M900W - Fueling

Still on the project M900W, the next element to sort out was the fuel system. The previous owner had really messed this up. I gutted the entire assembly and installed new fuel lines, a quick disconnect by the tank, a new fuel filter, a Pingel manual petcock, a new Mikuni vacuum fuel pump, and lastly pulled the already equipped Keihin FCR 41 carbs and thoroughly cleaned them.

This segment does not yet have a happy ending, as the electrical system was in even worse shape, so there was no chance of a test fire just yet.

The wiring harness had been cut through as if a kindergartner had been let loose on it with a pair of non-safety scissors. The taillight and turnsignal wiring was in shambles. Luckily, over the Christmas holidays, my father felt sorry for the poor bike's ugly wiring and sprung for Rizoma signals, which I believe he got from PJ's Parts. After some cutting, some soldering, some crimping, and some posi-locks, things are almost wired up. I still had a MotoLED tail light board from the M900V leftover when I upgraded to the Vizi-Tec system, so in it went as well. The tail was further chopped to accommodate a TPO taillight / license plate kit.

A Shorai battery just arrived from Motowheels, and I am excited to install it in the bike. But before a test of the bike can be performed, the electrical circuits must be reviewed again - the regulator had another ground wire coming off of it and running down the frame to the original battery location, and the fusebox contained all 30A fuses! These things will be remedied before its set in motion, and the regulator may be preemptively replaced/upgraded as well!

Other things done: All controls mounted on new handlebar (previous owner had poorly thought out clip-on installation), fresh oil, oil filter, oil cooler lines, bled hydraulics and put in new brake pads (will be upgraded masters to radial SBK masters with folding levers, purchased but not yet installed)

What's left to do? Tires, Chain, Clutch pack, install frame and rear axle sliders, CA-Cycleworks Exact-Fit Coils, sort out the remaining wiring, install shock and hoop, fill it up with gas, and hopefully ride off!

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!

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.