That’s great, thanks for coming back to explain to others how you got around the issue, it’s really frustrating when people leave threads hanging and you read it hoping to find the fix but then the thread just stops!, you probably already know but it would not be wise to start the engine prior to fitting new belts, after so long being immobile they could snap or jump with disastrous consequences for the top end of your engine, cheers.
Hi Desmoquattro - yes definitely, it gave me great fun and good service for years. Heck soon it will be a classic (how old does something have to be to be a Classic? It's close to 20 years old now - with a "mere" 41,300-odd kilos on the odo). Besides, I suspect that at my age and looming retirement on the horizon it's going to be hard to replace it without committing massive Domestic Fraud etc. (ever seen Robert Crumb's "Cradle to Grave" explanation of Life? If not, do a Google Image Search - that's pretty much the story of my life). TBH I would of course love to replace it with the modern rendition of the Supersport... I would assume the new models are less likely to require "unscheduled maintenance" than the Ducatis of 20+ years ago. EDIT: Cradle to Grave (Robert Crumb):
