The engine and bike are fully assembled, sundry problems sorted, and in this weeks thrilling installment I find out how not to start it........
After running out of pissy lil' things to fix/modify the 749R/999RS has finally emerged blinking into the sunlight after some 18 months locked in the bunker. In preparation for starting I coasted it down my 200m sloping driveway to ensure some oil circulation before attempting to actually fire it up, no spark plugs installed and fuel pump disconnected. It chuff-chuff-chuffed away like an old traction engine and the oil light went out, so all good....apart from having to push the bloody thing back up the hill.
So after fiddling around with a very rough map in the Nemesis (I just wacked another 5% fuel on a generic '05 999R+full exhaust map) I installed the plugs, plugged in the fuel pump and chucked some gas in it...only for most of it to end up on my boots due to a knackered fuel pump flange O-ring. Grrrrr! Sorted that and eventually took another run down the drive....but the engine would only give one "chug" (half a rev?) before the slipper clutch did what it does best and slipped. I was hoping it wouldn't but kind of expected it so no real surprise.
Even without that I could see the slope on the drive wasn't really enough to overcome the rolling resistance to reach a decent speed. The Ozzie-Italian orchardists working next door didn't seem too appreciative of me telling them in fairly colourful terms that their Italian super bikes weren't so bloody super as I cursed my way back up the hill again. Based on this effort I threw another steel plate into the clutch pack which effectively locked the slipping mechanism, bit the financial bullet and ordered a roller starter, I'd need one eventually anyway if/when I made it to the track.
The starter arrived a week later:
I gave it a crack the next weekend. The good news is the clutch no-longer slips (good for starting, not so good for racing, but one problem at a time eh?) the bad news is it won't quite turn the engine over no matter what gear I use. The 2.5kw starter has plenty of grunt and wizzes over fine but with an already tall seat plus being up on the rollers you can't quite get enough down-force against the rollers (I'm 186cm, 84kg) so the wheel just locks after maybe one revolution ("chug-chug") and the rollers then spin/smoke up on the tyre. Unlike some starters both rollers are driven, I dropped tyre pressure down to 16psi, I even had my long suffering better half press the foot switch while I tried to maximise down-force, but no go. Hmmmm, is the fresh rebuild just tight or is the sky high compression on the fat 104mm pistons just too much to overcome?
Shit shit shit.... this was my last best shot at a one man operation. It's not like the starter is junk either, I'd opted for something that came highly recommended and with a great track record. "No bike we haven’t been able to start”, eh? Looks like my mutt was the exception that proves the rule and I'm $1000AUD poorer for the effort! To be fair, it was never designed with something like a WSB-spec V-twin in mind.
I'm at a bit of a loss now. I checked out some youtube clips of RS's starting and it didn't look to be that big a deal, although the sexy little petrol starters with the go-kart wheel do seem to wind them up to a higher speed, gaining a bit more momentum. Although the guys hardly even lean on them, and with only one contact patch it's difficult to see them having any better traction than I have. Courtesy of a helpful forum member, this is his genuine 999RS being started
I'm starting to think it will make a lovely garden ornament, maybe grow a nice creeping vine over it: "Ooooh look, that topiary looks just like a Ducati...."
Chaos then reigned supreme and we had to make an unplanned dash back to NZ for family reasons. I was going to say that things ground to a halt...but as they've yet to get going it's more accurate to say I had to call a stop on making no progress.
But, after another swing away for work I finally got back into the shed/bunker, and had the simple joy of fitting up the bigger 996RS radiator I'd found (most of the race radiators from 916 - 1098RS will fit any of the superbikes with the right hoses). Typically, the forks then fouled it on full lock so a 30 min job turned into a few hours having to modify the steering stops. Foolish boy: nothing is ever simple....
But afterwards I had another crack at lighting the fire in the ol' girl, even strapping the bike down against the starter, but no joy, all the bike wants to do is climb over the back of it as soon as the clutch is let out and the wheel compression locks. Sigh.....
I then had a word with a helpful local Ducati service agent (now dealer), Ant at Corse Motorcycles, who used to work in the BSB/WSB paddocks and he gave me some key info: their mobile starters, like the unit above, spun the rear wheel up to 100kph in 6th gear. That's a fair bit more more momentum compared to the measly 30 or so kph my starter is generating. But at least now I had a definite target, something to aim for, so off came my tinfoil hat and on went my thinking cap....
