Ducati Monster Forum

There's an elephant (though not an Elefant) that moved in at my place yesterday. I've only put about 50-60 miles on it (the speedo and odometer are in Km, and my brain hasn't caught up quite yet...), but so far I think this is the ticket for me - there's a Ducati (engine) in the house again, in a fairly simple early-era "adventure bike" package. Now that I'm living 2-3 miles from the nearest pavement and surrounded by gravel Forest Service roads, street bikes are less fun for the first and last 15-20 minutes of any ride. This one was meticulously maintained and upgraded (center stand, metal belly pan, heated grips) by a fellow who'd just gotten a 2014 Multistrada and had to let one go. He mentioned a couple of times that he thought long and hard about selling the Multi instead, mainly due to the complexity of the beast.

Anyway, it's good to have an Italian bike again, and to give back my buddy's long-term loaner 1978 BMW R80 that's been an interesting bridge between them.

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51009243577_e9fe63b593_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2kHvGYR)20210305_173059 (https://flic.kr/p/2kHvGYR) by triangleforge (https://www.flickr.com/photos/7138702@N03/), on Flickr

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51009141696_4a910cd52a_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2kHvbGh)20210305_173040 (https://flic.kr/p/2kHvbGh) by triangleforge (https://www.flickr.com/photos/7138702@N03/), on Flickr

Very nice!  [thumbsup]

It's a nice bike but don't break anything, spare parts are like hens teeth...

T was telling me that you picked up a Gran Canyon... [thumbsup]

Congrats [beer]

Well done. [thumbsup]

https://elefantadventurebikes.com/

A good supply of parts committed to the model.

Looks like a nice ride for that kinda country  [thumbsup]

Well then, I suppose it's a good thing we've got about a dozen hens out back...

Seriously, that was (and remains) my biggest concern with this bike. I talked at some length to riding friends, a very adventurous couple who used to tour extensively on a pair of Gran Canyons - they told me there are parts available or work-arounds for most everything on the bike except for the plastics, including that two-part gas tank. I did some cursory searching, and found replacements for those available; used, cosmetically rough, and ferociously expensive, but available.  He did tell me that when communicating with Duc dealerships, it's best to just tell them you've got a 2000 900cc Monster, though I'm told the heads are slightly different...

THANK YOU! That looks like an excellent resource!

Put book cover plastic on headlight lenses f e, one part my friend couldn't find.
The Navigator, Jap-engined, share many parts.
LT Snyder, Desmotimes, has owned one, loved and modded it.

Plastics not available?  CAFE RACER TIME!

Very cool bike ...

I see some first gen MTS design cues in it

The Gran Canyon’s run the ‘W’ heads (750 cams & valves).

Thanks!

But a 900ie version of the W heads, so the 900ie heads with big valves and hot cams should be a straight swap if ever required.

How does the bike feel for torque? I thought about the low rpm grunt the motor must have with those heads.
http://www.lofgrenperformance.com/M944ie.htm

Head swap =  [thumbsup]

But, you would need to revisit the air/fuel mapping...  I think it runs a Magnetti / Marelli 1.6 ecu.  Not sure on the pin outs, but it could swap with a SS900ie ecu.  Or Monster.  Or nothing works and you’re hosed.

Check a GC forum as you won’t be the first should you go down that road.

Tunable Eprom chips iirc. [thumbsup]

Thanks to both of you for all the info and  [evil] ideas about head swaps...

I've got limited seat time so far (and still need to put a license plate on it, which will take a day-off trip an hour into town), but I really enjoyed the feeling on the ST2 that you had freight train torque available from pretty much any reasonable RPM, and the Cagiva seems even more willing. Much of the non-city part of the 2 hr ride home was swinging along gentle curves in 6th gear at 95-100 kph, and the first time I went to pass a car I downshifted but after that I just left it in 6th & twisted on another effortless 25-30 kph.

The one issue I have noticed so far - and this may be as much a comment on my limited dirt experience as anything - it's tough for me to keep a steady throttle on rough gravel/forest roads. With me bouncing around a bit, a goodly bit of that torque is coming on and off with each bump.

