Lucky Phil

One thing to mention about Berylium for those interested is that its highly carcinogenic in its powder form so dont go cutting it and breathing in the dust.Berylium copper valve seats require special precautions when cutting/ machining for example. Ciao

Ok thanks, good to know. I'd prefer if it was around 1.2mm but 1.8 is better than what it must have been with the std composite gasket at 2.6mm if the metal one is 0.8 thinner. Really 2.6mm cant be considered a squish band at all, pretty much useless. A thinner base gasket will get it to the 1.2mm mark I'm sure. Ciao

Whats the squish clearance with the Breva gaskets? Ciao

Loose valve guide means the guide is loose in the head as opposed to the valve being loose in the guide. As i mentioned earlier I would K-line it. K-line guide sleeves are superior material and will last a lot longer, interupted spiral grooved for oil retention and lubrication and the best part is you can avoid using the seat cutter. When you replace guides they never go back in parrallel to the guide bore as the one that came out so there will be valve seat cutting to do with a cutter. With the K-lines you dont have this issue so you can just lap them in and save seat material. I've seen them used in street and race engines. Ciao

The head discoloration is pretty typical from what I've seen, as for the ring gaps well the rings rotate in operation so they may end up anywhere. Aligning the ring gaps at 30deg intervals is all well and good when fitting but in practice they dont stay that way. In some race engines the rings rotate so dramatically they wear the piston lands significantly. Best idea is to K-line the guides. Of course if you have a loose guide then that needs repalcement. Have you physically checked its loose? Ciao

I've been using off brand rotors with Brembo calipers and pads for years on the road and track without issues. 45,000 miles out of a set of rotors is way beyond expectations for mine. My ST2 rotors are just on minimum thickness now at 57,000 klms and need to be replaced and its been use for mainly commuting and touring. Ciao

Oh, I don't know. Ducati posers are always putting the "latest bling" on their ducks, and many times very low mileage rotors, calipers, etc show up on the bay. I upgraded my Jack All tractor when I put a hack on it to a dual rotor front end with duck Brembo stuff for a little less than 150 bux. That is fine. It's a free country. But for me, it is not a place I scrimp to save a few bucks. I am sure some of those parts on ebay are in good shape, but I know some of them aren't. People seem to think their worn out / broken cr@p is worth pretty serious money all to often. And if I am upgrading my brakes I would rather upgrade to higher quality parts. While the OEM Brembo's on Ducati's (and Guzzi's) aren't bad their bespoke stuff is of a higher quality and performance. But to each their own. You pays your money, you takes your chances. I wouldn't use Chinese rotors for example as my experience with some of their machined stuff is really good and some is quite poor and I'm not convinced on their control of material specs. As you point out and I agree brakes are a critical component and not worth skimping on. However I agree with Chuck in that there is a lot of very good low mileage Brembo stuff out there for cheap money. Us Ducati ownwers are quite a generous lot, I sold a set of brand new Ohlins forks with tripple clamps and rear shock off my 1198s for a killer price to one happy 748 owner when I upgraded the bike to FGRT road and track forks and TTX rear shock. Ciao

Galfers on mine, no complaints. Ciao

Whats the dia difference? Ciao

To save weight. Carcano was anal about weight so he didnt allow the top coat just the primer to stop corrosion. This was in the days of skin tight paper mache leathers and bikes with 50 HP. This type of weight saving has always seemed mad to me along with drilling holes in aluminium exhaust brackets etc. When you can loose 1/2 a kilo with a decent Sh*t is it really worth the effort? Always makes me laugh when I see the bike weight reduction Nazzi that is 20kg overweight. Ciao

I dont believe this finish is Zink Chromate docc, it looks more like the Alodine and 814 treatment to me. I used to carry out this process on Skyhawk drop tanks and other stuff. Rub the part down with acidic 814 and apply the Alodine and rinse off with water. Gives alclad that translucent green hue. The Zink Chromate primer I have experience with in the Aviation industry and on Ducati Magnesium parts from the 80's etc is a flat olive green colour. We had to stop using it at work years ago as its a carcinogenic. Ciao

Hope you like it. It's really all Chucks good work Ciao.

