"Start me up!"
So it's just a case of unbolt the old, install the new, and kick it in the guts, yeah?
C'mon now, you didn't really think it would be that simple did you? I guess I kinda did too, but wasn't surprised when a few curiosities started revealing themselves...
Things like why is the starter aperture blanked off with an alloy plate that is secured by Ti screws from the outside, into the threaded cases? Why is this important? Because the the starter motor is secured from the inside: you can't have both the cases and the starter threaded, capiche? It's a 2 minute job to drill the cases but it's obvious a starter has never been fitted, despite the "AMA0404" stamping. Hmmmm.....
But there didn't seem to be a reason not to install it so in she went and the toasted 749R engine was consigned to the naughty corner:
(Please excuse the state of the shed, I could say it was a work in progress but that work had pretty much stopped in trying to get at least one of these mongrel machines going...)
So I've installed the starter parts by this stage, and also changed out the ignition timing gear: as per Toine Biggelaar's 999S vs 999RS clip back-a-ways, the RS has an ignition timing gear like this, with one raised tooth for the crank position sensor (CPS) to "look" at:
Where as a 749R, with road going ECU (or in my case, Nemesis replacement) has a gear like this, with 2 teeth cut away:
For once this is an easy fix, Ebay to the rescue with a 749r gear (lighter than base models) to replace the RS unit.
I reach a bit of a milestone moment, with the alternator cover in my hands, about to button it all up and declare job done....but find myself literally staring down the barrel of one last issue I needed to resolve: exactly how is a shaft drilled to allow oiling for the starter parts? Externally, the R and RS crankshafts look identical, and I can insert a probe down both approximately 150mm. The R has an M8 threaded aperture with a grub screw installed, and a tiny orifice drilled in it. With decent oil pressure behind it you can imagine the nice fine spray that would result:
The RS crank snout looks identical, save for it is threaded M10:
The fact the aperture isn't just larger, but there is no grub screw installed has me in a bit of a pickle....lets just say more than a couple of beers were sunk sitting and staring at nothing where something should be.
I was desperate to put the crank issue to bed, but these engines are kinda the white rhino's of the motorcycling world, so finding people who have real world hands on experience with them is not so easy....then an online mate suggested Ben Fox, in the 'States. I only knew of Ben by the (great) reputation he built preparing Ducati cranks/engines at the highest levels, but with nothing to lose I popped an email in the electronic post, fully expecting to be completely ignored...
But reply he did: YAAAY!
With bad news: BOOOO!
Bottom line? The crank is an "ordinary" RS crank not an AMA version (drilled for the starter sprag oiling). That massive port is "blind", hence no grub screw required.
I was a looooooong time staring at the heap of shit when I got back into the shed, I can tell ya. There was no near-miss this time, my main driver for buying the bloody thing had just been kicked squarely in the plums.
