ring. You can easily see the oil retaining spring loaded lip ring and a faint outer dust seal ring. Initially I thought there’s no way a rubber seal can grove a hardened shaft but I forgot about contamination which basically acts a grinding paste. Makes sense now. Ducati don’t mention using a different contact patch but then again I don’t think Ducati equip themselves for high mileage bikes.
That's really useful information Geoff. Like you say, it's something that's easily overlooked and when I think about I've definitely seen shafts with wear rings in the past. Not seen it on a Ducati yet, or maybe I just didn't notice
Saw this quite often on cars back in the 70s/80s on front pulley oil seals where the crap old mineral oil would load up with carbon deposits and problems could occur at relatively low mileages - 40k. Used to just fit the seal so it ran on a different area and was all good for a few more thousand by which time the the whole engine was usually knackered anyway.
Well here’s my spacer. I’ve included my cad drawing with dimensions 34.90mm OD, 33.10mm ID and thickness 1.6mm. Turned from 1.60mm stainless plate I had lying around. My CNC lathe is too small to bore and part of from solid bar. I basically use a 40mm hole saw to get the round disk from plate. Machine and mount onto a mandrel and machine outer dimension to size. I then mount the finished OD disk on lathe and bore to ID size. Takes more time but works for me. Basically moves the lip seal 1.6mm closer to the outer face and seats on a new untouched bit of shaft.
With the new seal spaced some 1.6mm forward and using a depth gauge now sits 1.4mm recessed from front face. All built back up and so far so good with no apparent leaks after some 20 miles. Here’s a picture of new seal installed.
Thanks for that. She’s now running great probably better than new. Fires into life on the first press, smooth throughout the Rev range, smooth even in traffic at low speeds and at last ticks over without a change in beat at 1k. Probably spoke to soon but here’s hoping she continues for many more miles.
