I took her out for a 50 mile run today and all seemed OK. But maybe she could do with a bit of a fettle to make sure everything is running as well as it should be. Would also benefit from a new chain.
Carlos.......tried selecting neutral coming to a stop today when I was out and it worked a treat. I even caught neutral once going down through the box today!
Good to know as I have no benchmark to go by as this is my first Ducati and I have not ridden any other 600SS, so I am not sure what to expect. So it's good to know that it's as it should be.
As of this weekend I have a 300SS as the front cylinder is not coming on line. I can start her on the rear cylinder but not the front. When both are connected the front comes in occasionally but blows back through the airbox. I have not had time to investigate further but wanted to double check the correct spark plug type. She had been running OK last weekend so most probably could just be damp. Anyway I wanted to work my way back to trace the problem and wanted to start with the plugs. The ones I removed when I got the bike were NGK DPR7EA-9; whereas the ones I have recently fitted are NGK DPR9EA-9; but on sparkplugs.co.uk it notes that the match for the Champion RA4HC is NGK DCPR8E. So what is the general consensus on the best NGK type to use or indeed the best make & model of spark plug to use (bearing in mind she is fitted with a Stage 2 Dynojet kit and straight through Bainse Borla exhaust?
Swapped the new front plug over for the old one and behold it is now firing on 2 cylinders! Only problem now it that I appear to have a slow puncture in the rear tyre. It has Dunlop Sportmax D207's front and rear (120/60 ZR and 160?60 ZR), so I am thinking maybe I should treat myself to a new set. Are the Dunlop Sportmax's still the best to go for?
I put a set of Pirelli Diablo's on mine, seem to work well, you'll notice a big difference with new tyres on
My local bike dealer can fit a set of Dunlop Sportmax Quailifiers D209's for £220 (incl fitting & balancing) so might go for those. It has been a long time since I last had a bike so not sure if that is good deal or not; but it does seem a reasonable price as the front is ~£80 and the rear ~£100?
As regards the spark plugs the lower the number the hotter they run. I think it's meant to be 9's but the DCPR8E is ok, I have used them. Ngk is what I run. I have aftermarket CA cycleworks coils and the plugs are different again. Can't remember the part number off the top of my head.
The bike had 7's when I got her; I fitted 9's (one of which appears to have failed) and have ordered 8's, which I'll try out when I get them.
i was running ngk plugs in mine they were the 8 rated plugs but had one fail in a short time so i am running bosch plugs at the moment .........will see how they go
It appears to be running a little rich which may also be why it was running on only one cylinder due to the plug fouling up. So I am trying some Silkolene Pro FST to clean up the carbs as the bike has not had a lot of use in the last 3 - 4 years. I have also been advised to use 97 octane fuel with the FST. I guess she just needs to be used.
