Brad The Bike Boy

848, 1098 and 1198 air filters wearing on airbox

2011-12-29T20:41:00.000-08:00

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In addition to the not sealing at the ends issue, I've seen quite a few of these with the air filter worn on the underside by the airbox - the plastic edge is maybe 2mm wide and it cuts into the filter. So now in addition to the rubber at the ends to seal the filter I also add a small piece of stick on foam to the bottom of the air runner flange at the airbox end to lift the filter up a little.
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A 400 Monster

2011-12-28T21:20:00.000-08:00

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I rode into the City on Friday with the intention of buying myself a Christmas present - a 400 Monster Ray Quincey Motorcycles had advertised on bikepoint with an "immobilisor issue". I figured that theoretically my software would allow me to just disable the immobilisor section of the ecu and it'd be fixed and ready for me to onsell, making a few bucks along the way. But, as it turned out, the rest of the bike was a bit too rough for me to buy with the intention to fix and resell as I just can't help myself and want to fix everything and profit goes out the window.

I did go for a short ride once we got it going (it was a lottery as to whether or not it would be immobilised every time we turned the key on, probably more so than not overall) and it was just such a sweet thing to ride. The injected M400 have the APTC clutch and 6 speed gearbox like a 2006 620 or S2R800, along with the 2 piston front brake calipers. The light clutch and injection make them so much easier to get off the mark and ride at low speed in general compared to the carby models. It was a real pity it was so nice to ride, I'd have had no trouble walking away from it (as I did in the end) if it wasn't.

One thing I did notice about M400 ads is that everyone seems to list them as M400 S ie regardless of whether they're carbed or injected. Injected ones are from 2006 onwards and have dual front discs. The earlier carbed models have a single front disc and little plastic pods sitting inbetween the frame rails above the horizontal cylinder. More importantly for riding, they have a heavier clutch lever effort (typical non APTC wet) and flat spot from a closed throttle that can be more disconcerting than an actual issue when riding.

I did check and reset the cam timing on one carbed model - advancing the cams from 119 and 113 to 107 degree inlet centrelines which really made a difference. The carbed 400 have the old 750 cams, which were run at 110 degree inlet centreline in the F1, not the 119 they spec in the post '86 motors (the injected M400 have the 800 cams). We also raised the gearing at the same time from 14/46 to 15/46 and the bike still went better than before. But as most M400 are bought by L platers who generally have no interest in spending money other than what they abolutely have to and certainly not anything that (I say) might make it better to ride, I doubt I'll do many others. Pity.

This bike also got the Exactfit ignition coils, so it's a well set up M400 compared to how some of them (barely) run as they've come into the workshop.

I did get one in that was an early 95 model (94 to 97 have silver engine covers with the clutch slave cylinder in the clutch cover on the RH side of the motor) and i suspect it had the very early 600 primary drive ratio. I replaced chain and sprockets as part of a service with 15/46 from the previous 14/46 and even then it was near 8,000 rpm at 100km/h. No wonder the owner had found it breathless above 110 before - it would have been well over 9,000 rpm. I figured 15/41 would be what it needed, but didn't have the time and the owner seemed quite reluctant anyway. The varying spec can make it hard to set them up as they need to be, it seems the importers just put the same thing on all of them regardless.
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Happy holiday

2011-12-23T19:33:00.000-08:00

Once again we find ourselves at the most frantic time of the year. It's the third time I've made this post, marking the end of my third year in business.

A very big thank you to all those who have supported me over the last three years. Your business is much appreciated. Looking forward to next year it'll be more of the same I expect, although I hope to be both more organised and productive. It's amazing how many hours you can lose some days being busy doing nothing of note. But I guess that's probably a pretty accurate descripton of a one person business.

Happy holiday of choice to you all and I look forward to being as helpful as possible next year. I will be open again from January 9th. You can email me prior to that, but I may not be overly prompt in responding.
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Photo from the Festival Of Italian Motorcycles

2011-12-19T00:28:00.001-08:00

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Rob Labuc took a few photos of my little display at the Festival Of Italian Motorcycles. It was a good day overall. I spent all, but about 10 minutes standing under the (successfully deployed) pergola talking. Rob manned the stand while I had a quick wander around to see what was about.

I did get to have a look at the bike that won my award, Markus's 851SP3. I've known Markus virtually for some time on the 851-888 forum, but had never met him in real life. It's a very nice SP3 too, apart from those god awful bloody blue Samco radiator hoses. Really can't stand them.

My 851 had a nice trailer ride and looked very nice too. I was surprised how good it looked with just a wipe over. For a little while there was a very nice little Bultaco Metralla next to it. A bit of a ring in (woka woka woka) perhaps, but some lovely retro none the less.

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The joy of motorcycling

2011-12-14T02:27:00.000-08:00

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Waxing a little lyrical perhaps, but I had to ride home from work tonight due to "my" car being requisitioned by Hunnybunny while her car is being fixed after she got nailed recently. Naturally I had to spend a little time making Minnie go before I was able to proceed, but it was only a flat battery and easily overcome.

A few weeks ago I lavished some attention on Minnie. I realised her belts were (stopping to look at the dyno run dates) about 5 years old, so figured a new pair and some fresh oil and a filter and brake and clutch fluid was in order. And while I was at it I should work out why the throttle was so bloody heavy. I thought it was because the carbs were gummy in the shafts due to her sitting for a couple of years while she was between motors, so took it as a good opportunity to fit the US spec 900 carbs I'd had for some time. My theory was the 900 carbs, being US spec and leaner on the pilot circuits (theoretically anyway), would work better with the 750 than the 600 carbs, which I wanted to make sure I could keep should I sell this motor.

Jets and needles were swapped between carb bodies and the "new" carbs fitted. Turns out the cable heaviness was just cables in need of lube, which surprised me as I thought I'd replaced them for no change at some point in the past. That's the problem with my memory though. But after a thorough lubing (which I generally don't recommend with modern cables due to the linings they use, but who am I to listen to my own advice) the throttle was back to smooth. I'd almost say it's still improving too, given the ride home tonight.

And as I had the oil out it was a good time to pull the clutch cover and replace the collection of second hand plates (I'd added one friction over std, using some thinner steels to stop the hot up induced slipping, but it was god awfully heavy) with a new pack. Yes, new. Oh the horror. Bought cheap on a service parts specials release by NFI, it still pained me no end to be fitting new parts to my own bike. But at least this part was worth doing. Result: lighter clutch, no slippage.

Not such a success was the ignition pick up replacement. Minnie had been idling badly when hot for quite some time, and the few times I had tried to diagnose it resulted in no result. I had convinced myself it was pick up induced, pulling the alternator cover and replacing them with some of the Electrex P8 parts I have in stock. Once reassembled and ridden it was clear I'd failed dismally. So then I moved on to something I should have tried first. Note to self, replace bolt on bits before pulling the engine apart.

As I have the California Cycleworks Exactfit ignition coils on the shelf I fitted a pair of them in place of the green Dyna Minnie has been running for the last 7 or so years. Of course I had to dig out all the original mounting bits removed when the Dyna went on - an appropriately dodgy "just get it going again" job after one of the original coils died. But once I'd found the old stuff the Exactfits went on in no time and the result was indeed a result. Pissing me off no end that I had spent the time replacing the pick ups. But you (well, I) get that. I do have a good pair of second hand original ignition pick ups to sell as some consolation, more so given Ducati no longer supply them as a spare part.

