Bringing My 748 Back To Life

Greetings to all.
So I have a 2000 748S which I've had since new and I'm embarrassed to say she's only done 2500 miles! (Although she's by no means my first bike, I've had bikes on and off since 1976). For the first 11 years of her life she was kept in a garage when I was living in London and was only used when the weather was fine and when domestic/family/work commitments permitted I could have a Sunday morning out on her - so few and far between, hence the low mileage. Then I moved to the s.west of Ireland. No garage. She came over with the furniture in a van and was put under a waterproof cover in the front yard. Not ideal. It was October. It rains a lot (well it used to but now we have a drought!). The roads are covered in cow shit and potholes. She didn't get used. Come the next summer (short as it was) I had a job which, for the next several years kept me so occupied I had no time to ride. The poor girl sat there and waited and waited and waited - and waited some more, shivering under her cover. Then last October, Storm (Hurricane) Ophelia came and we live on the Atlantic coast - full force. Ophelia very kindly picked up a half full 10ltr tub of emulsion paint from behind the back of the small shed and deposited it right next to the bike. She then blew the cover off the bike (even though it was strapped down) and then blew the bike off the axle stand and deposited it on top of the plastic tub of paint which duly split open and covered the left hand side of the bike in white emulsion as well as cracking the fairing and breaking the wing mirror and indicator. Thanks Ophelia, I love you too!.

Long story cut short, my job finished a couple of months ago and I now have time to fix her up and, hey, it's permanently sunny & dry now, perfect riding weather. OMG. What a mess. If the moderators permit me, as a newbie, I should start a separate thread to cover what's up with her and what needs to be done to restore a 748 after 7 years of not being used and kept under a cover outside. But, do you know what? On the bright side, she's running again, started up on the 3rd press of the starter button, although there's a lot of cosmetic work to do.

Anyway, here's a couple of pics of her taken a good few years ago (pre emulsion paint job) plus, for some bizarre reason, a pic of my bin as it seems that's de rigueur here.

Thanks for reading this far.

 

Ssshhh. I should have cropped that bit out. Damn.

 

?????? It's red isn't it ????? The dealer told me it was red when he sold it to me. I specifically asked for a red one.

 

Hi, no rust in the tank. Even after 7 years. Yes there was fuel left in it, I'd guess no more than 1/2 gallon. I couldn't get it out as the fuel drain is impossible to undo having been painted over in the factory and there was a risk of rounding off the allen socket, that's how tight it is. Plus I live 360km from the Ducati dealer and so its not that easy to get spares and I'd need a replacement washer if I removed the drain bolt as you can't re-use the original one (according to the workshop manual). So, I took a chance and added about a gallon of clean new fuel. She started and ran until I switched her off due to a fuel leak but that's another post.

 

Hi, no rust in the tank. Even after 7 years. Yes there was fuel left in it, I'd guess no more than 1/2 gallon. I couldn't get it out as the fuel drain is impossible to undo having been painted over in the factory and there was a risk of rounding off the allen socket, that's how tight it is. Plus I live 360km from the Ducati dealer and so its not that easy to get spares and I'd need a replacement washer if I removed the drain bolt as you can't re-use the original one (according to the workshop manual). So, I took a chance and added about a gallon of clean new fuel. She started and ran until I switched her off due to a fuel leak but that's another post.

thanks I’ll give that a try. And no I haven’t take the fuel pump assembly out yet.

 

Hi, it’s the O-ring on the QR connector that takes fuel to the injectors. No longer sealing. I got some replacement ones today, just regular o-rings, will fit them on both fuel out & return pipes.

 

I’ll start a thread in the proper 748 section over the weekend so I can post on progress (and backward steps) along with pics.