750 Sport refresh

discussion about the 750 Sport and '89/'90 900SS, which share many mechanicals with the Paso series
Tweakin
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2017 1:59 pm
model: 750 Sport
year: 1990
Location: USA

750 Sport refresh

Post by Tweakin »

Hello from WA state!

So I have a buddy who had this parked in his garage for 15 years with only 8600 miles on the odometer. Picked it up today for a deal I couldn't pass up. Needs a good cleaning and rubber parts replaced but it's almost all there. Deleted airbox with dual 38 Mikuni carbs as well. Plan is to partially tear it down to really clean it up, replace all worn rubber bits and get it running again. After all, they are only original once. It is missing the rear hugger and the rubber on the mirrors is in bad shape.

I have restored/rebuilt many old Hondas but never a Ducati. I am sure I will have a ton of questions along the way.

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Andrew2
paso grand pooh-bah
Posts: 574
Joined: Thu Oct 27, 2011 7:47 am
model: 750 Sport
year: 1988
Location: Wollongong,Australia

Re: 750 Sport refresh

Post by Andrew2 »

Nice. Looking forward to seeing how it cleans up. You probably already know but don't start it until the belts are changed and definitely don't ride on those tyres. Keep us posted.

Cheers
Andrew
Tweakin
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2017 1:59 pm
model: 750 Sport
year: 1990
Location: USA

Re: 750 Sport refresh

Post by Tweakin »

Yes, I did a quick start up just to make sure she would fire then shut her down. Once I started inspecting the bike it somehow turned into a complete tear down... This isn't too unusual fro my projects. :)

After that I picked up all the parts needed for a 17 inch wheel conversion this am so the bike took a bit of a turn from my original plan just to refresh.

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I will soda blast the engine and a few other bits today to get them ready for paint.
Andrew2 wrote:Nice. Looking forward to seeing how it cleans up. You probably already know but don't start it until the belts are changed and definitely don't ride on those tyres. Keep us posted.

Cheers
Andrew
Andrew2
paso grand pooh-bah
Posts: 574
Joined: Thu Oct 27, 2011 7:47 am
model: 750 Sport
year: 1988
Location: Wollongong,Australia

Re: 750 Sport refresh

Post by Andrew2 »

What parts did you get for the 17" wheel conversion?. I'm thinking I might go down the same path if the 16" tyres don't turn out to be good enough.

Cheers
Andrew
Tweakin
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2017 1:59 pm
model: 750 Sport
year: 1990
Location: USA

Re: 750 Sport refresh

Post by Tweakin »

Andrew2 wrote:What parts did you get for the 17" wheel conversion?. I'm thinking I might go down the same path if the 16" tyres don't turn out to be good enough.

Cheers
Andrew
Mostly 900SS parts. This thread breaks down how to do the conversion.
http://forums.ducatipaso.org/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2698
Andrew2
paso grand pooh-bah
Posts: 574
Joined: Thu Oct 27, 2011 7:47 am
model: 750 Sport
year: 1988
Location: Wollongong,Australia

Re: 750 Sport refresh

Post by Andrew2 »

Cheers
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ducinthebay
paso grand pooh-bah
Posts: 1323
Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2005 12:00 am
model: 750 Sport
year: 1990
Location: SF Bay Area

Re: 750 Sport refresh

Post by ducinthebay »

Bike looks great. Rear huggers are pretty rare on this bike. Most people binned them as they were huge, and ugly. Haven't found a graceful replacement yet, as no other years fit, and the bolt pattern is odd.
I see you have stock turn signals, which is uncommon. Most of those get broken and replaced.
Those carbs are really nice, and should bring out the full potential of that motor.
Edit: If you add some 2" rubber elbows to those carbs, you can get the air cleaners up in that empty space under the tank, and it will help with the idle and low speed smoothness.
Pipes, I think, are F1 brand. Should be loud, but sound good.
The 17" wheel conversion is a grand idea, especially with some new modern rubber.
Looks like a great project.

Cheers, Phil
Duc in the Bay
1990 750 Sport x2-Rosso Blanko (900ss copy) & Nuovo Nudo (Scrambler project)
1991 907 -mostly stock
2002 ST4s - Lots of mods.
Tweakin
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2017 1:59 pm
model: 750 Sport
year: 1990
Location: USA

Re: 750 Sport refresh

Post by Tweakin »

ducinthebay wrote:Bike looks great. Rear huggers are pretty rare on this bike. Most people binned them as they were huge, and ugly. Haven't found a graceful replacement yet, as no other years fit, and the bolt pattern is odd.
I see you have stock turn signals, which is uncommon. Most of those get broken and replaced.
Those carbs are really nice, and should bring out the full potential of that motor.
Edit: If you add some 2" rubber elbows to those carbs, you can get the air cleaners up in that empty space under the tank, and it will help with the idle and low speed smoothness.
Pipes, I think, are F1 brand. Should be loud, but sound good.
The 17" wheel conversion is a grand idea, especially with some new modern rubber.
Looks like a great project.

