Santa Came!

This year's Christmas was more eventful than expected. While my close friends may recall I had an eventful summer, this had me expecting things to stay quite low key, at least for me, during the Holidays. Surprisingly, it wasn't as mundane as I had anticipated. From her parents came the Ignitech Sparker TCIP4 Programmable Ignition, via CA-Cycleworks! Very unexpected. This is a really neat unit. You simply unplug and remove the factory equipped ignition units, and plug this beast in. You can connect your computer using a serial-to-USB adapter and edit the ignition curve advance. Very trick.



The Ignitech has many great features and Brad Black's writeup is not to be missed regarding this ignition. I find it a great compliment to the DynaCoils kit on the bike, removing any weak spots from the Ducati's ignition setup. This will be especially handy when high compression pistons and performance cams are installed in the Monster.

Additionally, the added engine performance will be balanced with a little more 'stop'. New ISR rotors are being equipped, obtained from DesmoWorks. Everybody should have the opportunity to work with Anthony Creek, he's fantastic. Really makes you happy there is a good lot of folks in the Ducati community (such as Anthony with Desmoworks, Chris at CA-Cycleworks, and Brian and the Motowheels crew among many many others).



These are getting mounted with the titanium rotor bolts and the brake calipers are going to get some love as well, in the form of new titanium thru-bolts.

Parts, Winter Plans, and Local Help

Some new parts are on their way, mostly funded through the sales of old parts that I no longer used, or found alternatives for. Among these are DP/DPM Billet Cam End Covers and Valve Covers with Oil Cooler Mount (which should go nicely with the a)VeeTwo Cams yet to be put on and b)Rizoma Billet Oil Cooler). Things will look nice, machined, and tidy on the motor. Only thing left is some actual motor work in the indefinite future (putting in the cams and high compression pistons, maybe 944 kit).

Some paint work will be undertaken this winter as well. A new 'cafe' style rear cowl is being made by a former DFW Ducati rider, Jesus, which will be bolted up for evaluation and later sent, along with my carbon fiber front fender, off to paint. New to the DFW area is Brad Miller, of Motion Ducati, who will perform some paint, powdercoating, and engine work (when that time comes around).

Also here to help is a friend who enjoys doing the mechanical, and an extra set of hands will be quite handy during the IMA triple set install. This requires removing front wheel, forks, controls, gauges, the triples, and the bearing races that will be in the steering head, as well as installing new tapered bearings (original equipment on pre-02 Monsters) and races, and butting it all back up.

So far behind...

But fear not. New pictures and post are soon to be added.

Wiring has been moved. Powdercoating things will be done. Here's a few pictures to keep you going until I can post up some substance:

Ready for Vegas

The bike is officially ready for Vegas. New Michelin Pilot Road tires are on the bike, and the DDM HID headlight has had to come off. The incredibly long, automobile-derived wiring loom is far too much for underneath my tank and was a short ride from melting into oblivion. The AG Hammer rearsets (AGgressive Hammer is the full name of the manufacturer) work very well, and all necessary adjustments to actuate the brake light and pedal position have been made. 

The Nichols flywheel performs very well, however there was a bit of a challenge in getting the VeeTwo basket/hub and Barnett Clutch to perform. The malfunction, however, was at the slave cylinder side, and was the result of the shorter (225mm) pushrod of my 1999, compared with the longer (235mm) pushrod of the later bikes. Also, the STM pushrod pin (cup that fits into the pressure plate bearing) had the small bearing inside it seize, and had begun to drill into my original pushrod, and similarly the clutch pressure plate bearing had all but given up as well. The combination of tight spot in the bearing, short pushrod, and seized pushrod pin bearing had the bike unable to shift gears very well (The clutch wouldn't disengage without repeated pumping of the lever). Stuart Rust was able to identify the problem, and we replaced all failing components, and bolted up a new Ducati Performance slave cylinder as well. (Turns out the malfunction was from no fault of my own!)

Here's a pic from about a week ago, and but they don't include the new slave cylinder, or new tires yet. New pics tomorrowish with the bike geared up and ready to go. 

After the trip, the bike is due a valve inspection, and there's a set of Sil-Moto Spaghetti pipes waiting at home as well. 