I'd also done the valve clearances and removed the adjustable cam pullies, replacing them with std pullies and offset keys for the desired 107 degree or so (forget now) inlet centreline. All up a lot of work on one's own bike over a day and a half when one has other work to do. And, as it turned out, tonight was the first ride after the coils went on.

I had finished the day with a road test on a typically modded S2R800, and as I arrived back at the workshop I thought to myself "I'd much rather be riding this home than Minnie". But it doesn't belong to me, so after getting Minnie to run and loading her up (I'm not sure of the long term implications of transporting a laptop vertically in a rear sack) I set off. And, I must say, I was impressed.

Apart from, but in no way ruined by the "now lighter, but still a lot heavier than the APTC clutch in the S2R800” clutch the ride was good. Even if only a few km, it was enough to make me smile and I realised when nearly home that I was enjoying riding Minnie like I hadn't for a long time. Previously the heavy throttle really took the edge and some of the middle too off the enjoyment of riding her. But, with the Megacycle mufflers still fitted after the comparison dyno run done a couple of months ago (and shown below in a previous post), she really does run well. And, for a 750 2V motor, go very well too.

Although I'm a bit paranoid to leave the lights in a most sporty fashion for fear of upsetting the laptop. I don't need that sort of aggravation.

851 SBK photos from 1989 - Phil Aynsley

2011-11-15T14:43:00.000-08:00

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Some very cool photos from Phil Aynsley

http://www.philaphoto.com/imageLibrary/displayimage.php?album=102&pos=0
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1000SS Fork job

2011-11-11T03:52:00.000-08:00

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Mick, the owner of the 1000SS featured below in the loose screw post, came back to complete the fork rework that was the intention of the previous visit. We fitted some Eibach 0.95 springs (#787-095, 36.4 OD x 297 long) and Motorex 2.5 weight oil, fitting the springs with 20mm of preload (had to cut 17mm off the preload tubes) and setting the oil height to 120mm.

I had the feeling 20mm of preload was too much, which turned out to be correct. With the preload adjusters wound all the way out it only had 30mm of sag with his 95 odd kg on board. So 10mm of preload would have allowed the full use of the adjusters I would assume. Peter from Promecha told me once that 15mm of preload is generally pretty good as a very general rule, and I'd have to say that's advice to be taken.

There were a couple of surprises along the way. The first was the condition of the steering head bearings. With only 7,500km on the speedo some would expect no issues there, but the centering notchiness was enough to make me point and laugh and Mick replace them. Luckily I keep them on the shelf, and the almost greaseless originals were gone in short time.

The second surprise was the forks themselves. First some background - there are two styles of Showa adjustable forks used on Ducatis, or so I thought.

The first style is the 41mm fork initially fitted to the 1991 851. These have a 50mm top OD section (where the top clamp sits) and a 54mm lower OD section (at the lower triple). Fitted to the 851, 888, 900SS and 900M Special, they became 43mm around the same time as the brake calipers went to 65mm mounting pattern, but the outer tube dimensions remained the same. As 43mm they were fitted to the 900SSie, 900Mie, 1000SS, 1000Mie, ST2, ST3, ST4, ST4S, S2R, S4 and S4R. Some had gold TiN sliders for looks, but were otherwise the same internally. Or so I thought. The main internal feature of these forks is that the rebound adjuster, in the top of the fork cap, has the needle valve at the cap. So the oil in the rebound bypass circuit has to flow the full length of the fork cartridge rod to escape. I'm not sure if this is the sole reason for their crappiness, but it does lead to less than desirable action. Not that they are bad forks, and they can be made quite acceptable and certainly better than std with revalving and respringing - as typical of Ducati Showa forks they have too much high speed compression damping among other things. But even with help they have some designed in issues.

Which brings us to the second style, introduced with the 916 in 1994. These 43mm diameter forks are 53mm OD through both top and bottom triple clamps, and their main internal feature is that when you remove the fork cap, it comes out with a long rod attached to it. The rod is about 600mm long from memory - it definitely stands out compared to style 1 above. This rod is again the rebound adjuster valve, but instead of working at the top of the fork, it works at the cartridge, right were the action is happening. The Showa forks fitted to the Aprilia models I have had apart are all this style too (from memory anyway, RS250, RSV Tuono and Falco).

As far as I knew, there are no 50/54mm OD forks with the long rod rebound valve. But when we pulled Mick's forks apart, they had the long rod rebound valve. This bike is a 2006 model, but the same # fork is used in all 1000SS according to Softway, so I'm a bit confused now. I don't recall what any other late model 50/54 Showa have been like when I've had them apart, but I'm sure I've never seen a long rebound valve in any ST4S or S4R forks. The photo below shows the rod I'm talking about, stolen from a post on the Monster Forum from memory as posted by a Swedish fellow who emails me regularly named Torbjorn. He and his mate Thomas with the grenading 888/1026 amongst many others are quite the source of amusement. They have a very cool looking orange 900SSie "rain bike" that is nominally to be used at wet track days. Although it mainly gets used because everything else they or their friends own is failing to proceed. It's by far the most reliable thing they own. The unkind (sarcastic?) would say that's because they tend not to play with it. I think there's a little lesson in there for us all.

Regardless of fork style, as a general rule all the non Superbike forks (Showa and Marzocchi) are sprung way too soft for most people (80 - 95kg) and the Superbike forks are sprung a bit too hard. Most of the SS, M and ST series have a progressive or two stage sort of spring that gives lots of sag with the soft initial section, but then gets very hard and harsh towards the end of the travel. Combined with the high oil levels (usually 90mm or so) and inbuilt excessive high speed compression damping of the Showa they can make for a fairly unpleasant front end.

Anyway, with the 0.95 springs and 2.5 weight oil Mick set off for his hour and a half or so ride home. He had also finally given in to fitting a 14 tooth front sprocket, which takes the gearing from 15/38 to 14/38, much closer to the 15/42 I like so much on these bikes. Mick is a country rider, so low speed city commuting is not something he experiences. But I still like the shorter gearing regardless, and a 14 tooth front sprocket is cheaper than a larger rear and new (longer) chain.

He texted me later that night with the following: "Amazing, a totally different bike, no more harsh crashing over bumps, great control thru bumpy corners, found myself searching for bumps, I never thought it could feel this good."

And finsihed with "14 tooth sprocket is the go for sure." Yes, it is. That's why I suggested it.

Generally suspension mods are something that most owners resist like the plague. But, once they have given in to this non visual expense (I think that's a real issue, you can't see the bits they've paid a lot for) and experienced the difference they act like your typical born again christian or reformed smoker and start preaching the benefits to all (although those who have seen the light of lightweight wheels are generally worse). It really can make that much difference.

As our happy Mick is now no doubt telling all his riding mates.
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Festival of Italian Motorcycles November 20th 2011

2011-11-11T03:45:00.000-08:00

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I'll be at this year's FOIM next Sunday at the new Coburg location. On display I'll have a selection of the parts we're importing from California Cycleworks - the large HM69 Hypermotard fuel tank, timing belts, etc. I'm toying with the idea of taking the 851 out for a ride too. Well, a ride on the trailer to hang out at a new location for a few hours. It's been in it's current location for nearly 3 years, and it's undoubtedly pretty bloody sick and tired of looking at that wall by now, poor baby.

