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1993 900ss Superlight

Discussion in 'Supersport (1974-2007)' started by DesmoDog, Jun 26, 2022.

  1. I've been posting this story on a couple other forums but someone here asked about it, so why not. Keep in mind this is a USA bike/story. We only got the Superlight for one year - after '93 we got the "SP" which was basically a Superlight with a dual seat and low exhaust. So in the US the Superlight is a rather rare bike. I think they sent around 300 of them over here? And they were all yellow. I don't recall the last time I've seen one out in the wild, and I see a lot of Ducatis.

    How it started - In 1993 I was still paying off a 1991 907ie when the Superlight came out. When I saw one at my dealer I sat and stared for about half an hour, running the numbers in my head, but I just couldn't justify it. In hindsight I wish I had traded in my 907 on one but such is life. I ended up buying a 900ss/cr in '95 and it began my total infatuation with the brand, my non-Ducatis were sold off. I stayed loyal for 25 years, then slipped, but am now back to all Ducatis. Yep, I'm a fanboy. And I have a soft spot for this era Super Sport, this is my 4th one.

    Last summer I bought a well used (aka beat to crap) 900ss track bike and had been slowly putting it back into shape. My street bike was a Moto Guzzi V85tt that I had bought with the intention of doing some touring after I retired. Then I retired and realized I detest riding motorycles on freeways. I'm perfectly fine putting the bike on a trailer and dragging it across Nebraska to wherever it is I really want to be. And if I'm doing that... I don't need something like a V85tt. So in February I put a deposit down on a Streetfighter V2, and placed the Guzzi up for sale.

    The ad stated "no trades" but of course I still got trade offers. The first was from someone who wanted to trade numerous broken/not running not significant Japanese bikes and a broken snowmobile. WTF? The Guzzi was like new, under 3000 miles, and he was offering me literal trash. I STILL want to slap that moron. But then someone sent me an offer involving a Superlight that had been in hibernation for the past 20 years. I tried to turn it down, I really did. When I started writing the reply I had every intention of saying no. But it was a Superlight. As I was writing the reply I realized I had to have more info. The Superlight was a "bucket list" bike as my friend calls it. Was I going to pass up a chance once again? I was sure the thing was junk but ok, send me a few pictures at least.

    I'm leaving a lot out of the story, but the gist of it is one thing led to another and I ended up driving a couple hours to check out the bike. The owner wasn't local to me or the bike, so we decided I'd bring it home with me if I was interested, and when he got in town we'd either make the deal or he'd take it with him. The following pictures were all taken at my house so obviously I liked it. But come one, can you blame me?

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    Overall it was in great shape for having sat so long. And it had a few mods already. Some might see that as a bad thing, but I plan on riding it so braided lines plus stuff like this makes me smile. (For the less obsessed, those are aftermarket FCR flatslide carbs...)
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    The tail section has some small cracks but that's to be expected. Bracing from later bikes fits and keeps it from getting worse. The only real flaw is a cracked swingarm, but even that falls into the category of yeah, they do that.
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    The gas tank is spotless inside. No rust. The carbon fiber isn't cloudy. The rear fender wasn't even damaged when the huge/ugly license plate bracket was removed. Instead of drilling new holes in the fender for the plate like everyone did (me included), the plate was drilled so it could use the mounting holes from the bracket. And my magic drawer of old Ducati parts has two plate brackets in it.

    The owner came to town a couple weeks later and we made the trade. Time to start spending money/time on getting this back on the road. And time to sell my 851 - you can't keep them all.

    My wife was not so sure about my choices when she found out about the trade. She said "You traded a basically new motorcycle for a 20 year old Ducati?"

    To which I replied "No, I traded it for a _30_ year old Ducati!"

    I'm not sure if she thought that was as funny as I did, but it did end the conversation.
     
    #1 DesmoDog, Jun 26, 2022
    Last edited: Jun 26, 2022
    • Like Like x 11
  2. Remember that beat up track bike I mentioned? Well... sacrifices needed to be made. I had been working to get it ready for this season but that's not gonna happen. It's nickname is now "donor bike".

