I walked back inside from the garage and shivered a bit. Its full-on new england autumn, which means pleasant windy days, but cold nights. Its warmer in the garage than it is in the house. Filled up my coffee for the fourth time and glanced at the clock. 1:30am. I should be sleeping, but whenever I glance at the Ducati through the door, I feel compelled to put parts on. I feel bad for the dog with the house so cold, so I bring her out into the heated garage with me. She settles down near the stove, and I light up a cigarette and just gaze at the 900SS on the lift.
The JE 11:1 drop-in pistons went together and in much easier than the MBP 966 pistons. I only had to file the top rings a little bit for proper gap. I assembled the top end with OEM base gaskets to set squish, and came up with .065″ at the extreme edges on both pistons. Compared to last time where I had to change base gaskets 3 times to get a good even number, it was nice to do it once, and then just pull off the wax. The second circlip went in on each piston, and the heads we’re bolted down for the last time. Getting the motor back in the frame is a two person job. However, if you have a piece of old fencepost, a 2×4 and a basic understanding of levers, it becomes a one person job. I bolted the rear mount in, and left it loose. I levered front cylinder up, using the rear mount as a hinge and slid the last mounting bolt through.
On went the carbs and the airbox. What used to take me 30-40 minutes now takes me 15. This poor bike has been taken apart and put together so many times in the past 4 weeks, I could do this part in my sleep. Before I knew it, I looked around and had no more parts to bolt on. I drained the oil, filled it up with Shell’s best 10w30, and spun on a brand new K&N filter.
I took a long gulp of my coffee, put my cigarette out and stood up. I flipped the key to “On”, and switched the ignition to run. Pulled out another cigarette on Steve Munro’s advice. “You forgot the inital start up cigarette! Thats critical to engine break-in!”. Choke on halfway, thumb the starter. Ka-thump, ka-thump, ka-Brabump-brabump-brump-brump. With the engine idling I pulled out a 100W shop light and looked for leaks while the engine idled. Despite searching for 5 minutes, I couldn’t find one. I gave the throttle a slight tug and the revs climbed quickly. A big stupid grin formed on my face. I threw my leg over the bike and sat on it while it idled on the stand. I whacked the throttle a couple times and listened to the motor sing that deep Italian opera it was famous for. My neighbors outside lights flipped on. Uh-oh. I killed the motor and the lights in the shop and laughed quietly to myself.
Apparently he’s not an opera fan.
October 21st, 2007 at 4:04 pm
I am sure you have it wrong, that’s just his way of holding up a lighter. Glad to hear that it’s running, weather is perfect.