So come along and say hello. I'll be the one standing under the fold out pergola, assuming that 1/ I have managed to get it folded out and 2/ the wind hasn't blown it away. Here's hoping.
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A dyno comparison

2011-11-06T03:51:00.001-08:00

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I took the chance last week to take Minnie to Dynobike to get a feel for how the new dyno compared to the old dyno. Filled with fresh fuel and running the Megacycle slip ons and ignition map loaded into the TCIP4 to replicate a previous run, the result surprised me and made me a little more pleased with some other things I'd run on this new dyno previously.

Dave thought there would be a 5% or so difference, but the graph below shows the two runs - blue is old Dynojet 200, red is Dynojet 250i. I exported the data into a spreadhseet and it's an average 13.2% difference - varying from 10% under 3,000 rpm to 15% in places. Given the Dynojet is an acceleration dyno the variation may vary with the specific power level of the bike being tested, but I don't have anything else at hand that was run on the old dyno to really know.

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Hypermotard tanks are here!

2011-09-25T18:58:00.000-07:00

The first box of Hypermotard fuel tanks from California Cycleworks is here. Price is $1100 delivered to you (additional $25 charge for WA and NT), and, as ever, trade enquiries are welcome. There are two version of air filter kit - 2008 and 2009 being one and 2010 Evo and 796 the other. Please specify when ordering.

Cam problem on 1000SS ds

2011-08-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

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Mick, a previous Moto One employee, bought his 1000SS in today so he could have a bit of a play with it in more equipped surroundings. Plan was to do fork spring and tyres. That plan stalled when he decided to do the belts given they were over two years old and in the process found the vertical cam very hard to turn with the belt off.

So after a bit of a nervous laugh and then the recognition of a potentially much more serious issue he got stuck in, pulling the opening rockers so we could spin the cam fully. This showed that it wasn't a closing rocker dragging, so it was looking much more like cam dragging in head. Nasty. But after we removed the pulley all was revealed and there was a big sigh of relief.

What had happened was that the screws behind the pulley that hold the pulley surround (cast alloy on these engines, rubber on the older 2V motors) to the head had come loose, with one screwing itself out and rubbing on the back of the pulley. Once spotted we could see that this was visually obvious. On the horizontal head the screws were clearly tight, being at the bottom of their recess. You can't get a tool on them without removing the pulley, and the engine wasn't noisy so there wasn't any outward sign of the problem.

So something else to be wary of. You can see the chatter marks on the back of the pulley in the photo below. We're not really sure of the long term potential for damage, but it's not an ideal thing to have happening by any means.
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Staintune clearance sale - 60% off.

2011-08-06T00:18:00.000-07:00

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Staintune are having another clearance sale. I can't find a web page for the sale this time, so will run the list of usual makes here. There is a full page ad in this months Cycle Torque for all makes. Anything with twins mufflers is $500 ($1300), single muffler $300 ($700). Good savings to be sure.

Aprilia - Falco, Tuono, Pegaso
BMW - R1200S, 1200ST, 1150GS, 1100R, 1100GS
Cagiva - 650 Raptor
Ducati - 1098, M900, M1000, MS4, MS4R
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Hypermotard Fuel Tanks from California Cycleworks

2011-08-03T20:28:00.001-07:00

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I have an order in for 5 of the large Hyper tanks - http://www.ca-cycleworks.com/ca-cycleworks-6-4-gallon-hypermotard-fuel-tank - due in around 4 weeks. At this point of time all tanks ordered will be black. If anyone desires one of the other colours (white, natural, red) please let me know and I can order as required. Retail price will be finalised once they arrive and all freight and customs costs have been paid, but we're hoping for $990 inc gst. A deposit will be required for any non blacks. Trade enquiries welcome too.
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New reports up.

2011-05-27T03:40:00.000-07:00

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More of them! I've been getting some writing done lately, which is nice. A 748 with an 853 big bore kit, a 748SP with reset cam timing and tuning a high comp 900SS with FCR carbs.

http://www.bikeboy.org/748with853kit.html
http://www.bikeboy.org/748SPchangedcamtiming.html
http://www.bikeboy.org/900sswithfcrandhighcomp.html
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Cheap Carrozzeria wheels for Ducatis

2011-05-23T16:31:00.001-07:00

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If you're in the market for a set of cheap light wheels for single sided swingarm Ducati models, check the specials page on the Carrozzeria web site. http://www.forged-wheel.com/SHOP1closeouts.htm

New Parts From California Cycleworks In Stock

2011-05-03T05:39:00.001-07:00

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We now have more of the California Cycleworks parts range in stock, including the Exactfit 2V coils for all carbed and some ie models, fuel sender replacement nuts, case saver inserts and fuel pumps for Aprilia, Ducati, Husqvarna and Moto Guzzi among other things. The Products page - http://www.bikeboy.org/products.html - will be updated soon to show all that's in stock.
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New report up - 900SS with FCR.

2011-04-15T23:50:00.000-07:00

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Shock horror! http://www.bikeboy.org/900SSwithkeihinfcr39and41mmcarbs.html

I'll add to this at some point as I've just tuned another 900SS with 41mm FCR and JE high comp pistons that was a little interesting and a little along the "assumptions " line from the previous post.
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Making assumptions

2011-03-29T04:06:00.001-07:00

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Sometimes when I book a bike in for a certain problem I just head off on the usual path based on the assumption that it'll be like all the others and it turns out to be completely the opposite. I had an ST2 in for running badly around 3,500 rpm. No surprise there, sounds like your normal, not set up well ST2. For good measure I started with the fuel filter, then did the TPS baseline and throttle body set up and figured it'd be good to go. I'd made the expected changes along the way which helped reinforce the assumptions.

Then I went for a ride. And it did indeed run badly 3,500 rpm. Fine at 3,000 and coming good at 4,000, but rubbish in between. Which I found a bit odd. First I tried adding some ignition timing to the eprom mapping because the ST2 can be a little light on advance in that area, but that made little difference.

So I taped the old FIM hand held terminal to the fuel tank and went for a ride. Generally if they're running this badly you need to make fuelling changes of at least 20% to get a change you can feel, and it felt to me like it was rich. So I went leaner and it got better. By moving the zone borders around on the FIM Megazone system you can isolate bits of the fuel mapping as desired to find out where the problem begins and ends. The result was good, but very wacky.

The ST2 has quite close rpm and throttle break points in this area of the map. And the 45mm throttle bodies see quite a bit more throttle opening for a given condition that I'm used to seeing as most of my work like this has been 4V based with the 50mm throttles. Cruising around 80km/h was using about 10 degrees of throttle opening, whereas on a 4V it'd be 6 or so. The rpm break points in the area are set at 3,000, 3,600, 3,800, 4,000 and 4,400 rpm. I didn't touch the 3,000 and 4,400 rpm lines, or any either side of them, and only few points on the 4,000 rpm line. But at 3,600 and 3,800 it was up to 51% leaner up to and including the 25 degrees throttle opening line, generally 30% or so.

