Advice please on rebuilding a 2005 Monster

Thanks Gazza for your "indication"

Thanks Darren too.

[Darren69]

IIRC the wiring diagram is in the back of the owners handbook which you used to be able to download from Ducati.com for free, but I've just checked and they no longer go back that far.

If you can't find a link to download one you could alway buy a copy on CD of the full workshop manual from somewhere like ebay. I've seen these are about £10.

My godson Hamish just bought a 2005 Monster 620 Dark - 02, with a V5 & all the paperwork in 4 large wooden crates.

We have unboxed everything and are starting to clean and label all the bits, ready for a full rebuild. It has been boxed for over 6 years.

The engine turns and it looks like we have an almost complete bike.

Gazza and Dave have visited a couple of times and both have been incredibly supportive and encouraging in our rebuild, which we do about one weekend every 5 weeks.

We are not trained mechanics or engineers, just keen, and certainly don't have the skill and ability of 'Buzzer', Gazza or Dave.

Thanks again to everyone who has given us tips.

[Mr Gazza]

Bingo! Well done to both of you..

You have reaped the reward for patience and thoroughness. I hope she gives you many years of good service and joy..

Hello All,

Hamish’s Monster 620 passed its MOT last week after a full rebuild from 4 crates containing 1000s of pieces, which had been lying around for several years.

A huge thanks to Gazza & Dave for all their help and advice over the last year of hard work. Hamish has a design background, not an engineering background and he has found the full rebuild very interesting and he has learnt a lot about rebuilding motorbikes, which was the aim for the project. I thought his favourite part of the rebuild would be learning about the TDC markers on the cams and how to replace the cambelts, but his favourite part was using a large piece of cardboard to make a facsimile crankcase to keep all the crankcase bolts in the right order.



When Covid -19 is all over, Hamish is keen to take the Monster back to his house near London, and I’m hoping he will tax and insure it from 1 July 2020, so either he or I can bring it to the next UKMOC meeting, especially if it’s going to be at Wendling & Beston Airfield Memorial. If it is there, I might even ask my wife to come along in a car with some thermoses full of piping hot tea & coffee………and of course some biccies for Lord Gazza.

Just in case anyone is thinking of doing the same sort of project, here are some notes from the last 9 months:

We bought a Haynes manual, which proved very useful.

We slowly built up the frame, added the forks, then the swinging arms and wheels. The chain had been cleaned in brake cleaner (Gazza’s favourite) and left in a bath of fresh oil over the winter 2019/2020.

We bought and replaced many nuts and bolts, including those for the handlebars, rocker covers, swinging arms and crankcases.

The exhaust pipes were cleaned and new O rings and new stud nuts fitted.

Both brake calipers were stripped, cleaned and rebuilt with new pads.

We removed the rocker covers and checked the valve clearances, which were all good, so left them alone. We also sprayed lots of fresh oil around the rockers & cams, as they had been dry for over 6 years.

The engine was fitted to the frame and she started to look like a Monster.

We did an oil and filter change using Motul 10w40 Ducati Motorcycle specific semi-syn.

We replaced the cambelts, plugs, air filter, exhaust studs and fuel pipes.

The fuel injectors were badly gummed up, so when Gazza & Dave visited us, Gazza took them away and used Utopia’s ultra-sound gizmo to clean them. (Thanks also to Utopia)

We had a look at the wet clutch to find it very worn and it had a crack on the inner drum webs. We found a Ducati dealer online who was clearing out old stock and bagged a brand new clutch drum at half price. We also renewed the seals on the clutch operating rod.

We bled both brake systems and the clutch, ensuring all the 6-10 year old brake fluid had been fully flushed out.

We fitted a new battery, switched on the ignition and were amazed when most items lit up for the first time in over 6 years.

The old Datatool alarm/immobiliser was past its best and kept sounding off randomly, so it was removed.

We had one leftover wire and no neutral light, so made a quick call to Gazza, who advised to look at the back of the engine. After close inspection of the engine, we found the connector covered in grey duct tape. The light works fine now. The indicators were intermittent, so we took off the handlebar switches, dissembled them, cleaned them and all good now.

Various relays looked grimy, so we removed them, cleaned the posts and re-assembled.

Both tyres had lost pressure whilst standing idle for 6 years so were inflated and date checked. The front tyre was date marked 25 12, and the rear was 03 13, so both about 7 years old. It was decided to keep them on, just in case the MOT revealed some other expensive faults.

to be contiued........

continued from last post:

STARTING

We had a final look around to make sure everything was in order, then put some fresh petrol in the tank and hoped that after 6 years, the internal electric fuel pump wasn’t gummed up. A final check of the fuel lines, and all was looking good, so we took her outside the garage and turned on the ignition. The internal fuel pump ran for 4 seconds, which sounded promising.

