I Understand that. Just don’t see why they would. I’ve not come across a race team reducing the size of the front discs to go racing.
Received 998 carbon airbox and throttle boddies yesterday from Tom Irvine. Really happy with all the bits received. Fitted the throttle bodies and new airbox and started to re-run the loom and get everything connected. Just waiting on the lower fork clamps and the wheels to come
Supersport rules back then were very strict on what was allowed. Superbike was a silhouette class, but supersport was a class which had very strict conditions and as such certain things couldn't be changed or swapped out - forks was one of them. Internals yes, but the bodies had to be as per the production machine. Heads were the same - mild porting and flowing but nothing more. This is why the 749R had some of the trickest heads hoing at the time, which were practically as good as you could get on a ducati of the time. This is why the 749R was streets ahead of the 999R in terms of what you got for your money on the frame, because if it wasn't on the production bike it wasn't going on the racebike, unlike the corse race kit for the grown up bikes. Radial calipers meant that in order take advantage of consumable items like discs (not included in the rules) of different sizes / materials for conditions / circuits you needed to have the versatility to vary the offset - hence the selection of the shorter mounting post and spacer.
I think you are Gilting the lilly somewhat... The specification of items fitted to the 749r road bike were far inferior to anything associated with an unsuccessful race bike! Eg slipper clutch excuse..
Not specifucally about the quality per se. It was more that in the rules for the supersport class the change content was very little. There was no factory race kits allowed, so you couldn't go down the road of changing everything and having a practically different bike with the only shared component being a grommet a la wsbk. it wasn't a homologation class where you had to produce X number to allow you to field a works bike like superbike required - hence RC45, ZX7RR, YZF750R-SP, 916SP etc. So for example, you couldn't go and put an adjustable yoke with offset and rake on your supersport 600 bike if the road bike didn't have it. - but you could include it as a kit item in the WSB kit box. So no magnesium covers for example unless they were on the showroom machine. The heads as I remember could have work done but again, no swapping valves for titanium or super trick rods and cranks etc unlike the corse box of bits for the 999. So what you put on the road bike at that class dictated what content you could have at championship level under the rules. the 749R heads are one of the few heads that people like chris at CJS openly admit they can do very little with for what gains you get vs spend, as they're bloody good as they come. The fact that the ohlins on the road bike were barely better than the stock showas was neither here nor there. On the race bike ducati could gut those forks and replace with full fat Ohlins, just keeping the bottoms. the linear rate linkage - no linkage changes allowed so, fine put one as stock on the road bike - sure the race bike gets the gucci machined item but the ratio is unchanged. - ergo - what you buy in the showroom. That was the thinking behind it. Sure it was no RS where you open the box and race the bike, but it was still a very clever peice of rules manipulation where they probably looked at what they wanted in the race bike, looked at the rules and then said ok... if this and this is on the bike they won't be able to argue when they see us dicking in the pits with front end geometry etc. It's never about what the rules say... it's always about what they don't say.
Sure, upgraded heads optimised for the conditions and the operational range that the race bike would be operating in and fettled to get the most from and work at its best with the works exhaust they plonked on it. But again, we're back to what the head was... magnesium interface components, ti valves etc... it meant that those modified components and more importantly their materials would be allowed in the supersport kit. The japanese 600s couldn't lay claim to a magnesium cylinder head cover for instance. The fact that the supersport kit one might have been 25% lighter again vs the road bike one for instance, is neither here nor there - Ducati could prove they weren't adding anything over and above that which was allowed by the rules. When we ran a GTR car at the 24h du LeMans back in the day we weren't allowed to have any auxiliary tanks or any extra tank volume but there was nothing in the rules that said the fuel hose had to match the same bore as the filler bowser inlets, so we tuned the fuel pipe bore, routing and length to hold enough extra fuel for a whole lap of the race. But yes back to Russells Build... In a nutshell russell... Keep building and Carry on...
Came across this carbon headlight bucket for a reasonable price whilst looking for parts online. Was cheap enough to take a punt, so I did. Structurally it’s pretty good, but some holes needed drilling for the clocks and mounting points. Actually lines up really nicely with the air tubes, so pleased about that. My lower clamps arw ready for collection tomorrow, which is great. Can finally get the new forks in and have a rolling chassis.
huge weight saving though... lol, i have no idea! they look cool as fuck though even if ya cant see a great deal of em..
Had some great pics sent over from the engineer. He’s currently milling out the lower clamps for the Duke. The clamps needed milling out by 2.54 mm to 56mm In order the take the new Ohlins forks. Bike SHOULD be rolling by the end of the weekend. I’m currently on the lookout for a 996R/998 wiring loom. If anyone knows of one for sale, please let me know
Have one of the carbon headlight buckets on the 748 also. I found that the supplied supports for it weren't strong enough and at a certain speed the fairing section past where they are mounted would vibrate at a certain speed and make a really annoying sound so swapped them out for the standard cast item and problem solved.
Clamps are back from the engineers. Forks fit perfectly. Now waiting for the new year to start on the next few bits. I’m on the lookout for a 998 loom. If anyone knows of one available, please let me me know.
Interested to know why you had the lower clamps enlarged by wire-EDM, not milling. I know the advantages - just interested in your choice. Interested to know why you had the lower clamps enlarged by wire-EDM, not milling. I know the advantages - just interested in your choice (££££?)
It’s on the cards. Trying to find one is a little difficult. Not sure if I’m able to run a race subframe or not. If I can, then great