On the 3D graph of the fuel map there was a trench in the map at 3,600 and 3,800 up to 32 degrees of throttle opening. Meaning that in this particular area the bike was trapping much less air or had become very efficient. It didn't feel any different, and part throttle performance is hard to quantify in seat of the pants terms.

The only factor I could see for this were the very loud D&D mufflers fitted, but even that's just a stab in the dark. It was nice everywhere else, so it's not like it's an overall issue. Just a very specific rpm related issue at low throttle openings, which given these systems are defined by throttle position and rpm makes it an issue. If they used an air flow sensing system (or carbs, which are air flow sensing devices) this sort of thing probably wouldn't happen.

Made no sense to me at all, and was certainly not what I expected when I made the booking. But you get that, and overall it was quite a bit of fun. Which I can say because I worked it out - it could have gone the other way fairly easily.
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Ducati closing valve clearances and idle quality

2011-02-10T03:19:00.000-08:00

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A few years ago it took me a while to work out that my bad idling 851 was due to a combination of the soft closing springs the early 851 ran and large closing clearances. I had adjusted the clearances before I got it back on the road after the post sale cosmetic strip and reassemble, but I'd also fitted new steel collets in place of the original stainless ones they ran on 88 and 89 models and the clearances had settled a bit, no doubt helped by the 104 dyno runs it's had. So by the time I parked it last it'd done 6,000km or so since and the idle had deteriorated quite a lot.

The soft closing springs contribute, and I've had to work on a couple of bikes over the years that just wouldn't idle due to the soft closing springs some people fit in belief they'll make more power. Basically it's over 2,000 rpm ok, under 2,000 rpm stall.

The ST3 and 996 issues associated with the closing springs and clearances reiterate how important it can be to general running at lower speeds, and I recall one early 851 owner (possibly of the bike I own) saying it ran so much better after a big service.

Anyway, I got bitten by the excessive closing clearance thing a while ago on a MHR Mille bevel drive. It arrived after having a big service, etc, by someone else and "just needed a tune" to finish it off. So I tried to make it idle. After 15 or so hours of replacing lots of worn out carb bits and checking every thing that I could think of, it still wouldn't idle. I mentioned to the owner that I'd run out of ideas, but maybe it was valve clearance related even though they'd "just been done".

So the owner gave me the go ahead to check the valve clearances. Turned out there was around 0.15 - 0.25mm play in the closers, with the openers largly ok. I took the closers down to as close to 0 as possible, put it back together and hit the button. It idled long enough dead cold to let me know it was better.

More recently I had an ST2 in that had 140,000km on the clock and had just had the heads off. Nominally it'd come in for throttle body set up and eprom to suit the Staintunes, but once I'd done the TPS baseline and fired it up I knew something else was wrong. Namely, it wouldn't idle. Which was one of the things the owner had mentioned. Again, the valve clearances had just been done, but it was the most obvious thing for me to check. And again there was around 0.15 - 0.25mm play in the closers, with the openers largly ok. I took the closers down to as close to 0 as possible (much easier on a belt drive than a bevel), put it back together and hit the button. It idled dead cold like most of the injected bikes will and I finished the tune from there. The hydrocarbon emissions were a little on the high side possibly indicating some valve guide wear (they hadn't been done), but apart from that it was fine. And ran much better.

I have had 1000DS motors in for valve clearances where i've added 0.15mm to the closing shims to close the clearance up too, although most are in the 0.05 - 0.10mm range. I sometimes question whether it's worthwhile adjusting a 0.05mm clearance on a 2V bike, but it appears it is. I do find though that many of the 1000DS cams have a tight spot at the end of the closing lobes just as the valve starts to open. You can feel movement in the valve when rotating the cam around the base circle, but it will rub as you get to the lift points at either side. So there's always going to be 0.02 - 0.03mm clearance at TDC firing to allow for that.

On the 4V bikes I always take the exhaust closing clearances down to 0.05 - 0.07mm and the inlets to 0.08 - 0.10mm, going to the tight side if the collets are broken and have to be replaced. I've not owned a later 4V bike to know if it really makes a difference you can feel, but it doesn't hurt.
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Airbox mods when fitting FCR to Ducati SS and Monster

2011-01-01T18:10:00.000-08:00

Last time I fitted some FCR to a 900SS I took some photos of the airbox trimming for future reference and thought I might as well post them here too. To do the trimming I use an electric die grinder with a very coarse conical bit. It looks rather medieval, but when it's honking around at 26,000 rpm it's amazingly easy to use gently.

I find you can refit the breather hose to the airbox too, even though the Sudco instructions say you can't. It can be routed under the throttle cables. You need to round the edge of the box below and behind the breather hole to get it all to fit nicely, but if you go gently you can make enough room.

Cleaning under the fuel pump, etc

2011-01-01T13:58:00.000-08:00

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One thing I do when replacing fuel filters on the bikes with removable plates in the bottoms of the fuel tanks (916 series, MV, ST series) is remove the fuel pump from the mount plate and clean under it. On these models the pump's rubber sleeve pushes into the mount tube and is held by a raised ring on the sleeve - you can see the corresponding groove in the photo below. You just pull the pump out (possibly easier said than done), maybe lubing the rubber to make it slide nicely. What you often find under the pump at the bottom of the cavity is shown below - lots of debris and rust. I've seen the cavity full to the bottom of the pump screen with gunk.

749 and 999 have a plastic cover held on the the press nut type of steel clip that you can't reliably reuse, and I haven't spent the time to find the replacements for them yet. Probably the same size as those used to hold the fairing insulations on.

It's always a good idea to have a new O-ring on hand when doing this job, as the one that's been in the tank for some time will usually swell as you remove it. Use lots of grease on the O-ring and tank rolled edge when reassembling, as it's fairly easy to take a piece out of the O-ring which will cause fuel to leak at a significant rate. 916 series, ST series and MV models use the Ducati part 88650011A. 749 and 999 use a smaller ring - 88640331A maybe (from memory).

The Aprilias usually have a black plastic screw on cover over the pump pick up screen, so similarly I always remove and clean the pick up cavity when replacing a fuel filter on them. Like the Ducati models with plastic fuel tanks, there isn't a specified fuel filter replacement interval on the Aprilias. I tend to do them on the 20,000/22,500km service depending on the specified intervals for the particular model. In my experience it's worth doing, as even though you don't get any rust inside the plastic tanks you can still get the gummy build ups.

And on all models always check the breather and cap recess drain tubes or hoses through the tank and hoses external to the tank are clear. If you can't blow throught them, they need to be cleaned. Old cable inners are great for this, as they're flexible, but stiff and strong. Just be careful if you're going through plastic or rubber though.
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848/1098 Ducati Performance Air filters (and other issues from an 848 with 24,000km)

2010-12-30T13:08:00.000-08:00

I had an 848 in for a 24,000km service a while ago that had a couple of issues that i thought would be worth commenting on.

The first was that it wouldn't start, which turned out to be because there was so much water in the fuel tank that when it was parked nose up a slight incline all the engine got was water being injected. One of those "I rode it and parked it and now it won't go" jobs. Turned out the drain tube from around the fuel cap was blocked, so when it rained the cap recess filled up with water and then when the cap was opened it got into the fuel tank. There was at least 1 litre of water in the 8 or so of fuel I drained out. So that was an easy fix.

