Brook Henry syncs the carbs on my Ducati 900SS bevel

[@turboslag]

Having owned a 900SS back in the day I can tell you the most vital factor in getting these things to run perfectly, valve clearances. I was struggling to get mine to idle reliably and be clean off the throttle when accelerating hard fro slow speed, also it was a apig to start. After hours of messing with carbs, which have to synced prerly of course, I decided to check the valve clearances, and there was my problem! They were all over the place. I re-shimmed them myself, after getting stupid quotes from dealers, and the results were amazing. Even before re doing the carbs it started and ran like a clock, but was even better after working the carbs over again. Throttle response was fantastic and top speed increased by about 10mph! I was so glad I took the plunge and tackled desmo valve shimming myself, it took the fear out of Ducati maintenance!

[@Ducati900SS]

Yes, definitely. Everything has to be correct and calibrated from the ground up. It's clear that many spend time messing with the outer details (carbs and ignition) without knowing the state of the internals.

[@dougstrobel4226]

Use ur left leg to start duffus

[@georgeharrod7805]

Beautiful! I pulled into a smallish Ducati specialist in Melbourne in the 90s and the owner stopped what he was doing, came out and sorted my carbs and said something like, "it HAD to be done!" Didn't charge me a penny...old school 😄

[@Ducati900SS]

Yes its so essential with a Ducati. When Brooke turned up, I didn't even realize he was going to show me this until he was done and explained it to me. It was just a fluke that I decided to turn my camera on.

[@joshuasarfati5520]

I had an old Darma 900 in my 20s. I learnt how to tune the carbs and adjust the desmo valves. Beautiful bike's

[@colinmartin2921]

The synchronisation on these bikes makes a world of difference in how they ride.

[@Jack_C_]

The sound of a Ducati with Contis is something truly special. I bought the same model back in 1982 at the bargain basement price of about $4000. I was working as a Ducati mechanic at the time and bought it in the crate and did the final assembly myself (I didn't want to trust it to anybody else). FWIW, this is was my procedure for syncing carbs. First gauges and measuring gaps etc don't work (as Brook stated). What you need is a practiced ear and some simple tools. 1/ Sync and set the idle as good as you can by listening to the beat of each side. I used a soft cloth in one hand to gently muffle each muffler in turn till I was happy with it (don't choke it though). 2/ Adjust the mixture screw on one carby for max rpm (same as if you were doing a single cylinder) 3/Sync and set the idle again as in step one. 4/Adjust the mixture for the other carb and re-sync and set the idle yet again. 5/ If the carbs were quite a bit out, you may have to repeat this. You might like to crack the throttle a little so you don't foul up the plugs and just to listen to that awesome note.😀 Once that part is done, you now need to adjust the free play in the throttle cables. 6/Twist the throttle ever so slightly (just off idle) and listen if one cylinder is wanting to rev up before the other. 7/Use the cable adjuster screw on the top of the carby to get them pulling at the same time. 8/Once that is done crack the throttle a couple of times because.......well just because.😊

[@Ducati900SS]

Getting a boxed one to put together yourself would have been a great experience! I'll pin your comment up here so people can read your procedure. I won't ask if you still have your bike... in case you haven't!

[@Jack_C_]

No, sad story. 3 months later my girlfriend (now my wife) and I were travelling up a mountain road when rounding a bend a car was on the wrong side of the road coming towards us. We survived but my pride and joy didn't. On the plus side I still have two 450 singles. One RT dirt bike and a 1972 450 Desmo. They need work but will be my retirement project. Thanks for the video and thanks for the memories. Stay safe.

[@Ducati900SS]

@@Jack_C_ Yikes! I thought I'd put my foot in it, but lucky it was just the bike that didn't make it. I love the yellow/orange 450. Will be a good project. Stay in touch and post some clips when you get into it.

[@truthseeker8483]

I had exactly the same model and colour...bought new in Ron Angels Richmond Melbourne 1982 $3990...it was fun getting it idling perfectly like that with a pair of contis fitted.....Miss it very much

[@Ducati900SS]

This one came from Australia sometime before it was first registered here in January 1998. Had 32,395 km on the clock according to the docs. If this wasn't your one then it's not going to be far off! It had 2 owners here before I got hold of it in 2015.

