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2004 Ducati 999

3K views 19 replies 12 participants last post by  Weed 
#1 ·
Gents - so exited to post this! I moved to CA a year ago and was finally able to buy a Ducati super bike again. I wanted to pay cash so that put me into a certain price range of course. I was able to find this bike from a very cool guy - we hit it off and I offered at his asking price without question. It is 2004 with some identifiable upgrades & 19,600 miles. I think it has the full termignoni system, Ohlins rear shock, under-fairing yellow LED kit (although tastefully installed & hidden, it has taken a bit for it to grown on me). Here are a few pics. Please feel free to message me or post "must-do" 999 items. I'll post some specific status on individual areas.

I have already improved the side stand by installing a 1/2" x 1.5" x 1/8" shim, to reduce the amount of sidestand-forward rake. As a result, the bike looks very comfortable on the side stand now. See pic. More to follow! I just want to express my "emphatic" thanks for the detailed amount of information here on the the Ducati.ms forum. Ininitiated a similar post on the .org site, but doesn't seem to have traffic. I will try to be diligent in research before posting questions.

One item I thought was an ECU quirk, I believe is an artifact of an aftermarket Clutch Master installed, without the safety-switch being activated. Thus, the bike will only crank-&-start if the key is turned on when in neutral. Having read a similar post here, I'll look to get a Ducati 1098/1198 or RCS Brembo for the Clutch master, so that the safety-switch can be incorporated again into the assembly.

Thx Jim !!
 

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#4 ·
Replace Rebound Screw?

Gents,

I would like to replace the right shock rebound screw. Is it possible to put the bike on a rear stand, and remove this piece without disrupting the oil level & cartridge system? I have not worked on shocks before. The screw appears to be "spinning" without clicking, rising, or lowering. It is basically "flush" with the top of the unit, which coincidently, appears to just be a few clicks lower than the Left Shock, which is adjusted to the stock 8 clicks out.

Thanks, Jim
 
#10 ·
Gents,

I would like to replace the right shock rebound screw. Is it possible to put the bike on a rear stand, and remove this piece without disrupting the oil level & cartridge system? I have not worked on shocks before. The screw appears to be "spinning" without clicking, rising, or lowering. It is basically "flush" with the top of the unit, which coincidently, appears to just be a few clicks lower than the Left Shock, which is adjusted to the stock 8 clicks out.

Thanks, Jim
i'm guessing you're talking about the front forks? maybe the rod is broken, but you'll need to remove the fork and strip it to find out or fix it.
 
#5 ·
Cool bike, I used to own a 06 749s and enjoyed it very much. The first "must do" for that bike is to do a track day! The 749/999 is the best handling superbike Ducati ever made imho. I don't know much about shocks, but they are very tricky to work on and I would only trust a suspension specialist to work on them. At the mileage you have the fork oil is overdue for a change so might want to look into sending the forks off to a reputable company. Sure you have plenty of those in Cali.
 
#8 ·
Congrats on your 999! I adore my 05 999S in Nero. As you are probably aware, the styling was controversial when they came out, love it or hate it, however I always thought they were unique and beautiful. The hate seems to have gone away mostly after they were discovered to be a fantastic machine.
I have been enjoying the FB 999/749 owners group, lots of enthusiasm for our bikes worldwide, some bikes and parts for sale, some riding stories. You might want to check it out if you do Facebook.
As has been stated these bikes really come alive on the track, I've only had one track day on her. The next best thing is to make your way to the nearest mountain twisties and be amazed. I've done 350mi days on mine, the freeway is torture. Fortunately I live in the Sierra Nevadas so I've got awesome roads right out of my driveway. Traffic is not much fun on a Triple 9!
She shares the garage with my 96 900 SS/SP, I love them both for different reasons.
Best of luck with your T9!
 

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#9 ·
Congratulations on getting a 999. I'm biased when it comes to my 999R, not only is it contemporary still, the performance is outstanding, more than I'll ever need. I've always liked the yellow Ducs, especially when accented with black bits of carbon, the two colors compliment each other. Another color that goes well with the yellow body is gold, like in gold forged aluminum wheels. In my opinion gold and red clash. I bought a new set of Marvic magnesium wheels from Motowheels, their last set before discontinuing the line. I wanted black for my 900SS, but Martin (RIP) gave me such a sweet deal I couldn't resist. Although I more or less got used to the color, what made me overlook it was the vastly improved handling the magnesium wheels brought to the table. I noticed the positive change the first time I took the bike into the hills, it was amazing how much easier the bike handled and from that point on I was sold on light weight wheels. I didn't have to make any wheel changes to my 999R, the R package included exclusive lighter wheels.

