Hi from Kiwiland

[Tony Mille]

After 10 years without a motorcyle, I purchased my brothers wrecked Mille S2 in july 09 and have been rebuilding it ever since.What a wonderful thing this interweb thingy is to track down parts needed and this forum looks like a great place to talk to like minded people.I've owned over 50 bikes in my 55 years, all new, mainly dirtbikes, my first roadbike was a Kawa Z1 900 back in 73, (whew what a beast). So this is my first project as such which i'm gettihg immense satisfaction out of. My bro imported this bike new from Australia in Jan 86 where upon he rode and raced this beauty until in 97 he hit some loose gravel around a blind corner and trashed it big time. Luckily he walked away relatively unscathed.He came back to New Zealand last year for a fleeting visit and I managed to convince him that the Mille was a bloody waste sitting in that shed looking very lonely. Now after 6 months of many late nights tinkering in my garage, its back on the road where it belongs!
What an awesome bike to ride it is, and the sound that comes from that Conti two into one truly brings a big smile to the dial.
I realize this is a very rare bike ( one of only 171 built I beleive) so for those of you who would like to know the frame #, its ZDM1000S2*100080*


Here's a photo of the finished project. I'll try to add the earlier pictures on a later posting.

[Craig in France]

Hi Tony,

Welcome and nice job! A rather under-rated bike, the Mille S2, IMO ...

And, like you say, rare. I can put you into touch with the owner of this one, if you want to exchange 'Tall Tales' . Just pm me.

Ciao

Craig

[Tony Mille]

Hi Peter,

The engine # is 100794

Cheers, Tony

[BevHevSteve]

hi tony, I fixed your link [make it a photo for you]. Welcome aboard. Nice looking bike, glad you got her back out of the darkness and onto the road where it belongs.

[Tony Mille]

Thanks for that Steve, all my project pics are at "bikepics.com'' under Ducati,MHR 1000 (they don't have an S2 Mille catergory)
A question now, I put Castrol "Edge" synthetic 10/60 engine oil into it, Quite expensive, seems to work fine, do you think it has any advantages, if not really, what would you recommend?

Regards, Tony

[BevHevSteve]

use any oil that has an "SG" rating, and change it out every 1000 miles along with the oil filter.

[BevHevSteve]

woops yeah should have said use a MOTORCYCLE oil with an SG rating...

[Tony Mille]

How about Mobil 1, V-TWIN, 20W50 , I've got access to that?
If using a high grade synthetic oil, should I be able to go longer between oil changes?
Craig in France, did u get my PM ?
Is there anybody else in New Zealand with a Mille S2 ?

Regards, Tony

[Craig in France]

Hi Tony,

How about Mobil 1, V-TWIN, 20W50, I've got access to that?

Yes.
That said, the specified oil for a Mille is/was AGIP SINT 2000 which was a semi-synthetic (whatever that means - but let's not go there ... ) 10-50; so you could go thinner, and thereby reduce the oil drag in the motor somewhat.

P.s. AGIP Sint 2000 is still available today, but I think it has reduced zinc content these days. Like Steve says, the API rating is what matters.

If using a high grade synthetic oil, should I be able to go longer between oil changes?

Personally, I wouldn't - or certainly not by a significant amount. Ducati specified changes every 3,000km and that was with a semi-synthetic oil. Basically, oil filtration is the issue here. Oil is cheaper than engine re-builds.

Craig in France, did u get my PM ?

Nope ...

Is there anybody else in New Zealand with a Mille S2 ?

Ah, sorry, don't know the answer to that ...

Ciao

Craig

[herbg]

Tony:

You would be pleased to know that I own the "sister bike" to your Mille S2! My bike is ZDM1000S2*100081* with engine number 100795!

Isn't it odd that your bike ended up in New Zealand and mine in Canada.

Would be interested in hearing how your restoration went as I'm about to embark on one soon.

Cheers,
Herb...

[radecal]

Hi blokes,
Can you send me the details on your S2 Milles please (I now have the engine and frame numbers but need build dates). There is a list for S2 Milles run by Robert Miller here in Oz and we have been tracking the genuine S2 Milles as well as the Frankenduc S2 Milles (with MHR numbered frames).
Many thanks,