100,000 mile Ducati 900 SS

[Jeff Higgins]

Ever wonder what one looks like? Today at high noon, along our Ben Howard Road, paralleling the Skykomish River:

[911boost]

Dang, that’s awesome!!

You are tougher than me.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by 911boost

Dang, that’s awesome!!

You are tougher than me.

It wasn't all in one day...

No, our Iron Man of the Super Sport will always be Shaun. Portland, OR all the way to Boston on one. What a stud.

[Yorkie]

That’s impressive. Most seem to end up as unfinished projects due to snapped head studs or cracked frames/swing arms. Due to the attrition I can imagine these going up in value in the years to come. Are you still running the stock carbs or FCRs?

[Dixie]

Just popping in to say, who the heck would give this thread one star?
I suspect it's someone envious.
... And also, let me fix that

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by Yorkie

That’s impressive. Most seem to end up as unfinished projects due to snapped head studs or cracked frames/swing arms. Due to the attrition I can imagine these going up in value in the years to come. Are you still running the stock carbs or FCRs?

I'm running 41mm FCR's. In addition to those, it has ST2 camshafts, JE high compression pistons, ported heads, and a Termigoni "Spaghetti" exhaust with carbon fiber cans. All of the body work - gas tank, fairings, seat perch - are carbon fiber as well. Front wheel is a Marchesini magnesium unit. Weight with 1/2 tank of gas is about 365 pounds.

Originally Posted by Capt. Carrera

Just popping in to say, who the heck would give this thread one star?
I suspect it's someone envious.
... And also, let me fix that

I'm a proud member of the "one star club". I think the only other surviving member is Paul, PWD72S. Somewhere along the line we upset one of this site's real scholars, and he's been one starring our threads for darn near 20 years. We wear it as a badge of honor, understanding we got that deep into some poor little guy's head.

Thanks for bumping it up, though.

[Yorkie]

Respect. That’s a well developed bike that reflects decades of ownership.

[shinrai]

Damn. Much respect. A lot of care and work to make this supermodel run for 100k I imagine. Ride on

[Jeff Higgins]

No more than the usual, cursory routine maintenance, I assure you...

[Arizona_928]

impressive.
Just the single refresh?!

[Shaun @ Tru6]

That is amazing Jeff, congratulations and we all know those were fantastic miles! You are an inspiration, that's for sure.

It's supposed to be sunny and 48 tomorrow here. I plan on taking mine out with its lowly 44K on the clock.

Bike looks fantastic!

[greglepore]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

No more than the usual, cursory routine maintenance, I assure you...

And I'm putting off doing my belts because its a "big job". Guess I'm officially old.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by Arizona_928

impressive.
Just the single refresh?!

Two "top end" jobs, one at about 30,000 and one at 85,000. New valve guides, regrind on original valves, new pistons and rings both times. The nickasil lined cylinders have never needed more than a thorough scrubbing with Scotchbrite in hot, soapy water.

I have had the top end apart far more often than that, though. These things are plagued with a fundamental design flaw regarding the manner in which the heads are mated to the cylinders. I've explained it elsewhere, but suffice to say they begin leaking oil between the two after about 10,000 miles or so. Because of that, I've pulled the heads pretty much every winter since I've owned it so I can "refresh" the leaking o-rings and freeze plugs. Just a part of the game, I guess. I can do the whole job in about 4-5 hours at this point.

Originally Posted by greglepore

And I'm putting off doing my belts because its a "big job". Guess I'm officially old.

A couple of things make this easier. First, remove the thin retention ring on the outboard sides of the cam pulleys. They are not needed, the belts do not "walk" on these things. With those out of the way the belts come off and go back on much, much easier.

Second, just use an allen wrench as a tensioner "gauge". Place it between the idler pulley and the belt and take all of the slack out of the belt. I use a 5mm on the horizontal, and a 6mm on the vertical.

The biggest part of the job for me now is just getting the fairings off and out of the way. Once those are off it's about a 15 minute job to change both belts. I put the bike on a track stand, put it in gear, and use the rear wheel to line it up on the timing marks. The only tricky part is that the vertical camshaft seems to want to snap one way or the other away from the timing mark, since both valves are partially open (it's not on TDC when the timing marks are aligned). If it's on the mark it will stay, but if it moves when removing the old belt, it can be a bugger to get it lined up so it will stay put again.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by Shaun @ Tru6

That is amazing Jeff, congratulations and we all know those were fantastic miles! You are an inspiration, that's for sure.

It's supposed to be sunny and 48 tomorrow here. I plan on taking mine out with its lowly 44K on the clock.

Bike looks fantastic!

Thanks, Shaun. Have a great ride!