New Test Leper

A quick recap: as at the end of the last instalment, the charging circuit had been fitted but not tested, and I’d stripped one of the crankcase bolts with my hamfistedness. So a day of mixed fortunes really. I did pop back to the workshop a couple of days after to run the motor and check the charging circuit, and the good news is, all seems well there. I’ve not put a multimeter across the battery (the terminals are a right pain in the neck to get to, as the battery is tucked up under the front of the tank) but the charge warning light now goes out when the bike is running, so that’s as good a test as I want for the time being.

Todays target then, was to get the bike up to an MOT test standard. Which sounds a grand plan but really only involved lights, indicators, and bolting on the (extremely illegal) numberplate. I was also determined to tap and helicoil the stripped case thread and replace the alternator cover gasket while there, and fit the lovely new screen which recently arrived from the marvellous chaps at Stein Dinse. Firstly though, as it’s a Sunday, I spent a good hour lazing around in bed drinking tea before getting up and eating sausages for breakfast before loading up the car and heading out across the fen. The journey was made more interesting by the car upside-down in the ditch at the top end of the Great Fen Road with a bit of a crowd around it. I can guess that it had only happened a few minutes beforehand, as the driver was out of the car standing by the side of the ditch looking rather bedraggled, but there were already quite a few people around helping out. There was nothing practical I could do, as the emergency services had already been called and nobody was in any immediate danger so I pottered on to the workshop. First job then, was to drill, tap and helicoil the crankcase so I could fit the new gasket, and pop some fresh Motul 10W-40 in there. I fitted a new oil filter previously, so this should have been a simple enough task. Of course, I’d left my tap wrench at home. So I made a mental note to bring it over next time, and popped the new gasket back on the shelf.

Next up, lights. If you remember, I have a TZR250 light fitted to this, as the original Ducati light unit is completely unobtainable now. Well, that’s not *strictly* true. I’ve seen one in a breakers yard, in Tasmania. But I’m not going to pay £250 for something that’s already broken and then fly it half way around the world. However, I did decide to adapt the TZR unit to fit the loom, rather than the other way around. That way, if I ever do find an original light unit, I can still fit it to the stock loom. After a fair bit of searching I found the six-way connector at Kojaycat, so set about crimping the pins onto the TZR unit so I could fit the connector:

Yes, that’s a Dogs D’Amour shirt there from about 1987 or so I’d guess. Not actually mine, but I can’t claim total innocence as I went to see them about a million times back in those days. The light unit was then bolted back in place for hopefully the last time, and the instrument panel then fitted. If I’d done this the other way around (fitted the instrument panel first) I think it would have been a lot easier, but anyway – eventually everything was fitted, and tested. Parking light, headlight, and main light all worked as expected. This was cause for no small celebration:

The new speedo cable was also fitted at this point, so hopefully that should be the last time that I need to get into this lot for the foreseeable future. I fitted the top fairing unit, but it was pretty obvious that although I could bodge the bolts in, it would be much better to cut a bit of relief into the back of the unit with a Dremel. Again, not a problem, but just a bit of an unforeseen delay to progress. No worries – I have all the tools at home so I just popped the fairing back in the car.

Onto the next item, the indicators:

If you’re thinking “hold on, that’s not an indicator”, well spotted. I got a bit distracted by fitting the newly refurbished seat pad. If you remember from a million years ago, the seat pad that came with the bike was made of plywood and looked like it had been buried at sea for a decade or two. I made a new one from an old bit of nylon I had kicking around, and as I was passing the back of the bike it just seemed a good time to see if it fitted. As you can see, yes, it does. And I reckon that looks pretty nice. Anyway, back to indicators. The rears had been fitted a few weeks ago, but I couldn’t actually fit the front ones until the side panels are fitted, and I can’t fit the side panels until the top fairing is fitted, and if you remember from about five minutes ago I’d just taken that off again and put it in the car. Not to worry – in the spirit of getting something constructive done, I connected up the front indicators and just checked that they work. And with no drama whatsoever they both worked first time.

Now then, with lights and indicators all present and correct, there was only one thing left to get the bike up to MOT standard. The numberplate:

I deliberately left this until last, as it’s just a nice little finishing flourish. And if by any chance the thing passes the MOT, it will be coming straight off to be replaced by something less likely to get me pulled.

And now sitting here, taking stock and drinking tea, I remember that I also need to replace the rear brake light switch. Bollocks. Oh well, that’s a small and easy job, and I can do that at the same time as I finally fit the fairing – I’ve already modified it as necessary, but it’s now time to start cooking a big roasty dinner rather than heading back to the workshop. So really now, there’s very little to do before booking it in for the MOT and taking the first ride: fit the new alternator cover gasket, fill the oil, fit the bodywork, new brake light switch. And then if (and it’s a big if) it passes the test I need to determine whether I’m going to keep it (in which case, new tyres will be swiftly ordered) or sell it. Exciting times ahead then.