Skidlids Desmo Due Diary
 

Mon jan 10th
Started the day by removing the tank from the bike and getting the Hoover out.
Cleaned up inside of tank as it was starting to rust a bit.

Removed the fuel pump and checked it out across a good battery, firstly it was a bit reluctant to go but it soon freed off.
Refit fuel pump in position and add some petrol to the tank
Turn on ignition and hey presto before long the pump is pushing out clean petrol.
Find some rubber pipe to connect fuel pump to tank outlet
Connect tank flow and returns and open fuel tap.
Crank engine over several times and it eventually coughs into life.

Not sounding to healthy though, sounds like horizontal cylinder is suffering a lot of piston slap, its noisey enough to make me think that the piston skirt maybe broken.

And on top of that both cylinder heads are spewing oil out.
So it looks like I'll be stripping both top ends before long

Still it runs and it gave me a chance to hear what the Micron can sounded like, certainly sounded better with a race can on it, certainly helped drown out the noise from the front cylinder.

Now for some pics, first two are how the bike was when I got it, the 3rd is with the Micron slipped on for a better sound.

:o

:devil:

How much clearance will you get with that can?

Or is it out with a blow torch and crow bar!!!!!:o:o:o:o

Looks OK Kev,

Glad to see you got a 'proper one' with gold frame ;)

Oil dripping looks to be a concern - but I'm sure after a look-see and a head tightening session (on the bike as well), things will be good.

Hmmm..the can does look a bit low - is it possible to go to an SL type high level pipe I wonder?

Keep up the good work marra.

Frank

[Edited on 10-1-2005 by Iconic944ss]

I'm sure I'll get enough clearance Tim, by the time its pushed fully home on the pipeworrk and the rear passenger footrest hanger is replaced with a more basic bracket I should be able to swivel the can a bit futher upwards and inwards.

You may well find that the feed o ring on the barrel to head joint has hardend and split, it went on my 900, easy fix.

Chris

Cheers Chris,
Had a look at a Haynes manual earlier when around Senna3's and I spotted two likely candidates in the way of O rings.

So it will certainly be a heads off job, may as well lap the valves in while at it, as this doesn't infringe the rules.

If Piston/bore wear is really bad then I will have to consider the next step, maybe a 675cc kit or maybe another engine, seen engines go for £275 before and I know the where abouts of one but would need to persuade the owner to part with it.
So what was the best deal we could get on a 675cc kit ?

Dear small engineering shop, how much for 25 big-bore kits!!

Well done Kev, look forward to meeting you on the track.

cheers, Chi

Kev,

I should have an answer on the over bore kit on Thursday after a meeting with Ducati.

Chris

I may be interested in Big bore kit if price is right.?

Cheers

Phil

Thanks again Chris, I never intended to go the big bore route as I was hoping to keep costs to a minimum, especially the amount of money tied up in the bike as I know first hand what damage can be caused to a bike through racing, certainy wouldn't want to drop a valve or have a belt problem after spending out on a exspensive engine rebuild.

Kev

Go own up who did it
 

Just taken the head off the horizontal cylinder, so does anybody want to confess.

who\'s sticker
 

Lets just say it wasn't me that put the sticker there.

Has that been sleeved down....??? :mad:

I knew somebody would ask, didn't take long.
The answer is the piston is upside down and the inlet valve has been trying to enlarge the cut out meant for the exhaust valve.
Spooky considering my post just before leaving work at lunchtime about Bigbore kits and clearances.

Leaking O-rings
 

Both cylinders are spewing oil and by the state of the O-ring bottom right I'm not suprised.
Belt tension was also a bit on the slack side, with about 8mm deflection under moderate thumb pressure.

A closer look
 

Stripping an engine to put a new piston in is a fairly significant amount of work for the amateur - not too difficult, but you have to know what you're doing !

So given the state of this piston, either someone didn't read the manual properly and then couldn't be bothered to investigate the rattle that must have been deafening on initial startup! Or alternatively, there's a rogue mechanic in a repair shop out there somewhere that doesn't know which way round to put pistons - surely that can't be true :o :o :o

The letters scratched into the piston are either E and V or E and a arrow head, its just that they are upside down at the moment, I suspect the later which makes it even more unbelievable that someone has assembled it wrong.
Next I'll be checking the inlet valve to see if its been bent.

Sat Jan 15th
 

Things are still moving along nicely, I have now sourced another engine, this time from a crashed M reg 600 Monster at a cost of £250.
So the bike and spare engine now owe me £1050 which is still at the right end of my budget.

I have been onto Ebay and sourced the Gaskets and O-rings I need from Superlight3 at DUCATISPARESONLINE.CO.UK as I intend to rebuild the original engine.

Popped into Raceparts UK today to get some -3 Braided hose and some banjo fittings to make up new Clutch hoses for mine and senna3's race bikes, I was given a huge discount by my mate there in the way of 100%--RESULT-- :D

And a bit of Carbon already - happy transplant !!!

