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Planning on a complete teardown of my 996

756 views 0 replies 1 participant last post by  Unity996 
#1 · (Edited)
Completely rebuilding my 996. Suggestions?

I have a 996 that isn't getting ridden like it should.

I'm in a Family Medicine Residency and between my duties at the hospital/clinic and helping raise my 2 kids, getting away to ride on a regular basis is nearly impossible, mainly due to lack of time. And riding to work, when most of my peers and EVALUATORS look down upon my 'donorcycle', brings up conversations I try to avoid when trying to make a good impression.

So, I'm thinking of putting my 996 into a state of temporary stasis. However, to avoid the "Honey-I-think-we-need-to-sell-your-motorcycle-because-you-don't-ride-it-enough-anyway" conversation that is bound to happen in the near future...I'm thinking of turning this 'semi-retirement' into a long-term project. I plan on keeping this bike 'forever' or at least until I can give it to my son as a collector's bike. So, whatever work/money/time I do put into it will be well worth it to me (one man's POS is another man's golden idol).

Now, I've gone to fantasy-land, spent a few hours browsing motowheels.com and wracked-up about a $27K imaginary tab. I can't afford that right now. Sometime after I take care of my school loans and I'm making money like a real adult, I'll write those guys a blank check. However, considering my current time and financial situation, I'll settle with doing a little at a time...knowing full well I may never make the $27,000 ideal. Browsing through all those aftermarket parts brought up some ideas and thoughts of what I could do right now...and what I could do as time and money allowed.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that I'd like to rebuild the bike...frame-up...everything but the engine at this time (which runs beautifully right now on an interval service that's less than 100 miles old). I'd like to start a project like the bikes in some of the other threads on here (the Red Bull bike comes to mind)...except do it over the course of 2-3 years or so.

I have a long history of rebuilding and fabricating bikes...33 years of it...from choppers to british cafe racers to race bikes...I am not a novice wrench. So, this isn't a project that is over my head (I hope). However, this will be the first major rebuild project I've ever tried on a Ducati...hence why I'm not opening up the cases. While there are alot of similarities from brand to brand, I realize that each brand of motorcycle has it's own pecularities...Ducati more than some.

That's why I'm posting this up. I have the shop manuals, some of the tools, etc...but I'd like to hear what you all think. What have you encountered in your projects. What are the pitfalls...must do's. What should I avoid...what can I do to 'hybernate' the engine/gearbox while it sits...etc. Basically, what can I do to make this project go smoothly? What Ducati/996-specific things do I NEED to do to avoid bonehead extra costs?

Thanks for your help.

P.S. One side-note: I'm not into restoring this one to it's original OEM condition. If I can find a decent 1994 916, I'll do an OEM rebuild on that one, but not on this bike. Also, I realize that spending a lot of money on an ordinary 996 could be considered by some as wasteful...not to me...part of the money spent could be considered as "therapy money"...something for my sanity.
 
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