Headlight & HID

Its been awhile since I have installed the Desmoworld Clear Glass Headlight, but I noticed I have not posted any pictures of the unit! I had the ring powdercoated black, it comes chrome just like the stock headlight's ring. Here's an image with a standard H4 bulb (that happens to be blue, go figure):



HID Lights are all the rage right now, and for good reason: they are far brighter than conventional lights. With motorcycles, the more light the better, as there's often only a single headlight beam available. The common fix has been to increase bulb wattage to get a brighter output. While this does work, it also taxes the electrical system, which is not very robust on a motorcycle. HIDs put out a whole lot of light while using a low wattage, and are therefore very well suited for motorcycle applications. I tried out a DDM Tuning kit that's a 35W, 4300K color output setup. The wiring came to me with far more than I could ever use. With some quick cuts and some wires soldered and heat shrinked, I was able to remove what would have been a bird's nest of wires under my tank and fit the unit in the bike quite easily. The unit I have is the H4 Hi/Lo single bulb setup. This means I can still hit the brights switch and get a raised output from the headlamp. It works very well. Its almost TOO bright, so I have decided to be proactive and aim the headlamp down a little more than normal so I don't blind all of the DFW drivers. Here are a few shots of the unit installed:

Nearly finished (with Winter Project)

Had a little bit of trouble removing the old, corroded bolts from the front rotors. The factory bolts are M8x20 zinc plated steel bolts, with allen heads. I hate the allen head, especially in places that require a good firm torque setting. They are prone to torque-out and that's exactly the problem these old bolts had. Using a little bit of solvent and some bolt-outs from McMaster-Carr, these were all removed. New torx-head titanium bolts will be replacing them along with the ISR dampened rotors, from Desmoworks. The new rotors don't use an incredibly heavy steel carrier, and are floating (yet dampened - to increase the 'buttons' life).

The Aeroquip Starlite hoses and forged fittings, supplied by Baller Bolts went on without a problem. Note about BB, the owner is member RyanRacer of the DMF, and is very helpful to deal with. If you are going to do this job, its as easy as getting the appropriate size fittings (AN-6) and a length of hose, cutting it to size and putting it on.

The starter wire and oil cooler hoses have both been rerouted along the alternator side of the bike, so there is little visual obstruction and easy access to the horizontal belt and cover.

Here's the hoses tucked up against the frame and out of the way:


Notice the DP/DPM Cam End Cover. And the "now cleaner" looking side:



Shown are the DP/DPM billet valve inspection covers, Rizoma Oil Cooler Protector and Aeroquip hoses. Its also quite evidence from the clean appearance of the new billet that my horizontal cylinder head has cooked on some serious dirt over the years. Perhaps next season I'll finally pull the heads, have them painted black, and one of the performance cam sets will go in:



Shown, left to right, are sets of VeeTwo Torque Grind Cams (V2-210) and Race Grind Cams (V2-212). The Monster already has a set of adjustible VeeTwo cam pulleys, the silver pictured pulleys are a set for the 900SS or M900 trackbike that I have yet to obtain!

On Geometry

Recently, I've made two changes to the bike's geometry. The 1999 Monster is a member of the 1993-2001 Monster Frame series, which shares many features with the 851/888 bikes. The main differences are an additional brace near the steering stem was removed to accommodate the Monster's air box and the rear section of the frame is welded on, rather than being a subframe (subframes ARE used on all 'new' Monsters, a la 696/1100 and generally all other Ducatis, including the Hypermotard and the Superbikes).

A distinguishing feature of the 851/888/Monster's frame from the newer 2002-2009 ST based Monster frames is the hooped swingarm suspension. The swingarm connects to a hoop or arch that connects to a pivot or lever arm, which in turn is connected to the top of the shock. The hoop is originally made of steel and comes the color of the bike's frame. Thus, mine was antique gold. Until I changed it. For several years, I've been running a lighter and stiffer billet swingarm hoop. It left the geometry essentially the same, but gave a slight amount more feedback while looking really good. It came to my attention that DMF Member sweir1171 was making a ride-height adjustment kit. The kit features two machined, threaded risers that will raise the tail of the bike a few cm. They work fantastically and went right on.



Such a modification will change the wheelbase of the motorcycle and quicken steering.



While I quite liked the quicker steering and change in feel, I was also interested in improving the feel of the front end. The forks have been reworked with a basic respring, revalve and re-oil using RaceTech components, but aside from the slightly stiffer and lighter CycleCat top triple and clipon handlebars, not much else had changed. This is when I contacted IMA SrL. These guys are fantastic to work with.

There are a few differences in the pre-02 Monster frames and the newer Monster (02-09) frames beyond the rear suspension assembly. The older frame Monsters, along with all Supersports, utilize a narrow steering stem and are equipped from the factory with tapered roller bearings. The offset (the distance between the centerline of the forks and the steering stem) is 25mm. To put this into perspective, superbikes frequently leave the factory with 36mm offsets, and aftermarket triples may change this down to 32 or even 30mm. Several vendors sell triples with offsets as low as 27mm (Ducshop).

Newer Monsters (02+) have a bigger 30mm offset from the factory, use a much larger diameter steering stem and do not come with roller bearings from the factory (though one could upgrade to SpeedyMoto's set if they like). The rake change from old style monsters to new style monsters is a small but perceivable 23 or 23.5 (depending on the source you read) to 24 degrees. IMA produces beefy billet aluminum triple sets (upper and lower, including steering stem) for older Monsters and Supersports that increase the offset to 30mm, same as the new Monsters, and even allow for the use of a Monster-esque bar on a Supersport (if one was so inclined). They provided me with a black anodized set for my Monster.



Installation involves suspending the front end of the motorcycle, removing the wheel, gauges, controls and anything touching the triples. Once that's all taken care of, the triples are loosened and removed from the bike. The inner races must be knocked out of the steering stem before the new races may be inserted. Then a new tapered bearing that has been well greased is driven on to the IMA triple's stem. The factory uses SKF bearings, and that's what I replaced the set with (obtained from CA-Cycleworks in SpeedyMoto's convenient packaging). Then its all put back together, titanium bolts all around, and you get:



From a bit of a distance:


Update - 3/29/2010
The finished product has a trail of approximately 90.5mm, and started closer to 96mm. original wheelbase was 1430mm, and the final result is minimally smaller. The feel is fantastic on the street, though I've only put about 1,000mi on since the original writeup. I've yet to find really great roads outside of DFW like I had nearby in Middle Tennessee. Looks like its time to start taking off bling so I can track this bike. Or perhaps its time to invest in a 2nd bike for track only.