Here in Australia we still have a wide choice of Ethanol and non Ethanol fuels in the major populated areas. So std unleaded 91 octane RON (US 87 Octane AKI) is now generally a 10-15% Ethanol mix but we also have 95 and 98 RON ( US 91-93/94) which is Ethanol free. I run all the bikes and the Ford Kuga we have which is a 2 liter turbo on the 98 and the old Mazda Astina I have on 95 in the summer because it detonates in the hot weather and 91 in the winter. Ciao

Fueling with the engine running!!!! not only a risk to yourself but everybody else using the petrol station. Lucky the station attendant didn't catch you, he would have had kittens.I'm sure that Nigel was following all the procedures for "Hot Refueling" after completing a hazard reduction risk assessment, and was wearing OSH approved PPE. Ha, PPE like the suit those bomb disposal guys wear Ciao

Fueling with the engine running!!!! not only a risk to yourself but everybody else using the petrol station. Lucky the station attendant didn't catch you, he would have had kittens. Ciao

I have an Electrosport one as well and have not fitted it due to the std one now charging fine after I sorted the voltage drop issue. Cant see any advantage in it so its a spare for when the inevitable occurs. Ciao

You need the split rings. Item 4 in the parts manual. Ciao

Overall weight of the flywheel is only one factor in its effect. More importantly is where on the assembly is the weight distributed. Its possible to have a heavier flywheel assembly that has less effect than a lighter one depending on how far from the center the weight is concentrated. Ciao

Here is a photo of a Daytona phonic wheel and the retaining ring. The retaining ring is identical to the 2 valve engines but it obviously retains the jack shaft where the 2 valve retains the Cam shaft. Note the retaining ring has a large lip around the thrust face where the phonic wheel bears against it to control end foat. Well that face should be flat, hence the wear produces end float and in this case it looks like it was about .5mm or so. I didn't measure it because it was up for replacement anyway. During your tensioner replacement you wouldnt have noticed it unless you went looking for it but at you mileage I'd imagine it will be worn and generating end float. Maybe the source of your noise. Here is the later updated version with the oiling slots

Another thought, these things wear the camshaft retaining ring quite badly. They came out with a revised item with oiling slots milled in them. I was wondering whether yours is badly worn and causing the noise. The early 4 valve engines made a lot of noise from camshaft end float and there was a service mod to shim the cams to quieten them down. If the cam retaining ring is worn í'm sermising it may create excess cam end float on the 2 valve engine as well. May also explain how it seems to change depending on load and temperature of the engine. It easy to replace, just the front has to come off the engine again and the cam sprocket and then 3 bolts. MG cycle sells the replacements for about $40 or so I think. Ciao

When you had the push rods out to check the ends did you also check that they were straight and the rods had no rub marks on them from the push rod tunnels? Ciao

Thanks! I looked around for anything on the outside, but the sound really sounds like coming from inside the engine. Yesterday evening I dropped the sump, as any metal fur doesn't have to be magnetic. I checked the magnet and the sump oil filter, but did not find any metal. I did find a lot of sludge and some water, but the bike is parked in a cold shed and hasn't run in a month, so that doesn't surprise me. I did find GREY sludge (I'm used to it being white/yellow-ish, like mayonnaise), is that normal? Here's a picture: Anyone seen something like that? My plan is to install an oil pressure gauge (it could start to rattle due to low oil pressure). If that's OK, I'll just ignore the rattle and drive it until something breaks Looks like aluminium paste based sludge. Ciao

Because not all brands of fork oil weights are the same viscosity for their advertised weight what I do when I pull down a set of forks is measure the viscosity of what comes out so I have a baseline for what goes in irrespective of brand. So I use a very rudimentary method of a syringe cylinder with the plunger removed and a stop watch. Fill the syringe with your finger over the outlet and then remove and time the emptying or a set volume and compare it to the new oil you are putting in. Then mix and match weights to get what you want. If you need a different weight to whats in there at least you have a baseline and can estimate the change based on how it compares to the new oil. Its annoying when you're happy with the damping the way it was and refill with the same weight only to find the damping has changed. Ciao

Norris motorcycle cams are now Megacycle cams and have been for some time. Some info for you. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/norris-cam-history.296994/ Ciao

On bikes with angled bars you also get air trapped at the master cylinder connection. Loosen off the master and remove from the bar with the line still connected obviously and carefully raise the lever end until its slightly higher than the connection ( you need the reservior level under half usually) and then very carefully work the lever slightly, repeatedly,just taking the freeplay out of it and you will notice air bubbles coming into the reservior. Bolt it back on the bar and check. Juggling the lever with it in the position mentioned breaks free the bubbles in the connector point and they then float into the reservior through the return port. Ciao