    It's suspension was downgraded a bit.
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    The donor, er, track bike had a perfectly good aluminum swingarm from a later bike that is less likely to crack. And it came with a spare steel swingarm. What's a few pounds between friends?
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    My goal was to get the track bike into a condition where I could roll it into the corner while the Superlight gets some love. And maybe harvest a couple parts in the process. It's a little worse for wear but it will get it's day in the sun. Someday.
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    I had these parts left over when I was done, but I think I can find somewhere to put them. (Those belts are new, no reason to let them just sit around while the rest of the trackbike gets worked on)
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  3. Looks pretty tidy under the tank
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    Took a look at the carbs, obviously they'll need to be rebuilt. No surprise there, my first clue was when I couldn't twist the throttle easily...
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    At least I got the trackbike out of the way. I'm hoping it stays there for weeks rather than years, but I'm not promising anything.
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    • Like Like x 5
  4. A little more info on swingarms. During this series of bikes, Ducati made some revisions on the aluminum swingers. The main thing is they added material around the pinch bolts. Here's the early swingarm off my bike vs a later swingarm (I'm guessing '96?) off my trackbike.

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    The pinch bolt is actually visible on the early part, the later part has much more aluminum in that area.

    They also made the brace bigger on the later arm. (Note metric tape. You're welcome!) Early arm first.
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    And the later arm.
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    The stock hugger will need to have the tab that holds the bolt for the chain guard trimmed down. This isn't a big deal really since the stock chain guard no longer fits anyway, it hits the larger brace.

    See the clearance on the top edge when on the older arm?
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    No clearance now, and it won't go into the right position without trimming.
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    #4 DesmoDog, Jun 26, 2022
    Last edited: Jun 26, 2022
    • Like Like x 3
  5. Carbs got rebuilt/reinstalled
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    Around this time I finally got around to posting an ad for the 851. I wasn't sure I'd get what I wanted. It sold within an hour of listing it. I was sad to see it go, it was the bike I REALLY wanted when I bought my first Ducati back in 1991, but it was a bit much for a new rider back then. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted, and the Super Light is another bike I REALLY wanted when it came out. And Super Sports are more my speed than the Superbikes are/were.

    To ease my sadness I entered a program of retail therapy. The $100 AGM battery I had planned on morphed into a modern regulator and lithium battery.
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    In for a penny, in for a pound, right? And it's a SUPERLIGHT so you pretty much HAVE to go with lithium. It just makes sense if you think about it.

    About 20 years ago I bought a fancy double ringed piston for a stock clutch slave cylinder. I thought I'd treat the bike to that and avoid future leaks. While I was figuring out how to mount the regulator I pulled the cluch lever in. When I pulled the lever I thought dang, I must be getting weak. I don't remember them being that hard to pull. And then I remembered when I put an aftermarket slave cylinder on the 851 and thought "Why didn't I do this years ago?". So I walked upstairs and ordered a new slave cylinder with a lighter pull.

    I should probably get a braided line for it too, the one on there is 30 years old at this point... hello, Galfer?

    There was a bracket mounted on a regulator mounting bolt that held the throttle cables in place. While I was screwing with that I realized the throttle cable routing was ridiculous. To the right of the regulator, under the airbox, across the bike, and then back up to the carbs? Why? So I pulled it apart and ran the cables the way I thought made sense. It would work fine, except the cables were too long now. Crap. Buy shorter cables, or shorten these?

    I was also thinking about the stock coils. A lot of people say upgrading those leads to easier starting and smoother low rpm running... which sounds good. Upgrading the battery cables is a common thing too. It'd be a good time to do it, with everything being pulled apart anyway...

    I swear this thing will be back on the road this year. Just not quite as fast as I was thinking. And with a little more invested than I had planned.

    On an unrelated note - Has anyone else noticed that carbon fiber wheels aren't that much more expensive than forged aluminum these days???
     
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  6. I took another look at the throttle cables and decided to save the money/time and just go with the original routing. Then I found out when I hooked up the return cable everything got less than smooth. They need to be shortened and routed in a more sane manner, no question.

    Hey... wait a minute. I've got a donor bike with the same carbs. Woo hoo! I pulled those parts off and proved to myself the cables on the SL are too long.

