1999 Monster 900 - time for a tidy-up

[Diver]

I have had my Monster for about five years although it has not been on the road for the last three as I moved from the UK to France and have yet to import it here (I have another two bikes I use so still ride).

I have decided that this winter is the ideal time to tidy-up the bike, change back my non-standard exhausts to the originals (for the French inspection as it is jetted for the non-standard exhausts and I am not going to change that), change my headlamp to an EU spec, change the clock and idiot lights to one with KM's and carry out a service.

The bike is a pretty bike but salt and general neglect has played a part with paint flaking on the engine casing (LHS only for some reason), the rear peg and exhaust supports are tatty and the plugs are oily after only a short time - this could be due to the short runs I do or something more srious such as valve seatings or rings however the bike has only done around 22,000 miles so I would not have expected the latter.

I am looking for ideas as to how to touch up the engine paint as well as what to do with the supports and any suggestions in general!

[stopintime]

You have to host the pictures elsewhere (such as flickr) to make them visible here.

People usually powder coat the parts you mention - at least the peg assemblies. I have painted the side covers with great result. If only the left side is bad it can be battery acid, so check that. This thread contains 'everything' about paint http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=29.0

This guy makes instrument faces  http://www.newtacho.de/index.php?navi=ducati

During the service, have a good look at valve guides, maybe the cylinder walls and piston rings to find the reason for oily plugs. If they simply are black, but dry, it might be less serious.

[koko64]

Yes, hopefully the plugs have dry, sooty deposits from too rich an air/fuel mixture rather than wet oily deposits. The jetting could be set too rich and/or the needle jets worn at that mileage.

Be great to watch your progress.
Welcome

[Diver]

I agree that taking the engine out to blast and powder coat is the best way forward (I did host pictures on Flickr but could not get them to link here).

I have found a paint called Hammerite which I have used for other applications previously. Their metal silver paint is almost a perfect match and I have started to touch up the engine on the parts I have rubbed down with this. As I am using a brush it is not perfect but I will persevere and use some fine wet and dry to try and get rid of the brush marks.

regarding the oily plugs - unfortunately they are oily which is not good news and may mean that the engine has to come out regardless! I will check compression and valve guides.

I changed over my headlamp lens for a RH dip (E4 stamp) which should get me through the French import laws. I also changed over the speedo for one in KM/h which unfortunately shows 66,000km whereas the bike has only done around 35,000 (22,000 miles). I did consider trying to wind back the odometer to match the actual mileage but have decided to note the diference in th3e log book instead.

Will keep the site updated with progress and if I manage to get Flickr working with this site will post pictures.

[ducpainter]

I believe you have all your photos set to private. That will preclude the possibility of hotlinking.

To get photos to show on the forum they need to be public, then click on the actual photo. At the bottom there will be an arrow. Click that and you'll get the proper link. Choose bb code.

[Diver]

Monster on the table waiting to get seen to1



This is where the paint problem is at its worst however, I am managing to get quite a good match using the Hammerite. Today I rubbed down the paint I applied yesterday to smooth out the brush marks then used thinner to make the paint more pliable. It is looking better again.

I guess I will have to do this a few more times to get a good finish but it is certainly looking better than I could have hoped for.

Will post pictures (now that I know how to do it) - thank you ducpainter - later :-)

[ducpainter]

Try picking a smaller size for your pics from the drop down menu. 1024 x works well. It makes the page more friendly.

[Diver]

Thank you for that - have updated the picture 

Nick

[Diver]

Updated photos after day 2 - the temperatures have dropped here so I will have to wait until it gets a little warmer before I apply the next coat.