COVID capers!

[stevecrout]

So what do you do when you have lots of time on your hands and the 'honey-do' lists are done?

You search the local papers looking for another bike - of course.

Well, I came across this 1998 Ducati ST2 that was owned by a fellow who had trouble estimating the width of his bike compared to the width of the space he was going to drive through. He was off by 3" and smashed the fairing, turn signals and the windshield.

The fellow posting the bike had purchased it from the poor estimator after is sat for 9 years. This second owner was telling me about this diagnosis of a ruptured head gasket because the oil was green when seen through the view hole. Hmmm.....

This guy put a new battery in it and tried to start it but no luck. He took the starter button harness off thinking the connection was poor.

Well, he gave up and put all the stuff in a big box and delivered it and the bike to me the next day.

[stevecrout]

When I got the bike home I did a quick check for parts and found it was all there.  Great!
So next I thought it might be a good idea to figure out what was going on with the engine so I drained the oil and to my surprise, it was clean and almost new.  The I looked at the coolant and saw it was yellow and checked my Castrol jug and realized the oil would look green if you saw it through the view hole.  So - the engine seemed to be in good shape after all! That was the first bonus.

Then I looked inside the tank and saw the layer of crud that forms when you leave it sit for a long period. Rats - this would mean the fuel pump was likely sacked and this was confirmed when I turned on the ignition and there wasn't any sound coming from the pump. OK - Amazon to the rescue again.  Pump kit was $75 and arrived in 4 days.

So - the pump is in and I put new inside fuel lines on too. Turned the key and she primes up real nice. The engine turns over but won't fire. OK - I dug into the air box and injector area and pulled out the two injectors. They looked OK but that doesn't mean much. 

I also did a check of all the multi pin connectors as they were prone to corrosion and sure enough, the main connector junction was nasty so I cleaned it up, added a nice helping of dielectric grease to keep everything clean and happy.

Testing the injectors was an interesting task.  I needed to run some carb cleaner through and I needed about 20 lbs pressure so I hose-clamped a one foot long piece of 3/8' line to the inlet side, sprayed in an ounce of the cleaner then plugged in my air hose with 20 lbs. Then I hooked up a 12 volt power source and watched the spray. it started out as a stream (not good) then after it sat for a bit I ran some more cleaner through and lo and behold - I had my atomized spray!  Did the same for the other injector and put them back in and buttoned up the air box stuff.

Turned the key and hit the starter - voila' - she runs like a charm, has that typically noisy clutch and thumps along just fine!  I took it out for a spin and I can see why people like these bikes. It was just aching to get out on the highway - but not today.

Here's a couple of photos of the bike when it was delivered. and some of the fairing bits too.

[stevecrout]

Some of the first photos

[stevecrout]

more fairing photos

[stevecrout]

So - after a look at the fairing bits and finding out they were made of ABS plastic I wondered if plastic welding might be an option.  I did some review on youtube and found a couple of interesting examples.

Heat, size of iron and the right welding 'rod' - all part of the process.  I found the prices to be all over the map so I had to pare down the offers that had stuff I really didn't need and finally got to one from China for $27 and it had the 80 watt iron, welding rods, stainless steel screen material and a second tip. (see the photo)

Trying out the process for the first time was easier than I thought it would be. You can hear the ABS start to crackle when it begins to melt so you know you have to get moving. Melting the stainless screen into the bigger cracks was slow but easy. I even used 2 layers of the screen to close a 3" by 4" gap in the headlight fairing. I used the screen to re-attach a large base tab too.

In most cases I'd melt the front and back of all the cracks to ensure complete coverage. I filled the rough spots with flexible filler. I used sandable primer and next time I'd go with a primer colour more similar to the final colour so I could cut down the number of coats.  I found about 20 different shades of silver and it took a while to find the best match.

Here's some photos of the repairs

[stevecrout]

More of the repairs and some of the final product.

[stevecrout]

So when all is said and done, all the bits are there and while not as pretty as the factory jobs I can mount it all back on and go for a drive this week. 

The final analysis:

- fuel pump and hose - $85
- sandpaper and body filler - $27
- welding tool - $27
- rattle can paint and primer - $34

Getting the bike for $550        (priceless)

A lucky find that made the last few weeks enjoyable.

[Dennis]

Great story Steve.

A bike abandoned for the wrong reasons, purchased for a song, and brought back to life with a little money, some sweat, and a lot a motorcycle knowledge.

Peace & Grease, Dennis

[Donovan]

That is awesome Steve and a good deal also.  You said you purchase a fuel pump for $75.  Are they standard for the Ducati or does it depend on the year and model.  Because talking to my brother the other day in Ontario.  He has a friend that had just purchase his 6th Ducati. He said it was a cafe racer model  and I think he said it was a 2005 model.  But any ways he needed a fuel pump for it and bought an after market pump for $500.  But it did not work for some reason and ended up ordering one from Ducati for $1000.  Do you think he should have looked  else where for a pump?

[stevecrout]

Hi Donovan - I did a fair amount of research (being the cheap guy I am) and I found that the fuel pumps are similar to a number of others on the market.  His best best is to have a look at the Ducati owners site. https://www.ducati.ms/threads/y2k-st2-fuel-pump-starting-issues.77986/

They have lots of suggestions that work. I used one of them when I was looking for a pump.  As long as the delivery rate and pressure is compatible and the circumference of the pump is the same the height doesn't matter. It'll fit in the holder and should be OK! I only looked at the ST series but I saw lots of answers from other owners that gave the same pumps.

Amazon is a good place to go once you have a part number or exact name.

[stevecrout]

Just a little update.  Finally received the package of 'wellnuts" that I needed to finish attaching the fairing.

This will be what I consider an 8 foot bike.

Looks great from 8 feet away but any closer than that and you can see the imperfections in the rattle-can paint job.

Goes like stink!

Anyone else on the board have Ducati's?  I'd be interested to hear some stories about cost of maintaining them and some of the quirks.

Steve


Trying to upload a few photos but this system isn't allowing it.

[oldduc]

Clutch pack every second year. Jim Anderson use to the value adjustment I would bring it to him with another buddies 900 monster he would check both at the same time only once did mine need a shim.

[stevecrout]

Here's a couple of shots of the bike with repairs completed and out for a test ride.

[Admin]

Looks good from here Steve glad your able to get them pictures up.

[stevecrout]

I have the tool I used for plastic welding and a bunch of ABS 'welding rod' and since I think I'm done with it for a while I'm happy to lend it out to anyone else that wants to try it. It is really basic stuff and the parts came away stronger than the original.

The same goes for an ultra-violet flashlight I purchased as part of a UV dye process I used to find out where the pesky leak was in my Benz cooling system. I put the dye into the cooling system and ran the car for a few minutes then took out the UV Light and voila! The leak was evident in seconds and it also confirmed there was only one leak.  I'm happy to lend the flashlight to anyone that also has a leak issue they are trying to track down. You can buy the dye on Amazon for about $30 delivered.

So - I'll be coming to Pr George around Nov 18 for a few days and I can bring either of the tools with me.  I don't need them back for a few months so I could arrange to pick them up next time I come up.

Message me if you want them.