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I travelled by boat from Dublin to Holyhead in Wales last weekend to buy a 2006 999S, with 5600 miles on the clock.
I had done a deal with my cousin in which he could have my immaculate nearly new and, I hate to say it but reliable R1, and I would trade-in his bike.
It was ideal weather for collecting a nice new Ducati and I intended to ride around the Isle of Anglesey in the sun and visit the race circuit on the island to watch the Thunder Sport motorcycle racing practice that was on there and to check it out for a future track day.
I had arranged that the bike shop would deliver the bike for me to the ferry terminal. I arrived to a warm welcome from the friendly delivery man in the shop-branded van. I walked up the ramp into the van to see the bike in truly immaculate condition. It was way beyond what I was expecting and I felt I had definitely done the right thing.
We wheeled it down the ramp of the van and parked it, in all its glory, beside the curb. We then started the bike up. It was a bit difficult to start at first but then fired up with a roar. However I quickly noticed that, worryingly, it would not tick over and keep running.
I decided that I had come over all that way, and the bike was so clean that I would chance it and take it anyway. After all, I thought, it might only be the TPS. So the driver headed off waving, leaving me standing there beside the bike feeling anxious.
I took the trip to the race circuit. It was quite difficult to keep the bike running when I had to stop. It was unsmooth and didn’t have the power I was expecting.
The race practice was interesting to watch but I couldn’t relax.
I got talking to someone who was watching his son riding an Aprilia RS125. He told me I should go and talk to one of the teams who race Ducatis as they had a good mechanic who also worked for quite a big Ducati dealership in the UK.
So he showed me where they were based and I went over to chat to them. I discussed the problem with them and they reckoned TPS and Co2 trim.
They were interesting to talk to but I had a boat to catch so I said my farewells and got back on the road.
At the port I rang the bike shop I had bought the bike from and explained the problem and said I would talk to them when I got back home.
When I got home I phoned them and they told me they would pay to have the problem rectified. So I got in touch with a very good, independent Ducati specialist based in Dublin.
Driving out to him the bike got worse and was now making a clanging sound - not good. I was worried about leaving the bike with someone because I normally do my own servicing. However, when I got out there I was totally put at ease due to the owner who has over 20 years experience with Ducatis. His workshop was very tidy, with Snap-On tools laid out neatly in order, and all the Ducati tools I wish I had.
There was a bit of a wait to hear the prognosis and to be honest I was very worried and was not expecting good things but I knew the bike was in the right place. When the call came the verdict was that there was play on the driveshaft pulley, so it was decided to remove the left-hand side crankcase cover. In doing this, the flywheel almost fell off with it. So it seemed that the problem was solved and there was luckily very little damage, apart from a few marks on the crankcase cover.
The flywheel was torqued back up with a new nut (€32) along with new belts, a valve clearance check, Co2 trim and throttle body synchronisation.
I went out to collect the bike from him this morning, with the same feeling as when I had first collected it. I planned to head out with two friends in the afternoon for a spin on a favourite road and take a few photos at the same time.
The bike was looking great and seemed to, now, be completely sorted. So after a chat to the mechanic I headed out. The bike felt quite good, but after a petrol stop one or two kilometers down the road the tick over started to increase and stay up quite high (around 1600rpm to 2300rpm).
So back I went to the mechanic again and he put it back up on his lift and plugged in his Texa diagnostic computer (really good system). The TPS reading had gone up quite high and was fluctuating. He was not sure why and said he could have a look at it on Monday. It sounds like it is either faulty or is possibly loose on the throttle body.
It is really not a good introduction back into the world of Ducati but hopefully it will be fixed and I can start to enjoy riding it and maintaining it rather than fixing it. I would love to get some feed back from other owners.
Thanks
I had done a deal with my cousin in which he could have my immaculate nearly new and, I hate to say it but reliable R1, and I would trade-in his bike.
It was ideal weather for collecting a nice new Ducati and I intended to ride around the Isle of Anglesey in the sun and visit the race circuit on the island to watch the Thunder Sport motorcycle racing practice that was on there and to check it out for a future track day.
I had arranged that the bike shop would deliver the bike for me to the ferry terminal. I arrived to a warm welcome from the friendly delivery man in the shop-branded van. I walked up the ramp into the van to see the bike in truly immaculate condition. It was way beyond what I was expecting and I felt I had definitely done the right thing.
We wheeled it down the ramp of the van and parked it, in all its glory, beside the curb. We then started the bike up. It was a bit difficult to start at first but then fired up with a roar. However I quickly noticed that, worryingly, it would not tick over and keep running.
I decided that I had come over all that way, and the bike was so clean that I would chance it and take it anyway. After all, I thought, it might only be the TPS. So the driver headed off waving, leaving me standing there beside the bike feeling anxious.
I took the trip to the race circuit. It was quite difficult to keep the bike running when I had to stop. It was unsmooth and didn’t have the power I was expecting.
The race practice was interesting to watch but I couldn’t relax.
I got talking to someone who was watching his son riding an Aprilia RS125. He told me I should go and talk to one of the teams who race Ducatis as they had a good mechanic who also worked for quite a big Ducati dealership in the UK.
So he showed me where they were based and I went over to chat to them. I discussed the problem with them and they reckoned TPS and Co2 trim.
They were interesting to talk to but I had a boat to catch so I said my farewells and got back on the road.
At the port I rang the bike shop I had bought the bike from and explained the problem and said I would talk to them when I got back home.
When I got home I phoned them and they told me they would pay to have the problem rectified. So I got in touch with a very good, independent Ducati specialist based in Dublin.
Driving out to him the bike got worse and was now making a clanging sound - not good. I was worried about leaving the bike with someone because I normally do my own servicing. However, when I got out there I was totally put at ease due to the owner who has over 20 years experience with Ducatis. His workshop was very tidy, with Snap-On tools laid out neatly in order, and all the Ducati tools I wish I had.
There was a bit of a wait to hear the prognosis and to be honest I was very worried and was not expecting good things but I knew the bike was in the right place. When the call came the verdict was that there was play on the driveshaft pulley, so it was decided to remove the left-hand side crankcase cover. In doing this, the flywheel almost fell off with it. So it seemed that the problem was solved and there was luckily very little damage, apart from a few marks on the crankcase cover.
The flywheel was torqued back up with a new nut (€32) along with new belts, a valve clearance check, Co2 trim and throttle body synchronisation.
I went out to collect the bike from him this morning, with the same feeling as when I had first collected it. I planned to head out with two friends in the afternoon for a spin on a favourite road and take a few photos at the same time.
The bike was looking great and seemed to, now, be completely sorted. So after a chat to the mechanic I headed out. The bike felt quite good, but after a petrol stop one or two kilometers down the road the tick over started to increase and stay up quite high (around 1600rpm to 2300rpm).
So back I went to the mechanic again and he put it back up on his lift and plugged in his Texa diagnostic computer (really good system). The TPS reading had gone up quite high and was fluctuating. He was not sure why and said he could have a look at it on Monday. It sounds like it is either faulty or is possibly loose on the throttle body.
It is really not a good introduction back into the world of Ducati but hopefully it will be fixed and I can start to enjoy riding it and maintaining it rather than fixing it. I would love to get some feed back from other owners.
Thanks