Cool ride!

I'm weird - I put plenty of stickers on my old cars, but am really hesitant to put anything on a bike. But a residential sticker seemed like an appropriate accessory for this one, and it lets me bypass the entry gate:

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51095736290_d551564f97_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2kRa1fw)20210404_102123 (https://flic.kr/p/2kRa1fw) by triangleforge (https://www.flickr.com/photos/7138702@N03/), on Flickr

You get a pass. That one fits the attitude of the bike.

I finally got around to the obligatory photo:

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51156727359_ae33f5f9bc_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2kWxALF)Cagiva Gran Canyon (https://flic.kr/p/2kWxALF) by triangleforge (https://www.flickr.com/photos/7138702@N03/), on Flickr

Cagiva.   Grand Canyon.    [thumbsup]

Now he's just showing off.

;D

 :D

The regulator under the luggage rack?

Thinking about it, I would only swap heads if I fitted hi comp pistons in order to keep the low rpm tractor torque. The torque comparison chart shows that strong bottom end grunt. On the other hand, the hotter heads would soften low end power making dirt roads easier while increasing higher rpm power. The instant torque helps haul the bikes substantial weight around. Swings and roundabouts I guess.

That's the one - probably SLIGHTLY better in that spot than tucked up under the fairing, completely out of the wind like it was on my 1998 ST2 before I relocated it beneath the bottom fork triple. It's a known achilles' heel on the GC's electrical system, well, one of a couple.

Or V2 heads w carby 900 cams?

I rode one in Varese one year we were traveling.  Loved it, but it is more like a mild MultiStrada and certainly not like the Elefant.

Cagiva made some great designs but they couldn't stay solvent (COCAINEISAHELLUVADRUG).

The Cagiva Navigator was the next step from the GC -- using a TL1000 engine.

(https://www.njuskalo.hr/image-w920x690/enduro-cross-motori/cagiva-navigator-1000-1000-cm3-slika-114562004.jpg)

So any news or updates on the bike? How's it running?

All good so far!! I'm gradually amassing the various electrical spares that most Gran Canyon riders routinely pack along for long trips, just in case, and will need to address an electrical connector under the tail that's showing some age - a know failure point that will take the regulator along with it when it goes. I'm just starting to diagnose a fairly subtle surge/lag that's most noticeable riding around a steady 25-35 mph/4K RPM. It doesn't feel like a cylinder miss, but I'm starting with fuel delivery and will then turn my attention to spark/coils, etc. DMF sponsor CA Cycleworks makes a nice set of replacement coils that are an easy upgrade and would be worth doing regardless.

The biggest news is that I owe a much belated public thank you to Nick (Speeddog)  for cutting me a breathtaking deal on some of the impossible to find body parts from a GC he'd parted out. A former co-worker of mine picked up the parts while she was passing through Southern California, and when I picked them up from her there were four large boxes - pretty much everything from the bike except frame, fork, wheels & motor. Thank you, Nick! I'm still going through the boxes & getting greedy -  once I know what's there, we'll need to figure out a price to keep the lot of it!

You may have noticed that this DMF is a pretty awesome place, with pretty fantastic people.  [thumbsup] [Dolph] [thumbsup]

Great to hear.
Possibly an EPA mandated flat spot?
Sounds like a cache of parts like those being hoarded by first gen Monster owners. ;D

What I was thinking.  Anyway after confirming basic settings that is where I would start.

One other bit of good news - there's an equally enthusiastic online community of Gran Canyon owners, most of whom migrated over from a defunct Yahoo Groups listserve to Groups.io - lots of good model-specific experience to be had there.

I saw one for sale in another state and was tempted. After reading bikeboys write up with 900 ie heads/cams, dyno tuning and an open airbox, I thought ie heads and pods with stacks might give more power. Brads test of an open airbox showed no gain, so I entertained pods with stacks inside and an airbox delete. The top of the airbox probably gets poor flow so an open lid makes no difference to power it seems. I generally like a good airbox, however pods make servicing easier. You would need to find someone that can dyno tune and flash to an eprom chip to do it. Or stay stock ;D