Ducati 900 S2 and Mille S2 servicing
1982 to 1986 · 864cc and 973cc bevel-drive Desmo V-twins · Greenwich, London
Ray Petty Meccanica services, repairs and restores the Ducati 900 S2 and Mille S2, the last bevel-drive sports twins of 1982 to 1986, at its independent Ducati workshop in Greenwich, London. Few S2s were built and specifications changed from market to market and year to year, so RPM checks exactly what a bike has before ordering parts or setting it up.
About the 900 S2 and Mille S2
The 900 S2 replaced the 900SS in 1982 as a half-faired road sports bike, with bodywork that period testers compared to the 600 Pantah. It kept the 864cc Desmo bevel twin and Bosch electronic ignition, while carburettors varied by market: 32mm Dell'Ortos with Silentium silencers in France and Switzerland, 40mm with Contis in Italy. From 1983 buyers could choose kick or electric start, and every 1984 bike had the starter. 1,236 900 S2s were built in all. The Mille S2 used the 973cc (88 x 80mm) engine with a one-piece crankshaft on plain bearings, Gilnisil-coated cylinders, a hydraulic clutch and a screw-on full-flow oil filter. Only about 300 were made before Cagiva dropped the bevel engine.
Servicing your S2
Because the S2's carburettors and silencers were set up differently for each market, jetting a 900 S2 starts with knowing which combination it should have. The Desmo heads, driven through bevel shafts and gears, need both the opening and closing clearances checked at each valve service, and electric-start bikes add a starter motor and its circuit to the checklist. On the Mille S2, the plain-bearing crank depends on the high-pressure oil system and the full-flow filter, so regular oil and filter changes protect it, and the hydraulic clutch needs its fluid kept fresh. With so few Mille S2s made, RPM sources parts for them and agrees any replacement with the owner first.
Book your 900 S2 and Mille S2 in
Tell us what it needs, or how long it's been off the road, and we'll take it from there.
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Saturday: 10am to 5pm
Sunday and Monday: closed