The shifter on my 2001 Monster 750 had stopped returning from down shifts. So after replacing both springs, I put the flywheel back on.
Now, according to the Haynes manual there should be only one way for the flywheel to fit back in, I found myself to be the exception to the rule. I had put on the flywheel, aligned the timing, set the air gap, done everything properly, but the bike would not start. I had checked and double checked everything, voltage, gas, spark: it had to be the timing. I felt like an idiot when I realized I wasn't sure I had properly aligned the flywheel with the main drive.
My alternator has the coils bolted to the cover, with the flywheel spinning around them. Pictures on both the Haynes manual and the Ducati service manual show the exact opposite. According to both manuals, the alternator should go on ONLY one way. Well, there's only one right way for it to go on if I want the engine to run. In my case there's about 20 wrong ways to put the flywheel back on, though.
I figured I needed to find the dot on the inside of the flywheel and aligned it with the groove on the drive shaft (the single one right before the threads, not the two ones on the tip), as shown in the attached thumbnail. Put everything back together, timing, spacing, covers on, oil in, starter, vroom. The engine came back to life, and I felt relieved.
Main lesson learned: pay much much much more attention to where parts go, and in which position, when I take things apart. And also set aside plenty of time for a job, I was rushing things to go to a barbecue with friends. The bike wasn't running until 10pm. Enough said.
"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better."
( Samuel Beckett )
