elcome to Dr Louigi's tech pages, I hope you enjoy them. If you have any questions or need any advice regarding any of these articles then please feel free to email at louigi@ducatitrader.co.uk. Enjoy!

I'm sure a few of you club race fans have noticed that over the last couple of seasons, the Sound of Thunder series has drawn in a few Ducatis. This all started back in the summer of 1999, when a group of Bristol Ducati enthusiasts attended a Ducati only track day at Pembrey organised by Merlin Ducati Cardiff. The Bristol lot got into a bit of a race track scrap with some Welsh lads and we have been friends ever since. At a post track chat we all spoke about 'maybe' starting racing someday, as we all thought we were budding Carl Fogartys! (Lapping Pembrey at 1.10's) Phew! This was only the second time I had been on a race circuit and for most of the others it was their first track day.

After two more trackdays in 1999 I decided to take the plunge and apply for my race licence and thought that Pembrey Circuit would be a good starter track, all of the lads I had met at the Ducati track day came down to watch me wobble around in the sunshine of South Wales. Because of my results the others said they would join me at the last meeting of 1999 back at Pembrey again. This saw four of us on Ducatis on the start line at Pembrey. Myself (748sp) and Mark Evans (748sp) from Bristol. Philip Bevan (996 Foggy) and Jeremy Issaccs (748sp) from Cardiff.

Philip being by far the most competitive went on to suprise everyone and win both the Sound of Thunder races at his first attempt, the rest I think we can say is history.

I come from an engineering background, The Llewellin family was synonymous with industry in Bristol, owning 32 businesses in and around Bristol, during the early part of the century. Nowadays little remains of the Llewellin dynasty, with more family living in Canada than in Bristol.

1976, I left school to take up an apprenticeship with Cadbury Ltd, working on all things mechanical put me in good steed to "have a go" at anything. I was the mechanic who used to take his work home and spent all of my spare time fiddling with cars and bikes. I entered my first trial on my trusty Honda TL125, way back in 1978. Racing bikes continued up until 1986 but I had already been racing cars for two years and something had to go.

1993 and I had itchy feet returning to road riding again, 1995 and along came the 748, after a short while and putting up with a problematic bike a dodgy servicing it would only be natural to get to know the workings of the bike myself. So during the last few years I have got to know the workings of the 748 Intimately.

Because I have owned the machine for a long while I have got to know it quite well, almost down to when the stand was going to fall off again or when the belts needed tightening, this knowledge proved useful when you try to get reliability out of an ageing Ducati.

If any one out there has done some serious road miles on a Ducati, you will have experienced a few problems along the way, you know they can be temperamental things, they call it built in character I think.

So what if you thrash the living daylights out of it week after week at the racetrack, do you really think it will last very long? Most of you will say I don't know? Ask a Ducati owner and he will most probably tell you to buy something from Japan. I would say, if you can manage the loan repayments, buying the bike is the easy bit, keeping it running is the hard part and the riding or racing is the fun part.

Now these things are certainly not the fastest bikes on the track, they are very noisy, they vibrate, they grate and rattle, They cut out when it rains, the clutches burn out, the rectifiers blow up and can catch fire, the timing belts snap and the valves smash into the pistons, the rear brake pumps itself up locking the back wheel up, the clutch hub nut vibrates loose, the cush drive rubber breaks up and eats away at the swinging arm, the layshaft idler gear nut comes loose and breaks up, The alternator nut vibrates loose and destroys the crankshaft, the gearbox can have up to 3 neutrals, clutch slave cylinders would be better suited to a pushbike, front sprocket retainer wears out and the sprocket falls off, the 'hard' chrome on the rocker arms is made of tin foil, the engine creates so much condensation that after a meeting the water in my catch tank can be used to wash the bike down with and nuts and bolts fall off if not locktited on.

This is most probably just a portion of what has gone wrong in the years I have owned my 748 and the only real reason for keeping the bike is to see what is going to go wrong next!

With my experience of ownership and history of road racing, I would say to anybody, if you intend to race one of these things, be prepared to spend many hours in the workshop before and after a race meeting, have a regular plan of maintenance and stick to it, also you will definitely experience some, all, or more of the problems listed above.

Lets just say you've just bought an old 916 or 748 and want to put it on the track, what should you do to it before you enter your first race.

Here's a list of essential to do's and to gets.

» Spare set of wheels with discs and wet tyres
» Quick change rear sprocket carrier and sprocket selection
» Slipper clutch
» Set valve clearances to race bike settings
» Fit the latest racing timing belts
» If high mileage, have injectors ultrasonically cleaned and re flowed
» Flip up screen
» Spare levers and handlebar blades
» Solid foot pegs (keep originals as spares)
» Frame to replace headlight pod
» Racing brake pads
» Race silencers and matching EPROM chip
» Fit double lip seal to clutch slave cylinder or change for Corse Part
» Change brake and clutch fluid for race spec fluid
» Remove speedo, cable and drive, replace for spacer
» Remove all unnecessary ancillaries
» Box of earplugs

A maintenance plan should include

» An oil and filter change every 3 meetings
» Fuel filter change every 5 meetings
» Spark plug check, change as required
» Check belt tension after every meeting
» Check valve clearances after every 3 meetings
» Adjust throttle body synchronisation when idle becomes lumpy
» Check torque of clutch, layshaft idler gear and alternator nuts at least twice in the season
» Adjust ride height every time the chain is adjusted
» Check clutch pack thickness every 3 meetings
» Change brake and clutch fluid regularly
» Clean air filter but don't over oil it and clean out stones from air box every meeting
» Clean debris from brake callipers when pads are changed
» Plus general bolt checking and lubricating moving parts

I think if any body follows this plan their Ducati should be fairly reliable for many seasons to come.

Louigi