Second the steering head bearings were so notchy it took a detirmined effort to turn the bars. Just pushing it into the shop and onto the bench bought this to my attention. Steering head bearings are one of those things that deteriorate over time and people just don't notice, so often telling someone their bike needs new steering head bearings is met with a suspiscious "feels ok to me" response. We replaced the original ball style with tapered rollers, although this requires spacing the seal off the bearings. I use the original washer from under the lower seal between the new lower seal and lower bearing and fit another of these washers on top of the top bearing under the seal. Works a treat.

Third was the amount of dirt in the airbox. Fitted with a Ducati Performance slip on muffler kit, the supplied air filter was too short for the space between the air ducts, and you could see the dust on both ends where air had been going around the filter. The state of the bottom of the airbox was quite disturbing for a supposedly dirt free environment though - see the photos. To fix it I fitted a piece of vacuum hose (3 or so mm ID, 7mm OD) around the edge groove of the air runner which loaded the filter a couple of mm when both air runners were fitted. Hopefully that will fix it. Certainly worth checking, as I had a feeling early on that there wasn't a great seal on these filters, but hadn't seen any high km evidence to back that up.

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Closed until January 11th

2010-12-30T13:03:00.000-08:00

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I'll be closed until January 11. Before then you can email me and I'll get back to you.

Happy holiday of whatever kind you care to celebrate or not season to you all.
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A Great Video

2010-12-10T00:40:00.000-08:00

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About two guys who get their dad's old bike restored. It might be a Norton, but it's a great story so we can forgive that.

http://vimeo.com/11285536
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900SS With FCR 39 and 41 Carbs

2010-12-02T18:04:00.000-08:00

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Two 900SS, both fitted with slip on mufflers (Staintune, Gia.Co.Moto), std airbox lids without snorkles and std jetting. Before they were pretty similar:

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After, FCR41 in red, FCR39 in green. Both runs done with the same 152 main jets.

With FCR39 before and after

With FCR41 before and after

Back to work and back into it

2010-09-30T04:50:00.000-07:00

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Don't you love it when it hardly seems like you were away? On my first two days back I took a few weeks worth of bookings, and at this point am booked out until the second week of November.

Some people express surprise at this, but it works like this. On a very good week I charge out 30 hours, but on average it's 23 or so. The other 20 odd hours get lost in admin, organisation, parts sourcing, talking, etc. So I don't need a huge amount of work to keep busy. And I find many of my jobs expand from what they were booked in for to what I end up doing, requiring me to not overbook myself (which I am very good at) and allow time for the always expected unexpected.

Some people ask when I'm going to employ someone else, but I have never intended to do that. Before I opened for business I spoke to quite a few people doing the same thing as me, and many who had employed staff at times said they'd not do it again, for a variety of reasons. Employing staff brings much more to the table. Instead of 25 hours of bookings a week I'd need 40 for the employed person plus 15 to 20 for me, so I'd need to find more work. Also that person costs much more than just the wage they get paid - insurance, workcare, etc. And I'd no longer have total control for what was done or said.

As much as I didn't think I'd use the word, the main reason for me is control. It just occured to me that I'm going to be sounding like a control freak (didn't think I was). Frankly, I'm typing as I think and this post has taken on a bit of a life of its own since I started, but you get that. I was intending to have something about 848/1098/1198 Ducati Performance air filters. I'll do another post on that. Maybe I just need to do some writing other than the invoice stories. I enjoy being responsible for them too. It would sometimes amaze me at how a well intentioned service manager could misinterpret what was written on a job card and write something on an invoice that was totally incorrect simply because they had misunderstood (or couldn't read!) what was written. I'm really starting to ramble now, better get back on track.

Perhaps it's more correct to say that I'm enjoying not being responsible for other people. As a service manager in particular I found myself sometimes frustrated at the role I had to play between technician and customer. Now I'm responsible for all the work, all the talk (and the mistakes) and everything else that comes out of Brad The Bike Boy. That's the part that I like. It's not that I had serious issues with anything that happened at my previous employer, but most people know what it's like to have to sort out a mess of someone else's making while still meeting customer expectations and without upsetting any of the parties involved or making anyone look bad.

Of course I'm talking to myself more than before, but fortunately I don't find myself too bad a company.
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Email problems

2010-09-04T22:31:00.001-07:00

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If you've been sending me emails and wondering why I'm not replying, I'm having some email issues. Hopefully I will be able to reply to them by Friday 10th.
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Closed for two weeks 30/08 - 10/09.

2010-08-24T03:59:00.000-07:00

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As the title says, we'll be closed for the next two weeks. I will endeavour to respond to emails during this time.
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Michelin Power One 120/70ZR17 & 180/55ZR17 to clear.

2010-06-30T16:11:00.000-07:00

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I have a pair of Michelin Power One I'd like to move. 120/70ZR17 front, 180/55ZR17 rear in the "road" compound. Normally $535 plus fitting, this pair can go for $525 fitted.
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Ignitech TCIP4 Ignition units in stock

2010-06-26T04:17:00.000-07:00

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I now have some TCIP4 Ignition units in stock. Nominally to suit the carburettored Ducati SS and Monster range, these units allow full control of the ignition advance and at $225 are a cheap replacement for the original Kokusan units should one fail.

See http://www.bikeboy.org/ducati2vignition.html for more info.
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Wheel and Tyre Insurance from Swann

2010-06-26T04:01:00.000-07:00

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I thought this was info worthy of spreading. Swann Insurance are offering wheel and tyre insurance. A customer in last week mentioned he'd taken out this policy in addition to his normal comprehensive insurance (seperate policy) after he mentioned he had a slow leak in his rear tyre which turned out to be a nail at a very shallow angle and not really repairable.

He now has a new tyre due to this policy, the cost of which (for 3 years) was a bit less than the cost of the replacement tyre. And it also includes rim damage.

So well worth looking into I thought.
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Full EXACTFIT Timing belt range now in stock

2010-05-24T04:26:00.000-07:00

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All the EXACTFIT belts are now on the shelf. Range and price per pair as follows, trade enquiries welcome. Postage is $5.50 normal parcel post or $8.25 express post for one pair.

TB696; all 696 and 796; $110

TB800; 1998 onwards 600M, 750M and 750SSie, all 620, 695 and 800 models; $110

TB900; all 900 and 944 2V motors; $95

TB1100; All 1000DS, 1100 and ST3; $121

TB996; 748 (except late build “low head”), 851, 888, 916, 996; $135

TBST4; 748 low head, S4, ST4, S4R, ST4S; $135

TB999; 749, 998, 999, S4RS, S4RT; $154

TB1198; 848, 1098, 1198; $154
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More EXACTFIT timing belts on their way!

2010-05-13T07:38:00.000-07:00

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The rest of the EXACTFIT timing belt range - 900 2V, 620 to 800 2V, 696, ST4S et all (desmo low head), 916 et all and 1098 are on their way and should be on the shelf next week. We'll add the belts to our products page with a clear model application chart to make it easy.
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A new photo from the benches

2010-05-03T04:09:00.000-07:00

I had this pair up on the benches a couple of weeks ago and thought they were worth a photo. The Lemans has 30,000 miles on it and looks like a 30,000 mile old Lemans - black paint rubbing through, cracked side cover mount tabs, the usual sort of thing. The MHR has 30,000 km on it and looks like it was new yesterday. I have no idea how he keeps it so clean.

