Riding too fast on a road I didn't know, too fast into a corner, realised I wasn't going to make it around, low sided and the bike gracefully slid off the road into the soft grass/shrubs. Entirely my own fault not gravel/diesel/the usual excuses..
the billet drive flange arrived this morning, so that and the chain have been fitted today, it's ready to come off the stand now. I've got some bits to drop off at the platers tomorrow and I've ordered some bits from MSP today, mostly clips etc.. locking clips for the wheel and axle nuts, spire clips for the frame.. the next thing I need to think about is bodywork, I've got almost two full sets (negative a nose cone) of OEM bodywork but most of the panels need small repairs and/or paint. while I'm capable of doing it I really cant be bothered with the prep work and the clean up afterwards.. I like the idea of a full set of carbon fairings but its £2k from carbonin.. I keep putting it in my basket, going to check out and bottling it.
I got a second pair of hands yesterday morning to help get it off the stand, feels like a milestone having it back on its wheels managed to get a few mins to put the exhaust (bar the cans..) on, I know the cerakote will not be to everyone's taste but I'm really happy with it got a couple of other little jobs done, bled the clutch etc, New rearsets are due to be delivered tomorrow, then it's a case of waiting for bits to come back from the platers before I can attach the throttle cables, fit the rad and fill the cooling system, fit the fuel tank and start it up.
New rearsets arrived this morning unboxed assembled, pivot greased and other fasteners given a smear of Loctite 248 fitted, happy with the fitment, only points worth noting are - the shift rod is only supplied with one rod end, which is RH threaded, the other one on the bike is also RH threaded and the broken DP rearsets went in the bin ages ago so I've had to order a new LH threaded rod end and lock nut, and the RH side bracket needed 5mm spacers to clear the DP up pipes, luckily I'd kept the spacers from the DP rearsets so I've used them.
Keep a close eye on the Spider gear lever pivot bolt. Mine backed out and fell off at Silverstone, which was...inconvenient.
I’m still getting over the honesty on the crash. What is this witchcraft ? Usually people get blinded by the birth of a new star in our solar system, mysteriously in the daytime and a flock of Dodo’s crossed their path whilst their brakes simultaneously fail
I've done a bit more work since the last post.. Tail tidy and exhaust securing bands were powder coated in the same matt black as everything else, exact start cable kit fitted, wiring loom routed correctly and secured, radiator and hoses fitted, cooling system filled. went to fit the tank to find it wouldn't line up with the rear mount due to swelling , I could have cut up and welded the mount but at this point I just wanted the problem to go away as easily as possible which usually involves throwing money at the situation, so I ordered an adjustable bracket from Forsaken Motorsports in Canada. which means the tank fits now... I then found that the cooling system failed a weight of water test, with a drip coming from the plastic elbow on the vertical cyl head.. proper heart in the mouth moment when it looked like it was coming from the head gasket! coolant drained, New gasket fitted to the coolant elbow, cooling system refilled and it is tight next to connect the battery and turn the ign on and there's a relay clicking away, turns out to be the ECU ground hadn't been connected, that was quickly rectified and the engine turned over fine. quick visit to the petrol station for 5l of super and it started on the first push of the button, knocked it off, wheeled it outside and let it sit running until the fans kicked in and out a few times happy it was running fine I let it cool off over night, checked/topped off the coolant today and then changed the oil and filter.. the old stuff had less than 350 miles on it.. I really should have caught it in a clean drain pan and kept it for the lawnmower... that pretty much brings us up to date, I've got a small list of jobs left to do - fit the bodywork when it arrives, once that is on I need to adjust the position of the controls and torque up the fasteners, rear brake needs to be bled then tax it, give it a shakedown run then back into the garage to give it a thorough nut and bolt check.
There should be a warning on this thread, contains nudity! Defo her some nice clothes, done allot of work on the bike time and money well spent as I think the 848/1098 are stunning bikes, specially good examples like this one Great thread/read this morning so thanks for sharing
I've bought the carbon fuel tank side panels from carbonin, and I'm going to finish the repair/paint on the carbon tail unit I've already got. I kind of got put off the (unpainted) carbon nose and sides after a mate showed me a pic of a 916 he had years ago with full carbon bodywork and a red tank.. It was too much for me.
Got a couple of hours free this afternoon, managed to get a few coats of 2k high build primer over the repair on my carbon tail unit, I'll give that next week to properly cure and shrink back, then I can get the red sprayed, then clear the whole thing.
The bike is now wearing some fairings.. kind of. My intention was to buy a full set of carbon fairings but that's not going to happen before the start of the good riding weather, so as a temporary measure for this summer I've bought some Chinese fairings (yes, I know... ) They were £267 delivered, I messaged the seller in China to get the '1098' in black rather than white as per the last set of fairings on the bike. They were fairly well packed and came with everything, although I'm only using the nose fairing, sides and belly pan, the rest will probably be sold on. They're not 100% as everyone knows, the paint is ok, there's a few imperfections and it's straight off the gun so a flat and polish would do it the world of good. They fit alright, a couple of holes needed opening up with a deburring tool and there's a bit of pushing and pulling where the OEM ones just fit perfectly but again.. you have to manage your expectations for the price. I ordered some carbon fuel tank side panels from carbonin three weeks ago so they should be here next week, and I'm just waiting for a day that's not raining and windy to paint the tail unit, once that's done it'll be time for an MOT and a shakedown run. I've just bought another NOS genuine Ducati carbon tail unit from Italy too, and over the summer I'll collect a carbon nose, sides and belly pan so next winter that can all be painted and fitted.
I've got the paintwork on the repaired fullsix carbon tail unit finished today.. masked it up and shot the red the other day, gave it 48hrs to cure, wet sanded and applied the tricolore stickers, then gave it 3 good coats of clear this morning, it's gone on really well, that will get a couple of days to cure then I can nib and polish it and get it fitted, then once the carbon fuel tank side panels arrive (the carbonin ones from reactive parts never arrived after nearly 5 weeks I gave up, asked for a refund and have ordered some Tyga ones instead) it can be MOT'd. View attachment IMG_20220417_141721_866.jpg
