[Ducati] Leaks and Tykes

[Alan Wilzig]

Thanks Joe ! It was a great pleasant surprise to have a child that at least looks a LITTLE like me.....since every now and again I catch myself wanting to call my extremely blonde son  "Sven" . I had been feeling genetically neutral. 

( Clearly all that "Big B , Little b" sh*t we learned in biology was a bit over-simplified. Which of course is the case or how would a kid get green eyes ?)

As for the leaking gas cap....it's funny , one of the first (ham-fisted) little service things I did on any Duck was to uncrimp and/or reroute some tank vent line , and thusly had to flip the tank up on my 99 SS.

Gas pissed all over the place....from the STOCK cap. Quarter-turn caps weren't so commonplace 9 years ago so I had merely bought a DP carbon trim kit - but that had no effect on the seals. It was basically cosmetic and retained the stock lock etc.

One of my employees borrowed the bike and it fell over in his girlfriend's driveway. So after he had it repaired and repainted his "sorry , man" gift was a quarter-turn lockless cap from Casoli that's never leaked. And I put same one on my Fila and some others. ( David Myles in the UK was so cool he even had that cap and other parts specially anodized REAL royal Fila-blue.....not that pale turquoise Lockhart-bolt-kit color :)

No leaks.

The O-ring / gasket either failed on my stocker or I may have crimped it when installing the carbon trim/cap kit.

It was a long time ago but if I recall....NONE of the aftermarket caps have the same number of bolts as stock . So I'm sure the pressure on the gasket is not as even as stock.

**** Disclaimer......I am a decent rider and a good collector , but as a classic  Manhattan Jewish guy I am mechanically retarded. I say this in a clinical sense , not to be self-deprecating. So double-check any mechanical advice I give with someone who may actually know of which they speak. ****

What's really funny is that when my collection grew to the point of hiring my own mechanic - he had managed and wrenched at a Yam/Suz/Ski-Doo dealership for 8 years but never touched an Italo-bike. 

I got him totally up to speed and he has been amazing ever since (18 months) PROVING that old adage that (sometimes) "Those who cannot DO , really do teach".

I am currently  in Southern Spain , famous  for it's "335 days of sunshine a year" and I think I hit "the other 30 days". 

Even my British friends down here are home bored to death , and they LIVE to ride in the rain.

I had two unique opportunities presented to me - the manager of Jerez was going to give me the track for 4 hours JUST having to pay the 4 corner workers 100 euros a piece....

And the wife of my local KTM dealer is the Andalusian Enduro champ and had a pair of 530exc's for us to roost on.....and their entire riding area got slammed by a mudslide.

Someone's garage ended up in the middle of the main trail.

The $-EUR exhange is so crappy that shopping is out of the question.....all there is to do is EAT.

I used to come home from each trip here a "1/4 notch" better rider. 

This time I think I'm just gonna come home a quarter-notch FATTER.

Happy New Year everyone.
Alan

( as an aside....I don't know how much my D16 review will be worth - a buddy who rode one in the UK , who rides about the same as I , said it feels like "an RS250 with Jay Leno's turbine helicopter motor.....with  brakes off an airbus A320".

I know the brakes are same as my 1098 but on a lighter bike ......

This summer I'll have to ride it to that IMOC meet they always have in Mass. 

Alan Wilzig Good-powered Treo680 ( Orange :)