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Ducati Monster S4 - There's Life in the old Duc Yet...

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Poseidon
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PostPosted: 12:52 - 19 Jul 2020    Post subject: Ducati Monster S4 - There's Life in the old Duc Yet... Reply with quote

So this is the bike I alluded to in the unicorn thread. I've been trying to get my grubby mitts on it for some considerable time. I'll do a brief history of the machine when I've got a bit more time, and I'll be documenting the restoration in this thread as I go. It's not going to be a quick process, but it will be done right.

The bike itself is a Monster S4. 916cc (I think) twin cylinder that puts out around 100bhp. Whilst the two previous owners are convinced it has the 996cc lump, I don't believe it. There's nothing to suggest this is the case, but I will do some digging.

Heres some pics as she stands, freshly back from the ROI...

https://i.imgur.com/1st9G43.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Glq7Agi.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/YMSq89U.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/oLdSEXh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ncaxKFV.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/hb0xJhV.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/CMiYmZa.jpg

To say it hasn't been ridden for the best part of 10years and it has been living outside under a cover the whole time, it's in better nick than I thought it would be. The mileage is in km and it is correct... 18years old and it has done 2000km. I actually had the use of this bike for a weekend back in 2010 and I put over 200km of those on there, it had 1700km on the clock when I collected it. I absolutely fell in love with it from the first turn of the wheels. I had never before, or since, ridden a bike that felt so right for me. The way it drops into corners, the noise from the termis, the way it'll lift the front wheel in the first 3 gears just by winding the throttle wide open... Riding just felt so natural on this bike. I was besotted with it.

The resto will pretty much aim to get it back into good condition. Nothing fancy. I'll be doing a couple of upgrades along the way, nothing major, more for usability and reliability than trying to change the ride/performance. For example, rectifier will be replaced (because ducati), not sure which way to go yet on that one. After market clutch slave to make the finger muscle shredding clutch lever easier to live with. And I'll probably get a comfier seat, as although the standard seat was fine when I rode it for 2 full days, I'm considerably older now and more comfort is better. I'll probably stick braided hoses on there too.

So thats it for now. I'm off to tuck her in and start compiling a list of things to do and things to buy.

Oh and inb4 - It's not that rare, no such thing as an s4 "senna", real monsters are air cooled, real men ride s4r, nicked it from pikeys, chain looks slack, subframe looks twisted
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1977 Honda CG125
2002 Ducati Monster S4 (currently restoring)


Last edited by Poseidon on 19:47 - 19 Jul 2020; edited 2 times in total
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Polarbear
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PostPosted: 15:00 - 19 Jul 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

Is the tank metal or plastic? The paint 'failure' looks quite weird.
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mentalboy
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PostPosted: 15:18 - 19 Jul 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

Polarbear wrote:
Is the tank metal or plastic? The paint 'failure' looks quite weird.


The joys of sweating under a tarp for ten years!
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Poseidon
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PostPosted: 15:20 - 19 Jul 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

Polarbear wrote:
Is the tank metal or plastic? The paint 'failure' looks quite weird.


Metal. If you press the little blisters, water comes out. I reckon it's proper fucked, hence why I've got a pristine red replacement that I'll get sprayed in the correct grey at some point.

Meanwhile, I need somewhere proper to work on the bike...

No no no, this just won't do:

https://i.imgur.com/JbLveFh.jpg

Tidied, lots of stuff taken to the tip and small areas at the front dedicated to garden items and pushbikes. Upgraded the lighting from a single small bulb to a 5ft strip light, added some shelving for tool/parts storage and it's already looking more like a workshop:


https://i.imgur.com/IdjMaKr.jpg
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1977 Honda CG125
2002 Ducati Monster S4 (currently restoring)
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mentalboy
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PostPosted: 15:27 - 19 Jul 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

^^^ Nice clean up job, all it needs now are some bike rack brackets on the wall.
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Polarbear
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PostPosted: 02:20 - 20 Jul 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

I hope that's a beer fridge and not a freezer on the left. Beer fridges in workshops are acceptable storage space losses, freezers aren't.
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The Shaggy D.A.
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PostPosted: 03:58 - 20 Jul 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

Get some white paint on those walls before it fills with crap again Smile
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Pete.
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PostPosted: 05:54 - 20 Jul 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Shaggy D.A. wrote:
Get some white paint on those walls before it fills with crap again Smile


Yeah and whilst you're at it stack those shelf units to double the use of the wall and replace one with a corner bench. Put the trolley jack on a shelf and hang the garden tools on the pillar that frees up.

