I pulled the heads and rear barrel off my 91 900SS after a comp check showed it to be down about 25 psi. The 2 comp rings looked OK, end gap was good and a cursory check of the oil ring looked OK too. Now my heads are all done, upon reassambly I find the the oil control ring was indeed broken.

OEM ringsets are not inexpensive, are there alternatives ? Or should I look at it as an opportunity to drop in a pair of hi-comp pistons, pins and rings for not much more ?

Ah Mosport........ so near yet so far.

H.C. pistons would get you noticeably more grunt for sure (had to replace a leaky cylinder base gasket on my DR650 and while I was at it I installed a 10.5:1 JE piston - made a big difference).

I wonder if JE Pistons or Wiseco makes piston kits for your machine as an alternative to Ducati Performance??

The downside, theoretically at least, is there could be a drop in reliability and longevity due to the higher operating temperatures and stresses with the h.c. pistons. Also, you would likely have to run high octane fuel to prevent detonation.

I would go for the high comps.

In my experience, the two to look at are the Pistal kit and the JE kit. I like both, and both come with rings by Wiesco, new pins and clips. Pistal can be bought through myself, BCM, MBP and a few others. JE's can be bought through myself, MBP ( I think) and any shop that deals with JE Canada.

When doing this, definatly purchase the top end gasket kit from Ducati. It has all the little fiddly bits that you will need in one convienient part#. For your 91 900SS the kit# is 79120031A

Hope this helps!