another Ducati 1000 build....

[buzzer]

Not been doing much in the garage for the last week...  My best mate of 55 years was diagnosed with terminal cancer last week.  All very sudden, 4 weeks before he was working in his factory, just complaining of a bad back...  turns out he has lung cancer, cancer in the spine and Multiple Myeloma... they have given him weeks/months. Its knocked me for 6 to be honest...

Gong to get out in the garage Monday and get my mojo back...  for now here is a short video as many people asked how I turn the velocity stack radius in the lathe..




link above

[Mhanis]

Sorry about your buddy, that sucks.

That all makes this rather insignificant, but your work is beautiful.

Mark

[koko64]

Sorry to hear the bad news about your mate.
Shed therapy.

[buzzer]

this bike has been in the back of the garage, waiting for the better weather...  I dug it out the other day and did a few jobs in anticipation of riding it soon.  One of the things I hated was taking the tank off as it was so difficult to remove the two front nuts...  so I decided to make some Allen headed nuts  so I could use a long Allen key to easily get to them...

I pondered how to make the hexagon, and came on the idea of a stepped broach method.  So I made the nuts in brass, and used an old Allen key to make the stepped broach which cuts the hexagon in steps as its forced through (2lb hammer!)

it worked rather well!

[buzzer]

took the bike for MOT… riding there through town I noticed that it really is far too loud… I actually coasted into the mot station! Chatting to the MOT guy who is a friend... we were saying that we first met when I was 15... we are the same age...  that's 50 years ago!  In all that time he has only failed one of my cars or bikes...  and that was last year when I had failed to spot a tyre on my Mercedes that was bald on the inside edge...  he really has not let me forget it since

when I got home I decided to make a baffle, which has toned it down nicely, without making it too quiet.

[buzzer]

Well I have done a fair few miles on it the other day...  I have to say I love this bike!  the carburation feels spot on and it runs like a dream! It goes far better than I thought it would, and fells a LOT more powerful than my 900 monster...  I guess that's the 100 extra CC's and the flat slide carbs. I think this will be a keeper, its surprisingly comfortable as well!

[Howie]

Fantastic and congrats

[buzzer]

I have been doing quite a few miles, and thoroughly enjoying the bike! In fact its my go to bike when I go for a ride, and others have remained unused!   But they say a special is never finished… and they are probably right! one thing I have never been entirely comfortable with is flat slide carbs with no positive means of closing… So I decided to put some closing cables on the carbs. The junction boxes were fitted to many old British bikes. This meant I could lighten the closing springs a little and have a lighter throttle action, and use a faster action, which we all know adds at least 20 BHP! well it feels like it!

At first I tried a 38mm drum, but this was less than a 1/4 closed to open… too fast, and too heavy! I calculated that 33mm was about right, so off I went to my local bike breakers to hunt for a replacement. He has a very old storage unit with hundreds of boxes on shelves which I systematically went through… last few boxes, and I found the ideal, out of a Honda CFR250. Must say it was rather spooky in there on my own… lots of funny noises which had me constantly looking behind me!!!

[buzzer]

I have been mulling over doing another special, rather than a Restoration, which I did last time with an early Monster 900 . I have been riding around the last project I built, the Multistrada with the FCR 41mm  carbs on it, which goes really well! In fact its My favourite bike to ride! One of the problems with it though is the single seat, my wife likes to come out on pillion sometimes…

So I decided to build a scrambler type bike, with a dual seat on.
I looked around for another 1000 DS Multistrada and this red one turned up at the right price. These are cheap to buy as many are suffering leaking and bubbling tanks, and faded LCD screens. It’s done 16k miles!  I am still formulating ideas at the moment, but I have made a bit of a start so I have stripped it of all the parts I won’t use so I can sell these on.






here is my first attempt at a mock up, using a borrowed seat and a bit of photoshop...



