Has anyone here had issues with body panel alignment?

I've got a 907 I bought last year with low miles (12,000) that is very clean. But the body panels don't line up well, and there are no studs to in the two rear side panels to pop into the gas tank. But the paintwork is perfect - if someone removed them they did a meticulous repaint afterwards.

I'm inclined to think that this bike was in an accident early on in it's life that bent the tail section, but perhaps not there is zero evidence of a crash on anythgin other than the missing studs, and I've seen worse on earlier Ducatis from the factory. Is body panel alignment an issue for anyone else here?

Sam

The biggest issue I had with panel alignment came from the tank widening after welding and the front stay being twisted. Took a lot of time to get both back into the shape required.
To reshape the tank took some dry ice to reshrink some parts and a bfh for some others

Hi, Sam,

Could be that your 907 has aftermarket bodywork. See some other threads here that talk about aftermarket panels coming undrilled, no studs, etc.

Anyway, we were going to meet up so you could see the original "studs" that protrude from the panels and clip into the tank holes, plus I still have the four Ducati grommets 036191730 for you, new in the package, can you believe that a Ducati part costs only $1.62 each?!

Then we could figure out about making up some of these studs per previous threads where I promise detailed pics but never delivered, sorry.

Maybe meet at MotoMarket Cafe?

I, too, have a '93 Ducati, sn 002102, so it's one of the last couple hundred, and it doesn't have the grommets on the tank and the inserts on the side panels. It has not been in an accident, previous owner had it since new and treated it much better than his (ex)wife. I think that the grommets and alignment points were eliminated on the last 200 or 300 907s. The flat surface where an alignment pin would have once protruded is flat, as if the mold had been modified and there's no indication a grommet was ever inserted in the slots on the lower tank sides. These are not aftermarket panels, have the original Ducati markings, and have not been repainted.
Previous owner mentioned leaving the panel fasteners finger tight until the panels were aligned properly. I find this to work quite well.
I'd post some pix but my K1200RS is in the shop in the last stages of a clutch r&r. When it's out, I'll pull the Ducati in, photograph the panels and post the results.
One bit of info that might be helpful when it's time for clutch maintenance on the 907. The center retainer on the clutch on my bike can be removed with either a 32mm socket or a 17mm hexhead (Allen) socket. Since the fastener is under significant torque and the sides of the retainer are rather shallow, I found the hexhead insert much easier to use both for removal and for torqueing after I installed a new basket. I've examined several pix of other clutch assemblies and it appears that this isn't common. I don't know, maybe it was a mod on the later 907s but it's worth checking.

I stand corrected ... as usual

Not corrected by me, Kurt.
It was your online pix I looked at then began wondering why my 907 didn't have alignment points. I examined both side panels from my bike very carefully then looked at your pix before I concluded that the late 907's, at least the ones sold in the US, did not have alignment points on the top forward edge of the side panels.
Can't say that alignment of the panels without points is a problem and it certainly eliminates the common problem of breaking the damned little inserts off, often causing damage to the panel itself. In fact, I've found broken insertion points on a variety of motorcycle bodywork and developed a few systems (much like what you described) to reattach points. BMW K100 panels are a prime example of why the great universal spirit in its magnificient wisdom caused JB Weld to be created.
I did consider making some modifications to the panels (Dzus fasteners come to mind) but chose not to. All the changes I've implemented on my bike can be changed back to stock with little time and work involved. I like the look of the open clutch and love the throttle response of a Nichols flywheel and ghtweight clutch assembly but if I chose to sell the bike (or, for that matter, enter it into any concours), I'd likely revert back to original condition.

Glad to hear of another bike like mine. It just didn't make sense that someone would have done such a good job of refinishing the -inside- of the bodywork and not put the studs back in. It does raise the question of why Ducati removed them...

I just measured everything on my bike and it all seems straight, except that the headlamp is off to the left of the headlight fairing by 2mm, and the rear left piece of bodywork has zero clearance at the very back while the rear right piece has nearly 2mm at the same point. This may not seem like much, but it makes all the body work not fit quite right. Everything on the frame is symmetrical and seemingly in alignment with the swing arm. I'm going to try spacing the front headlight bracket to the right by ~2mm or so and see what happens - it seems like the bodywork/tank sort of "float" on the frame, so maybe moving the front a tiny bit will align the back. More soon.






Kurt - I may end up at Moto Market tomorrow on the sidecar, just to see if anyone shows up for Euro Bike night. But I'm only about 3 mi further away for you, perhaps you'd like to come by for a beer over the weekend?

Sam

More enlightenment, for which I am grateful.

Sam -- I will send PM, thanks

Same here, mine (late 907) has no grommets or pins either.
Interestingly enough I have a genuine brand new 750 paso fairing waiting to go on mine when I get round to re building it and that has no pins in the rear panels either so I suspect that Ducati changed the mould and maybe the moulding process late on in the series

Sam, my 92 has never been dropped, but the body work doesn't fit well. I had to elongate some of the holes in the front fairing and I have no gap at the left rear panel. Did you ever get any metric barbed fittings for the intake ports? Let me know when you and Kurt are heading to Moto Market and it's not snowing
Art

Art - I have a bag of M5 intake port fittings sitting on my dresser. If you need them sooner just pm me your address and I'll send a couple in return for a beer some day in the future.

Sam

Hey I've got a US 93 model 907 and I've got the same (roughly 3/8") gap at the rear of the RHS side panel...just like the photo above. I've measured everything and messed with the alignment as much as I can but it is still there. I've learned to live with it but I'd love to hear if there is a solution...so keep trying!


Cheers
Andrew

I've been formulating a couple of ideas/theories about the body alignment:

First - I've measured up the frame, the front speedo mount, and the body parts, and everything seems to be right within 2mm or less. One unusual thing, though - the spacers that hold the headlight are odd - there is a thick spacer on the upper right and lower left corner, and a thin one on the upper left and lower right. The parts manual lists two different spacers, but infers that one size goes on the top and one on the bottom. Regardless, the light fits perfectly with the spacers as is, and there's no sign of any bending.

The entire bodywork set essentially fastens to the gas tank and floats on everything else. There are the two nubs by the headlight that the RH and LH side panels press against, and the 4 grommets that hold the back. Other than that, everything is aligned by how it fits to the tank. I did play with spacing the front fairing mount to one side a bit and it had a negligible impact. I also checked the alignment of the stud pads on the seat side fairings (where the studs would be if these late model side panels had studs) and they are well off on the LH side - coincidentally they are too far forward about the same amount as the gap in the back of the seat fairing.

The conclusion I'm coming to is that the top of the gas tank is not properly referenced to the bottom of the gas tank - it's slightly biased forward on the RH side, back on the LH side. I'm also guessing that this problem affected a large number of tanks, and that Ducati removed the studs from the final run of side panels because they could not fit with them on! Given the financial situation of Ducati at the time and the huge cost this could have incurred to fix it makes a lot of sense. I'd love to find out the real story behind it, but,assuming I'm even correct, I bet the situation was buried pretty deep at Ducati.

If I'm right there really isn't much one could do to fix it, other than buy a good tank. I'm going to elect for plan B, trimming off a little of the LH fairing piece to match the gap to the other side.