ducatipaso.org

Side stand is down Wally

fixed.. it's the center stand light. Never seen one of those before

enginerd wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 2:12 am fixed.. it's the center stand light. Never seen one of those before

Nah , me neither

On a different note, since the bike sits on the center stand now (yes I even had the side stand down as I just set it up) and I've been starting it, it's having a heck of a time starting. Not sure if I flooded it in all my attempts starting but, it did backfire once. After such, it still isn't starting as easily as it was the other day.

I feel partially inclined to take some readings on the coils to verify that those are still in working range and also plan to replace the plug wires, because why not right? I read in some of the past articles about swapping in some Dynatek coils so that might be an option if it leads that way.

Check the voltage to the ignition ecu whilst cranking .It will start playing up at about 9v . Check also the wiring diagram and see that the ecu and the coils are fed differently . The ecu is fed via the kill switch , that switch and the harness plug can often do with a clean up coz they aint all that waterproof .

Verified spark at the plugs and voltage while cranking is about 10.4v.

Pulled the plugs and saw they were rather wet. Vertical left, horizontal right. Cranked the engine over, plugs pulled to show the stream of fuel coming into the engine when I twist the throttle. When I start it, the butterfly seems a bit closed but first opening with the throttle, the gas just has a steady solid stream down. For some reason that seems odd. I've always started the bike with the air box on so I never saw it before. Keep in mind also that fuel pressure is merely the gravity flow from a small bottle- hadn't been a problem yet.

https://photobucket.com/share/5adeb092- ... 4d3dcd9cdd


Playing with carburetors like this is new to me so kinda playing dumb some. Rather ask a lot than assume where things should be and what they look like.

They dont like running without the air box , even taking the cover off will upset it .Its not unusual to fuel coming out of the aux venturi ( the tube thing in the middle of the carb barrel ) when there are a few revs on board , like off the idle circuit and into mid - full throttle .
I would see if the battery voltage is 10.4v ( measure at battery ) whilst cranking as it seems a little lower than ideal but if thats what the battery does then I would try to jump start it off a running vehicle ( something showing 13 ish volts off the alt ) just to eliminate low voltage , like if it still plays up with 13v then your issue aint low voltage .

So I've played around a little with the bike checking over everything and seems everything checks out. It takes forever and a day to start butt I think the bike is just running rich. When I do get the bike to run, the exhaust is popping a lot. here's a video clip so you can see what I mean:

https://photobucket.com/share/5b6ce08d- ... f88dff3ecd

I think I'll be upgrading the ignition coils with the ExactFit coils/ wires from CA Cycleworks. From their website it seems to show out of stock but they're also available for the same price at Gotham Cycles. Yes I'll have to make my own bracket for them to mount but that shouldn't be a problem. It was reading around here from the following thread that I decided to go with them.

https://ca-cycleworks.com/2vcoils.html

https://forums.ducatipaso.org/viewtopic.php?t=7714

Eventually I'll get around to getting some wiring updating taken care of as I saw the posting around here for increasing the starting voltage by adding in a relay. Right now the priority is just to get the bike running consistently.

On a side note, any idea on getting some new well nuts that go around the tank and fairing mounts? Would like to update the ones that are currently on it.

Sounds like you have a cylinder not firing. You can hear it start to fire as you rev it up. To me I would say you have an issue with your ignition somewhere. Most likely low voltage at the plug. Could be coil or spark plug wires or maybe the plug. It may also be low voltage to the coils. Have you done any of the wiring mods to be found here.

I have dyna coils on all my Pasos and I have taken the coil feed off the ignition switch and wired it with a relay straight off the battery. I have also replaced the stators on all of them after all they don't usually last 25 years then alone 40.

I believe the Ca-Cycle coils are made by Dyna coil, at least they had been at one time. Excellent coils.

"on all my Paso's

and you should talk kiwiboy

higgy wrote: ↑Sun Mar 23, 2025 2:35 pm Sounds like you have a cylinder not firing. You can hear it start to fire as you rev it up. To me I would say you have an issue with your ignition somewhere. Most likely low voltage at the plug. Could be coil or spark plug wires or maybe the plug. It may also be low voltage to the coils. Have you done any of the wiring mods to be found here.

That's what I'm thinking as well could be the problem. Especially with the wetter spark plugs that I've pulled out.

Funny part was that battery voltage was 12.3 prior to cranking and the 10.4v at the coils while cranking. Resistance showed to be in spec measuring across the tabs on the coils, roughly 3.78 ohms. Or maybe that's on the low side of the tolerance.

Haven't done any of the wiring mods listed around here as I need to place an order for a selection of relays and whatnot. Last December I scored a Yamaha headlight for this so I've got that wiring to do still.

Other projects to do here include upgrading the front brakes to the Brembo P4 calipers - maybe with the 65mm pattern as they're plentiful and cheaper. Plus I can machine a mount to adapt them.... Or pay $200 something for some out of Australia.

I might change the master cylinder on both levers, either 999 or 848 levers if I can find a good set. Then a good set of stainless lines to match.

Need new rear brake calipers as the bleed valve won't currently seal and requires thread tape to even think about working.

So yes, I've got a few projects to make some headway on and finding the cash to make them happen. I do need to get this ready for Radwood ( www.Radwood.com )down in San Francisco June 21st. I promised Mike that I'd take the bike back down to the show and enter it in.

You shouldnt need thread seal as the nipple should seal on the point of the nipple and the seat of the nipple hole in the caliper . Make sure the point of the nipple is in good nick ( poss buy a new nipple ) fit to caliper and tighten down , now give the end of the nipple a smack with a hammer, the idea being that the nipple will re-form the soft ally seat. If it still dont seal grind the point off the nipple so its flat and square and place a small ball bearing in the hole followed by the nipple and give it another smack to seal the ball into the soft ally seat

enginerd wrote: ↑Sat Mar 08, 2025 12:13 am Right now, I'm just happy it's running.

Haven't synced the carbs and don't know when I'll get around to it as I'll need the proper tool for it. Not sure how deep I'll look/ spend on one of those. This carb will be replaced with possibly an FCR 39 at some point as I've got someone who wants these DCNF's from me.

For syncing tools, any easy to get recommendations?

Mike will be up here in a week so as long as it's running when he gets here, that's the big win. I hope to have it street legal in a few months. First fix for that to happen is the brakes: either just a new rear or new front and rear since they're cheap from Bevel Heaven.

Hi Enginerd, if you're on a budget my tip would be to build a carb synchronization tool yourself using just two bottles and a few meters of transparent fuel line. Dirt cheap but pretty effective. That's how I synchronized the Weber on my Paso and it runs as fine as the original set up allows. Here's an informative Youtube video on how to build such a tool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_WDF6glD5k

I went down the same path as you over 30 years ago with hard starting, rough idling and seemingly running on one cylinder. I went down the ignition rabbit hole but in the end installed the Malossi carb kit which included two 36mm Dell Orto carbs and presto! It ran perfectly and has done so ever since. The Weber was a smog carb and should never have been used. Mikunis will probably work as well. Make sure to use ethanol-free fuel.