Bimota Forum

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[MARTIN]

When my missus moved out a few years ago I did not know what to do

But now I realise where all her clothes and shoes used to be gives me space to store all my Bimbo bits

Try not to bash them with the hoover though
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Marty
State of the art and leading edge of cocking things up

(00) SB6 (95) HD FXDWG STRETCH (01)GSXR1000K1

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[stockcar]

fantastic result, good luck..............

[GeeKay]

great write up so far Steve - keep it coming!

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[philfingers]

Thanks for the tips on the laquering, I must give it a go, I've had a 'new' carbon mudguard for the Superlight for 4-5 years now and not got around to it!
Can I ask who the YB when to then? is it all done?
not a bad morning todasy for the last ride on my Mille before it stays in the garage for 3 months, pity Bimota never used the dry sumped Rotax engine because it's a cracking lump, dry sumped, no belts, good fuel injection
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03 YB11, 03 Aprilia RSVR Edwards, 94 Ducati Superlight III, 95 Honda NC30, 04 Ducati 999S, 91 kawasaki KR1-S C2, 91 Ducati 851 USD Strada, 89 ZXR750H1, 90 ZXR400H1, 205 16v Rally Car, A6 2.7TDI Avant, STM R1 engined Phoenix

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Well the bike was now running, coughing a little whilst still reawakening her inner spirit, not revving fully and a few little lights here and there were intermittent as to whether on or off or just flickering. It had been some 8 years since electric last flowed through them. New belts were ordered, heaven knows how old the previous ones were, I had records of them being changed in '98 but evidently nothing after that. The backing plates at the back of each top pulley on each cylinder were perished, hence a new pair were ordered, horizontal cylinder not a problem, easy access, top cylinder though needs the Top engine mount taking out to tilt the engine forward to get to the back of it. The parts aren't particularly "integral" to the running of the engine, but the captive sockets for the cam belt covers are held in the rubber casing, thus when perished they just turn and pull the rubber, so best to change.
Indicators were mismatched so new ones ordered, thank Goodness for Ducati spare parts being plentiful the world over, full set of 4 picked up for 20squid

Bought from this guy on ebay, nice enough fella, quick delivery, lots of Ducati parts.
Nice fellows at Ducati Mcr, recommended that I fit a new regulator/rectifier. They were amazed that the bike still had its original one fitted as they were known for overcharging and blowing your battery up consistently or overheating, shutting down and then draining your battery down. Evidently as I had never run the bike I wouldn't know
Old one out

And new One in
And seeing as they were nice guys at the shop they recommend I get one from Electrex as they are better than Ducati ones (shh don't tell anyone, they'll get into trouble)
So a new RR51, arrived the day after ordering, UK supplied stock

To be honest, the location that Bimota have for it to fit is not great, they have cooling fins on the back, yet they fit it iside the nose cone, well away from any passing wind current when riding. But at least the new regulator has 11 cooling fins on both side to disperse heat, whereas the old one only had 7, and only on one side

The Front brake master cylinder had been changed some time ago for a serie d'oro (strange how you start to become fluent Italian) "gold series" for those with less fluency, whereas the clutch master cylinder was the old black coffin box Ducati stndard item. Seeing as only one was original, and the seals could be AWOL a replacement serie d'oro clutch master cylinder was procured with remote reservoir, gives a smoother action, balances and matches the right side, and the old black series was slated by testers as being a cost saving as serie d'oro was available in 93/94 but not used, well this bike was the "cheap" bike of their production run at the time.

New belts arrived and were fitted but seemed too slack, old ones had been thrown away so mild panic as no check could be given as to length of new compared to old. Good ol boys at Ducati Mcr cut old belts off and then tied them to the bike for reference, but some other OCD possessed individual thought it made the bike look messy and threw them away. To be frank they didn't know what had been done to the engine by the previous owner, other than the big bore kit, change change etc, but later discovered that the belt tensioners had lost their tension over the years of being stood idle, 2 New ones were ordered, 90 squid, Ouch, but sorted the problem, nice to have new anyway, there was some wear and tarnish on the rollers anyhow.
Valve clearances checked and adjusted, new Oil and filter, including fuel, evidently all new fluids for brakes and clutch to go with the new calipers, mounting bolts, pads and discs and tyres. Ooo Err....time for its first MOT in over 8 years. Well it was after I had to go done to the shop to help the guys fit the rear stainless steel heat shroud.
Its a two piece sheet steel Chinese puzzle affair, to be fitted loose, turned around in the right direction fitted upside down first then swivvelled throiugh 180 with the rear sub frame off.
All the bodywork was dropped off, after many many applications of T-cut and polish, together with mirrors, guards, indicators, with all new SS bolts to fit in lieu of old, fresh from Spalding Fasteners, nice quick delivery and cheap as buttons, but good finish, perfect for non stress related points.