Sometimes I just sit for a while and look at the silhouette of a build in the garage with the lights out… I did this the other night (my wife thinks I am mad! ) and I kept coming to the conclusion that the tank is not what I want… So off to the bike breaker who lets me wonder around his BIG unit. I took a cardboard cut out of the shape I wanted with me, and some measurements… of the hundreds of tanks I looked at (surprising how many are now plastic!) , none were suitable, mainly due to the angle of the frame.

On the last build I used a 999 tank which worked well, so I decided to try a shortened version on this build. I didn’t feel bad cutting this up as its so badly corroded, and it just goes to show what leaving a bike for a long period with ethanol based fuel in it does inside the tank. you can see from the light I am holding behind it that its actually perforated on the top! So its off to the blasters with it to see what state its in when it comes back…. I have a fall back, but its a perfect 999 tank, be a shame to cut it up...  If the one comes back from the blasters and its too bad, I will probably use it to mock up, and see if I can find a dented one.



My FCR 41's came this morning

[stopintime]

Maybe that seat is wrong on those rear frame tubes.... regardless of which tank.... Old style oval rally number plate perhaps.



ps
your wife is right

[buzzer]

Maybe that seat is wrong on those rear frame tubes.... regardless of which tank.... Old style oval rally number plate perhaps.



ps
your wife is right

yea, she may well be!  I am playing with the frame tubes/seats/tanks....

well the tank came back from the blasters… as you can see its full of pin holes, and for the first time in over 40 years of repairing tanks I feel I have been beaten! there is no point in trying to repair this! I put a light inside to shop the extent of the corrosion.  look after your tanks guys!

[buzzer]

Started the frame modifications, just tacked up at the moment.  On this build I want to keep the seat height right for me, but also allow for an under seat exhaust and a seat long enough for a pillion.  I have replaced the shocker with a strut at the moment so I can see what things look like at max and min travel.

[buzzer]

on my last build I run a pair of FCR carbs, it runs really well so for this build I chose the same carbs, but this time decided to bolt them together, and use a common split spindle to control the slides. this means I can use a single pull/ pull throttle arrangement, instead of the 4 cables system I used before. It also means I can run a TPS on the end of the spindle.

I thought it would be easy, I got some 8mm silver steel for the spindle, and a couple of new bearings with seals instead of the closed cup bearings… unfortunately the threads on the locating pins into the spindle is an unusual thread and I couldn’t find a tap… so I had to make some new pins as well… All done now though, including a linkage in the middle so I can balance the carbs .

I have also made some new velocity stacks to accommodate some foam filters… there is a few hours work in those! and a pile of swarf!

Short video to demonstrate how I hand turn the bellmouth on the stacks!

[pitbull]

I'm really looking forward to seeing the multi/scrambler finished product. I've always loved the 1st gen multi.

[buzzer]

I'm really looking forward to seeing the multi/scrambler finished product. I've always loved the 1st gen multi.

its going to be a while...  this should be a winter project...  but with no holidays and limited things to do I keep finding myself in the garage!

To mount the carbs I needed to make some alloy custom manifolds. I made these using the pie /lobster cut method. I set the chop saw to 7 degrees and cut off a selection of pieces and tape them together until I have the right shape… I then mark the position of each and weld them together, ensuring I have good penetration, which I then grind off inside to make them smooth. the long bur in the picture is a beast to use!





Onto the tank. I managed to source a very clean 999 tank, but of course this is too long for the build… so out came the angle grinder and off came the back! measure twice cut once!. I then fabricated a new back end and welded it into place. When welding stuff like this, everything needs to be clean for a good half inch either side of the weld, so I clean both sides with emery paper, and use to carb cleaner to ensure there is no grease… also wipe the welding rod with some as well…

Once the back/side piece was in place I planished the sides so the new piece had the same radius as the tank. then I welded the bottom in. to test for leaks I use two methods… some dye penetrant and developer, and if it passes this test, I do a final check with air at just 3 PSI and squirt it with soapy water.