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.
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.
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.
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