[@lindyburns7978]

Brook Henry I have you to thank for your sons knowledge, my 748 has never run better,parts were made by yourself. I'm 63 and enjoying it confidently every time I ride,! Steve Burns Gold Coast!

[@wdhewson]

It's worth hearing. I bought a Big Duke just to hear those Contis on song !!!

[@emberducati9237]

Raw aggression right there. I love Ducati’s heritage of cutting edge racing technology, but there is a grunt to the carbureted bikes that I don’t hear anywhere else. I certainly love the exhaust note of mine.

[@pinbill1]

Thanks for putting this up. Picking up my tank from the painter tomorrow and waiting on a sprocket seal. Hopefully will be tuning it next week. I will try this method before I make a homemade manometer.

[@Ducati900SS]

Yes, this method is well worth practicing! Drop by in the ducati.ms vintage forum and show your bike if you haven't already.

[@pinbill1]

@@Ducati900SS I will post some pictures once I get it back together. Looks like a pretty active forum. I posted there to try and find to some torque specs.

[@Ducati900SS]

@@pinbill1 I'll head over there now and add my 2 cents... there seems to be some confusion about which bolts and nuts people are talking about.

[@UilliamTighearnaigh]

I had an Super Darmah 80 mod. Tuned by ear back in the 80’s. I went on to work for Lotus and the final stage was to listen and tune by ear, which I did.

[@tomhill3262]

Brook V2 engineering ,he tuned my 64 mk 1. 250 for historic racing ,

[@Rossi593]

Great video and love the old school guys. My SD was a joy with well set carbs and (horror of horrors) I used mercury gauges. I knew it was spot on when I closed off the throttle and got immediate engine braking and that “tweet” off the Contis. It’s due back out of surgery this year and I may well try by ear. You never know, I might just get it right.

[@iShonKo]

Why would anyone complain about you talking?? Great oldschool style vid. amazing bike, amazing artist. THANKS FOR SHARING! I wish Brook would stop by and assist me with my Darmah :P

[@Ducati900SS]

Thanks Shon, I'm just being sensitive to the KZbin complainers. There's always one!

[@jeffhopkins8131]

Talking is great but not when you should be listening!

[@flanderstf]

The first 6sec's were particularly useful to me . Brook tried to talk me thru the kick start process when I got his bike, and this really helped. (Wish you could talk him into Zooming...)Interesting how he relies on his ears for balancing, not fancy gauges or meters. Looking forward to getting somewhere there. your videos help Thks mate.

[@Ducati900SS]

Yes, the benefit of doing it by ear is that it makes up for any running issues that a technically perfect sync wouldn't allow for. I've spent a lot of time doing it by ear now and also have a very sensitive carb sync tool. I never get the exact same setting with both methods. By ear I get it feeling right. With the tool I get it technically correct. I've found both methods good, but the tool is quicker. I'll be doing a video of both methods, including mixture adjustment. Brook has the ear method nailed down to perfection... much like his kicking from the bottom of the throw.

[@flanderstf]

'Kicking from the bottom of the throw" . ? I practiced withe the key turned off . One long stroke all the way thru, then the next kick which should start it Brook kicks the lever at about half to vertical. Is that what you mean? I used to to get the lever to the top , thinking this was where to jump on it from. It's also where I was told TDC was. Brooks instructions were more useful.

[@Ducati900SS]

@@flanderstf You can get to tdc anywhere in the stroke and Brook here is really just demonstrating his/the bike's ability to start it with the bare minimum rotation if you can find the spot. The main point of using the full stroke for the rest of us is that we're more likely to hit that spot somewhere along the way. I still use the full stroke and I don't spend a lot of time digging for the spot. I just go for some compression and hit it.

[@Ducati900SS]

Enjoy that massive Conti sound!

[@UilliamTighearnaigh]

Eddie Lopez in Melbourne used to tune my SD. The best Ducati mech in Oz

[@steveharvey4036]

Brook is a legend

[@billcarson4566]

That sounds so good 😋.

