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Hi guys, was just reading your chats.
They are a great bike and over here in UK great price. They just need a bit of TLC.
Don't know about the webber as mine had Dellotos, combined with a pretty straight through 2-1 exhaust gained rev's like the new time.
I did have cracks in alu. swing arm (Ducati sent steel one), would prefer original without crap roads.
The 170 tyre option is the go with a higher profile turns better and usable hp you don't need a lot of rubber.
A fine bike with the styling that the new Ducs have lost.
All the best.

hairymolly wrote:A fine bike with the styling that the new Ducs have lost.
.

I must be getting old , I like all the old stuff ,A lot of the newer designs look awful to me , and so do some of the young slappers , used to be that a young lady was a fine lookin thing to a 50 year old , like have you seen "The Valleys " ...... bugger me if they are wimmin Im giving up !

So last night I get all my new riding gear together in one place so that as soon as MrsTheDuctor gets home from work this afternoon we can be off on our toes to the shop to pick up the bike after it's service.

Woke up at 4.30 this morning to go to work only to be greeted by pouring rain and gale force winds. Cue a frantic panic of where the **** did I put all my old bike gear and wet weather riding stuff?

This is after I get a voicemail yesterday from the shop at 4pm "can you call us back urgently regarding your supersport". Turns out that they have found a crack in the weld on the swingarm (which I was aware of) and they wouldn't be happy riding it after the service is completed. I told them I need to ride it home 15 miles and was told that it should be ok and maybe they're just being over cautious.

So my first ride on the bike will be in biblical weather conditions worrying whether my swingarm is going to last the ride home. Awesome.

Hi from Essex, bad luck with the swingarm, a common problem probably caused by over tightening the pinch bolts if the faults in that area. Better to source a s/h replacement as welding is not a very successful repair. I think you'll find all SS arms will bolt straight on, the later style with the recessed adjusters are stronger with extra bracing but all are weak at the pinch bolt area. If you get an arm from ebay make sure its complete with adjusters, chain shoe etc as they can be difficult/expensive to buy separately. Cheers, Keith.

Keith,
All you say is true, but for the later model swing arms (91-99) This 900 has a swing arm that is same as the 750 Sport, and quite different in how it attaches. Not interchangeable. You can see my string on that in this same page.

Best to get it welded up by someone who know what they are doing, brace it further like some of the ones shown, and keep an eye on it.

Cheers, Phil

I've just been to see our welders (aircraft welders) and they are happy to weld it and are sure it will be successful "with some beefing up". And advise against riding it because aluminium is porous, all the grit and crap gets into the crack and weakens the aluminium further.

However, they want the swingarm removed first, then it's to go to our paint sprayers for cleaning and prepping, our inspection guys have said they will then inspect the crack with their specialist gear and mark the exact size and location of the crack.

More ball-ache - and this is before I've even sat on the bike

And I've got no option but to ride it home 15 minutes on an A road then explain to the missus why the bike I've just bought can't be ridden. Ho-hum.

TheDuctor wrote: then explain to the missus why the bike I've just bought can't be ridden. Ho-hum.

"Honey, I'm modifying it a bit. It's for safety sake. You want me to be safe right?"
or
"i'm just bonding with my new toy"

Pick any line you like. My wife pretty much expects it. If I don't have a new toy apart in the first week she asks why I don't like it.

Cheers, Phil

p.s., now is a good time to upgrade that rear shock to a later model 900ss shock which is about 6mm longer, and more adaptable. Fits right in. Search e-bay or local wreckers. Usually pretty cheap.

I'll try that Phil. Trouble is I have the mechanical aptitude of a seahorse and the missus will know something is definitely awry!

What can I say. I went to pick the bike up and it failed to start. Naturally assumed it was due to some kind of black magic voodoo starting technique. Nope, a flat battery. I have to say that the mechanic at Parkinson's Colchester was so apologetic and so accommodating in staying late to sort it out for me. He even offered to show me the process for removing the swingarm.

The ride home wasn't quite what I expected, not in a bad way, just notwhat I expected. I stalled it a couple of times pulling away and 6th gear seemed next to useless under t
70mph and it was as lumpy as hell around 3000 rpm oh and the vibes through the mirrors rendered them useless.

But all that aside (and the cracked swingarm that I quickly forgot about), I love this bike. I finally get what owning a Ducati feels like and how it makes you feel. Special and different.

Yeah that Marzocchi shock on the rear is crap, mine minced the thread and dumped oil over the rear tyre. Lucky I wasn't cracked over at the time.
Ordered a WP (White power at that time) and she fitted straight in with a bit of filing on swing arm to house shock.
The arse end never left the road since, tried playing with setting but kept going back to factory settings. With 25mm sag when sitting bike the shock was faultless.
Well worth the money...

If the bike still has stock gearing, then 6th gear will be very tall. Most of us are running 15/41 or even a 43 in back. Since you have the newer wheels, there are lots of sprockets on e-bay all the time for cheap. All those SS and Monster ones should fit. Aluminum ones are lighter, but don't last as long as the steel ones.

As for being lumpy at 3k, that sounds like the bike runs right. The sweet spot on a Ducati motor is around 5k. Everything smooths out, plenty of power, wonderful noise, angels sing, etc.

I used two car jack stands underneath the footpeg brackets when I did work on the swing arm. Rock it up on the side stand and set the right stand under the peg, then rock it up on the right stand to get the left stand in place. Get the Mrs. to help out. Can't put it on a crate or stand as the exhaust runs underneath, and the cases aren't flat. Some suspend it from the garage ceiling if you have a good set of tie downs, and a strong rafter beam. it would collapse my poor roof.

Cheers,
Phil

all sounds familiar .... 6th gear overdrive and vibrating mirrors , sounds about right
Hamish

Keep her above 3 grand or she will shake herself to bits, loose the mirrors and get one on the end of your clip on.
There both useless at speed but the on the clip on looks better.
With a smaller rear sprocket you can really ride the torque, there's plenty with the black engine.

Another thing I've had to get used to today are people want to chat about the bike wherever and whenever I park it up. And I mean everytime I stopped people would come over, including two police officers who own a zx7 and an sv650 and have invited me to a bike meet, a guy in the dvla office who had no idea about bikes but could describe what could only have been a desmosedeci that parked outside the office the day before, a bloke who's mate was buying a 1990 900 on ebay but got outbid and a bloke had nothing but horror stories about Ducati electrics that he'd heard off someone else and people who just wanted to say how gorgeous the bike is. Buy a Ducati and feel like a movie star!

TheDuctor wrote:Another thing I've had to get used to today are people want to chat about the bike wherever and whenever I park it up. And I mean everytime I stopped people would come over, including two police officers who own a zx7 and an sv650 and have invited me to a bike meet, a guy in the dvla office who had no idea about bikes but could describe what could only have been a desmosedeci that parked outside the office the day before, a bloke who's mate was buying a 1990 900 on ebay but got outbid and a bloke had nothing but horror stories about Ducati electrics that he'd heard off someone else and people who just wanted to say how gorgeous the bike is. Buy a Ducati and feel like a movie star!

Yeah there is certainly something about them that brings people in . I used to ride with a guy that had a hogly dogly road king ( I felt sorry for him ) that he spent hours pimpin and polishin but every time we parked up peeps , young and old would walk right past that hogly and wanna talk Ducati . My uncle ( a biker ) was so in awe of it that he refused to have a ride for ages ( and when he finally did he stalled it about a hundred times and nearly cooked the clutch )