Bugger. My weekends a bit stuffed

[Eddieb]

Just heard back from my mechanic regarding my service on the 888.

When he opened the nice sealed packet containing the new gasket set it turns out some of the gaskets are shagged.

It seems the Australasian Ducati importers don't hold much more parts in stock than oil & filter so they don't have any replacements. Eurobike Wholesale have aftermarket head gasket sets but no base gaskets at all. My base gaskets are totally shagged so I'm stuffed.

looks like it might be a drive to the Kiwi. My sisters coming down from Hamilton to meet up so I'm keen to get there if I can.

[Dodgyiti]

Why can't you get a local gasket manufacturer to make some up?
I have all manner of gaskets in the past made by a local chap from ali, copper, rubber and the paper ones I make myself. Kiwi's can do anything

[pete376403]

go to Repco and see what thickness gasket papers they have - usually have a pretty good range. If the person working on the bike can't cut a base gasket then they shouldn't really be touching the bike at all.

I've used the really heavy brown paper bags Woolworths used to provide for groceries to make base gaskets for two stroke dirt bikes. I agree cylinder head gaskets are a little trickier.

[Mooch]

Bummer about the gaskets , I guess you'd rather go OEM on the 888 rather than take chances on getting gaskets made. It can take an age to get parts via the factory at times. Could be worth emailing Moto One in Melbourne , They carry a reasonable amount of Ducati spares.
http://www.moto-one.com.au/parts.html

mooch

[LB]

.
.Eddie: have you tried Dave McDonald in P/North or Phil Sutton at Desmocycle in Chch? email me at work if you need their contact details lblair@linz.govt.nz
.
.

[Paul in NZ]

Fuck me... I don't get this...

I can get a gasket set for the Guzzi in a day for almost any place on the planet?? It does not stop it belching oil, but thats part of the rustic charm!

btw..

When our friends Kerry and Paul toured NZ on their ancient wog bikes (MG 750S - her and GT750 Duke - him) they were a bit late getting to our place to stay the night.

Yeah, sorry mate but the Duke started puking oil from the front pot so I pulled it off and and made a new base gasket from a cereal packet. It's as good as gold now.. (took 1.5 hours, go to whoa)

Cheers

[Eddieb]

I can get a gasket set for the Guzzi in a day for almost any place on the planet?? It does not stop it belching oil, but thats part of the rustic charm!

Yea, it's part of having a rare bike. Apparently less than 20 in NZ and of those there's a couple of model variations with different gaskets in places. Also,of those 20 bikes very few do much mileage so demand for gaskets is low, hence no one carries stock.

For a variety of reasons I'd rather not DIY it. If it goes horribly wrong, chances are the whole top end would shag itself. I can't get replacement bits in NZ, maybe Aus if I'm lucky. But even then I couldn't afford it. If I was lucky I might get change from $3-4k, and thats just for the parts, not the labour to rebuild it.

On top of that, to bodge it now and fix it later means double the labour charges which I also can't afford.

I'd rather do it right for the sake of 1 weekend, even if it is the Kiwi.

[JohnBoy]

good call mate, would hate to hear that a 888 went south.
have you tralked to pat at motormart?? he is pretty good at finding things, he is often in japan and once did me a good deal on a second hand duc tank.

[pete376403]

www.bkperformance.com.au
athena gasket set complete for ducati 888 92-93 $A297.88

http://www.bkperformance.com.au/modu...od&prodID=8926