Not sure which one I enjoyed riding the most though. Both typically old bikes - bad brakes, not so nice suspension, all that kind of stuff. But both still very cool in their own way. I think I like the Lemans more, but maybe that's just because it's more like a modern Guzzi. Which may be a back hander for your modern Guzzi now that I think about it. Plus it's lower and more manageable maybe. Or gives you the impression thereof, regardless of whether or not it's true. Certainly the low, long look of the Lemans has classic cafe racer written all over it. The MHR is missing it's belly fairing, but I quite like it how it is.

EXACTFIT timing belts to suit Testastretta 749, 998 and 999 now in stock.

2010-04-22T05:15:00.001-07:00

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We now have the EXACTFIT TB999 belts to suit 749, 998 and 999 in stock. These belts retail for $66 each ($132 per pair), somewhat less than the Ducati price of $350 per pair! Trade enquiries are welcome too.

We should have belts to suit 1098 and 848, low exhaust cam Desmoquattro engines (late 748, S4, ST4, S4R, ST4S) and small engines with round tooth belts (1998 on 600 and 750, 620, 695, 800) in stock early June.

More info here - http://www.ca-cycleworks.com/exactfit/
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Some photos for the Monster list of dial indicator holders and tips

2010-04-20T04:39:00.001-07:00

Nothing overly special, just valve lift measuring tools for checking cam timing for a discussion on the DMF.

New hope for Digiplex owners

2010-03-29T01:43:00.000-07:00

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I got an email today from a fellow named Craig in Sydney who has a Moto Guzzi Sport 1100 (carburetor model) which is fitted with a Marelli Digiplex ignition unit. Craig tried an Ignitech TCIP4 unit without success, but is now running a unit from Cliff Jefferies. Cliff sells the "myecu" replacement 1.6M, P8 and 1.5M ecus and has branched out into this as well. More info on Cliff's stuff here - http://www.cajinnovations.com/MyECU/index.htm

Ian Gowanloch also had some new Ducati Digiplex units for sale, not sure if he has any more. Ian is selling some of his massive collection of bits on ebay under the name italsparesducati. He has lots of older Ducati stuff as well, from single to bevel, Pantah and late 80's 851 and 906. Well worth keeping an eye on if you're into that sort of thing.
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Staintune clearance sale

2010-03-03T05:05:00.000-08:00

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Staintune are having a clearance sale - see here for details http://www.staintune.com.au/docs/staintune_sale.jpg
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California Cycleworks Exactfit timing belts in stock

2010-03-01T16:51:00.000-08:00

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We now have 1000/1100DS and ST3 Exactfit timing belts (# TB1100) from California Cycleworks in stock. See http://www.ca-cycleworks.com/exactfit/ for more info. 749, 998 and 999 belts should be in stock early April.

TB1100 retail for $55 each ($110 per pair), less than half the price of genuine Ducati belts. Trade enquiries welcome.
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New and modified reports up.

2010-02-22T03:32:00.000-08:00

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I've finally got some new stuff up.

996SPS with head work: http://www.bikeboy.org/996SPS.html

916SP with 955 kit dyno graphs added: http://www.bikeboy.org/916bigbore.html

Ducati engine bits swapping info updated: http://www.bikeboy.org/duccapacities.html

Ducati cam specs updated: http://www.bikeboy.org/duccamspec.html

MV SPR 750 graphs added to MV F4 report: http://www.bikeboy.org/mvf4base.html
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Closed Thursday 28th January

2010-01-27T02:08:00.000-08:00

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Due to a sick little man, I'll be closed tomorrow (Thursday).

Brad

I was going through my photos...

2010-01-25T18:47:00.000-08:00

and found this one of a Tricolore Kit, posssibly my favourite 851 photo. Taken at the Italians at the Museum day 2004. I have another that was taken from a lower angle that is better, but I missed the leading edge of the front wheel and the symetry freak in me won't let me post it because of that.

A Very Cute MV

2010-01-25T17:49:00.001-08:00

One of my customers bought his little MV 350 in last week for some work in preparation for some display laps at last weekend's Island Classic at Phillip Island. It was such an attention grabber that I took some photos to share. Originally a 1977 350 twin, it has been modified by ex MV GP race team man Primo Felotti into a visual replica of an old multi GP bike. I'm told the process of convincing him to take on the project was almost as involved as the project itself. A classic "I know a bloke who know's a bloke" sort of thing.

Certainly some very nice work in fabricating custom bodywork, and with some engine mods too. The tacho is redlined at 9,000 rpm, but I wasn't keen on going that high myself on the road test. After the road test we pulled the rego plate mount and it went to the Island with the classic cafe racer tail piece as it should be.

Brad

Merry Christmas to all

2009-12-24T02:51:00.000-08:00

Well, it's that time of the year again when people have a reason to want everything finished and I get to have an empty workshop. Kind of nice really. I did have to go in today for one last job, arguably the most important job of the year for a particularly special customer. The photo shows the finished job. Although I'm not totally convinced of the low cost Chinese quality, I'm sure he'll get plenty of miles out of it. The change from his current 12" to these new 16" wheels (and lack of training wheels) will speed him up too, so I expect the odd injury or two in the near future. But you get that. I look at him as a little man and just see myself at his age and that in itself worries me stupid.

I'll be back open from the 11th of Jan, but will be receiving emails for the time in between so email me for any booking enquiries and I'll get back to you.

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it and happy reason to have time off work for those who don't. My thanks to those who have supported me over the past year. It's been an interesting ride with lots of expected unexpectedness and things learnt and a few forgotten. Hopefully I've lived up to expectations.

Brad

Busy

2009-11-08T04:08:00.001-08:00

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When I started out Dave Ward at Moto Italia told me to take it slowly and not worry because before too long I'd be a little overrun. He was right. Compounding this is the fact that since I opened one of the Ducati dealers (Ducati Melbourne / Zagame) and a non authorsied shop (Bob Brown's Melbourne Desmo Centre) have closed. So I'm getting quite a bit of Ducati work and a surprising amount of Guzzi work (compared to what we used to get at Moto One). Which is good, but it's putting my skills at things other than working on bikes to the test. It's amazing how some days you can lose a few hours doing seemingly nothing, even though you don't stop.

Nothing new to report playing wise, as much of the work I've been doing lately has been service based. Which is good. Turnover is the word many would use. I'm hopefully heading to the dyno tomorrow morning for a little play with a 955'd 916SP, as long as I can get there before it gets too hot. First time I've been there for a while, and still no closer to getting my own dyno going - too busy it seems. It's hard to complain about not having time to do that sort of thing, but is frustrating just the same.

