Hi. I’m a week and some hundreds of miles into the ownership experience. Money well spent. I have a good nearly mint 2003 bike with a mono seat. Can anyone help me with some basics please. Is it possible to shorten the throw of the gear selector. I have moved the rod but it seems to keep the same throw but just move the entire thing up or down. I can’t get it to expose more than one of the supposed 4 adjustment points on the rod though even with the screw out. Also how does one get the mirror covers off. I need to respray them. Oh. And how far should it lean on the side stand. Mine has maybe 5mm clerance from the bodywork but the way the bike settles on the stand seems nearly unsafe. Are they all like that? How do I check it’s ok? Thanks so much!!! Ps anyone got a bolt like the picture. 10mm head, thread unknown. used to hold on rear single seat. One dropped out post a service
Welcome! I can probably answer 2 of the 3 questions, the tie rod will only adjust the gear lever position you can’t adjust the throw between the gears, maybe different selector forks or something internal. As for the lean angle the plate that the stand bolts onto bends over time, just replace the plate or as some have done at material to the bottom of the sidestand. HTH
The tie rod for the gear lever has four basic positions but can be used to fine-tune the position of the gear lever using the thread. It is my experience that the somewhat long throw of the gear change can be mitigated by setting the lever in the optimal (for me) position. It is worth getting this right, to avoid missed changes and false neutrals. The extreme lean angle on the side stand is, sadly, common to all 999s. Because I CBA to weld something to the foot of the stand to bring the bike more upright, I work around this issue by being careful where I park the bike, to take advantage of whatever camber there might be. I have even taken, on occasion, to carrying a small block of wood around to shove under the foot. It should be noted that the lean angle gets worse as the plate that the stand is mounted on deforms over time. Fun fact. The seat unit on my Bip is held on by three pairs of bolts. Being Ducati, you might expect that each pair is different - i.e. 3 different types of bolt ... but from new, mine has four different types. Those crazy Bologna mechanics ...
if its a 10mm head, there's a good chance that by the look of the photo you're hold ing an m6x12 bolt
IME that's pounds, not pennies, with bolts costing £5 each for what can be bought in ti for the same online.
Have a look at all pivot points and the spherical bearings on the tie rod. Excessive play can lead to longer lever travel. Better still, fit a race-shift lever, for direct gear selection.
Thanks. I unfortunately would not know where to start. I’m good at basic mechanics generally but scared to take my new toy to bits. Will have a few more rides and see if I get used to it, play with the angles and go from there.