A new tinted screed was bought from Skidmarx to preserve the original, some 65squid, budget ever extending, but nice that they still stock them.
When the screen arrived I rapidly opened the box to check fitment, and Doh...No holes drilled in screen. The captive "nut" on the back of the fairing for the screen bolts is part of the fibreglass faitring and simply threaded, for a teeny tiny 4mm bolt. New screen was taped into position and with a very slow speed drill and special pointy drill bit, new holes were drilled in the correct locations. Old screen can't be used as a template as they won't sandwich together due to the double curvature.

All parts fitted and Shop rang to say it was ready for its MOT, after fitting a new banjo brake light switch for the rear brake light that was Inop


I was fairly busy at work that day, but additionally realised that perhaps it was time to insure the bike! The chance of the first ride was given to the shop, all 400 yard to the MOT station and back again. Lets face it, they would be insured and could take the chance of riding, I find that I'm not too sentimental on that front.
Like an expectant father I waited for the news, concerned over the straight through Corse cans....Phone rang, and Yeh, she's passed, no worries over the noise, bloke at the garage has to deal with all Ducatis that come from the shop, so is fairly used to it. Oh and by the way they tell me, the speedo isn't working, but don't worry, its not an MOT requirement to have a working speedo, its only illegal to actually speed, as opposed to not knowing if you are speeding. New speedo cable ordered, another 9.99 although not bad considering as it included the casing and not just the inner
Bike was still not ready for collection though, Reason? Seeing as MOT's were now electronic linked to a central database, the bike didn't appear on the system as it had been sorned for so long, thus I had to take the V5 down to the station so they could enter the details manually and produce a nice fresh new MOT certificate, matching my new Insurance certificate courtesy of Footman James, 220squid fully comp for the DB2 and YB11, including breakdown and european cover. One advantage at least of getting older and buying older bikes

[oily]

My eyesight is not as good as it used to be.................
Do the speedo/tacho have "Bimota" anywhere on the faces?

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Fortunately, as you may say, no they do not have Bimota written on them, white faced, which is standard, but they say Veglia, as they are standard veglia italian made clocks, exact same as was used on Ducati 900SS at the time, and for later models such as 888's/851's, Superlights, although the latter of those had a Oil temperature gauge also. The Bimota addition to the clocks being a nice carbon fibre wrap around the sponge casing of the 2 clocks and idiot lights, that extends around the side a little rahter than just a stick on piece. Fortunate, as I say, that they are easily located on the 2nd Hand market, due to Ducatis being broken, speedo and Tacho are both mechanical cable driven, and the back lighting are simply pull out bulbs. I do have a spare set of triple white faced veglia clocks to later retro fit a temperature gauge to the instrument panel, for another day.
All switch gear, wiring, fuse box, rectifier, clocks etc were straight same as used by Ducati, plentiful supply, with no Heath Robinson design

[oily]

Is this how they came out of the Bimota factory?

[philfingers]

Same as my Superlight III, with exception as you say to the carbon fibre face instead of the period foam!
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03 YB11, 03 Aprilia RSVR Edwards, 94 Ducati Superlight III, 95 Honda NC30, 04 Ducati 999S, 91 kawasaki KR1-S C2, 91 Ducati 851 USD Strada, 89 ZXR750H1, 90 ZXR400H1, 205 16v Rally Car, A6 2.7TDI Avant, STM R1 engined Phoenix

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Yes indeed, a straight buy from a supplier, and fit, other than the carbon wrap which is a bit of a con, as it actually adds weight, but looks better than the black sponge surround that is beneath, and greys and fades with age.

Missed a trick at MOT time, due to it being so long since it was MOT'd there were no records on the system, and I could have fitted any old speedometer with a lower mileage, but what the heck, kind of an honest guy, and have previous MOT's for it and sorn notices for the previous 8 years to back up what is there

DB4's also had straight "rip-off" clocks as fitted to 750/900Ssi.e's not to mention 748/916 etc, so again an easy repalcement item, although they have black faces, green illumination as opposed to white faces, white illumination,

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