Ducati Monster Forum

Okay,
   A little over a year ago I purchased a 00 M750 dark, with just over 6,000 miles on it.  Those of you who have seen my posts in the past know I've had a lot of issues with the carbs and with rust in the gas tank.  Today the Tank and fuel system are spotless, and everything is honky-dory.  I was still struggling with the vert. cylinder running quite rich, even after replacing the coils with a new set.  Beginning of this season, started out fantastic.  All the quirks, and bucking, and backfiring, and cylinder dropping out had miraculously disappeared.  I rode the bike on and off for about 3 months with no problems.  Now, my problems are back and worse than ever.  I cannot get the verticle cylinder to fire at all anymore (still has nice bright blue spark).  Gas is dumping out of the carbs, which I know is evident of a float likely sticking.  Even the plug on the front cylinder (which is still firing) is wet.
   Last year a couple members had mentioned rebuilding the carbs.  I think it's time.  I found rebuild kits on california cycle werks web site, but I'm not sure what I need.  Do I need needles?  Do I need a jet kit?  Having trouble finding gasket kits.  The bike is completely stock, so I'd like to replace everything with factory Ducati parts (unless anyone knows of something better).  I'm currently building a new house, so money is definately a factor.  If anyone can kind of sum up what parts I should get to fix this beast, and possibly the most cost effective parts to do it, please let me know.  From what I understand, I'll likely need to take it to the semi-local Ducati guru to have the carbs sycronized after I get done doing what I can.  Are there any tricks that anyone knows of that may make a trip to the dealership avoidable after replacing the parts?

Thanks

Let me start by saying that I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to carbs, so I can't answer any of the questions that you have.

But, here is a reference site you might find helpful. It has a bunch of pics of installing a jet kit, which I think will help you once you get your questions answered  [thumbsup]

http://www.ducatisuite.com/jetkit.html (http://www.ducatisuite.com/jetkit.html)

The link above is a site put together by Chris Kelly at Ca. Cycleworks, one of the board sponsors.  Call or email him and he will set you up with what you need.

...and while you're at it switch the vacuum petcock for a manual one.

+1 for manual petcock. The vacuum's have a tendency to fail

Unless you are trying to tune the carbs, you won't need needles or jets, just soak your existing ones in carb cleaner for a few hours to clean them out. The gaskets and such are what you may need, other wise just use carb cleaner to clean the hell out of everything, make sure that the floats are able to move freely, and ensure the float height is set properly.

What type of carbs do you have?

Hopefully all you need is a can of carb cleaner.

If you have stock CV carbs then replace the needle jets if they have done over 6000 miles since you are doing an overhaul. You may have replaced them already. Look for hardened needle jets from Factory Pro or another supplier. You can fit a jet kit if you like for performance reasons to suit any mods you have or aspire to. Jet kits to match various levels of mods are listed with the Factory Pro and Dynojet sites. Cal Cycleworks (sponsor) has jet kits and spares.

When you take the carbs off, remove the float bowls to ascertain what is causing the carb flooding. It may just be crap stopping the float needles from seating correctly, or it could be a hole in a float.

Some fuels can congeal over time or leave waxy deposits. I wonder now if modern fuels are designed only with fuel injection in mind, forgetting about us caburetor guys. Crap sometimes somehow still gets through a fuel filter. A really good clean could do wonders. I think the recommended float level is 14mm for stock carbs and 9mm for FCRs. The Ducati Suite and Factory Pro sites have a guide to do this.

If a float has fuel in it then it has a hole and should be replaced. It will sink to the bottom of the bowl and flood the carb.

I agree with fitting a manual fuel tap. I turn mine off every night.

Good luck.