... hopefully.
It`s a rainy evening and I have the time so I figured I`d post something about my own Paso. So where do I start ?!
I have a friend with a heavily modified Cagiva Elefant. The milage he did per year in the past years was over half as much as I did driving my car and I used it quite a bit. I guess most guys enjoy riding their vehicles and very few enjoy working on them even more. I guess I am one off these. My bike is off the road by about 3 years now.
Being someone who loves details I take my time. But I guess it`s time to get it done to see how it runs. (He`s constantly kicking me in the butt also)
I purchased the bike many years back from a guy who traded his car for a Jeep Cherokee and the Paso. He wanted to give it to his brother who meanwhile had a bad bike accident and quit riding. So it was up for sale again.
Being quite particular about the vehicles I like it was to be an early Ducati 851 (not the one with the 888 rear fairing) or nothing. The 851 was too expensive that time and by chance I stumbled over a newspaper ad with the Paso. Long story short, I loved it and as he fired it up in his garage my brain switched off and I handed over the money
It`s a California bike. It was mostly original with a black/red Corbin seat, 2in1 Gio.Ca.Moto exhaust, the highest version of the square K&N filter and a fuel regulator. It had a Euro taillight and header and came with new chain/sprockets and Euro instrument panel.
Finding all vehicle papers in the tools tray under the seat I found out it had 2 owners. I found the last owner over the internet (a bike collector living in Hollywood) who confirmed to me that the actual milage was higher than the german seller told me. The original instrument panel of course didn´t come with the bike. I decided to keep it though.
Being a new owner I spent a few days doing some service, cleaning and buffing the bike. I had made an appointment for a major service, but that day the owner/mechanic of the Duc shop wasn`t there so I decided to take the bike for another spin in the near mountains.
It was so much fun to the point where it ended on a blind summit. First my talent reached an end and then the tarmac.
The things I learned that time: 1: do not chase cars no matter how much fun it is 2. always keep in mind that on a summit there can be a sharp left turn 3. cars go better through curves even if driving too fast 4, forget the many years of Vespa scootering and never hit the rear brake hard in a curve. The streak of rubber could still be seen 2 weeks later.
I was lucky that I took down only an electrical fence and landed in a field. Cows got scared, I was fine - the bike not.
Right fork leg had some light scratches, front fairing was smashed – something actually punched through it, the tank was dented, brake lever bent, rear brake lever partly broken off, exhaust scratched, one steering stop cracked and the right mirror had disintegrated.
I actually rode it home like that (very carefully). My dealer is on the way home so I stopped there with grass still hanging out every crack of the bike. He had a laugh. “didn`t you say you polished it 3 days?” – a**hole
I didn’t touch the bike for a few weeks, then started looking for parts. I found an (expensive) tank from a 906 and used the mirrors from my Vespa scooter which I painted red. Actually looked better than many others I saw later. On summer vacation in Italy I got some Cagiva Freccia mirrors which back then cost as much as 2 DVDs today. (ah, those lovely old times when the Lire still existed)
I rode the Paso for a couple of years like that but didn’t like some things like the backfiring, the bad starting occasionally and the bone hard fork (no idea when it was serviced the last time). So I started to modify the bike.
• Hyperpro progressive fork springs
• 40 tooth sprocket (switched back to original after changing ignition & flywheel)
• Mikuni carbs w/ Dynojet kit & modified airbox
• Silent Hektik regulator/rectifier (after even an original new replacement was not ok)
• Silent Hektik programable ignition box
• Silent Hektik (high power) MotoCoils & leads
• Silent Hektik 460g lightweight flywheel
• Relay for the coils (doing this before checking if the reg/rect is ok can cause damage. Not sure if ie the CDI modules can handle voltages of over 17V. In case of a bad regulator the crappy wiring and its voltage loss actually saves the electronics from damage)
• Bitubo rear shock (the chrome from the damper rod of the Marzocchi was chipped and I couldn’t find a replacement. The Bitubo was the cheapest and not bad at all)
• Carbon sprocket & belt cover
• 4 piston Brembos w/ MQ adapters & PS16 brake pump w/ brake switch
• Open clutch cover (round holes)
• Front screen spoiler
• 2in2 header with Contis (love them and so not legal here)
The bike was fine now. It started on the first press of the starter button even after over 2 weeks not using it. It did well at low speeds and was just fun. Actually it was like a jap bike – everything worked, even the clock.
Around 2005 I thought about converting to 17” wheels after Michelin announced that the original sizes were to be discontinued.
I got a set of wheels from a Supersport with a 4.5” rear and a 160 tire but I didn`t like that at all. It may have improved handling quite a bit but I just didn`t like the tire to be narrower than the Michelin. Also I didn`t like the looks of the 3 spoke wheel on the Paso.
