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. 

Brake Lines & German Parts

So it seems I have finally conquered the front blinker dilemma (The "GP" Brembo master cylinders were positioned alarmingly close to the turn signal stalks, and the length of the Rizoma Track '01' Signals appeared to conflict with the headlight fairing so I had to figure something out. Removing the fairing was not an option as I had just paid to have it painted) .

A phone call to Wild Hair Accessories led to a very pleasant phone call and the solution. Fork mount brackets for the signals. The brackets are made by GSG in Germany and are CNC machined clamps that look quite slick. Unfortunately they will be shipped from Germany with an estimated time of 3-4 weeks but with the weather like it is, I am in absolutely no rush. I recommend Wild Hair Accessories, especially with their policy on customer service (talking with the customer=good and it alleviates possible mistakes, highly important as parts are coming in from Germany).

Similarly a quick phone call to ensure that the custom brake and clutch lines were coming along left me still a very-satisfied customer. Brian @ Motowheels had all the answers and personally checked to make sure the preload adjusters in gold were actually in stock, as well as getting gold banjo bolts all around to match the brake & clutch fittings. There will also be a set of high performance plug wires in the package to add to the look as well as the overall performance of the bike.


Above is a shot of the recent gear that was added to the bike. The DP tach and carbon fiber cluster as well as STM frame plugs (20mm) and the set of Rizoma Track '01' Indicators for the front. Things have come together and it looks like I may almost be finished (for the time being of course...)