Choke on, press the start button and after a bit of coughing, she fired up on both cylinders and kept running.

There was a small oil leak from the rocker covers, so new seals were fitted.

She passed the MOT in June 2020, but has still not been more than 5 MPH or out of first gear for over 6 years.

Gazza has agreed to give her a shake down (safety) ride, as he is used to Monsters.

So, what does she owe us, not that Hamish will sell her?

Hamish paid £700 for the 4 crates and all the items mentioned above add up to £400, so she owes us £1100.

An update to follow when she is taxed and insured………

[Mr Gazza]

Well done Richard and Hamish. That's the best story I've read on here for a long time.

I'm looking forward to a gentle test ride on those tyres, even more so if you manage to get new ones fitted by that time, definitely a good move if you're riding it down to London.

Also looking forward to a meet up at the Memorial, I'm looking at July 5th for that, unless the US servicemen have a service on that day?

That's a bargain Monster, but all the profit is in the experience and the nice folk you meet along the way..

I have now tried to avoid buying new bolts with my current restoration. I bought a bright Nickel plating kit and also steel specific polishing soaps and dedicated mops. If the threads are good and the heads still hexagonal, I polish them up and put the sparkle back on with a layer of bright Nickel. Obviously this also works well on spacers and many other parts that soon add up if replaced with a card. I draw the line at washers, I do buy those and some of the smaller nuts as it's like peeling peas!

You didn't mention the best tip of all if contemplating a re-build or restoration, and that's join a nice owners club. You came up trumps with this one, and I hope you have a long happy association with it.

It's been a pleasure to be involved with your project. Thanks for allowing us to help.

[Darren69]

Well done! Another one saved. Any photos of the bike or the build?

I think you were fortunate as the thing I will say with restoring/rebuilding basket case Ducati or other exotic Italian bikes is that it can potentially get very expensive very quickly especially if you have any engine damage or faulty electronics. The cost of some new parts is eye-watering.

[utopia]

Its great to hear of your success.
I am sure that your pleasure is as much about the process as it is about the end result.
I'm equally hopeful (and pretty confident) that the subsequent riding/ownership experience will be just as rewarding.
Congratulations on a job well done and a first pass mot test.
Hopefully our paths will cross at a meet sometime soon and I can see the results of your labours in the metal.

[dacs]

Great news, guys . This put a smile on my face this morning, especially the bit about the cardboard screw holder. Looking forward to seeing the end result, it was looking really good the last time I saw it.

[Mr Gazza]

Some photos of the project that Richard asked me to post.

[Darren69]

Looks like they've done a nice job on that so far. Just needs the wiring sorting and a few other sundry items. The wiring can take a considerable time or a lot longer depending on the state of the loom you've been left by the DPO. I've spent countless hours disconnecting and re-routing stuff on mine, buying the correct frame wiring straps and other stuff to get it back to how it should be only to find in some cases the wiring has been shortened, bodged with tape to mask some evil bodgery or otherwise modified that causes some problems elsewhere. And it can eat into a lot of time, it is worth it however especially with the 4v inj bikes which are a birds nest of wires and other gubbins which benefit from being hidden away. I'm 90% happy with mine now and have decided to move on and do other improvements.

It is worth getting a copy of the official workshop manual in whatever format you can as in mine it usefully shows all that kind of stuff in detail. Whether it can be achieved with what you have is another matter. Good job though. Hope you enjoy both the bike and this forum too.

[Zimbo]

Thanks for sharing the story, Hamish, it’s been good to read about your journey and fantastic to hear the bike is alive and works as she should. Well done to the forum members that have provided help along the way, it’s what this group is all about!

Hamish has just phoned and is taking his Monster back to London tomorrow. The tickover is still high when warm at 2000 rpm. Our Haynes manual states that you have to get the dealer to do it with a Mathesis test set. All throttle cables and choke cables have free play and are not sticking.

There must be a simple way to get tickover back to 1000 RPM please?

I can easily access the idle mixture screws, but don't want to cock it up.

Any pointers before Saturday 6 pm appreciated.

[crust]

Top work.

Taking it to 'that London' - has he got a lockable garage and a selection of padlocks, big chains etc?

Almax are expensive but you won't find a better chain, just need something very solid to lock it to.