I got a 5.5” rim and we tried with a 170/60-17. It fitted and looked much better but I still didn´t like it. After getting the grey Marchesini 5 spoke rims from a Monster S I gave up and decided that it will be 16” forever. (Maybe it would`ve been different if I had found rims that matched the design of the Paso better – I doubt it though. The small wheels look so right on the low bike)
Some time after that the bike started to vibrate. You could feel it in the steering halves and at high speeds the footpegs would vibrate so much the feet would start to feel numb. Unluckily this was gone when the clutch was disengaged so it was clear that it didn`t come from the suspension but the engine, most likely from a crankshaft bearing starting to fail.
As I had collected parts over the years the upcoming engine rebuild seemed like a good time to finally get all the parts to use.
I gave this in the hands of professionals. One being a shop building engines for (sand and ice) speedway bikes, formula cars etc.
Being a car guy I prefer low end torque than an engine that needs to be revvd constantly to feel alive. So that was the aim, but I changed to a quite bit different direction during the process.
Engine:
• 780cc kit (for Supersport/Monster – air/oil cooled hence some small mods to the engine case required)
• Cylinders painted black (came silver/grey)
• Slightly lightened crankshaft (Kämna)
• Carillo rods
• Pistons, conrods and crankshaft were fine balanced
• Ported heads
• The biggest valves that fitted into the heads
• DSM Street cams
• Adjustible cam belt pulleys (changed all other pulleys from square to round teeth)
• Newer type rocker arms w/ clip
• Custom made inlet manifolds as the originals would have become too thin walled if enlarged to the size of carb and ports
• Mikuni TDMR 40 flatslide carbs w/ choke (Keihins don`t have)
• Cylinder studs were replaced (can`t remember if it`s the silver or the black ones that sometimes can break)
• Engine covers and oil sight glass replaced with new ones
• The work on a much bigger CFK (carbon fibre composite) airbox started
The Silent Hektik ignition box can handle also dual spark ignition and I even had dual plug heads but I decided against them after I`ve seen damaged pistons caused by incorrect ignition timing after a dual spark conversion. Changing spark plugs also would have become more work. Many changes had been done but I wanted a stable engine not one that had been pressed out to the very last horespower.
I decided against MBP collets also as you should check the valve clearances and do the rest of the maintenance regularly anyway. They didn`t seem worthwile to me.
As it was clear this would take a while I bought a Gilera 600 Nordwest (46hp, 1 cylinder, 4 valves). The past owner already had put lots of work and $$$ in the bike and engine and polishisng everything so I could concentrate on touch up details like a full carbon fairing and riding it.
When I got the engine back I started to reassemble the bike and it was about ready to be ridden again when I figured it was quite silly to have a brand new spanking motor combined with all the other old parts. Hence, I decided to strip it again and give the frame to sandblast and powdercoat, which took a very long time due to the powdercoater but the result was worth waiting.
Meanwhile I started stripping everything else and I mean everything! Not one single bolt remained untouched and not one single part that could be disassembled wasn’t taken apart, cleaned and rebuild again with new bolts and seals. (rear brake cylinder and the fork rebound adjuster had some sludge inside as did the engine before)
The fork legs were glasbead blasted and repainted the stanchion tubes polished by hand.
(Even if glasbead blasting is much less aggressive than sand blasting I now would sand the parts to a perfect even surface after that and remove the flash from casting also before giving them to the painter. I didn`t do that. The parts turned out nice, but could`ve been even nicer)
A stripe of clear self adhesive tank protection foil was put on the inner side of the fork legs to prevent the discs to scratch the fork legs when the wheel was removed.
Then the whole wiring was stripped and partly redone. The wires to starter, ground and battery were replaced with better ones and the plate below the electrics polished (just for the fun of it). 3 relais were added for the lights plus an emergency flasher system.
• The Bitubo shock was replaced with a brand new Marzocchi, it`s spring replaced by a Hyperpro progressive spring which should go fine with the fork springs
• The open clutch cover with the round holes was replaced with a nicer one
• The front brake discs were replaced with full floating ones from MQ/Brembo
• The headers got an alloy mounting bracket instead of that rusty steel part
• Horn was changed to one that actually sounds like something
• The list of new parts is too long from rims, swingarm, instrument panel, taillight, Koito headlight, footpegs & brackets etc. etc. etc.
• Of course every bearing and seal of the bike was replaced
Hence, meanwhile it had become a ground up restoration of a manic perfectionist.
I`ll stop here now at a point that describes the status of the bike a few months ago.
Some more and finally some pics will follow tomorrow (if there`s interest).
G.