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    Trackbike cables on top, Superlight cables on the bottom. Told ya they were too long. The good news is, shortening the SL cables shouldn't be too hard and I can wait until winter to do it. I repainted the throttle housing, installed it all and it works great. Smooth throttle with a nice snap when they close.

    After that more things fell into place and I was finally getting some things done.

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    The airbox is 100% installed with a newly cleaned/oiled K&N filter. I'm not a huge fan of them but it seems hard to buy a 900ss these days that doesn't have one installed. I've got extras on the shelf from previous bikes. This one came with a cut lid but I'm going with an intact lid with no snorkels that I had bought for the track bike.

    I ordered new coils when I found out the pair I have are stock on early bikes. The new ones unexpectedly showed up while I was working on the regulator wiring so they were on the bike within an hour of getting here. They came with plug wires and plugs so they're replaced too. Word on the street is the new coils help starting and low rpm throttle response. I'll never know but wanted to give the bike all the help it can get. My previous 900s (with stock carbs) would fire up almost instantly and I'd like this one to do that too, but we'll see what the FCRs think about that.

    The battery is in position and I know how I want to hold it down, but it involves 3D printing something which means using Fusion 360 which so far has been hugely frustrating to me. It doesn't work like the CAD software I used before so things that used to be easy are now confusing... but I guess I'll get over it. Or I'll just drill a hole in the battery box and put a zip tie around it. That worked on the 851.

    And now that I've written it down it doesn't seem like all that much but the airbox was a big deal to me and feels like a big step forward.

    I put a new front sprocket on too, so there's a two minute job out of the way. The chain the bike came with had a clip style master link, which isn't my favorite so I'm replacing everything. The old stuff can go on the trackbike, I was going to order new gearing for that one anyway.
     
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  7. And this post will bring the thread up to present time (previous posts were old ones from a different forum)

    Shiny things! More shiny things!

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    The aftermarket slave cylinder deserved a new braided line, so I got one from Galfer. It came with the bolts and washers, gotta like that. I've used Galfer stuff before and have been happy with them, including when I sent a new line back to them for mods (for a non-standard application). They did it fast for a very fair price.

    Installing the slave cylinder was a bit of a pain. All three bolts holding the old one on were stuck and had to be drilled out. That wasn't too bad. But then I put the new one on without the included spacer. They say you don't need it if the rod in the engine sticks out 30mm. I did a rough measurement, did the conversion in my head and thought "yeah, that'll work". In my defense, it's easier to add it if you need it than to remove it if you don't, so I bolted the cylinder on (new bolts were included) and started bleeding it.

    I've done these before, there's a trick to it. Anywhos... Pretty soon it became obvious things weren't right, so I pulled it off and measured the rod stick out more accurately. Oops. 26mm. No biggie, slip the spacer in there and reinstall. BUT WAIT - the cylinder is full of fluid now, I need to make sure the master isn't full because when I SLOWLY push the cylinder on, it will force fluid back up into the reservior.

    Let me back up a little. This bike has integral rectangular reserviors on the masters. I hate them. There are two ports in the floor, one of them shoots fluid up whenever the lever is pulled. Pull it fast with the cover off and it shoots fluid up and out. I did own one bike that had a little deflector mounted, but this one doesn't. So yeah, pull the lever slowly, watch out for geysers. But back to the slave cylinder install. I put the cylinder in place, and started to SLOWLY press it into position.

    But first a word from our sponsor: Stiction. Static friction is greater than dynamic friction. It takes more effort to START something moving than it does to keep it moving. Stiction. Creating funny moments for ages. And now back to our program.

    I'm "gently" pressing on the cylinder when D'OH! In one bump it's mostly on and there's a blast of fluid launched out of the master. Fack me. (Yeah, I should have had the cover on there. Lesson learned. Again. Don't ask)

    I HATE the feel of brake fluid. Despise the stuff really. Cleaning it up isn't fun, the good news is, the stream was aimed away from the bike so no harm there. Still though, nasty stuff.

