I’ve always liked the aircooled ducatis.. the sound is so different from the watercooled superbikes (which, also, is intoxicating..).

These guys are taking it a step further -> http://www.radicalducati.com/index.php?page=home

These look to be water cooled(but not testastretta/desmoquattro)? and the frame is a SBK? Rear suspension is from a monster? and the front fairing is from an SS?
Just put a 900/1000/1100 cc airhead in there and we’re done.

Maybe someday..

UNBELIEVABLE!

Hopefully I have now seen the end of my electrical problems. Oh, and I know she will come up with more complex, more expensive and time consuming problems….

On to the one I just ‘fixed’.

The throttlebodies were synced, TPS and CO and all adjusted this spring and now she runs great. It seems that you can ride thousands and thousands of km’s with a poorly adjusted bike.. well, that’s just me, maybe. Anyway -

The bike still showed symptoms of poor starting every now and then, especially when hot or right after a very short ride.
So finally I hooked a voltmeter on to the battery and took a ride. Right after starting, at idle, the voltage seemed ok, at about 13V. But as soon as I took off, the voltage dropped to near 12V and even below. During the short ride, with various rpm’s, the voltage never went above 12V, even with the lights off!

In the evening I went online and ordered a new regulator/rectifier from the UK, from Electrex and crossed my fingers that it would arrive before we are about to leave for Belgium, in about 2 weeks. This was wednesday.

On friday I was handed a small package by a courier in the afternoon. This can’t be, it’s unbelievable!?!
well, there it was, a brand new electrex RR-53 reg/rec for my bike.

In the evening I proceeded to put it on the bike and a small test proved that the old unit was bad. At idle, the voltage on the battery was already showing over 14V.

WOOHOO! it works! Today a more thorough test drive is scheduled.

Here’s a pic of the first install, I’m not sure if I’m going to keep it there, or put it back under the battery, where it originally sits.
*NEXT-DAY-EDIT: Of course it can’t be there, it interferes with the fairing scoop -> to the original place.

So, now the trip abroad is saved, there’s still time for last minute fixes and tweaks..

And, I know - I should have fixed this problem more than three years ago…

If you need a regulator/rectifier for your Ducati (or other bikes, too) I wholeheartedly recommend electrex in the UK.
http://www.electrexworld.co.uk

ps. a new set of rennsports are also installed. During the winter, I will have to order more from M and P in the UK(again).

The Diablo Corsa lasted about 8000km. Pretty good, I’d say. (the front was on for only 5k km, still in good shape.)

The new ones are Metzeler Rennsport road, can be found pretty cheap from mandp.co.uk

also, the always necessary rear brake bleeding was done too.

Flights are booked, rental car is booked, tickets for the whole weekend are on hand, everything is ready!

World SBK comes to Nürburgring.

See you there, or after the weekend back here, with photos.

I’m in the process of changing the plastic quick connects that are under the tank.

So far I’ve managed to find out the following things: (google and ducati forums (ducati.ms, speedzilla.com, among others..) are your friend!)

The fittings are made by CPC, Colder Products Company.
The ones on the tank are LCD10004
The thread on the tank flange is 1/4″ NPT. (this info is from the workshopmanual, I’ve yet to take the part off from the tank flange.)

The ones on the fuel lines, with 90 degree elbow, are LCD23006
The connectors have a 3/8″ hose fitting.

These are both closing type, made of brass and they are chrome-plated. I am not sure about the material of the o-ring, words ‘Viton’ and ‘Buna-N’ pop up in google searches. Which one of these can handle gasoline? or both?

See the connectors here.

/edit: here they are:

now all I need to do is to install them, to make sure they actually fit. Well, the hose coupling is correct, the only thing that can go wrong is the thread on the tank part.

Too much money and too much time? [ Well, neither, really… ] Ha, Ebay to the rescue!

*blingbling*

You should hear how these click and clack, they are fully floating. And cast iron.

Now all I need is the magnesium 5-spoke marchesini’s that I’ve wanted from the word ‘go’. (and maybe a set of slicks’…)

Whoa, this is getting out of hand sooner than I thought…

..maybe I should just concentrate on the starting problem.

These are somehow motorcycle/ducati related..

amazon

There is also a ‘Ducati’ version of these glasses, but I thought I’d go with the basic version..
I can now do my James Toseland impression. Yes, I know he rides a Honda, and next year he’ll be in motogp, but he used to ride for Ducati…

Oakley

I know Italian bikes are known for bad electrics. This is getting on my nerves… Finally I thought I would get to the bottom of this bad starting stuff, so I had my battery checked by a batterydealer, diagnose: bad battery. When under heavy load, the voltage dropped to 10V and under… Battery was under 2 years old Varta. On monday I’ll have a new Yuasa.

If that doesn’t help, next stop is the alternator/generator and/or the rectifier/regulator. —> $$$$!!

Other maintenance news: changed oil in the Öhlins steering damper.

Here’s how you do it; Unscrew all the three caps that can be opened, pour out all of the old oil, or what’s left of it, pour in new oil (I used ATF) from each hole (one at a time…) and check for sounds of air bubbles during piston movement. Once you get no sound, there is no air.

The trick to get the seal off the shaft’s open end is to increase the damping to max and pushing it out with the piston and the pressure generated by the oil. At least that’s how I got it.

No other pics, except for this, from the Öhlins www-site.

Here’s a link to the pdf.

Yesterday I checked my clutch, swapped places of a few steelplates and turned the frictionplates around.

Today I decided to check, just for the fun of it, the belts. They are already 15,000 km old. ( and because of Ben’s [ http://www.powerwheelie.de ] bad luck..)

As you all know, the battery and the battery tray have to be removed, in order to gain access tot the front cylinder’s belt cover.

Well, here’s what I found:

WTF?

Check the frame!!

One of the wires is cut, pointing towards the camera.

I guess this is one of the infamous things that should be checked on all 916/996 bikes. But I only thought this problem is with the 2-phase alternator, not the newer 3-phase? Oh, well. I’ll swap the connectors to sealed AMP’s.
In early spring I did check these connections, sprayed connection cleaner and so on, but it seems that it wasn’t enough. Better check your stuff mid-season as well.

The belts were looking great, by the way…

To check the rear belt, I only removed the middle cover and everything looked fine there, too.

Went to Jurva to see some oldies race. I’ll be supporting these guys: JL Meccanica

Their Guzzi is fast, even by european standards (and can’t be far from world’s top, either..)

Here are some pics from the pits: (patience, takes a while)

Lastly, this is the racing-guzzi

Here’s the support-shirt, front and back