Sunday Jan 16th
 

weather wise a real nice moring one of the best for a while, So tempting to take the 916 for a blast but must get on with jobs on the bikes. Which today included work on my ZXR400L to try and get it ready to sell,
Still had time for the Desmo Due racer though.
Pulled off the Horizontal Barrel, I'm so glad I did, Not only because its the only way to remove a cirlip and extract the gudgeon pin to allow removal of the Piston, but also because the alluminium base gasket was in a right state.

See pics.

Sunday 16th Jan
 

Engine removal will be easier than I thought, somebody has already started the job for me,

Are you really sure you did the right thing with this one Kev? :lol:

I hope so Antony,
with another engine waiting for me to pick it up on Friday then all should be well with that fitted, plus me rebuilding this one as a spare all for under £1150 so far isn't to bad.
Luckily i'm not factoring in any Labour charges.
At least I have had the bike running so I know carbs, ignition etc are all OK. :smug:

Not a lot been going on this week, I am now picking the other engine up on Monday.
I made a template at work to allow me and Senna3 to adapt some billet rearsets we already have to fit our SS's and hope to make the actual adapter plates tomorrow evening.
Popped over to Brancatto Engineering this morning to pick up a couple of base gaskets and circlips for the piston. Pulled up outside to find Dallas there getting some seat foam for his ZX10R
Had a very interesting chat with Tony and Donna about the series.
Donna showed me the porta stand they do that acts as a centre stand on the SS's and allows you to remove the swingarm, shock etc and with a support under the front of the engine will even allow you to remove the frame. at around £60 including the VAT I may see if Kev (Senna3) wants to go halfs on one, they are small enough to fit under the seat of a SS so will take up little room in a van.
I'm looking forward to getting a oil tight engine that doesn't knock fitted as I can then get on with sorting the brakes and suspension. I will worry about the fairing later as the bike is currently with lights etc and should pass a MOT with a couple of minor jobs. Then I can get out on it to assess its potential as a race bike and try a few different settings.

Sunday Jan 23rd
I have now refitted the piston correctly, new circlip fitted
The barrel is now back in place, sat on top of a new alloy gasket and all done with out any damage to the Piston rings.
Now need to get my hands on a spanner for torqueing up the head bolts when I get around to fitting the head. I currently have two friends to try, if not I will have to pop over to Brancto Engineering with the bike in the van and ask Tony very nicely if he will do it for me.

Yep - Some of the head bolts are a little 'difficult' to get at. No doubt the pros have a neat spanner to use between bolt and torque wrench????

Yeah you really need the Ducati tool to do it properly,although I did see a nice cranked spanner set at the Newark Autojumble that would have done the job.:)
Great report Kev,keep on it mate!:)

At least by having to strip the engine I found that it has the forged pistons and not the cast ones.
I filled the combustion chamber with WD40 and tiltted it so that it all pooled over the inlet valve, left it for a while and when I came back none of it had leaked by the valve seat. Looking at the very shiney inlet valve it looks as if it may be a new one, I wonder what I will find when I drop the engine out and remove the vertical cylinder. But before I get to that stage I want to run the engine to check the horizontal cylinder has stopped spewing oil and is running a lot quieter.

Nearly two months since I added the last entry, Not a lot as gone on for the majority of that time, but the last week has been fairly productive.
I will try and add a more detailed account later.
Here is a pic of the bike as it stood this morning, engine sounds healthy and is just as it came from a crashed 600 Monster.
Budget is also lloking very good with around £1400 tied up in the bike so far.

Still a bit to do
A dash would be handy

Nice work Kev.

I actually like the seat unit you have grafted on - whats it off? I can imagine it looking good when painted up.

As for a dash - why waste money? You must have ridden so many dukes by now that you know when to stop pulling the wire !

Frank

The seat is off a CBR600 FS-FW I think.

Correct Dom, its not actually grafted on yet, still thinking about it. I have marked out where to trim it so it doesnt protrude in front of the seat. I was also thinkung of cutting the base to get it to sit over the original seat pad, its either that or make a subframe to support the fibreglass base and give me something to mount it to.
The rear light, indicators etc are still fitted at the moment just incase I decide on some road testing.
As for the dash I have a nice Stack Clubman 200 sat on the shelf its meant to go on my CBR600 but I found out yesterday I can program it for the amount of cyliders so I am considering using it especially as I always found the shift light handy when racing the 600. Its either that or I was thinking of using the pulse to one of the coils to trigger a FET and use a 916 tacho which would obviously be very easy to mount.

Buggad if that seat ain't low and the pegs ain't high. I don't think I would be able to walk after a couple of laps on that...

Looking good kev. Just one thing that I noticed. It looks real low on the front end. When you give them brakes a good handfull, you sure the fairing front won't hit the front fender?

It is close Jon, in the picture there is 95mm between the fork dust seal and the casting on the bottom of the fork leg. Between the fairing and the mudgaurd there is only 75mm but I currently have 20mm of fork protruding.
I have not measured the static sag yet but the front does feel a bit soft, I know with the top of the forks flush with the top yoke I will be just about OK, but I do hope to improve on set up to give a little bit more adjustment/clearance. failing that I can re-jig my front bracket to gain a bit more clearance.

Kev whats the seat hight measurement. Looks ideal for a short house like me:)