Pics as Promised - Vegas Update

Going to be working with Stuart Rust on some basic modifications for the trip. The headlight is being upgraded to DDM H4 HID kit so I can see when its dark (at long last) and meanwhile the bucket and glass have been upgraded to a clear-glass system from Germany thanks to Desmoworld. This should help out night vision immensely. Here's a pic of the current headlight with the ring powder coated black, and the new unit will look very similar. Powdercoating was done locally by Custom Powder Coating.

The blinker situation has been all sorted out, with the blinkers mounted to the carbon fiber headlamp brackets, and the headlamp mounted with titanium bolts and drilled titanium washers.  Additionally, many of the older corroded bolts have been replaced with stainless steel bolts, bought on the cheap from MonsterParts.

Stuart is going to help by putting on a new set of Michelin Pilot Roads, since the Vegas trip is 2800mi and my rear Pilot Power is looking pretty worn already (not to mention the aged Dunlop out front). He's going to give the bike a once over before the ride after I change my oil, and afterward he'll likely do an oil change, belt change, and valve check. If the valves need any tending to, I will be putting in a MBP collet set, and using the EMS Shims. Other bits include Nichols Flywheel and the Nichols Jambnuts for good insurance, as well as the Sil Moto Spaghetti Headers. Things are looking good, though I dread the upcoming wiring debacle that will be installing an AutoCom system to a switched positive lead. Here's a shot of the whole bike currently before the work begins:

Higher quality pictures will be taken next time, when I'm back to using my Canon SLR, rather than my Blackberry Bold.

Las Vegas

Getting ready for a big trip from Dallas, TX to Las Vegas, NV. I've ordered new clip-ons so the ride will be less taxing on my wrists (total trip distance = 2,800 mi). The CycleCat clipons will be coming off in favor of a set of the New SpeedyMoto Tallboy clip-ons, from Motowheels. This will likely require a new brake line since the bars will be an inch or more higher than before, and some time is involved as well. A big advantage in switching away from CycleCat is SpeedyMoto does not use proprietary parts so replacements will be easy to come by should I break something. This is not the situation with CycleCat, who has run itself out of business and has only select parts pandered through OnCycles.com (no thank you).

This requires removing top triple, existing clip-ons, and everything on the existing clip-on bars, putting them on the new bars, installing the new clip-ons, replacing the top triple, and a lot of adjustments to get things "just right". 

As far as gear goes, I'll be wearing my Dainese lightweight mesh jacket (don't worry - still armored up and complete with backprotector), and to carry changes of clothes I'll be using a new Kriega R25 Rucksack, from Britain and provided by Matrix Motorsports. 

The bike will also get new tires (finally). Replacing the ancient dunlop front and michelin pilot power rear will be a matching set of Michelin Pilot Roads. I had thought heavily about the Road 2's, with the 2CT compound but the price isn't quite where I could do it just yet.  Along with basic maintenance like tires, I'll be changing the oil and replacing the old, O-ring chewing oil drain plug with a newer unit from Nirvana Racing that also includes a magnet to remove debris from the oil. 

Some small electrical changes have been made, including more robust starter wires from DesmoTimes, and I had to replace a Rizoma Signal where the wires had been severed. PJ's Parts delivered the signal, along with a pair of spacers so I could remount the blinkers on the headlight brackets instead of using the GSG Moto fork brackets. This required new headlight brackets with signal holes drilled or the drilling of the existing brackets. As embarassing as this is going to sound, I don't have a drill nor an 8mm drill bit. So carbon fiber brackets with the holes already in them came from MonsterParts.com and several bolts were replaced with titanium from RaceBolts.com

Pictures next time, I promise.

THE MOVE

The Monster has been trailored to Dallas, TX where I now reside. As a welcome-to-your-new-home present, I have finally taken the time to put some parts that have been sitting around on the bike. Here's a current picture:



These include a Rizoma Clutch Cover and Pressure Plate, both provided by PJ's Parts. I can't say enough good things about the service from PJ's Parts - they run a top-notch outfit. Also in the mix are a set of aluminum shoulder bolts for the stock rearsets to fix the worn out looking zinc plated bolts.  I'm awaiting delivery of a set of titanium bolts to replace the clutch cover's bolts and some of the controls bolts as well. Here's the clutch side of the engine up close:

And an up-close detail image:

A short video of the spinning parts (clutch & pulleys)in motion: (DISCLAIMER: it was quite windy and this was recorded on a Blackberry, so the sound cuts in and out oddly)