The 900 Monster

The Monster 900 was purchased 3 years ago to replace the aging Pantah as the main two wheeled transport of the fleet. It has been rallied, used as a commuter bike, showed and abused so far without a single hiccup!

Its a 1993 vintage,  no 257 off the production line, and the original owner lavished total care on it at Bains racing including a Ducati performance race  system, stage 2 tune, and lots of other goodies.#

AND THEN THEIR WERE 3

Then I got hold of it. It soon had a Watsonian Squire RS4 sidecar. That is to say a one behind the other child and Adult car based on the popular sports ST3 sidecar.

I had it supplied and fitted by charnwood classics, useing fittings supplied by Mick White from the DOC as he used to have a Monster ST3 outfit, although he had his on an early 750 Monster which meant my caseings were wider and I had to get the fittings altered by Jim at Charnwoods, meaning it all rather cost more than I had expected (£2250 in all, for the conversion!)

Initialy the handleing was truely awfull, but thanks to the addition of WASP leading links, it turned into a great handling outfit.

We soon outgrew the beast and switched to a Guzzi Outfit however and now the sidecar is sold off and the bike stripped for a rebuild!

Tips-

After a serious illness I could not pull in the clutch, so a JHP master cylinder was purchased and hey presto, I was on the road again. if you find the clutch a bit stiff the JHP is to be recommended, although owners of later models need not bother if you have the 748 style master cylinders as these make the clutch easy for even the silliest girlies among you!

If you want to know more about Monsters, go to the Monster UK club site - they are the kiddies!

Technical hints...

The clutch

Alternator rotor

Not in the manual is the potentially disastrous possibility of the Alternator rotor coming loose. Its relatively rare, but common enough to make checking yours on a regular basis essential. If it comes loose it generally destroys the crank and has been known to cause engine seizure.

On a regular basis (say every other oil change) remove the alternator engine cover and make sure the large nut that holds on the alternator rotor is tight, DO NOT TRY AND TORQUE IT EVERY TIME, this will stretch the threads, simply make sure it has not come loose.

If it is loose remove it, check the tapered keyway for damage (its a new crank if it is!) and re fit it using a suitable lock tite (as specified in the manual) and torque it up. Due to the way the manuals are translated the torque settings in the Monster manual and the torque settingins in the SS manual are different (same engine!). I use 180NM as specified in the SS Manual not the 150 as in the Monster one!

Recommended

The Haynes V twin manual is excellent.

The DOC (GB) can supply you with a copy of the original factory manual very cheaply!

I always use Silkoline oil (and no they don't sponsor me!)

For the more technical jobs on two valvers such as adjusting the desmo valves, I recommend Moto Mariana (01344 487928) in Bracknell, Berkshire