[@Ducati900SS]

Hi Bill, check this one as well - Just a startup but the acoustics were so good there in the driveway that I had to post it kzbin.info/www/bejne/iWSbqqitl890sJo&ab_channel=Ducati900SS

[@lindyburns7978]

The seed doesn't fall far from the Tree! (So true a statement) Steve Gold Coast

[@paulhall170]

Dyno? Who needs a dyno??? And how about the starts on the last half inch of the kick-start?

[@alexanderwolf9653]

Hallo, can someone please elaborate in detail his style of kickstarting that bike? My English is just not good enough to capture his dialect 😊 I also own such a 900ss and also want to be able to kickstart it as cool as this guys. Bonus question: the moment of the kick, do you guys throttle up? A bit? I try not to during the kick, but the mili sec after it started. Thanks!

[@Ducati900SS]

Yes I was surprised when he showed me he could kick it like that. In the video he says "When it's cold, you should be able to get the kick start in the right position... even... (all the way down here)." He's pointing out that a well built and tuned engine should start when the crank is pushed past a spark. It doesn't need more than the first spark. And in the case of the bevel, especially when it's cold - because bevels usually don't start well when hot. I've only had PHM40 carbs on this bikes, but I imagine that the smaller carbs could be more flexible. Everyone has their own starting procedure and it is often made into a religious process. In my experience with this bike, the best way to get it going is to hold the throttle just a tiny bit open during the kick and only open it further if it has started to run. The trick is to only open the throttle a bit more when it has fired more than once and is turning. I won't open it automatically at the end of each kick (as I would have done on my old dirt bikes) or it will just cause flooding. Keep the throttle off until it actually starts. Also - many people will give it a couple of full twists to squirt fuel in before kicking. I don't do that. The only time I give it a little half-squirt is if I'm starting up the first time after having the carbs off the bike. This engine does start with the lever down at the bottom like Brook shows in the video. But there's no practical reason to do that and so I normally kick it all the way. I don't worry about finding a particular spot just before the spark because it will pass a couple of sparks during the full kick anyway. I do use choke when cold, briefly when warm, and none when it's hot. If I have stalled the bike, then I use no throttle at all until it has started. When I first got the bike, it was very difficult to start and keep it going. It only works now because of the engine rebuild, the carb rebuild, the work I did to test jetting, and also learning how to synch the carbs. Once all that is done.. it's easy! hah

[@alexanderwolf9653]

@@Ducati900SS Thank you for your response. I recently had the chance to buy a 900SS Bevel and now I am trying to figure out that universe. Already rebuilt a Moto Guzzi Lemans 1 with its Dellortos, so next step is to go over that bevel carburateurs and then its motor. Can you point me to some (900ss bevel) workshop documentation you used for restauration? I got the old Ducati workshop manuals and spare parts manual. Usually for other bikes there are also 3rd party unofficial repair manuals but I could not find one, only some books from Ian Falloon which seems to be more focused on historical and less workshop facts.

[@Ducati900SS]

​@@alexanderwolf9653 I just searched and downloaded all manuals and parts listings I could find. My bike came with a Haynes type of book for 860 Ducatis, but I haven't found that very useful as it has little data. I've got two of Falloon's books and of those the best is the 'Authenticity & Restoration Guide'. I used that quite often. The main thing I was always trying to find was correct specifications for things like torque values and carb parts and so on. That book has data tables towards the back with some good info. Details are often different from year to year and so one has to find the right data for the bike. There's a 6 video series on my channel where I rebuild my carbs and I went to great lengths to find the correct details for my bike. I had to cross reference multiple sources. Scans of the original Ducati owner manuals will have some torque specs in them, but not a lot. It's also worth looking up other OEM manufacturer data rather than just Ducati data.. e.g. for the carbs and even for things like the horn. The brakes and carbs are used on many other bikes of the era and so there are other bike guides that have reference data.. BMW, Guzzi etc. E.g. whilst the horn is a Bosch unit, none of the Ducati manuals go any further than that. I had to find and dig around Bosch horn specification sheets to find the correct part. Dellorto does a tuning guide that is worth a read and there's also a pdf around with slide data and another with needle data. Just use Google to find everything. Otherwise, you've probably got most of the info that is available. Note that some of the scanned PDF manuals are much clearer than others as they have been scanned by different people. So keep downloading any that you find. There's also no guide specifically for my 1982 900SS and so one needs to use the 82 MHR manual instead. Other that that, there's the Ducati.ms Vintage forum where some good guys hang out. There's also a few Bevel groups on Facebook that are worth joining but the responses you get there can vary greatly in value and tone. I know that one of the Facebook groups collects downloads and makes them available on the group page. Join them all and check there.

