Ducati 900ss Light Resto/Fix Up

[Rockburner]

I've got a SuperLight as well as this 900ss & they are becoming very collectable now, read expensive.

While this is a bad thing if you want to buy one. I think overall it's a good thing though if the value of the bike keeps pace with the cost of of good regular servicing with quality parts & the inevitable several thousands of ££s in restoration & engine rebuild costs which will be needed at some point on an Italian motorcycle which is over a quarter of a century old.

Hopefully it stops them getting street fightered, or heaven forbid, turned into a hipster dogs dinner with brown seat & same size front & rear Firestone tyres.

You mean like this one?

https://caferacergarage.eu/ducati-900ss ... al-cycles/

[Mr. Dazzle]

I've got a SuperLight as well as this 900ss & they are becoming very collectable now, read expensive.

While this is a bad thing if you want to buy one. I think overall it's a good thing though if the value of the bike keeps pace with the cost of of good regular servicing with quality parts & the inevitable several thousands of ££s in restoration & engine rebuild costs which will be needed at some point on an Italian motorcycle which is over a quarter of a century old.

Hopefully it stops them getting street fightered, or heaven forbid, turned into a hipster dogs dinner with brown seat & same size front & rear Firestone tyres.

You mean like this one?

https://caferacergarage.eu/ducati-900ss ... al-cycles/

"The donor bike was a Ducati 900SS SP. A rare sportbike bought for $500, as it was completely destroyed by the owner’s dog"

The previous owner should have gone public with his amazing motorcycle riding dog. He'd have made enough to repair the Ducati I bet.

[IanB]

I've got a SuperLight as well as this 900ss & they are becoming very collectable now, read expensive.

While this is a bad thing if you want to buy one. I think overall it's a good thing though if the value of the bike keeps pace with the cost of of good regular servicing with quality parts & the inevitable several thousands of ££s in restoration & engine rebuild costs which will be needed at some point on an Italian motorcycle which is over a quarter of a century old.

Hopefully it stops them getting street fightered, or heaven forbid, turned into a hipster dogs dinner with brown seat & same size front & rear Firestone tyres.

You mean like this one?

https://caferacergarage.eu/ducati-900ss ... al-cycles/

Oh my lord yes

Have we reached peak hipster yet? I really hope so

[IanB]

and ?

Thanks for asking


I collected the frame on Thursday from Steve at TPCS & I’m very happy with the result, the satin black finish is great & the strengthening bar I had welded in place looks like it should have been part of the original design (Ducati).

[IanB]

This afternoon we introduced the frame to the new head bearing races & with a few taps from the Universal Adjuster the job’s a good un.

[IanB]

Whilst the fairing will hide most of the engine I’m going to give it a bit of a cosmetic spruce up this week courtesy of Mr Halfords finest rattle cans, this can only be an improvement on the left over Fiat paint the Ducati factory used when the bike was new

Once done we shall start reassembly & address the elephant in the room, namely will the airbox still fit now I have had the new piece added to the frame? Time will tell..

Whilst waiting for the frame to be coated I’ve bought a couple of bits & pieces which I hope will improve the bike on a day to day basis:

A starter cable upgrade kit, which makes any Ducati (even those strange ones with radiators & water cooling) jump into life when you press the starter button.

An Ignitech inductive ignition system.

I’m currently trying to source some Nology high performance coils to compliment the Ingnitech system.

Costs to date:

Frame weld £100
Degreaser & cleaning stuff £20
Powdercoat frame £192
Head bearings £50
Ignitech system inc DHL from Czech Republic £156
Import tax & VAT for above £43
Upgraded starter cable kit £80

Total to date £641

[KungFooBob]

You can hack most of the airbox lid away, as long as you keep the outer edge with the clips so it stops the filter falling out... or go pods.

[Supermofo]

8k doesn't seem like THAT much (with me having no prior knowledge of old Ducati prices!). When you say "top dollar" for a classic bike I'm imagining something with at least a 2 at the start and 5 figures...

And 1994 is classic by now. There are people who've been driving legally for 10 years who weren't even born in 94.

8 fasend for an old doocati. You can have a chav'd up brand new Suzuki for that. Paddock jacket inc

In a serious note. I love this thread, well done IanB Can't wait to see the finished bike.

[IanB]

Today I've been mostly cleaning the engine before fitting it back in the freshly powder coated frame.

2 hours with a pressure washer & the best chemical products commercially available gave me only slightly improved version of Ducati's finest 1994 factory finish. As Aristotle once said you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig. Or maybe he mused about polishing a turd? I get my classical education mixed up these days. Whatever, he was on record as a huge fan of air cooled Ducatis.

I'm the first to admit I'm not very good at cleaning stuff, but short of tearing down the engine & doing it properly this will have to do. Lets call it a half-Weeksy.


Photos below & believe it or not some of the pictures are the after ones

[KungFooBob]

WWED.

Ed China would paint the whole lot in 'stonechip'

[IanB]

Some bits cleaned up better than others

[KungFooBob]

I reckon vapour blast the whole thing and finish off with smooth finish hammarite.

[IanB]

The V2 stamp confirms this engine has the big valve head, which is good news. No one wants small valves

[weeksy]

Today I've been mostly cleaning the engine before fitting it back in the freshly powder coated frame.

2 hours with a pressure washer & the best chemical products commercially available gave me only slightly improved version of Ducati's finest 1994 factory finish. As Aristotle once said you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig. Or maybe he mused about polishing a turd? I get my classical education mixed up these days. Whatever, he was on record as a huge fan of air cooled Ducatis.

I'm the first to admit I'm not very good at cleaning stuff, but short of tearing down the engine & doing it properly this will have to do. Lets call it a half-Weeksy.


Photos below & believe it or not some of the pictures are the after ones

Hey that's way more than I do. I'm just like a window cleaner really. Clean the big shiny bits

[Bigyin]

Hey that's way more than I do. I'm just like a window cleaner really. Clean the big shiny bits

since when is inside the mudguard on a trackbike the "shiny bits"

Nice one Ian .....looking forward to the end result

[G.P]

great progress ian, shaming me into getting mine finished off. i had the motmor blasted on mine and have left it bare. the motor on No.2 i have cleaned up the cares (bare casting) and sprayed the side covers and rocker covers in Halfords finest high temp silver. Cerakote is the way to go but a bit spendy.

[IanB]

Rattle can fun & games this week.

[G.P]

That's going to look really good

[weeksy]

Nice job mate.... nice... I'm shocked... but hugely impressed !!!

[IanB]

.. I'm shocked...

So am I