Your opinions please....

[Bevel bob]

Hi Bill, I gave the crank to a local engineer who repairs modern car engines after cam belt collamities , He used to race bikes. stripped cleaned ,new plugs and thrust washers fitted and trued to a gnats whisker, charged me all of £40 !!, Its who you know, you know !.

[themoudie]

Aye Bob,

Indeed, it is "who you know" and reliable engineers are thin on the ground up here, mostly working their socks off, with CNC machinery trying to keep their heads above water. Jobbing engineering is a dying trade and those with the practical experience are getting thin on the ground. Electricity costs etc. don't help either and I don't have the engineering machinery to tackle it myself, unfortunately. The actual job never appears that time consuming, it's the time taken to set it up for an accurate outcome and having, or making the tools to perform the job that costs.

Good health, Bill

[Duccout]

You are so right Bill! I grew up in N London, surrounded by engineering works, which was probably the principle employment in Britain at the time; my mum, her sister and my gran all worked in a factory, and toolmakers were always around to ask for advice. Now, here in Essex, I know of only two small jobbing engineers left (and I am not sure if one of those is still in business).

About five years ago I was exploring the back streets of Valetta while on holiday, and I chanced upon a tiny, old-school workshop - steel door, lathes and mills arranged around the walls, and a gnarled old Maltese guy busy turning something. It was like stepping back in time.

Sign of the times.

Colin

[Jordan]

Dip sticks on the singles are....iffy.

Instead of relying on the silly dip stick, suggest you fill to the top of the sump, but below the floor of the crankshaft chamber.
You don't want the internal flywheels splashing in the oil.
On engines with no threaded extension tube on the oil filler, you can fill to the brim.
With the tube, fill to its bottom. That coincides with the bottom of the clutch cover.

[Hiya9612]

Thanks for all the responses and thank heavens for Motoscrubs!! Like others have been saying about Engineering workshops, back in the day...1970s/80s, there were four motorcycle shops within bike pushing distance of where I lived in West London, stacked high with (mostly British) bike bits and staffed with knowledgeable old curmudgeons who could point you in the right direction.
I very much doubt that any of them are still there..... might you, I couldn't be pushing my bike to any of them, any more.

[IanHood]

Such places still exist but they are a rarity. My favourite is Normandy Motorcycles - founded in 1960 and still in the same family.

https://www.normandymotorcycles.co.uk/index.php/about

[blethermaskite]

One good source of old world engineering expertise and facilities is in (for us bikers) the little known world of vintage/classic race car specialists, certainly here in Northern Ireland these are the guys who still have a manual lathe a milling machine and a guy who know how to weld with oxy/acetylene, I am a bit spoilt in my old age that I have all the above kit and know how to use it but.......if I am stuck needing a bigger machine or something specialised usually some of these guys can help, its worth searching out for them in your own area. Purely statistically there are lots more race car guys about than our lot. And don't forget your local further education college, most of whom run night class's in mechanical/precision engineering (even car restoration) and have a great selection of proper machines in their workshops for you to play with
Cheers,
George

[themoudie]

Aye George,

And don't forget your local further education college, most of whom run night class's in mechanical/precision engineering (even car restoration) and have a great selection of proper machines in their workshops for you to play with

If only it were true! Disposed of long ago, so as to gain funding for "media studies", "music studio management" and the integration of the college into the University of the Highlands and Islands. The quality of the courses and the degrees that are given, in my opinion, are fraudulent! But, that's not for a forum concerning Ducati singles and their phoibles!

We do have some busy car restoration workshops about the area, as well as the engineers that I use, they have the knowledge and the wherewithall. One enginering company races a Ford 100E sidevalve motor all over Europe, another engineer used to build rally engines for Escorts and Astras, to mention but two, owns a well used BSA RGS and is now in his late 70's and still working a 5 day week, whilst the third runs his own engineering company and rebuilds Vincents and Velocettes in his "spare" time, as well as riding the Vincents to the four corners of Scotland and beyond. It's that experience and ability that costs.

Good health, Bill