A couple of weeks ago the sun put in an appearance after a long winter holiday. Figuring that it would remain dry for a couple of days I decided to go into work on the 916 - this is currently a 110 mile round trip from near Kirkby Lonsdale to Halifax along some pretty good roads.

About half way there the bike hiccuped once and went onto one cylinder. I had to get to work and nothing major appeared to be wrong (I was suspecting a spark plug, HT lead, coil or blocked injector at this stage) so I kept going. I checked it over at lunchtime but still couldn't see anything amiss so I got the AA to recover me home. The patrolman had a look too, but there was nothing obvious, however he did say that the compression was low on the front cylinder.

When I got it home I replaced the plugs and turned it over - still no joy. Resigning myself to something a little more major I got stuck in and soon found a broken cam belt on the front cylinder. Because this is an "interference" engine this means bent valves. I pulled all the peripheral stuff off - oil cooler, radiator and associated plumbing, electrics, exhaust, throttle bodies and injectors - and removed the front head.

At first sight nothing seemed to be wrong, but once I had the head on the bench I rotated the valves in their guides and could see the run-out in the valve heads. Three out of four must have recived a gentle "Glasgow kiss" from the piston.

I guess you could call this a blessing in disguise because I'm going to take this opportunity to install SP pistons, cylinders, heads and cams. This gives 34/30mm valves as opposed to tha standard Biposto 33/29mm, high-lift/long duration cams and an 11.2:1 compression ratio. The Biposto EFI computer is a Weber 1.6M compared to the SP's P8 so you can't use the SP chip, however the Aussie company FIM produce re-mappable chips for the 1.6M and fortunately a fuel map to suit the mods I am making is available.

I'll let you know how I get on, but in the meantime here are some tips re. belt maintenance:-

1. Replace them every 6,000 miles - they're cheaper than a set of bent valves.
2. If your bike has been standing over winter or for an appreciable length of time it's probable the belts have hardened. The first time you take the bike out you risk breaking a belt (as has happened to me).
3. Ducati supply a pair of belts for about 75 quid. Alternatively the belts are Gates HTD 58095x17mm and they are available from your local motor factor as a replacement for....a 1.1 Renault Clio! Compare the ones you're offered with those on you bike if you're not sure.
4. To refit the belts and get the cam timing right, you can count the number of cambelt teeth between the timing marks on the cam pulleys - for exact details see:-
http://www.ducatitech.com/4v/maint/belts/index.html

ps. Just took delivery of four new cambelts yesterday (two spare) as they were a bargain tenner each!

Eddy before cam belts ...

Useful links:-
www.fuelinmoto.com.au FIM engine managment systems, Australia
www.dr-desmo-ducati.co.uk Dr Desmo will take care of your Ducati. Many years experience with road bikes, race bikes and a top bloke. Built the 1026cc Ducati featured in Superbike
www.duc.org Full of useful tips in the Ducati Technica section
www.cowin-tech.com/ducati Post your questions on the message board, or browse the message archives

I've now received a parcel of Ducati bits - SP heads, Fast by Feracci pistons etc, but Parcelforce had been playing football with it during the TWO WEEKS it took to get from Winchester to Lancashire and the mating surfaces of the heads were damaged so they've gone back to get skimmed. F*ck know what the compression will be - the FBF pistons already bump it up to 11.2:1 so I don't want to go much higher on the piss we get served at the pumps these days. My view on petrol is - if it doesn't give you brain damage it's not high-octane enough.

The new base gaskets are a tad thinner than the old ones so I'll have to check squish clearance carefully with the lump of plasticene trick. Valve-to-piston clearance should be fine with the cutouts on the FBF pistons, though.

Mammoth session on the bike this weekend. On Friday morning it was just a pile of assorted pistons, cylinders, heads, rockers etc all over the garage and workbench. I spent all day Friday, half of Saturday and about 11 hours yesterday gradually re-assembling. While I was at it I replaced the very sad chain and front sprocket and the entire clutch - I got a nearly-new standard Ducati clutch from a guy who had fitted a factory slipper clutch. As of last night it was complete enough to try starting, and after a few seconds it burst into life and settled to a steady 900rpm tickover.

Sounded really good - just the usual dry clutch rattle but otherwise smooth and even. It was a bit late in the evening for noisy motorbikes so I killed it after a minute, but things are looking good.

Next day ....
Right, it works. Went out this morning for a 20 mile shakedown test - temperature good, oil and coolant levels steady, engine pulls strongly up to the self-imposed 4,000rpm limit (tho' the SP bits won't really kick in until 7,000) and it sounds bloody fabulous. I'll commute to and from work for the next three days (110 miles per day), ride it to London on Friday (250 miles?) and change the oil and filter at Jonesy's place. That's 500 miles which I reckon is a good start - only the pistons and rings need bedding-in, after all.

Later .....
Well, the Duke kinda made a successful trip to France. The mechanical bits were fine but the electricals performed in true Ducati style and blew a fuse before even reaching the ferry! Investigation showed it was more old age in the connectors than a major failure. A bit of love and affection and the bike was mobile again, and performed faultlessly in France.