Who Can Tell Me?

[kenmoore]

I want to modify a Duke as a project.( I have owned 2 Dukes previously and loved them)

I looked at an 03 1000ss and unfortunately it has a blown big end amongst other things and I am now looking at a 99 Full Fairing 900 in yellow.

What should I look for?

Are there any problems that are common with this model?

It has been sitting for 9 months and is very shabby.

The motor sounds O.K, the body work is good(It will be going anyway) and all the running gear seems o.k.

I have owned many bikes and have the ability to do most work myself, and am looking for a project as a hobby.

I intend to pare whichever bike I get back to the basics and change the body work as well as do some performance improvements to the motor.

I have a budget(I always say that) that I want to stick to.

Where I live we have some great mountain roads and suspension, brakes, and torque are more impotant to me than outright power.

My current ride is an Aprillia Shiver and I also have a 98 TL1000S that I use very rarely.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[kenmoore]

To say that I am surprised is an understatement!!

Surely there must be a few things to look out for when buying a 99 900 SS that has been sitting.

[damossguy]

G'day kenmoore. There is a world of information contained in previous threads on these forums mate. Have you tried searching yet? Google will also throw up a bunch of info about the 900ss models and a lot of the problems were sorted out in the years before the injected versions.

You will want to check the same things as any bike that has been sitting for some time with the addition of the cam belts. Being rubber they perish, if they snap when engine is running things will get nasty and expensive when valves meet piston. Check the tank for rust which is a problem in some bikes.

If it doesn't have a service history and it's not really cheap to compensate for lack of said history, walk away.

Buy yourself a copy of The Ducati Story by Ian Falloon if you don't already own it and make friends with the forum search function and Google. You will find most of the answers you are looking for and the forum members will more likely fill in the gaps for you on more specific questions.

Good luck with your search.

[kenmoore]

Thanks for that,

I hope to pick up the bike on Saturday, and then the games begin!!!

[curveman99]

I have a 99 900SS full fairing, one thing is amny people are putting these bikes together with parts from other years! Salvage Title bikes check on the inside of fairings for any damage.

No problems with my bike!! Runs good at 19000 miles on her all I.ve done is belts and Val's adjustment. The front forks could use a upgrade for the Track but city riding its fine.