So I bought a Supersport with 27.000 kilometres which was built in 1994 an it's in need of some care. It runs and drives but runs on only one cylinder (the rear one) for the first minute or so after a cold start. The plan is to get it back on its legs in spring, so I have plenty of time to check everything, including the carburetors (Keihin 39mm flat slides instead of 41mm, as the previous owner stated, but that's ok..), clean everything and check all parts for wear. So now a few pictures: What I started with After a few hours of cleaning. - I'll replace the old screws if the are rusty or the heads are rounded - rubber pipes (oferflow from the carns etc.) will be replaced - new fuel lines - New belts, new oil and filter, new spark plugs - Tyres, perhaps - A bit of touch-up paint and polish for the fairing - Check valve clearances The fuel tank was cleaned and sealed by the previous owner, the chain and sprockets are in good condition, The K&N filter needs a clean. The frame has no rust and no cracks. All bearings seem ok, but I'm just judging from wiggling the bike around a bit. The exhausts are "a04" which didn't get into my country directly, only via "grey-imports" (dealerships brought italian or other models into Germany by themselves). As I'm new to Ducati I'd be glad for any pointers. I have a workshop manual and I'm not afraid to use it.
With the Keihin carbs it is very likely flooding the front cylinder - the OEM ones would do the same. It takes a while to get the carb set-up right.
Looks like the hugger's been chopped but the oem hugger is pretty ugly, so no bad thing. I never did get my carb set up perfect but that could be because I was taking a 14mm float height as gospel (oem carbs) and Arquebus reckons 14mm is not right at all. When I got it, my SS fouled plugs badly from cold but uprated coils completely cured it. @Exige can supply coils, as well as belts. An open airbox sounds wonderful on these bikes. My frame cracked! There's a guy on here who makes frame braces - probably a worthwhile investment.
The wiring on the bike has been modified in pragmatic ways and will need a few wires shortened and waterproof connectors. This took a while to clean. Everything here is in good nick and was well preserved under lots of crud. The handlebars got a respray, as well as the brakefluid container lid. front is cleaned. More crud. How it looks at the moment. Brake calipers are in good condition, although the rear one needs a new bar that goes throught the top of the pads.
That's the problem I had, after having problems with it running while cold I took the plugs out, the front one was wet and sooty. I'll measure the coils and if they're on their way out they get replaced with uprated ones.
When I bought the bike, it came with a spare plug under the seat as it was such a frequent problem. The fatter spark from the unrated coils not only cured that but gave a steadier idle and improved throttle response as well. A really worthwhile mod
Compared to the "before" pictures this looks so much better. Screws swapped for V2A, lid rattle-canned, piston and rest of the insides checked, cleaned and greased. Same here. Starting to get better. How do I position the angle of the handlebars? There are no markings. Do I just set to what feels right? Something something bin..
Carburetor cleaning. Parts don't look bad, the brass is just a bit dirty, bowls were clean. Jets were removed and cleaned in a small ultrasonic cleaner.
The only problem I found was one of those nozzles not doing its job: Opening the sliders, one of the nozzle lets out a steady stream of fuel, the other one does nothing. Taking the carburetor apart I couldn't find a way to remove and clean it. As I took a close look, it seemd like the opening was plucked up with clear-ish stuff. Poked it with a very small needle and test tomorrow if it worked. The non-working nozzle is in the carb on the front cylinder, the one not wanting to start..
The nozzle works again as intended. I planned to start the bike but wanted to clean the connector on the starter first. The rubber cover on the starter was a bit molten, as I removed it I found some nice corrosion underneath. Removing the nut was followed by a spinning post which resulted in a twisted copper-wire inside the starter. Ok, let's get the starter out. Oh, I have to remove the oil lines to the cooler as well as the left engine cover? Oh well. One of the connectors to the oil cooler in the engine housing was loose but not leaking. Nice. And I need a puller-tool for the removal of the engine cover? No problem, have something from previous adventures that fits. Now I can paint the cover properly as well. So now I'm waiting for a new seal for the engine cover and an assembly plate for the starter with new brushes. Seriously, I'm having so much fun. No, really, it's relaxing.
During the last two months I got around to do most of the things needed, Carburetor is nice and shiny, wheels had some Aluminium-oxide and got a bit of paint where necessary, cleaned all electrical connections. New wiring from coils to plugs Old vs. new sprocket The starter solenoid was shot as well and got replaced, most of the other things I did was minor stuff. Still to do: - Belts - Oil change - have tyres mounted (Went with Metzeler Z8 in 120 in the front and 180 in the rear) As the bike has a Keihin carb it was a bit of a hassle (at least for me) to find a replacement accelerator cable for it. I only ever found a set which included the accelerator handle as well and it was around 130 €. I compared cables and went with a Triumph cable which has the same length and almost the same features (on one cable a length adjuster is missing) and was reasonably cheap (25 €): As the bend pieces are a bit longer they sit quite tight between the air filter housing and the fuel tank but everything works as intended.
Did the cambelts. Just took a bit over an hour. Wife helped. The tension was set with the 5mm / 6mm Allen wrench method, I re-tested the tension after running the engine for a few minutes afterwards. So this worked as a method to keep the camshaft from rotating. A bit of vapor after ~5 minutes of running (engine off). For the engine oil I used Motul 300V 10W40, as I use Motul as well in my other bike and never had issues with it. Once the tyres are mounted it will go back together. I'm looking forward to spring.
With the flatslides, it's probably worth getting new float needles. They Eat through them like sweets - and if you can afford to, get them set up on a rolling road as they're very sensitive to bad setups.
Thanks for the hints. I'll probably throw in new emulsion tubes and jet needles, too. I'll have to take a look around if there is anyone nearby still working with carburetors, else I will have to play around with them myself. (Have done that before on FZR 1000 Mikunis, never on flatslides, but I'm not scared). As I have not yet really driven the Ducati besides a few metres up and down the road to check the basic function of everything, I'm very curious of what to expect.
