Ducati/Triumph

Went to try and start the Ducati this morning but the battery was dead. Some prat had left the ignition switch on Park!

So I put the battery on charge and then worked on the Triumph swinging arm, came to the conclusion I really need a press to remove the bushes and install the news ones, but I don't yet have one (it's on the list), so it was down to fabricating a tool to force the bushes out with a sledge hammer.

It was hard work, but eventually got them all out without any damage. I made another tool to pull the new ones into position, having thought that banging the new ones wasn't the best way to succeed. Have put the bushes in the freezer tonight and will try my tool tomorrow!

Ducati Darmah

Things have moved along a little with the DucatiThe clutch cover is off ! I ended up removing the starter motor chain (quick link) to allow the starter gear to remain in the engine and the started motor to come away with the cover.

I have been racking my brains as to how I can test the position of the pickups which are fixed to the engine cover and yet are positioned relative to the rotor on the end of the crank, the best solution is to use the Ducati tool, but at $200 a throw, I am not going to buy one, Brancato does one in the UK for about the same price, and there are some diagrams on the web on how to make one although I think it is beyond my capacities, or at least it would probably take me a week to make the tool....

Anyway I wanted to test the resistance of the pickups and my voltmeter was reading all sorts so I stripped the wires back and discovered a couple of things :-
firstly two wires were switched positions! And secondly the wire insulation had got so hot/crispy that it had cracked in a couple of places.

Nothing for it but to cut off the (already replaced) wires and install some new stuff.

Interestingly, I think the swapped wire is going to solve the problem, the sympton of messing up the configuration of the wires is that the particluar cylinder you are working on will go onto full advance, and this fits with the description of the problem i.e. kicks back and stubborn to start when warm, at least that's what I am thinking for the moment. It's difficult to see from the photos but the green and blue wires were reveresed.

Ducati Darmah difficulty starting when hot!

I have a nice Ducati Darmah in the garage at the moment, with starting and kick back issues.

The agreed upon plan is to test the ignition advance, the pickups and basically all the ignition components, plus change the oil, filter and brake fluid!

Removing the left hand engine cover was complicated by haynes "just loosen all the hex bolts" and the real Ducati manual saying you have to remove the starter motor chain before pulling the cover off! Also the real manual says you are supposed to NOT remove one the hex bolts as it holds the pickups in place!

Oh well it can only go better from here.

Hornet 25k service

25k service on a Hornet, I was quite surprised to find that you are supposed to check the valve clearances, for shim under bucket, this doesn't seem to be much - the Triumph Daytona is 40k and mine have never moved in over 100k. Anyway, removed all the miriad of tubes and pipes on top of the cam cover, and loosened the radiator to be able to squeeze the feeler gauge in. What do you know, 2 inlet and one exhaust valve out of spec. (Too small), shit and of course I need to remove the cams to get at them. Oh well you win some and you lose some. The specs say inlet=0.2 +/- 0.03 and exhaust=0.28+/-0.03 where do they get these sizes from, who has a feeler gauge of 0.28 mms anyway? Perhaps they are given in inches originally?

The rest is pretty straight forward except the ABS gubbins goes right under the steering column so impossible to use my front end stand to lift the wheel off the ground, so it will have to be a block of wood jacked under the exhaust headers or maybe I can get to the sump which has to be stronger - right?

Atelier entre 2 temps

That's the proposed name for the company that I will be creating in Feb. Next year. I will be working from the garage. So it will all be legal in Feb. At the moment I have had 2 additional bikes in the garage.

A neighbours Honda XR400, which has been rebored, valves reground manually and then put back together.

The second is a 600 hornet, which is in for a 25k service. All fluids forks etc...

I will be getting a Ducati Darmah in tomorrow with pickup issues, and then maybe a Moto Guzzi with an oil leak..... We'll  see!

RG500 and RD350 base gaskets

Sad to say I had another thrust washer break! So, I have replaced the crank with one that has the thrust washers on the crank and am reboring No. 4, It will get a 57 mm piston kit and new small end bearing. I have cleaned up the rotary disk covers, and will be using a long open phase carbon rotary disk, the clearance is 0,3 mms. Will order a standard rotary disk.

Performance on the 350 was down due to raising the barrels with additional gaskets, so I am going to use thinner gasket material and hopefully find a compromise between breaking pistons and performance.

Daytona and T140

Getting really pissed off with the company doing the epoxy on the Triumph frame still not finished (or started for that matter).

The Daytona got a puncture rear wheel on a 1000km tyre so attempted to repair, which didn't take so got the shop down the road to put a plug in from the inside.

Took the 900ss out for a ride and although the battery was flat (on charge for 18 hours), it took about 10 kicks to start. Once started it ticked over nicely, and I had a nice couple of hour run out.

As well as the T140 , I now have an XR 400 Honda in the shop, it's a neighbours desert bike, that's been using a lot of oil. He wants me to strip the top end and rebore it for a new piston. Once I got the barrel off I don't think the piston or cylinder are worn, but I am awaiting a bore measuring tool, to measure the middle of the cylinder to be sure. At the moment I am thinking new rings and valve seals and away it goes! The photos are of the cylinder head.

Should be doing the RG500 meeting at Ales this coming weekend although for the moment the weather is dodgy so I haven't signed up yet!