This, together with the fact that because of work I had to change cities, so that I would only have at most one weekend a month to work on the bikes, convinced me to finally take the engine off the frame of the Ducati and be able to work more comfortably with him, while allowing me to take him to my new home and continue with my hobby during the week, since a single weekend a month was not enough to kill the bug.
Before starting to take it down, I took a good number of photos of everything that connected the motorcycle with the engine, and that I would inevitably have to disconnect in order to separate it. In the first place, the alternator, located in the bowels of the engine block and which fulfilled the function of charging the battery while the engine was turning , connected to the regulator by means of three cables, which I marked with numbers.
The carburetor was undoubtedly the most important element attached to the engine, I loosened the screws that attached it to it to leave it with the rest of the bike, as I had no intention of touching it at the moment.
The carburetor was undoubtedly the most important element attached to the engine, I loosened the screws that attached it to it to leave it with the rest of the bike, as I had no intention of touching it at the moment.
Finally, I disconnected the cable from the rev counter and the pressure switch, as well as the spark plug pipe.
With the engine completely independent of the rest of the motorcycle in the absence of loosening the three through bolts that held it, I decided to get well and anchor it with ropes to the frame, because, although I did not know how much it could weigh, it seemed to me that a block Metallic of those dimensions could not be very light.
Before starting to loosen it, I emptied the oil from the crankcase, which was crying out for a change.
With everything ready, I loosened and removed the missing bolts and discovered that indeed the engine weighed like death. Being careful not to drop it and using the ropes as pulleys I managed to put it on the ground, and making a sovereign effort to put it in a plastic box.
The motorcycle without the engine seemed different, I have always thought that what I like most about this motorcycle is its engine, much more classic than the rest of the model.
I needed help to transport the engine to the trunk of the car and it goes without saying that it was smelling of gasoline for more than a week, however the most complicated thing was transporting it from the car to my new home, because I could not park on the same street nor did I have the means so that it can be easily transported. I was walking around looking for something that could help me or give me some idea, until next to a container I found an abandoned shopping cart. I'm not talking about the metal supermarket trolley, but about the typical cart on wheels that older ladies use to go shopping. Tying the engine with rubber bands to the basket, I managed with difficulty to drag it to my block, before the astonished gaze of everyone who crossed me. I still had to climb several flights of stairs until I finally got home.
The new branch of the workshop was inaugurated and in this way I managed to continue with the restoration of the Ducati, which with the move had forced me to park.
While the hauling had been an odyssey, stripping and polishing the entire engine was not going to be far behind. On the contrary, it took much longer than I had thought. Paint that peeled off fairly well from the much smoother crankcase covers clung to the rest of the parts tightly, and the cylinder fins became inaccessible places for any type of tool.
I used all kinds of elements: stripper, steel pad, cutter, scalpel, spatula, brush, ... In the end I decided to buy a Dremel , because for small or difficult-to-access parts it would end up coming from pearls and saving me hours of work.
For days and days I worked on the stripping until, more out of exhaustion than being fully satisfied with the result, I finished it and went to polishing.
As I had already imagined, the result would not be the same as on the shiny crankcase cover, however I liked it much more than painted black. I could not get a perfect finish on the fins, as it was impossible for me to access them, but I had also improved them.
Once back at the workshop, I was able to appreciate the results and put him back on the bike.
Without a doubt I liked it much more so than in black, and the bike, once I had polished the rims and exhaust, would greatly improve its appearance.
The engine was in place, with everything connected again, just as it was just before it was removed, so I finally started to start it and take it for a spin after so much work.
How could it be otherwise, the bike did not start .
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