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Hi Murph

the pistons you have in your bike are 87 mm Wiseco pistons ( std is 86 mm ) so there allready 1mm over
to get the bore clean again you would need 87.5 mm pistons .

another thing is the Wiseco's are very heavy pistons at about 575 grams so when doing the crankshaftwork i would check
the balance factor for sure .

there is a guy in Phoenix that knows his way around vintage Ducati's David Chrone from Ducati Phoenix .

https://www.ducatiphoenix.com/index.htm

Regards Eldert

Oh brilliant Eldert, thanks a bunch. He sounds like my guy.
I never knew there was such a Ducatisti here in the blast furnace that is Phoenix.

I had left the heads the other day to a guy called Short Block Charlie to see if he could hone the liners but he was away on vacation for the new year, but David sure sounds like a better choice.

I may as well start sending him a couple thousand to pad his coffers as this is probably gonna hurt a bit. I was just thinking when I saw that the big end was toast that I'd see if I could build it out and stroke it.

I didn't know the Wiseco's were a heavy slug, on this go around i'll definitely use a lighter piston and go for performance.

Where in Holland are you?. Not sure if you saw my Intro thread but I lived over there for a short bit. Went to the Vintage races at Mill in 2012 or 2014 I think.

And how the hell does a dutch guy know of a Ducati head in Phoenix?.

Cheers,

Murph

The big end will have some lateral play [approx. .010"] if my memory serves. Look at the thrust washers between the rods and the crank cheeks to see if they are blued or torn up. You should not feel any radial play or any notchiness when moving the rod. Was the oil you drained metalflaked? That is the usual sign of big end failure. I advise that you assume a sitting position when investigating the cost of a rod set. Being a roller bearing big end and a pressed together crank stroking would be quite costly if you could find someone to do it. Sleeves aren't a big deal to replace and really aren't that expensive. I've used Northwest sleeve [Oregon, check the web] a number of times and recommend them highly.

There's radial and some diagonal play, no notchiness, but I know enough about big ends to know that this one is shot and needs rebuilding.
I'm just going with a stock rebuild. Keep it simple and cost effective. GP Cycles in SanDiego are where I'm going to end up leaving it. I called the contact that Eldert gave me, David Chrone/DucatiPhoenix, and left a message but haven't heard back. So mehhh, I don't call twice.
Paul at GP comes recommended from a buddy who is one of Jay Leno's mechanics in Burbank and has a few Ducs himself including an F1 and an MH so he has a good finger on the pulse of who to go to and who not to go to.
3 months and $4k and I'll have a new bottom and top end and a running bevel again.