Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > Supersports: SS / SuperSport / Supersport 950 > oh dear . . .

[iceneweb]

. . . . did an oil change last night, and found a needle roller from a bearing stuck to the magnetic drain plug.

after a quick look at the haynes i think the only place needle rollers are used are on the gear shafts. they're put on in halves and then the gear is slid over. so this means open heart surgery for my baby. i am not happy, particularly as this bike is my daily transport to work (30m/day).

anyone have any words of wisdom? i'm going to tackle the job myself seeing as i was a mechanic at one time, in a former life.

i'm hoping there won't be too much damage, and the gasket and seal kits won't be too expensive.

wish me luck!

[fodder]

It's pretty much impossible for a needle roller cage to come apart without you knowing about it at the time. Has the engine been worked on before and was it left from previous work?
I think the small end has needle rollers as well.
If I was in the same boat I would have to pull it apart as well just for piece of mind.
Not much help but good luck and if you're like me once you get amongst it, it gets quite enjoyable.

[iceneweb]

the needle roller was in three pieces, so it had broken up and then made it's way down to the sump. there's also metal filings on the plug as well.

i found this to supplement the haynes:

http://www.ducatitech.com/2v/maint/rebuild/index.html

[iceneweb]

after a week of slowly taking it to bits, i got down to the problem: broken up needle bearing on the 5th gear input shaft.

it's not obvious why it failed, but it did and so i have to replace it. trouble is the input shaft and 5th gear are damaged, so they will also need to be replaced . . . . . .

i'm lucky enough to have a good friend who lent me his 99 SV650S, but i miss my Duc . . . . . . .

anyone got a Duc transmission for sale?

[chicken]

sorry to hear your troubles mate.
I've just bought a 900 engine to replace the one that went pop.
I haven't seen it yet as Nelly picked it up, but if it came with transmission then you can have it as I will have two.
Not sure what the postage to canada will be though.

cheers, Chi

[iceneweb]

thanks chi, i really appreciate that!

[chicken]

mark, you have u2u.

[iceneweb]

some questions for the techys out there:

so i've heard that crankcase gaskets are no longer used, so does this mean i'll have to recalculate the gearbox and crankshaft endfloat? if so, what's the best method for measuring the endfloat? the haynes says to use a massive vernier caliper but it seems to be a very specialist tool, whereas i've already got a dial gauge . . . . . . . .

what sealing compund is best for the crankcases?

i'm eager to get this thing back together. riding the SV650 is alright, but it's got nothing on a Duc. now i'm just waiting for spares (thanks chi and nelly!).

[Iconic944ss]

Hi Mark,

I actually bought some 'Ducati' gasket cement from a dealer when putting the left hand case back on after rebuilding the starter motor.

I have to say there was a strong Acetic acid smell that was just like most gasket compounds I've used b4. But I thought I had better use the correct item - not even sure if it would be recommended for the crankcases themselves mind....good luck !!!

[fodder]

As you said a DTI is far better for measuring end float than a vernier. I think they use the vernier method as it is probably more accesible to the home mechanic than a guage.
If you've got the correct float at one end suprisingly it will be the same at the other