Stick any long stuff in the rafters in fact board one side and throw junk I mean bike parts up there. Put the bicycles on wall hangers stored above each other. Nick some of those green crates from the supermarket for holding parts.

Deffo paint the walls white though it will transform the place.
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132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good Very Happy
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Robby
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PostPosted: 08:40 - 20 Jul 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

You can get LED strip lights. Maybe they've been around for ages, but I only just got them in my garage and they're incredible. Enough light to properly work on stuff anywhere in the garage, and they only draw 25W each.

Shaggy and Pete have good ideas. It is possible to have two bikes, a working area, and a large amount of general crap in a single garage. If you can see a bit of wall, you're wasting space.
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slowside
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PostPosted: 08:53 - 20 Jul 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think I'm more envious of your garage than your bike.
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defblade
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PostPosted: 09:09 - 20 Jul 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you can, I'd get another strip light, and move that one over, so you have a light to either side of the working area rather than just above the middle... ...and paint the walls white! Wink
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Pete.
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PostPosted: 20:04 - 20 Jul 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

I BUILT my turbo bike in a 7 foot by 10 foot shed that contained all my tools and equipment plus the bike itself. A little thought and organisation goes a long way.
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132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good Very Happy
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MarJay
But it's British!



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PostPosted: 20:42 - 20 Jul 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

Also high shelves are your friend. I saw it done back in the day in the house occupied by long since departed members Bendy, Luke and Jay12329, and I've done it in both of my houses since. It allows you to put stacking crates on the shelves, labelled full of stuff, and park bikes underneath.

I always put fairly wide shelves with big brackets (40mm+) at just above head height so I don't crack my dome, and park bikes underneath. Works for me, anyway.
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Poseidon
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PostPosted: 21:17 - 20 Jul 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

This project was never going to be a quick turnaround. I've tinkered bikes back into life before, so know the importance of having a plan. That said today I figured I'd try and get an idea of the extent of the work ahead of me. My initial thought was of just how many bolts are going to be seized, especially the allen head ones that are just begging to be rounded (hence the impact driver I bought, that should arrive tomorrow).

My plan (if you can call it that) was to poke and prod around and gauge the challenges ahead. I grabbed my best allen keys and tentatively tried a few bolts. Imagine my shock and amazement when each one succumbed first try. Maybe this isn't going to be too bad after all. As an aside, there's loads of carbon fibre on this thing... Both panels on each side, front mudguard, rear hugger, timing belt covers, bellypan, chain guard, exhaust heatshields. All genuine carbon fibre. Some of the rubber grommets that the bolts go into behind the panels are perished and will need some teasing to get the bolts out, but they're not seized.

After this initial moment of joy, a big steaming turd hit the fan. The fucking fuel tank. Tried the key in the cap, but it wouldn't even go halfway in. Not wanting to risk breaking the key, I figured I'd undo the bolts holding the cap on. Bolts out, a couple of gentle taps with the rubber mallet and the cap pops open... Bork!!! Sick Sick Sick

https://i.imgur.com/N9NplLt.jpg

Whats that dripping sound? Fuck, the tank is leaking from underneath. Tray placed as best it can be and quickly think of how to drain the tank... Small hole on the furthest sticking out part of the tank should do it (hand drill, sharp bit, liberal lubrication and wife stood ready with extinguisher). Tank's bolloxed anyway, no point being precious. This could take a while to empty though:

https://i.imgur.com/DQ8Cwyf.jpg

Thankfully, I have a TV in there for just such an occasion. Is that a classic Western?

https://i.imgur.com/T1fDVyp.jpg

Eventually the tank emptied, as did several cups of tea and after a fair bit of Henry Fonda action:

https://i.imgur.com/WSt9ulU.jpg

I knew the old tank would be junk. But the fuel cap assembly and fuel pump are now also for the scrapheap. That isn't going to be a cheap parts bill. A bit more poking around and its looking more and more like the engine is going to have to come out. I half expected it anyway, but the nightmare lurking under the timing belt covers has cemented the need for this...

https://i.imgur.com/gA9c3B8.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/C4qDWoy.jpg

As well as rust where you really don't want rust... The paint is peeling/flaking all around the housing. The paint is notoriously flakey on these engines, so I was also half expecting it needing spraying. Not a massive shock, but still not good news.

