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MikeGyver's Ducati 996 - Rowdy

7K views 40 replies 17 participants last post by  370steve 
#1 ·
2000 Ducati 996 Strada

It had 4530 miles when I took ownership in San Diego. It has a good bit of aftermarket parts:

LSL top clamp and bars
Monster headlight, flyscreen, and associated brackets
Ohlins damper
DP keyless gas cap
Sargent seat
Magnesium wheels
Carbon belly pan, heel guards, heat shield
Cycle Cat highly adjustable foot controls/pegs
FIM UM222 single injector chip
Full Termi exhaust
Full floating front rotors
Unknown clutch slave
Pazzo (or knockoffs) levers
Waterpump slider cover
I was told it has a Nichols light weight flywheel.

Currently geared at 15/41 which is still too high but better than the 15/36 it was stock.

Battery and electronics are crammed into the tail.

It is comfy as is so I don't have any ergo changes in mind at this point. The mirrors are fugly, but functional. I ordered a replacement tach since the current one was erratic on the 550 mile ride home and eventually stopped working all together.

I pulled out the nice camera for this (really just to make CK happy)











I haven't decided what direction to take with this bike yet, other than to ride it so this thread may be a little boring.

This thing was super twitchy on the long ride home and was leaking fuel. That combined with the loud exhaust, rattle of the clutch, rattle of the full floating rotors, malfunctioning tach, and wheelie happy behavior earned it the nickname Rowdy
 
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#5 ·
Re: Mikegyver's Ducati 996 - Rowdy

 
#6 ·
Re: Mikegyver's Ducati 996 - Rowdy

:D those have got to be the longest mirror arms I've ever seen.

Subbed.
 
#11 ·
Re: Mikegyver's Ducati 996 - Rowdy

Installed new steering bearings. Rebuilt the front forks. Put new tires on. Changed the oil....tons of shavings. They are steel. There was more on the drain plug and in the oil itself. Filled it up anyway, bump started her down the driveway, and she stinks of burning oil. There were bits of RTV in the oil too so I bet somebody was in there inspecting. At this point I'm not sure if I'll part it out or rebuild.
 

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#12 ·
Re: Mikegyver's Ducati 996 - Rowdy

Can you take a clear closeup of the shavings? Hard to tell what they're from in that pic.
 
#13 ·
Re: Mikegyver's Ducati 996 - Rowdy

Well that's really shit. My heart says try and source a replacement engine switch it out and add the old one to the to-do pile? But now I have a kiddo I know how precious bike time is. Maybe sell as is and get clear of it, get something that works. Another SV?
 
#15 ·
Re: Mikegyver's Ducati 996 - Rowdy

I cleaned the debris off and already took the oil to the recycler. All the bits are gone.

Cookie!!!!!! Brought you out of hiding. I have a 996 lump sitting in the corner that was slotted for the 916. I'm strongly considering rebuilding that engine and running it in the 996 until the 916 is done. Still weighing my options.

Eric, yes, it was my daily until a year ago. I was really hoping to get back in the saddle this spring. Not sure how fast I could reasonably rebuild the engine, which I've never done before. I love these bikes, but the thought of a newer more reliable machine sounds so tempting. Then again, new stuff is stock and........stock. I have a massive colletion of parts for these bikes that it would take me ages to sell off. Decisons decisions.
 
#17 ·
#16 ·
Re: Mikegyver's Ducati 996 - Rowdy

If you wanted to put some oil in and run it for a bit, my dad just bought an FTIR for... reasons... and could probably analyze it for you.
 
#18 ·
Re: Mikegyver's Ducati 996 - Rowdy

After some back and forth with Cookie I've decided to try to diagnose this engine. If I can't then I'll swap for the spare 996.

So I flogged it around for a half hour today. Now I remember why I stopped riding it. It won't idle for shit. Pulled the tank off and measured the Throttle Position Sensor at the closed position and it was way off. Started the process of correctly setting the TPS and syncing the throttle bodies. Ordered a CO2 gas tester so I can set the enrichment pot to get it perfect. After it's all set right I'll wring its neck and check the oil again.
 
#19 ·
How about a small update:

It now idles very nicely. The plugs have a lot of oil on them so I will rebuild the engine when I am done with the other modifications. I disassembled the 916 and put it all in the attic. I'll focus on this bike first. End goal is to get as close to 350 lbs as possible without gas. As it sits in the pictures in the first post it is 409 lbs. I have no idea if it is even possible to lose 59 lbs, but I'll certainly try! I also want to clean up all the hoses and wiring the best I can.

Have a look for yourself. Note the rad home use split loom near the neck and the crap stuffed under the seat:


The wires are way too long and the Motogadget stuff will clean up a lot of it. Clean up time:


Upon tracing all the wires and labeling I found out it is missing the air temp sensor. :ebay:

I found some info on replacing the coil packs with coil-on-plugs from a various Kawasaki's. I picked up some from a 07-08 ZX6R along with a harness so I could use the plugs.

Ditched these guys which saved about 1.5 lbs:


Which cleaned up the space between the airbox (not fitted right now) and the engine:

Before:



After:



More to come, slowly but surely.
 
#21 ·
Be interested in how you knock more than 50lb off it.

You can get an alu subframe, will save a handful of lb especially if yours has a biposto subframe.

Are later swingarms lighter?

Forged wheels?

It'll get expensive :/
 
#22 ·
There are a lot of parts than can come off and stay off. Other pieces replaced with lighter versions. Carbon fiber stuffs.

I already have an aluminum subframe.

Not sure if later swingarms are lighter, but I think that requires a custom suspension rocker.

The bike already has magnesium wheels, but I've got lighter ones ready.

I've read that the 996 WSBK was 350lbs or so. I'm not sure if it's possible, but that's my goal and I know it'll be expensive. I'll just start drilling holes in everything if need be.
 
#24 ·
LOTS of little things. I don't really think it is attainable, but I will have fun trying. Having it weight the same as Carl Fogarty's 996 just sounds cool even though it is a much different bike.

996 racebike’s feathery 357-pound weight
Link
Okay, enough of my rambling. No more posts from me in here until I have some pictures of work to share. :rock:
 
#25 ·
Carbon tank and lose the under tail pipes, drop the CG's a bit.

Short of that, without full titanium fasteners and lightening the engine internals not much else ya can do really lol.

Nice to see it getting some love though Mike!


Edit: Oh Fack...post# 1000 lol. Sick, took long enough. Helps not disappearing for like 3+ years haha
 
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