    Ok, so clean up is done, cylinder is bolted fully in place, back to bleeding and it feels much more better. But still not right. It still needs the secret step. Ok, fine. Secure the f'ing reservoir cover in place. Take the bike off the front and rear stands. Lean it to the side so the outlet of the master is lower than the body. Slowly squeeze the lever... and you can hear the air bubbles rushing out of the master. Pull the lever once or twice more. Done. Fully bled. Clutch is nice and smooth, and easier than stock.

    I'm already dealing with this nasty stuff so why not replace the 20 year old fluid in the brakes too? The rear went without incident. To the front then.

    Take the screws out of the reservoir lid. It's stuck on there. Smack it with the handle of a screwdriver, no joy. Pry on it with my fingers and... POOF! It breaks loose and the expanding rubber gasket thingie splashes fluid all over me. Son of a bitch! Did I mention I hate brake fluid? Fast forward past all the swearing and what not. Clean up number two done, shirt changed, brakes bled without further incident. No need to lean the bike this time since there was no air in it to begin with. Fill the reservior, put the lid back on, and realize I still need to pull the front wheel. Which means I'll be bumping the pads apart to make it easier to get the caliper off and on. Which means I'll be forcing fluid up into the reservoir. The one I just filled.

    Off comes the cover, Mityvac the level down, back on with the cover... and done working for the day since this all took a lot longer than it should have.

    Back the next day to put on the chain. Cut it to length. Slipped the master link in place and started on the rivets. I'll spare you the details on this one, short story is I broke one of the smaller pins used for pushing the links apart when I tried to use it to peen the rivet (I thought I had changed it out but must have removed and reinstalled it). That worked out, I peened both rivets... and noticed the one I had broken the tool pin on had cracked where the material moved. I'm 95% sure it'd be ok... dag nabbit. I went back upstairs and ordered a new master link and a replacement pin for the chain tool. I'll try again next week.

    And the final chapter in this episode - I've been trying to come up with a hold down for the EarthX battery that uses the stock battery straps. I took three versions to get there but I think this one will work.

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    I've had the printer for almost two years. This is the first useful thing I've printed, for myself anyway. Tons of ideas, but this is the first thing I drew up and printed that serves a purpose. There is one more screw up I could share but I'll save that until the battery cables are being hooked up.

    I've screwed up so many things the past few days I took today off and went for a ride instead. The V2 Streetfigher has had it's first service so no more rpm limit. Woo hoo!
     
    #7 DesmoDog, Jun 26, 2022
    Last edited: Jun 26, 2022
    • Like Like x 8
  8. A nice write up and thank christ Ducati tossed away that original blueprint hanging on the wall for the current one, keep up the good work.
     
    • Funny Funny x 1
  9. On another wall there is another drawing similar to that except for some different stuff. The reason I mention that one is, I had ideas of putting a Ducati engine in it, I even have a 90 degree gizmo to make it spin a shaft instead of a sprocket... though it might not be needed. Didn't get that far before I remembered I don't live on a lake, and don't like things that live on trailers.

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    EDIT: And stop distracting me. Now I'm going to spend the rest of the evening trying to remember how far I got figuring this one out, cuz it really would be a fun little toy. Some guys are putting Rover V8s in them but that's a little much for me. Though I did have one (in Buick form) that was already converted to marine use, for the other boat.
     
    • Like Like x 4
  10. another one saved from oblivion, good work and write up thanks for posting, looking forward to successful completion.
    cheers!
     
    • Agree Agree x 2
  11. At some point yesterday evening I started thinking about the license plate mount. The stock one is much larger than a Michigan plate so I was trying to see if there was a way to trim it down and reweld it to get something more appropriate.
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    I tried a couple things but didn't find any easy way to trim one of these down to fit and put the plate in the position I wanted. So why not another 3D printing project? I took a few measurements and drew something up. When I was done I almost printed it with some magenta filament (to use it up. I thought magenta was more maroon than pink... oops) because the first one is really just a prototype to check fit and function. When I was setting it up to print (slicing it) I made some choices in the name of speed rather than quality. But the printer had black filament in it and it was getting late so I just went with it.

    Don't mind the surface finish, like I said this was intended as a proof of concept, not a finished part.
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    Hmm.. this stuff fits better than I expected. What the heck, try it on the bike.
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    And with a plate.
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    It looks a lot nicer than the oversized stock bracket, and fits just fine. What the heck, I'm going to run it as is. I'll find some fasteners that are the correct length and put the correct plate on there but other than that, it's done!

