Project Odd Duc: Make it work

 I think I like "Project Odd Duc", we'll see.  

So...the factory mirrors, in all their rubber accordion glory, are getting pretty impotent in their old age. This is a common problem, often remedied with hose clamps, loctite, and other mods.  Others pull the factory mirrors and opt for bar-end style.  I've never had anything but factory, mounted on the levers style mirrors, until now.  I picked these up from Kemimoto via the AtoZ store, the price was good and they have some good reviews.   Initial inspection looks good, the build quality looks to be beyond their small price point, and the install should have been super easy.  Should have been. 

But there is something about these clip-ons (Woodcraft  I think) that kept spitting out the expansion nut. Had I been using any other type of handlebar or clip-on, this wouldn't have been an issue. No fault of Kemimoto, their supplied hardware was not the problem.

So, with the stock option out of the picture, I tried to come up with other solutions. Flying by the seat of my pants and creative problem solving has become a garage honed skill.  My first plan was to use the hardware from an old set of bar ends, but that didn't work.  As frustration mounted and thoughts of returning them started to sprout, I thought about printing a new rubber expansion piece.  Then my friends, then I remembered that I try to never throwaway a piece or part that may be useful in the future.  Yes, this is a reoccurring theme.

By mixing both the factory bar end, hardware from the old bar-ends, and a 3D printed flexible riser, I was able to make a working solution.  Add a little hairspray in the tube for slip-n-grip, and we were all set.  I may end up printing a wider version of this riser for added security.

This is one of the pieces from the neon pink windscreen install on the Hurricane!

Small but looking good.

Whenever my wheel spacer gets here, I can get the 900SS back on the road.  We're going to replace the front tire this weekend, and that should be the last real work for this season, the rest is riding. 

Ok...well, that's not true.  Somewhere between here and Bravaria, is a set of Hepco Becker luggage racks for my bike.  On those racks, I thinking about mounting my yellow Pelican cases. This requires a swap to LED turn signals. That requires replacing the warning lights on the dash with LEDs (all except the low fuel light), and wiring in resistors. Hell, while I'm in there, I might as well replace the dash lights with LEDs, and the brake light (add a flasher module as well). It just keeps snowballing but garage time is awesome.

Or, you know, I could keep it simple and pick up some soft luggage for the rack, to pack up for my planned trip this autumn. We'll see.  Soft luggage has it's benefits, but you can't put stickers on it. =\   Heated grips will get installed at some point too, can't live without those. 

Looking forward to looking rearward with these mirrors.  I'll report back but so far, I'm impressed with their build quality.  

- stay safe out there

Project Ducati: Grinding my gears, err, bolts.

 There's a reason I prefer to do all my own work, besides being kinda cheap, often on a thin budget, and being rather particular.  Too many times I've seen and heard about issues with "trained professionals" doing things the wrong way, or leaving vital things out during reassembly.  Take this example, not only did the rear tire get put on backwards, they also left out the conical spacer between the swingarm and the sprocket carrier. 

I felt a grinding sensation when pushing the bike but assumed it was due to the rusty chain.

That's one way to shorten bolts.

Isn't messing with the rear wheel/axle how they tried to kill Goose?

This could have been really, really bad.  I'm glad I kept fighting the urge to take the Duc on the highway for some speed runs, er advanced testing.  The new spacer is on it's way to my local Ducati shop.  We'll need to straighten out the left arm of the swingarm.  Maybe the decrease in friction will increase my mileage! 

This was shiny, but that damn anti-seize compound.

At the suggestion of many Ducatistas, I went with a stock 15 Front and a larger 41 Rear, which should improve the low speed / surface street experience. I'm excited to try out the taller rear sprocket.  

Stay safe out there... 

Project Ducati: Letting go, and Maintaining Balance

 Saturday morning, I woke up early to get out some tools a coworker needed to borrow, as well as hand the Hurricane off to it's new owner.  Once that was complete, I planned on balancing the carbs and putting some miles on the Duc before I had to meet up with my kiddos.  

Adios Hurricane, you were a good bike and kept me sane during the pandemic. 

Coffee, breakfast, and wrenching. 

.

Nipple.

Be careful, there are 2 screws, one is the idle, the other is balancer.

Perfetto! Nice and balanced.