Keep reminding myself this is a marathon, not a sprint. For the fear of going hell for leather stripping it down without documenting it properly and losing bits, not labelling cables/wires etc I called it a day. Had some things to do indoors as well and wife kept popping her head in asking how long I'd be. I'll settle down with the workshop manual and get my head around the process of removing this engine over the next few days. Once that's out and the extent of the work needed on that assessed, I'll get back to worrying about fuelling and electricals. Once she has a beating heart, I'll turn my attention to the running gear, bodywork etc etc. Starting to think easter may be a tad optimistic...

Oh, and thanks for the comments and/or pointers on the workshop. You lot are a right bunch of Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowens! Laughing

Pete. wrote:
whilst you're at it stack those shelf units to double the use of the wall and replace one with a corner bench. Put the trolley jack on a shelf and hang the garden tools on the pillar that frees up.

Stick any long stuff in the rafters in fact board one side and throw junk I mean bike parts up there. Put the bicycles on wall hangers stored above each other. Nick some of those green crates from the supermarket for holding parts.

Deffo paint the walls white though it will transform the place.


The rafters are already home to stuff like windbreaks, scaff-boards and pasting tables. Which also means theres plenty of flat surfaces up there for storing stuff. Ive also suspended the behemoth roof box we have for camping trips under the rafters to free up floor space.

I'm now pricing up benches, I'll need one as this project continues. Those shelves are too tall to double stack, I'd only gain two shelves in height, a net loss of 4 shelves if I remove one set. I'll figure something out.

Polarbear wrote:
I hope that's a beer fridge and not a freezer on the left. Beer fridges in workshops are acceptable storage space losses, freezers aren't.


Tis a fridge. Beers are in there. Getting a kettle too, although as the garage is not attached to the house, there's no running water, so I'll have to get a water carrier or something.

slowside wrote:
I think I'm more envious of your garage than your bike.


I'm happy with it. The kids know not to wander in without asking and wifey accepts that the areas outside the taped zone are out of bounds.

defblade wrote:
If you can, I'd get another strip light, and move that one over, so you have a light to either side of the working area rather than just above the middle... ...and paint the walls white! Wink


The light I fitted is almost 6000lumen. Even without a reflective colour on the walls, there's so much light as to not cast a shadow wherever I'm working on the bike.
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1977 Honda CG125
2002 Ducati Monster S4 (currently restoring)
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Poseidon
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PostPosted: 17:20 - 22 Jul 2020    Post subject: Re: Ducati Monster S4 - There's Life in the old Duc Yet... Reply with quote

Poseidon wrote:
To say it hasn't been ridden for the best part of 10years and it has been living outside under a cover the whole time, it's in better nick than I thought it would be


Laughing

Not much to update. Still waiting on workshop stands (status has changed from "pending" to "picked", so should be here soon), after which I'll get the fluids drained and set to removing the engine. Took the clutch cover off, wish I hadn't as there's rust on the springs and plates.

My main concern at this point it how far the rot has gotten into the engine. Given the state of the timing belt rollers on the ends of the cam shafts, I'm now worrying about the state of bearings etc throughout the engine. Is this thing going to need a full engine overhaul? Guess we'll have to wait and see. That'll hit the budget hard if it does.

Oh and after taking the bellypan off, I've got to the engine number. No doubt about it, this is a 916 (which I was pretty certain of anyway).
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1977 Honda CG125
2002 Ducati Monster S4 (currently restoring)
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Old Thread Alert!

There is a gap of 246 days between these two posts...

B5234FT
Brolly Dolly



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PostPosted: 00:07 - 26 Mar 2021    Post subject: Reply with quote

Watching this with interest!
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Poseidon
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PostPosted: 13:45 - 23 Jun 2021    Post subject: Reply with quote

B5234FT wrote:
Watching this with interest!


Not much to update really. Funds have taken a massive hit by me buying a van. Once they replenish I’ll crack on. Wanted to be on two wheels this year and the arrival of the little vintage cg125 has seen to that Cool

Managed to source a work bench too. The engineers at work (bus depot) were revamping the workshop and they put an old bench out. Called dibs and the foreman said I can have it. Fucking thing weighs over 100kg! The top is so solid that I can whack it with a lump hammer and the bench doesn’t even wobble! Currently setting to getting at least 8 layers of paint off it. Taking it back to bare metal and will respray it to make it look tidy. Not sure how old it is, but all the fasteners are imperial! Laughing
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1977 Honda CG125
2002 Ducati Monster S4 (currently restoring)
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carbon90
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PostPosted: 00:24 - 02 Jul 2021    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is one cool project! Subbed
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Old Thread Alert!

The last post was made 2 years, 270 days ago. Instead of replying here, would creating a new thread be more useful?
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