[titus996s]

Hello my name is Titus. I picked up a 1999 996s two days ago. I wanted to introduce myself and also ask some of my many questions. Im new to the motorcycle world and especially to ducati. I owned a cbr600 for 3 weeks before I upgraded to the 996.

I bought the 996 from a guy who used it as a track bike. He had done some modifications to it. It has track bodywork on it and I am slowly converting it back to oem bodywork. I would like to keep the performance modifications which he has put on.

The bike is very loud, probably due to the forza pipes by ferracci. But it sounds very weird to me. The owner said everything is fine and that it runs good. I rode it and it seems to run good.
The clutch lever is very difficult to pull and hold down, seller stated that he had changed it because it is better for track use. This is were my first question comes in, how do I get this thing clutch to feel like the oem does cause its killing my left hand,lol.

Its got a dry clutch in it, is this normal or did the previous owner change to this? Can I run a vented cover without any problems? mostly for visual appeal.

I also want to do some maintenance to it like change the oil and check fluids. Is there a good online manual which I can use or if someone can recommend a printed manual that would be great too. Im pretty mechanically inclined so I would like to tackle as many of the jobs as I could myself instead of paying others to do it.

Any help is greatly appreciated. I look forward to being part of this forum and learning as much as I can about these beautiful machines.

 

[LAN]

Dry clutch and vented covers are fine. It's normal.

Some sources for you.

http://www.ducati.ms/forums/showthread.php?t=26729

http://www.ducati.ms/forums/showthread.php?t=30849

http://www.ducati.ms/forums/showthread.php?t=29734

http://www.ducati.ms/forums/showthread.php?t=28882

And more Here

The clutch lever is very difficult to pull and hold down, seller stated that he had changed it because it is better for track use.

I don't know about that. Maybe you're just not used to the Hydraulic clutch.

Look for this

When you do the oil change, pull the screen to see if it looks like this

 

[nine16]

Welcome.

The wierd sound is probably the dry clutch. Most people aren't used to them--especially if they are vented.

Ducati clutch levers are notoriously difficult to pull to begin with. You can get an aftermarket slave cylinder with a larger diameter for about $150. As a track bike, the previous owner may also have installed stiffer springs at the pressure plate to make sure it did didn't slip and waste power. You can try lighter ones or some people even remove 2 of the 6 springs (opposing sides, of course). Vented covers ae fine, you can even run NO cover if you like. Just try to keep stuff out of there when riding or cleaning the bike.

A manual is nice, but shouldn't be necessary for changing the fluids--its prety much the same as every other bike. DO get a rear stand though.

Good luck. You may have jumped in before looking, but with patience, determination and enthusiasm, I'm sure you will fall in love with your Ducati.

 

[kingbri1]

When you do the oil change, pull the screen to see if it looks like this

Hey! I'm now used as the "Dont be this guy" guy?!.... lol

 

[titus996s]

thanks for the responses guys.
I acutally went down to moto Wheels today since their about 15 minutes from me. The guys there were great and explained to me about the clutch. Bought my oil chaning supplies from them to and plan to pick up the pitbull rear stand soon.

Im going to try to tackle the oil change this afternoon and also pull the screen to see what it looks like.
I'll pick up one of those haynes manuals just so I can have one laying around to guide me through things.

 

[titus996s]

Nevermind

 

[titus996s]

Just wanted to give you guys an update. I changed the oil and filter this afternoon. Took me longer then expected cause I had to remove part of the ferracci exhaust to get the filter off.
I pulled the screen and there were just 3-4 very small pieces which I could see. Should I be worried about this? Or is this normal. Im not sure when the previous owner changed the oil and cleaned the screen.
Again, thank you guys for all the great help you have given me.