4) The fixes and modifications begin!

The bike had revealed its' true nature as an unreliable POS, combined with something akin to a money pit on par with a really bad drug habit, often leaving me embarrassingly on the side of the road. I quickly learned to carry tools.

The boiling brakes were finally traced to an unfixable master cylinder. Even after I rebuilt it, it still didn't work! Finally after warping both discs, I gave up and bought a Suzuki Master Cylinder from a GSX-R750. 

The boiling battery was courtesy of a faulty regulator/rectifier, which I replaced with another Kawasaki one. Low voltage as a result of this (compounded by my high compression pistons) started a litany of Starter Solenoid failures. I eventually had to replace the starter motor as well. Then, of course, the Sprag (starter) Clutch gave up the ghost, so the motor had to come apart again.

Sprag Clutch replacment 2007  

Note Special Tool. Held together with Number 8 wire.

On another long trip, a plug in the electrical system worked itself loose, resulting in a few lurching backfires and then bike unconsciousness. On the same trip the hydraulic clutch died, though luckily I got to a petrol station (that had DOT4  fluid) before (gearboxless) I had to stop and bleed it.

Another battery problem on the way to a Rally left the bike stranded in the middle of nowhere, (I carried on on a friend's machine)  and was traced to faulty stator wiring. 

Luckily, I managed to get home under my own steam every time, but even for someone who regards "roadside maintenance" as part of the motorcycling experience, it was getting a bit tiresome. And I was turning into a raving alcoholic.

3) A bit of background

I'm the handsome fella on the far right

I've been into bikes all my adult life, and, back in the day, in my mid 20's, I worked for John Britten on the V-1000 bike project, doing everything from managing travel arrangements to corresponding with prospective Britten buyers to design proposals for a V-1000 roadbike. 

After having owned a few interesting Jap bikes including a VFR750F and a ZZ-R1100, around the same time I started getting into Ducatis, starting with the resurrection of a couple of written-off 750 Pasos. You could say I'm a sucker for punishment.  And that I had the worlds best mentor for Motorcycle DIY inspiration. 

2) Hmmmm, what HAVE I got...

The spec as it came was reasonably impressive. Its' previous owner(s) had spent some serious money on it and it featured some very cool and innovative engineering solutions. This is what it came with: 

* Kawasaki ZXR400 front wheel and forks (re-valved)
* Floating Disks
* Carbon front mudguard
* Braided front brake lines
* Projector beam headlights (offset Le Mans style)
* Braced frame and custom front sub-frame
* All footpeg hangers removed from frame
* '95 900SS footpeg hangers added.
* New brackets added to frame to fit later shock
* Upside down gear linkage
* Modified rear frame
* Ducati Supermono fairing (in carbon fibre)
* Ducati 916 mirrors
* '95 Ducati 900SS tank
* Ducati Paso (aircraft style) tank filler
* Ducati 955 Corsa tail section (carbon fibre) by QB Carbon UK
* Custom Seat
* Vee Two Australia 944cc Big Bore Kit
* 916 SPS Clutch
* Balanced crankshaft
* 39mm Keihin FCR Flat-slide carbs on standard intakes
* Chris Beaumont (V8 Supercar) fabricated spaghetti exhaust pipes* Custom muffler hangers
* Carbon (SPR) mufflers
* Carbon hugger 
* Aftermarket indicators
* Ingnition immobilser

1) So I've bought this cool old Ducati.

Project Superdue 

Once a humble Weber carbed 1989 Ducati 900SS this Ducati Supersport has accidentally become a one-off, almost 'money no object', woodsmans-axe style obsession in a quest to attain custom motorcycle Nirvana.

This was what it looked like in 1989

The story goes... its' previous owner, an architect from up north, originally swapped an old FZR1000 for a untidy ‘89 Ducati 900SS which was badly in need of some TLC. After 11 years in the UK he brought back a suitcase full of Ducati parts, including a modified carbon fibre Ducati Supermono fairing and a QB Carbon 955 Corsa single seat unit.

How or when a Kawasaki ZXR400 front end came to be grafted to the bike was never quite clear, (was it once a race bike?) but a later 900SS tank, VeeTwo 944cc piston kit, some 39mm racked Keihin FCR carbs and a spaghetti exhaust system were fitted and voila!: a cooler, faster than normal 900SS Special was born.

And like this when I bought it...

When I bought the bike in 2006, attracted by the cool bodywork, an impressive specification and the glint of carbon fibre, it was once more in need of attention. A trip to the National Ducati Rally revealed brakes and a battery that boiled, dodgy electrics and pieces falling off left right and centre.