I do have one new report set to be up soon - a 996SPS with heads by CJS in the UK. Running 748R inlet cams and a Akropovic 45 - 60mm tapered system (I think they call it that) it went rather nicely. 142hp, with a std SPS making 124 or so on this dyno as the comparitor. Certainly looks nice from 7,000 rpm upward, although being a track bike I didn't get to ride it so don't know how it felt.
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MV Agusta 312R dyno chart

2009-09-27T01:14:00.000-07:00

I tuned a MV 312R recently, mapping a PCIII over the RG3 ecu. It was fitted with Arrow header and cat eliminator pipes, RG3 mufflers and a BMC air filter. Certainly more power than the previous (all std) F4 1000 I'd dynod. I ran another 312R on this dyno recently, which was the spare bike of the team that raced last year in the Australian Superbike Championship. Between these two runs though the dyno roller surface was reconditioned, so I'm not sure if the comparison is totally accurate - the race 312R may be a bit low. The race bike had a factory head and cams with std bottom end and was also remapped using a PCIII. Red is this 312R, green the race 312R, blue a Tambo with RG3 mufflers and header fitted and yellow an all std F4 1000. The Tambo looks a little flat on the graph, but on the road between 8 and 10 I'm sure it felt faster than any of the others - it was quite intense in that rev range.

Closed for next week

2009-09-11T05:07:00.000-07:00

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We'll be closed for this coming week, Sept 14th to 18th. I'll attend to any emails or phone messages when I return on Monday 21st.
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Ultimap U59 ECU available

2009-08-20T18:47:00.000-07:00

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I have a customer who has an Ultimap U59 ECU to sell, so if anyone is interested I'll put you in touch.
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A New Report!

2009-08-13T05:47:00.000-07:00

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Yes, finally, a new report. It's taken me some time to get to this point, being the one who does everything. Well, except from Hunnybunny sorting my bookkeeping mess. Actually it has more to do with the work I've been doing over the last 7 months not really being report suitable as it's all stuff I've done before or stuff that doesn't really show much in a report fashion.

Anyway, the new report is about 748s being turned into 853 - a Strada and an R, plus another with an 890 kit. It's report number 30 in the Ducai 4 Valve section. Happy reading.

The Products page has been expanded also.
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Booking lead time, parts and a Laverda

2009-08-11T06:10:00.000-07:00

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Even though it's the middle of winter here I'm getting about a 2 week lead time for bookings. So please keep this in mind if planning some work. I can often fit in a small job (ie, 1 hour or so), but precedence always goes to booked in work.

I'll have an expanded products page up very soon, with mostly Ducati parts - lightweight steel clutch baskets, Barnett clutch packs, changeover 4V opening rockers - and the generic efi fuel filter that suits most BMW, Ducati and MV and some Guzzi and Aprilias. While I'm not trying to start a large parts business, it does help to move more of the regulars where possible. Especially when I can offer bits at better prices.

I've got something different in at the moment - a Laverda Formula 650. I think that's what it is, it hasn't got any bodywork at this point. I haven't worked on one before, but it seems pretty straight forward, if a little unusual. Apparently an excellent handling bike, it's cetainly specced up chassis wise with WP at both ends and Brembo floating cast iron discs. And a big fabricated aluminium fuel tank under the seat, which looks surprisingly 'one off' for a production bike. Hopefully I'll get to go for a ride on it when it's all back in one piece.
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Offset Keys for Ducati Cam Dialling Now In Stock

2009-06-30T07:08:00.000-07:00

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My order of offset keys arrived today, so if you want any let me know. Sizes ranging from 3 degrees to 16 degrees (crank) in most increments.
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A Ducati 851/853 dyno chart

2009-06-25T15:20:00.001-07:00

I dynod an 853 kitted 748 a few weeks ago and thought I'd compare it to my old 851 just to have a look and then figured I'd put it up to show you all. It's the first 853 Strada I've dynod, with the conversion done by the owner. It's running 108/108 cam timing, 45mm slip ons and Doug Lofgren's UM097DL eprom, apart from that it's std. My 851 runs the same cam timing, open airbox lid, ST4 headers and slip ons and remapped eprom to suit. Compared to the 748 it has 1mm smaller valves and is longer stroke and smaller bore (2.5 and 2mm respectively). I also put the 853R I did late last year on for a bit more of a "this is what you can get from an 850cc 4v" sort of thing, although this run was an early one so it's a bit rough fuelling wise in places. red is 851, green is 853 and blue is 853R. As a comparison the 848's seem to be dynoing in the 115 - 120hp range, which would have seen them outpowering most 851 race bikes of 20 years ago I'd think.

Some more photos

2009-05-19T04:49:00.001-07:00

Some people have asked for more photos of what it looks like, so here we go. First up is a look at the work area - I have the 3 benches lined up side by side now with one under a roof beam for those occaisions when there's some separation involved. My 851 is sitting around waiting for some attention, but that might have to wait until the dyno is up and running - so I can use it for development without having to leave the premises, being unregistered and all.

Next is a view from the same-ish position as the

photo from 30/12/2008. Certainly a bit more

filled in now (some may say organised), with a

shelving unit partly blocking the view. It's

certainly starting to look the part.

Finally, a look at the dyno room. Or, as it stands,

a 2m by 4m contained mess area. All it's waiting for is some

walls, roof, ducting and software. Not sure where the mess will go when it's dyno time, but I'm slowly purging myself of the collected crap.

I'm really keen to get this running, but as usual the affairs of state must take precedence over the affairs of state.

Minnie lives!

2009-04-17T05:27:00.000-07:00

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Minnie, our 600/750M, has been languishing for about 4 months now, ever since the day she intermittantly failed to proceed on my trip to register a business name. But I had a bit of spare time yesterday due to a bike not coming in so after I'd done as much office work as I could find I had a play and fixed her. Not what I was expecting as it turned out either, but intruging, ultimately easy and expenditure free. I went for a quick blast to remind myself of what a nice bike she is to ride.

I've had a fair variation of work in, everything from checking valve clearances on a K1200S (hadn't done that before) to reminding myself how a Multistrada comes apart. Fiddly. But it's all been good fun so far.

Last week I did manage to reset the high bar on my "wtf do I do that for" index by turning on the tap on a 20 litre drum of oil with a measuring jug under said tap then walking away, intending to come back within a short enough time frame to get the required amount of oil in the jug. As expected, the next time I thought about the oil running into the jug was about 6 litres after it had its 5 litre capacity in it. Luckily it was the cheap stuff, as it's also the thick stuff and had covered an area about 1m square. Had it been a hot day and the synthetic Ultra 6 litres would have just about covered the whole 118 square metres of factory floor. So I raced around to the cabinet makers behind me and grabbed a big bucket of sawdust to soak up the mess and left it at that for a couple of days as I had quite a bit of stuff to finish. Not surprisingly my motivation for cleaning up stuff like that can be rather low at times. Rather. I think it was the oil smell that got to me in the end.

Sensational purchase of the week award (for a couple of weeks ago) would be the Samsung 943BW computer monitor for the workshop computer. This monitor allows you to rotate the screen 90 degrees (in my case) so that it's tall and narrow, allowing me to see a full page of a pdf workshop manual. Very, very useful. Quite popular for doctors reading X-rays as well I'm told. Although the software that comes with it is as cryptic as it gets, and I really have no idea how I finally got it to do what I wanted it to. And my screen saver is now the back half of Raymond Roche's 1990 title winning 851.

