Finally, after a year and several months since acquisition, I got to ride my new to me 1988 Paso. When I acquired it last year it hadn't been ridden since 2003. I bought it because it was very complete and showing only 7,028 miles.And it was white with a red seat, the color combo I wanted. I installed new timing belts, checked valve lash, replaced front and rear brake masters, flushed all the hydraulics, replaced rear wheel bearings (fronts were fine), new tires, new mufflers, rebuilt the forks, replaced the rear tail light assembly with a Euro unit for the benefit of encased turn signals, cleaned up a few niggling electrical issues and installed a relay for the ignition to ensure 12 volts at all times, and attempted to rebuild and install the original Weber. That last bit didn't produce any fruit, despite my best attempts. It's back running the TM38 Mikuni flat slides it came with, which not surprisingly work perfectly. First ride was a shortish 45-mile jaunt through the surrounding countryside. Never got over 60mph for the simple reason I wanted to become familiar with the bike's sounds. In my experience it takes a little time with a new-old machine to learn which noises are worrisome and which are normal. And it does make one odd noise, a sort of light knocking sound just off idle - you almost have to coax it with light throttle, but it's high up, not deep in the engine, and I think not in the engine at all. It almost sounds like one of the carburetor slides lightly rapping in the carb.

So far, that's the only head scratcher. It starts and runs brilliantly, and it handles beautifully, although admittedly I've yet to even remotely push it. Brakes are excellent despite still wearing at least 20-year-old shoes. Took a few miles for the rotors to clean off, and they look good. I've wanted a Paso since seeing my first in the flesh back in 1988. Hoping for some good miles in the near future. Link goes to a pretty poor video of the bike being started. It doesn't sound particularly sexy, but hey, it's running Silentiums.
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https://youtu.be/uZpQIzCvrUI

Congratulations! Thanks for sharing the story and the video. Beautiful beastie it is. :^)

Stunning bike and sounds great but would those pipes be off a 906?Never seen a stock 750 Paso with ends like that and 91 stock 907's have pipes like those. Regardless it's a big improvement over the stock slientiums. Arch.

Good eye on the pipes. When I got the bike it was wearing a set of aftermarket Supertrapps. They were in perfect shape but didn't look right so I started looking for replacements. I found a vendor who sent me what I think were 906 mufflers; they had a shorter inlet and wouldn't reach the header pipes. I did some measuring and he had a set identical to what's currently fitted that he sent instead. They'd been ceramic painted and looked very good, and they did fit, except the left muffler had no baffles while the right did. I found the ones I installed on eBay. NOS shipped direct from Italy for $320. In my mind that's not a bad price considering they were brand new, never used. The black chrome is perfect. I suspect they are for a 907ie, but I also wonder if they weren't possibly a factory supercession replacement part because I can't find the part number that's stamped on them in any of the catalogs. They do fit and in my opinion look good, although the mounts are a bit of a head-scratcher. I'm using what I believe are 907ie muffler mounts. The mounts are stamped "dx" (right) and "sx" (left) but I have them reversed because that was the only way they would line up. I've since acquired the actual original mufflers for my bike from the original owner, who stuffed them away in his barn. They're predictably pockmarked with rust, maybe someday I'll get them refinished, but not today. Anyway, maybe somebody knows more about the odd muffler fitment.

The set I'm using show 2 sets of numbers:
Left: 0370.84.100 and 57410151A
Right: 0370.84.105 and 57310151A

Also, how does one attach images to posts? I was going to add a couple of pics but I'm not sure I understand how to do that?

Congratulations!
Knocking or ticking/clicking sound? A ticking or clicking sound (besides a loose valve clearance, leaking inlet manifold or leaking header joint), can be the motor's vacuum pulses making the flat slides "click" back and forth in the carb body.

Flat slide carbs really suit the needs of Ducati belt drive motors. Flat slide carburettors are the pinnacle of motorcycle carb development, so even budget TM carbs are a bonus and way better than CV carbs. Round slide Dellortos are also excellent and have been successfully used by members here.

As it turns out, a little searching on the inner tube uncovers a fair amount of discussion on the subject of Mikuni flat slide carbs emitting knocking/clicking/ticking noises. Conversation on some of the Harley forums suggests it's normal, at least on those big twins. I'm pretty certain that's what the noise is. In theory it's easy to confirm; just put a finger on the slide and see if the noise stops. In practice that's harder on a Paso; gotta peel off all that bodywork first!

Richard

OK, I'm dumb; attachments are easy. Couple pics for fun. I'm loving this bike.