Cheers, Phil
Thanks for replying to my thread Phill, appreciate the info! I'm having a blast with this build so far and can't wait to see how it evolves.
Tweakin
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2017 1:59 pm
model: 750 Sport
year: 1990
Location: USA

Re: 750 Sport refresh

Post by Tweakin »

Soda blasted the engine and resprayed it in VHT satin black. New stainless hardware and shipped the carbs out to be soda blasted and rebuilt. (I hate doing carbs). I have decided to not do a full restoration on this bike and take it a bit of a different direction. Since the restored value on this bike seems to be limited I figured I would make it the way I want to with out straying too far from its roots. I apologize to any purist out there and I get it if you would rather I restore.

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ducinthebay
paso grand pooh-bah
Posts: 1323
Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2005 12:00 am
model: 750 Sport
year: 1990
Location: SF Bay Area

Re: 750 Sport refresh

Post by ducinthebay »

Wow, looks great.
As with all bikes of this vintage, you come to a fork in the road. One says go back to stock and make a museum piece out of it. The other way is to hotrod it, and make a fun bike that you like to ride. Easy to argue either path, but hotrodding the 750 Sport is certainly worth the while. Not many will shed a tear over a Sport not being returned to stock. Now, if you had an F1, I would say go back to stock. But the Sport? In stock form, it had lots of things that just weren't right. Put 17" wheels, upgraded forks and brakes, and you have a really fun light bike that will be hard to beat for smiles per mile. And you won't find another one at the local meet up spot. I, of course, went to the road less traveled and modified it. Still a great bike to go out for a ride.

Your work already is going beyond what I have done. So I'm real anxious to see what you do with the bike. Lots of ways to go, and good bones to start with. Keep us posted.

Phil
Duc in the Bay
1990 750 Sport x2-Rosso Blanko (900ss copy) & Nuovo Nudo (Scrambler project)
1991 907 -mostly stock
2002 ST4s - Lots of mods.
Tweakin
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2017 1:59 pm
model: 750 Sport
year: 1990
Location: USA

Re: 750 Sport refresh

Post by Tweakin »

Started the mock up of the bike. keeping the front faring as is, including the square headlight. Slight modification to the tail and might remove the rear passenger pegs / exhaust hangers for a more modern approach with aluminum hangers.
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Steering stem swapped on the 900ss front forks, this was easier than I expected using a little heat and my press.
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Rebuilt the new to me 900ss rear shock and have been cleaning all the other 17 inch swap parts.

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Carbs have been ultrasonic cleaned and in the process of rebuild.
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Once the mock up is completed I will tear everything down and send the parts out to my powdercoater. This weekend I hope to get the new belts installed on the engine, new clutch and do a valve adjust to button up the engine.
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paso750
paso grand pooh-bah
Posts: 5558
Joined: Sun Jul 18, 2004 12:00 am
model: 750 Paso
year: 1987
Location: southern Germany

Re: 750 Sport refresh

Post by paso750 »

Steering stem swapped on the 900ss front forks
aren't they shorter?
Tweakin
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2017 1:59 pm
model: 750 Sport
year: 1990
Location: USA

Re: 750 Sport refresh

Post by Tweakin »

paso750 wrote:
Steering stem swapped on the 900ss front forks
aren't they shorter?
the 900ss stem is about 5-7mm shorter than the 750 sport. Swapping the 750 stem into the lower triple of the 900ss fork allowed me to mount up the fork to 750 sport frame.
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paso750
paso grand pooh-bah
Posts: 5558
Joined: Sun Jul 18, 2004 12:00 am
model: 750 Paso
year: 1987
Location: southern Germany

Re: 750 Sport refresh

Post by paso750 »

I meant, isn't the overall length of the 900SS forks shorter? Seeing an SS fork in a Paso, the front comes down quite a bit which can't be so good for handling.
Tweakin
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2017 1:59 pm
model: 750 Sport
year: 1990
Location: USA

Re: 750 Sport refresh

Post by Tweakin »

paso750 wrote:I meant, isn't the overall length of the 900SS forks shorter? Seeing an SS fork in a Paso, the front comes down quite a bit which can't be so good for handling.
Got it, yes it is about 40mm shorter. I feel one of the problems with the 750 sport is the geometry. The lower front end should really help speed up the handling of the bike IMO. We will see, this build is going to be a slow process of trial and error. If I don't like the 900 front end once I get it completed I will move on to other options.
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