[@alexanderwolf9653]

@@Ducati900SS Thank you for making that videos and informations available. Its very appreciated!

[@blip98]

His middle name is Merlin right?

[@fattyman9133]

I noticed he didn't have a fan going to cool the bike. That's not a problem?

[@Ducati900SS]

Hi Fatty.. No, it's fine. You can let the engine idle forever like this (if it will). Brook also explained to me that these engines are fundamentally oil-cooled, not air-cooled, hence the huge oil pan they carry around underneath. The operating envelope seems very broad in these old engines; quite unlike a modern high-powered bike with water cooling, where every degree of heat needs to be accounted for. I've got another series of videos here on my channel where I monitored the temperatures along with the air/fuel ratio and found the temps not significant. However, if the timing is way out or not advancing (as mine previously was doing) then one can seriously drive up the temperature whilst riding. All those bright blue header pipes you see on these bikes show how common this is. I ruined two freshly chromed headers on my old Bosch ignition. After that I used an old pair until I knew everything was fine. Had the pipes replated again and they're now on the bike with the new Sachse ignition.

[@moku1287]

Please tell me the size of MJ and PJ　　　　　　　tell me the thickness of the needle

[@Ducati900SS]

Hi Moku. It all depends on your carb sizes, the year of the bike, and which country it was made for (this determines airboxes and exhaust pipes). Page 278 in Ian Falloon's Authenticity & restoration guide has charts with these details. Stock parts for my 1982 900SS in the video are: Idle jet 65 Main jet PHM40 BD/BS had 135/140 - BD is right/lower/front cylinder, BS is left/upper/rear cylinder. Needles K5 2nd notch Needle jet 265AB Slides 60/1- Standard Earlier models with PHM40AD/AS used 60 idle jet and 152 main jet on both carbs. The smaller PHM32CD/CS used 62 idle, 122 main and K16 needle on the 2nd notch. Note that notches are numbered from the top - 1,2,3. Lower number = higher notch = needle sits lower = leaner operation than other notches. If the bike can't be tuned to run well with the stock values then look for something else to be causing a problem.

[@moku1287]

@Ducati900SS Thank you!!!

[@apistosig4173]

RPM at idle? when they'e running / idling 'just" above stall they're amazing.

[@Ducati900SS]

Back then I was still worried about it going pop and turning off at the lights, so I would normally go for about 1200. But now it's usually around 1000. I don't know if the tach is correct, but it sounds like a relaxed 1000. I've heard lower idles on KZbin, but I'm pretty sure they mostly die after the camera goes off :)

[@apistosig4173]

@@Ducati900SS My bike is older than yours but even then I swapped the carbys out for earlier (A) models - had it idling at 850 - thanks to Eddie Lopez

[@johnmartin6854]

MySD78 would idle about800 rpm it was a slow pop pop pop.

[@montyzumazoom1337]

An artist at work, you can’t beat old school guys that do it by ear. As an engineer I can appreciate this. I too have balanced carbs and set ignition timing by ear and “feel”. You sort of become part of the engine. You might like to take a look at this legendary man adjusting the carbs on V12 engines by ear… kzbin.info I had two friends with 900 bevels, one a 900SD Darmarh which I rode on a long trip and loved it. The other one has a 900SS like this, but the twat blew the engine at 130mph and wrecked it!😳 Always loved the bevel Ducatis, the sound of those engines is music to the ears.

[@Ducati900SS]

Yes! I've seen exactly that video as well. It's a good channel... nice to have a workshop full of amazing classics to show.

[@leahbrettt]

Where do I find you?

[@Ducati900SS]

Hi, if you're looking for Brook, go through Veetwo.com

[@leahbrettt]

@@Ducati900SS thankyou, I'm trying to get my MHR 900 CARBS sorted, just purchased the bike, is rough at idle and a bit jerky as speed increases in 1st and 2nd

[@leahbrettt]

@@Ducati900SS I'm in NSW