Hello From South Wales! Project Advice Needed! :D.

[utopia]

I'm a biased 750 fan, in the same way as Nick.
Had mine 7yrs now, and still not hankering after more power ....though I do avoid motorways.
Same insurance group as the 600 too, so a little cheaper to run.
Also, they're perhaps not so lumpy around town as the bigger motors.
They do have a wet clutch, but this is easier to live with and requires less maintenance than the clankers which seem to require constant fettling.
Carby models are probably simpler to fettle and not so expensive as injected (ie) models when they go wrong, but they do suffer from terrible carb icing once the autumn sets in. A dose of pro.fst in the fuel sorts this though, but it does put your fuel costs up.

Personally, I run a carby 750 alongside a single cyl trailie for commuting and winter use.

Does nobody have a lead on one at all? Ebay seems quite dry right now!

[Albie]

Originally Posted by 500ruk

Does nobody have a lead on one at all? Ebay seems quite dry right now!

They don't hang around for long. If you had £1800 you could have a mint 900ie one off Scrapps that stupidly he is selling at that price without any work needed.

I think I would like that one for £800 as seems a bargain to me.

Yeah if one comes up i like, im going to jump on it! .

To be honest pal, and as stupid as it sounds, i dont want a perfect one. Id rather spend the same money and have to work on it...... Weird eh?

[Dirty]

Tell you what. You buy a perfect one then let me play with it for a month

[Albie]

Originally Posted by 500ruk

Yeah if one comes up i like, im going to jump on it! .

To be honest pal, and as stupid as it sounds, i dont want a perfect one. Id rather spend the same money and have to work on it...... Weird eh?

Me too. I like polishing turds it seems. Much more fun.

[utopia]

That doesn't sound stupid at all, though I would add that you might be best to at least get a sound runner in original condition rather than a full project with its attendant hidden problems.
You'll probably end up working on the bike quite a lot anyway, as they are addictively mod.able, so better to spend time doing that.
The good news is that the 2-valve engines are actually delightfully easy to work on, with the possible exception of the desmo valve clearances.
You should find one at this time of the year.

Early carbed motors had different cases, an internal clutch slave cylinder and a single phase alternator.
Later carbies had external clutch slaves (easier to upgrade to reduce the heavy lever action) and three phase alternators.
The differences are most visible from the lefthand side of the cases.
Of the two, I'd pick a later one, but its not a huge issue.

A carby monster is actually a great budget bike, if you service it yourself. ....apart from the expensive modding, that is.

Originally Posted by utopia

That doesn't sound stupid at all, though I would add that you might be best to at least get a sound runner in original condition rather than a full project with its attendant hidden problems.
You'll probably end up working on the bike quite a lot anyway, as they are addictively mod.able, so better to spend time doing that.
The good news is that the 2-valve engines are actually delightfully easy to work on, with the possible exception of the desmo valve clearances.
You should find one at this time of the year.

Early carbed motors had different cases, an internal clutch slave cylinder and a single phase alternator.
Later carbies had external clutch slaves (easier to upgrade to reduce the heavy lever action) and three phase alternators.
The differences are most visible from the lefthand side of the cases.
Of the two, I'd pick a later one, but its not a huge issue.

A carby monster is actually a great budget bike, if you service it yourself. ....apart from the expensive modding, that is.

Thankyou for your advice! I was planning on getting something that ran well, and then taking it from there.....

I dont mind how beaten up or neglected its been during its life. Its going back to frame to be powdercoated, painted, polished, and given a good overhaul! Like ive said, the cbr will do me until next summer, and im lucky in that i was left a really good workshop (building in a field) by my grandfather which ive been cleaning out and painting ready for the monster

Just need the bike and a haynes manual now

[Nickj]

Originally Posted by don_matese

the only difference should be the heads, i think they used the same heads on the m900 as they do on the 750 for a few years, get earlier heads and you'd have the same engine as the 900SS - i may be wrong, one of the more clever ducatistis will be along shortly to refute/confirm my thinking.

There are yes two types of head that the 900 750 can share. One has smaller valves and a lot of the monsters have these, most of the 900 supersports had the bigger valves and ??? the 750SS did too (not sure about the 750). As standard it doesn't really dump out more power but it can if you have the heads flowed.
The big valve heads are usually jumped on quite quickly.
The dry/wet clutches are all meted to the same basic motor block, the difference is in the cases and a few items.. so you can retro fit a dry clutch to wet clutch model given that you can get the parts and get some spacers spun up.
Early monsters have carbs, after 2000/1 they are fuel injection.
Early nonsters have mechanical clock(s) late are electronic (= expensive)
Early monsters have simple ignitor control ignition later injection series have ECUs
Some have single front disks (600, 750) but may have twin, the 900 usually has twin.
The rear brakes, especially the underslung ones are a right PIA, it takes a lot of effort to get one that isn't just on or off.
Otherwise they stayed very similar in looks until the fat trellis came in

the main thing that draws me to the 900 (apart from the power and dry clutch!) is the dual front disks..... the m600 looks great, apart from that front wheel (in my opinion)

[Dirty]

adding disc and calliper is not the biggest challenge!

Thats a 600?! :O Can you please PM me with details of how to do that? Id really appreciate it!

[Mr Gazza]

Hello 500ruk.

Sorry to join in with this so late...I was more or less in your position mid Summer, looking for a Monster, preferably cheap so I could apply some "self expression".

I was lucky to be able to "jump" on a 900Sie which was advertised on this forum. (Would have been very happy with a carby 750, but hey.!)

Like yourself I had allowed about a grand for the bike, in order to do a bit of work.
I had to pay a bit more than a grand for it even as a non runner (non-specifc injector problems) with a leaky petrol tank and a lot of erratic dismantling.

It cost me about £200 to get it home. The fix was very easy though. £40 to get the tank mended and £3.50 for a new connector to an injector. Then just cleaning and putting back together, and luckily it was complete, so nothing tricky to source.

I did have to buy a new battery and soon after the MOT I put new tyres on it....So another £200 plus..Oh and obviously there was the Oil, filters and fluids..

The main mission was to get some miles in before the winter to prove it and make some decisions as to what to do with it for next Summer.

Okay here's the advice bit..

To get it to a nice rideable and MOTed condition it cost me roughly £1700-£1800.
So from where you are looking, I would say with some experience that that Bike of Scrapps is a bloody good bet for a starting price.
All you need to do is MOT it, or just tax it if it already has a MOT.?
Then do as I did and ride it, as is.
You will learn a lot about what you want from it and what you want to do in the way of mods.
The model in question happens to be a 900sie (I think it is the "s"..?) Like mine.
I did not fully understand what the Sie was all about at the time, having previously owned a carby M900.
It turns out that the Sie is a stonking model to have, you get fully adjustable Forks, Ohlins fully adjustable rear shock, lots of Carbon as standard and the benifit of early, proven yet simple injection that is easy to look after and mend.
Also the speedo is still mechanical (And so the odo and trip is too) although the tacho is electronic, but it does not have the fussy all electronic instrumentation of the later models.

I got mine into quite good shape over only 4 months and about 750 miles, and to be honest I should have left it at that, but...........It's all in bits having powder coating, nuts and bolts, polishing and spraying...AAaaargh it's a disease..
..But no matter what you get you will soon be in love with it..Good luck with the search.

hi 500ruk

fitting dual discs to a 600 is easy but you will need a larger master cilynder .if you look in the forum bike section and look for my thread on rebuilding my 600 dark i posted quite a few pics on the rebuild .

Thanks for your input Ive messaged scrapps with an offer!

GETTING EXCITED NOW!