I will get to putting up another photo of the factory soon. I have it much more organised now. I just keep forgetting to take the camera into work.
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Ultimap - Fuel Injected Motorcycles

2009-03-12T03:43:00.001-07:00

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As some of you will know, Ultimap (formerly Fuel Injected Motorcycles) has closed down. This means there are no more new U59 ECU, Ultimap diagnostics or eproms apart from those dealers around the world have in stock. None. Nada. Ziparooni. I know of one person in the USA with a new U59 to sell if anyone wants one - I will forward details to him if you are serious.

A few people have rung or emailed me and told me that I'm apparently the new Ultimap person. This is not true. While Duane Mitchell and I have had a close working relationship over the last 14 or so years and became good friends through it, I haven't bought his business. Nor do I have a hot line to Duane should you have an issue with a U59 you need fixed. To get service on the U59 you need to follow the directions on the U59 web site.

Nor can I tell you how to contact Duane apart from his website, suffice to say he is now doing something else.

I can supply eproms to suit quite a few applications, and will be updating my eprom listing very soon. But I cannot and will not be selling Ultimap brand eproms, as I don't own them.

I hope that clarifies things a little.
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Into the second month

2009-03-04T02:39:00.000-08:00

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The second month of operation! I'm getting myself much more sorted, although the factory is still lacking the finishing touches. My plan to be 100% set up and done before I started had to give way to "Oh my, where's all the money gone?" But you get that. Now I'm looking forward to the quiet times to get some more setting up done. Being on your own does have some limitations too - you look around and think "Hmmm, how am I going to do that?"

I have eftpos and credit card facilities now too, which is how I would guess is nearly all payments will be made. Certainly makes it a lot easier than carrying lots of cash around.

Some reading this may have found a business card on their bike at the Phillip Island WSBK meeting - myself and currently non monster owner Rohan (Spider) walked around the pit side of the track and put out as many cards as we could on anything applicable with VIC rego. We had to drive down due to neither of us having a bike to ride - mine not running, his stolen a few months ago. Unfortunately Rohan didn't get to see much of his first race meeting, being too busy dropping cards. Maybe next year we'll get down there for fun.

I had a rather odd experience today - deciding not to go out on a bike because it was raining (it doesn't rain too much in Melbourne these days!) . I didn't fancy piloting someone else's 175Hp on a wet road.

Apart from that it's been the usual work - so far I've had a fairly even mix of brands and jobs, with probably Aprilia SXV's being the most represented at this point. At some point I might even get around to fixing Minnie. I'm picking up a shop trailer tomorrow so will be able to get her in and park her in a corner. Actually, there's no corners for parking in I don't think. Perhaps I need to clean one out for her.
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Contact details, etc

2009-02-04T03:45:00.001-08:00

Well, I'm open for business this week. Although I'm still hunting through boxes for various tools, etc, as I need them for the first time. There's been a few "hmmm, I wonder where that is?" moments. And a few things found after they've been replaced, but you always get that.

The address is 2B King Street, Oakleigh. There's no signage as yet, so the photo to the right is what the front looks like. I might stick a big "2B" on the front door to make it more obvious. Or just look for next door's overflowing big steel wheelie bin. It's the second door in King Street off Connell. Phone number is (03) 9563 2004 and fax (03) 9563 3004.

3 Weeks since the last entry?

2009-01-17T03:15:00.000-08:00

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I really can't believe it's been 3 weeks since I last posted. Makes me wonder what I've been doing. Oh yeah, now I remember. Stressing out over all the stuff I have to do. Some idiot rather close to management decided a couple of weeks ago that he'd be ready for work by Monday 19th and booked in a job for then. Goose.

The new office and clean room are finished, and I put the first coat of paint on the floors this evening. Second coat goes on tomorrow and then come Monday we can move everything in. So I'm a little behind schedule, but the schedule keeps filling itself with stuff I hadn't even known to consider.

Sensational pucrhase of the week award for the last week would go to the Maktek cut off saw. The cheap badge of Makita, it'll do more work before the end of January than the following five years I expect. But I have always wanted a cut off saw. I've been cutting down some long span shelving into work benches and the like, and it's starting to look good layed out sort of where it will all be. Sort of.

I'll put up another photo when the mess has been sorted somewhat - It's still disorganisation central.
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Fitting Out The Factory

2008-12-30T19:49:00.000-08:00

My cousing Alister came down yesterday for a fun day of office framing - a little work for him on his holiday - and Ivan the electrician was in this morning running a few wires so we can now plaster and paint the office and have it looking more like a going concern. All I need now are the benches and shelving and stuff out of boxes and completing the seemingly endless list of other things to do.
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The photo shows the current state of play - a small factory in Oakleigh half full of (hopefully) most of the stuff you need for a motorbike workshop with things being moved around to give access to whatever it is we're trying to do on the day. With Ivan the electrician up a ladder and Finn chasing his Thomas The Tank Engine ball.
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At this point of time I hope to be up and running around Monday the 19th of January, later than I'd hoped, but I'm not sure how quickly my shit will be getting itself together over the next couple of weeks. And with the exception of the dyno - it will happen at some point in the future, but it's not top priority right now.
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However, in the short term at least, I'll be taking on fairly simple stuff just because it appears to be a bad time of year to be trying to find unusual parts and get sensible answers out of suppliers, both here and overseas. And I have to get a feel for doing it all myself - it'll definitely be different to the previous 17 years.

And I have to fix Minne too - the last time I rode her she failed to proceed several times on a very hot day. She came good with a full tank of fuel so I'm guessing it's vacuum fuel tap or fuel pump. Interestingly it'll be the first time I've experienced issues with either - just like the ignition coil that died many years ago now was the only 2V coil I can recall seeing fail.

Moved in!

2008-12-13T03:55:00.000-08:00

Well, in a fashion. A fashion of all the stuff needed to be a motorcycle workshop unloaded into a little factory in Oakleigh. Plus other stuff that will no doubt be thrown out once I come to the realisation that I really don't need all this crap.

Which leads me neatly into the award for sensational purchase of the week: a pallet truck. One of those things on the right. As I have nearly everything on pallets I can move it all around with this nifty little jigger. Which will be a real bonus as I try to remodel a factory that's about 2/3rds full of pallets with stuff on them. I'm enjoying it so much I'm sure I'll be moving stuff around just for the sake of it.

So now it's into getting set up for work. At this point of time I expect we'll be ready to go in the new year, but not before. More info and progress reports to come as the real work starts.

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Progress - A location at last!

2008-12-10T04:12:00.000-08:00

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Without wanting to speak too early and give myself grief it would appear I have found a factory for the business. Hopefully I'll have the keys tomorrow morning and then begin the process of moving my stuff in and remodelling the factory as required.

Along with a bit of a drive on Friday to pick up a dyno. Woo hoo, a dyno. Of course, I have to build a room to run it in before I can actually use it, but taking possesion is a good start.

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The Planning of Business

2008-11-19T03:12:00.000-08:00

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Well, so far it's been a case of trying to work out all the costs that will stop me making a decent living from running my own business and working out everything I need to do to make it happen.

When I make the decision of which way to go it will be posted here. As I'll be needing to start making money out of it very quickly.

My thanks to all those who have wished me well - it helps in the battle to convince myself it will work.

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