Hi All, I'm finally back in the land of Ducati ownership after a drought period and have a few questions as this is my 1st St having had 748's previously. Bit of background - Picked it up at a pretty decent price but it needs 'love' -2000yr only 27k, 2 owners but hardly used in the last 10 yrs. Located some replacement parts via FB marketplace which is great but have a few questions that I'm hoping people can help with. Full demo service planned and parts on the way. 1. How can I tell whether its got an uprated reg/rec on it - any tell tale signs? 2. Starter cable mods - go for the exactfit ones or does anyone else have a source/recommend any? 3. Any other model/yr quirks I would be wise to be aware of/attend to. I aim to get it useable and tidy and ride it for the summer then move on so don't want to go crazy but equally would like to take a proactive approach. Thanks in advance for your time. JP
Fit a small voltmeter which will tell you what the generator is doing. The electrics are high maintenance anyway. If it is an early one then it will have a 10mm swinging arm spindle, these break. Check by tightening the nuts on the ends. At the very least clean the inside of the dip beam projector with a cloth wrapped around a wooden stick through the bulb hole. Have a look at the older posts on here, ducatistbike.wordpress.com
I've got a Y-reg ST2 with about 22k on it. I paid about £1500 a few years back in an eBay auction. I was in the middle of a valve check when I had a crash on my Monster in \March 19. Still doing that valve check! I'm happy with mine. It came with hard panniers and I've taken it to France once or twice. I can get about 200 miles to a tank and it will do at least 120mph on the clock. What's not to like?
I donno how genuine mine are. They came with the bike. I think they are "non-fango", who may of done Ducati luggage once. I've no idea because they came with the bike. It was convenient because I bought the bike as was pissing off my mates touring on my Monster. With that, I would be looking for fuel at 100 miles an be desperate at 120. With the ST2, it was looking at about 170 miles and be desperate at 205-odd!
How did you get to 120 miles on an S4R tank ? I don`t think I ever got in to 3 figures on mine regardless of how I rode it.
Wasn't riding it fast enough! I did a few trackdays on it - probably got about 50 miles to a tankful!
I was told, by a Duke specialist, that the ST2 has been known to vibrate the chain adjuster nut loose - the rear wheel can then move as the contact area between the axle nut and the swingarm is minimal. According to this chap some bikes had crashed when the chain came off due to the above. The solution is to fit a bolt from the inside of the swing arm, thru the adjuster blocks then fit a nut, then a nyloc nut. If you want to do this to yours just PM me your address and I will post the necessary bits to you as I bought 2 of everything incase I fooked up.
If the chain adjuster nut/bolt comes loose then the axle nut still holds the wheel in place. What happens though is that the small plate in the back of the swinging arm comes loose and is able to rotate fouling the chain and sprockets. A simple hole with locking wire is a great safety device.
I can definitely see how that could happen Bob T but I still think that the "reverse bolt" is a simple upgrade and cures the problem as well - I have fitted stainless bolts/nuts for pennies and, using this method, the thread in the Alloy adjusters is never used other than as a securing fixture - looks good too. Looking back through my old MOT's it says on several occasions that the rear wheel is misaligned and the contact area twixt the axle nuts and the swing arm is certainly minimal - I've fitted .5mm washers each side to help.
This is the arrangement on my ST4 ( 2000 ) .... it baffled me the first time I saw it , when I was cleaning off all the chain lube and crud . [ The photo quality is even more dismal than my usual low standard .... ] The adjuster bolt has been drilled along part of it's length , and tapped to take a small hex-head screw .... it came from the factory like that . I never had any trouble with parts coming loose , or bad wheel alignment , so I guess it does a good job .... @Ducbird .... I put the parts on a bin .... just for you !
That's the same as the ST2 - the bolt relies on the strength of the thread in the alloy block whereas my mod puts no stress on the block thread at all (not my mod but the one I was recommended) - after 30 ish years as a Precision Engineer I can see the benefit - looks nice as well.