Looks like the bike was well taken care of and that is always nice to see. I could be wrong, it looks like your bike still has the stock tail light, if it does I would think about converting over to LEDs. Mine was an easy conversion, the tail light was the same design but LED as what came on the older Multistrada, so I simply replaced it. Now I'm thinking about converting the front low beam to an HID headlight. I converted the stock headlight on my 1125CR Buell to HID and man, it was an amazing improvement.

The worst headlight system ever came with the 916 era bikes, my 916 headlight was so bad I couldn't ride the twisties at night. Actually, What I would like to get for my 999R would be LEDs, but so far I haven't found a plug and play set up. I just started looking, maybe someone here will chime in and share the brand, part number, and where you can buy them. The 999 headlight was a big improvement over the previous models, but not in the same league as HID or LEDs.

Think black carbon bits to accent your bike. That will make it pop. I have the same issue with starting only in neutral when I converted the stock brake master to a billet Brembo with the pressure switch to activate the rear tail light. Kind of a pain if you stall it at an intersection, but it hasn't happened enough to pursue any options. Besides, finding neutral is easy on my bike.

Have fun and keep us informed on any upgrades or adventures you could share.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Filters were grimed out totally....

* there is some forum issue with rotating photos unintentionally LOL

Gents - I have two maintenance items I wanted to do since bike is new to me: change brake & clutch fluids, & check/clean air filters.

Air-Filters: OMG... I took out the filters last night and the grime build-up was unbelievable. Almost no light was able to pass through the filters in any area. I can't believe the engine was able to run being so choked. Blockage plus maybe 1/16" of tar/dirt/oil/grime layering. I used a can of carb-n-choke cleaner, then a can of WD-40 and both filters were purged clean.

I started the bike without the filters - and DAMN!! Sounded mean & crisp!! Made me super happy. I reinstated the cleaned filters, and the engine sounded the same although just a bit quieter. I may still replace the filters, but for today, they are a million-percent better than they were!
Jim
 
#14 · (Edited)
Lower Fairing: Dzus Fasteners

Gents - a small improvement: I replaced the two rubber well nuts with 4mm Allen head Dzsus Fastners (same as the fairings), and quite pleased. The "clips" went into position easily and appear to have a sufficient amount of spring force to hold them in position on the receiving-tang. After owning a 848 I 'hate' the rubber well nuts, so very glad to get rid of these two.

In case the clip slides around; is there any advice on how to ensure the clip "stays" in the intended position? Epoxy or smaller fastener?

WOW! Today was first fast ride with the 999 since cleaning the air filters and the power difference is amazing. I'm 215 naked, bike will roll-on wheel up in first, every gear is better! Much more fun!!
Jim
 
#15 ·
Gents - a small improvement: I replaced the two rubber well nuts with 4mm Allen head Dzsus Fastners (same as the fairings), and quite pleased. The "clips" went into position easily and appear to have a sufficient amount of spring force to hold them in position on the receiving-tank. After owning a 848 I 'hate' the rubber well nuts, so very glad to get rid of these two.

In case the clip slides around; is there any advice on how to ensure the clip "stays" in the intended position? Epoxy or smaller fastener?

WOW! Today was first fast ride with the 999 since cleaning the air filters and the power difference is amazing. I'm 215 naked, bike will roll-on wheel up in first, every gear is better! Much more fun!!
Jim
Can you provide some additional info about the dzus fastners you talked about? Is it the ones under the fairing? Which one did you use? The screws on the bottom on my fairing is absolute dogshit so would love switching those out if that's the ones you're talking about.
 
#16 ·
Gents,

Here is what I used to replace the Ducati 999 lower fairing two screws & wellnuts:

1. I used the black Allen-head fastener because the head needs to recess into the screw hole.
2. I used the "silver clip" from the D-Ring Fastener so that it will slide onto the flange that formerly held the Wellnut.
3. I used pliers to "squeeze" the clip a just a bit, so the Fastener would reach into the attachment tangs.

Easy!! :) I took a long ride yesterday, and both fasteners and clips are in proper position.

Jim
 

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#17 ·
Well nuts are perfectly ok as long as you don't over tighten them, I change them out regular. Seriously mate, I would not ride with your set-up, I've lost a Dzus fairing fastener on a ride. God forbid the lower fasteners, you got to think why did Ducati not do that set up, your choice. Ride safe.
 
#19 · (Edited)
My 05 999S I just replaced to the 12 hole injectors alone and that super improved it. I then added a PC and Dyno tuned to match the new injectors.. That Black S I sold long ago and all the docs went with her, so I'm going by memory I'm thinking I got a 5hp gain at the rear wheel and noticeable torque improvement..

RC
 
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