There was a small hiccup before I could balance the carbs.  I told R., the new Hurricane owner that he could ride the Duc.  But when I hit the start switch, I got nothing.  Not a whine, buzz, whimper, or crank.  Well, shit.  Electrical gremlins again.  After he left, I grabbed my multimeter and tested the switch, all was well.  So, I grabbed an allen wrench, uncovered the starer selonoid connections and ZAP she fired up!  One more part to replace.  But after some internet sleuthing, this appears to be rather common on the 900SS and M900, mainly due to the connector coming loose.  It happened again later in the day, and I wiggled the connector, it started.  One zip tie later, it's "fixed".  

I rode to the gas station, filled her up with petrol and took a quick ride.  Man, I love the feel of this engine.  It reminds me of riding vintage twin cylinder bikes with my friends back when I first got into riding.  Bikes like this have character, a soul if you will, which is something I find lacking on new bikes. They're just to clean and smooth, I like the visceral nature of this bike and engine.  You never feel the bike disappear beneath you, it's always there reminding you. 

I replaced the crank turning tool access cover with an oring I ordered off of Amazon, 10 pack for less than the prices of the Duc oring including shipping.  We'll see if this holds up to the heat.  

Stay safe out there. 

Project Ducati: Wire it Up and Fire it Up!

 My connector kit arrived and I made quick work of the foul repairs for my fuel pump, but also noticed another questionable wrap of electrical tape.  Hmm...we'll deal with that later. 

Much better!

I also decided to print a clutch gasket out of TPU instead of using the washers to space out the closed cover.  To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the dry clutch rattle.  I think it takes away from the lovely L Twin sound. 

We'll see if it holds up to engine temps. 

So, with the wiring fixed, the last hurdle was those damn float valve seats.  With no more work to be done on the Duc, I started pulling all the remaining "stuff" off of the Hurricane.  I decided I would rather take less dough, and sell it to someone who wants to bring it back to it's full 80's plastic glory; instead of selling it to some rando on FB who'll put it in a ditch (or worse).  Stripping down the Honda was pretty easy, now I essentially have a street fighter kit in a box. 

I got a USPS notice about an inbound packing with a funky tracking number.  Could it actually be my parts, all the way from the Netherlands?!  It was indeed my friends! 

That night, I got the carbs assembled, and then installed them over lunch today.  With my kiddos gone for the evening, all resources were redirected to the garage.  I had one goal, and one goal only.  Ride the Duc, even if it was around my street.  All the remaining reassembly went rather easy (hmmm...maybe too easy).  I dropped in the new fat battery, put some fuel in the tank and turned the key.  The gentle whine of the fuel pump filled my ears.  So, I hit the go button!  It turned over a few times, and then back fired like a 5.56 rifle round going off.  Hmmm...too easy indeed.  Perhaps I swapped the plug wires.  About 1 minute later, I was hitting the go switch again.  One revolution, then.... nothing.  No lights, no starter, no fuel pump.  Just a buzz from behind the instrument cluster.  Is this it?  Am I getting the Ducati electrical curse right off the bat?  

I found the buzzing relay, luckily I had a replacement (never throw anything away). With the new relay installed, I turned the key.  LIGHTS! Glorious lights and the fuel pump singing like a choir of angels, then BUZZZZZZZ.  SON OF A B!TCH.  2 relays?  Wait a minute, this has to be something else.  Immediately, my mind went to a guy on YouTube that I've been following as he works on his 900ss.  He chased all kinds of issues and went way down the rabbit hole, only to have it end up being a bad ground.  So, I pulled the airbox (man this bike is easy to work on), cleaned up the ground cables and frame mounts.  

The moment of truth.... 

I threw on my helmet and gloves, and rolled out into the street.  I put about 3 miles on ripping, I mean, riding as a sane person.  Once the clock hit 10pm, I figured my neighbors probably didn't enjoy the fine music of my Italian motorbike, so I rolled into the garage.  The idle was still high, so I referenced the good book  and found the idle screw.  I dropped the idle, it sounded better, then I noticed the damn "enrichment circuit" (it's not a choke, according to Ducati), was still about half on.   It's reversed from my Honda and has a pretty far throw so I goofed on it.   With the circuit closed (open?), I reset the idle and it seemed happy.  Tomorrow I'll sync the carbs, and pass the Hurricane on to it's new owner.  

Stay safe out there.