    It was also 5am at this point. Retirement has it's perks. :cool:
     
    • Like Like x 4
  12. Loving this, great work!
     
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  13. I upgraded the battery cables and wanted to see how well it turns over. It's been about 20 years sinc this thing had a working battery installed.

    The battery is fresh out of the box. Spark plugs are in, it's set to go except the fuel pump is disconnected, so it won't start

     
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  14. I didn't think to do this when I had the rear wheel stripped. Here's a front wheel off of a 900ss/cr which is the same as the SP as far as I know. Forgive the paint scheme - it came with my track bike project.
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    Here's the Superlight wheel. Not exactly SUPER lighter IMHO
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    I knew I should have had some bobbins welded onto the swingarm. This is where the stand ended up today. It started out right around where the wheel adjuster part is welded to the swingarm. This isn't the first time that's happened.
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    I put new grips on today and found the grip hung up the throttle if the flange was pressing against the throttle housing. I know there are washers/shims that can go there but it's missing if it ever had one. I also saw that the tube is too short. That doesn't make the throttle hang but I still didn't like it.
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    I'll probably end up ordering a new throttle tube but in the mean time I broke out the 3D printer again. A shim to keep the grip's flange from pressing against the housing, and a little tube to keep the end of the grip from overhanging onto the clip on. That printer has come in handy the past few days!
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    • Like Like x 4
  15. Just shows you that with today's technology, we can manufacture parts more easily than ever before, and so preserve our bikes and cars that maybe require little mods like this, or indeed parts that have long been discontinued. I'm lucky enough to have a lathe and a milling machine, and they are great for similar.
    I have 3d printed parts on my bike too
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  16. You mean not everyone has a lathe in their basement?

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    Not a great pic, but it's the green thing in the background of that shot. My dad was an industrial arts teacher (aka metal shop) so I grew up around that sort of stuff and inherited it too many years ago. Never did spring for a mill though. In my defense, I have friends with CNC mills and had plasma cutters and other fun stuff at work. When I was working... now that I'm retired it's harder to get those sort of favors done.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  17. It's only a small mill, but very useful. I find it so satisfying making my own parts and tools.

    Having your friends that can help you out with CNC is even better!
     
  18. The throttle fixes worked great. I don't know why but a nice "snap" when the throttle returns makes me smile. I'm not a big fan of the new grips I put on but that's an easy change. (Apparently there's a reason I've had these in the cabinet for 25 years).

    What else did I do... I put a petcock in the fuel line since I've heard these carbs could use one. It has one from the factory, but you need to lift the tank to get to it, which means removing the tail section. I can reach this through the fairing.
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    I replaced the fuel filter and found that sourcing submersible 7mm fuel line locally is a pain. In fact finding ANY submersible fuel line locally is a pain. Not sure what the issue is but the only stuff I found in an internet search was about $25 per foot and the wrong size.

    I'm also having trouble finding hose clamps like this one. I can find silver ones all day long but nothing to match the nice brown lacquered clamps that were in there.
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    I can't recall what all I've done in the past day or two. The gist of it is... this morning I rolled it outside and dumped some gas in it.



    So yeah, it's "run" for the first time in about 20 years. But what you don't see are the first 30 seconds of the video which showed me dumping gas down the carbs to get it to fire. The fuel pump isn't working. It has power going to it, but it won't run. I could steal the pump out of the track bike, but I decided against that. I'll order a new one and do it once.


    I should have checked the pump when I was replacing the fuel filter. Lesson learned. FWIW one of the most frustrating parts of this whole thing has been getting the dang rubber grommet back on around the gas cap. Not even funny how long it took to get everything in place.

    I was hoping to post a first ride video this weekend, but that isn't going to happen. SO close!
     
    • Like Like x 8
  19. I don't know what Tygon is like submerged? But it's one of the better Ethanol proof lines. That rubber ring is a nightmare!
     
  20. Fantastic write-up - poured a large coffee and devoured this. Many thanks DesmoDog.
     
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