More 888 Stuff

In May, I was busy with a few brackets so that I can reposition the electrics that are under the seat to the front of the bike. The heatsink and ECU are the main parts. The current weight distribution of the 180kg bike is exactly 50/50 front to rear. I'm hoping moving these bits from one extreme to the other will get us closer to the theoretical ideal of 52/48.

My standard cable-drive tacho is quite deep and has the cable connection at the back, this prevents me fitting the ECU flush with the back of the dash. It was a pain in the ass, but after a lot of measuring, tweaking and fiddling about, I now have it all fitted with enough clearance. Maybe a task for Phase III - a electronic tacho. I like these: Stack Tacho

Also made up some new ally fairing brackets...

There are a few other little works in progress, but the next big thing to get done before I took time out to get married was to get the bike down to Mark Lumb of MADASL Racing to fit the spaghetti system. Mark has a cool workshop with loads of interesting custom Ducati projects...

Nice! :-)

It took a bit of persuasion to fit as this was the first SP Mark had made a system for. But with the help of BBB Fabrications Steve Bailey on a Sunday morning, it was all sorted and looking sweet!

Thanks Mark and Steve for your help on this :-)

Mark then kindly dropped the bike off with Red max Steve Hillary for the engine work. Mark is also lending me a slipper clutch for the TT. A top guy!! Get in touch with Mark at MADASL for spaghetti systems, vernier pulleys and all sorts of other Ducati mods.

Fast forward a few weeks... all the engine work has now been done (more on that later) and I'm meeting Steve down at the dyno late this afternoon to set her up for the new air-box/exhaust see what she does with this new setup.

My Kinda Guy

Just love the Petrolicious story of Jack Griffin:

He Raced the 24 Hours of Le Mans with No License and No Experience

I have an idea of how this feels; the first time set off down Bray Hill on the Isle of Man for my first ManxGP in 2005, I had been riding a motorbike for around 3 years and had only been racing short circuits for 15 months...

:-)

More Work on the 888

...from a while back...

Some more delicious black-gold from Peter at Oronero...

With a new, lighter and more reliable race loom on the way from Peter, the ECU can be moved to the front of the carbon air runners. This will help with the weight distribution (standard is 50/50) and also allow the use of the Corsa crank case breather box (above). There is a lot of does work/doesn't work chat about the large volume crank breather. The fact that the Corsa bike had  them for years and this is something Cosworth did on all their engines of the era leads me to believe there is something in it... even if only 1 bhp at 10k rpm.

This year I'm using Peter's Corsa velocity stacks and just running with a mesh against the front frame bracing (still to be done) to keep the nasties out. We'll see how this works with new exhaust on the dyno.

Breather box installed - it's a beauty!

Been experimenting with some rear brake reservoirs...

In the end I went with this adapted HRC version. Adding lightness...

I also managed to finally track down some decently priced rear-sets. Second-hand from Rudy in Holland. After a refurb, new bolts and fitting my preferred foot-pegs, they came out a treat. My adapted originals will go into the spares box... always nice to have a back-up!

More lightness added :-)

Workin' on the 888

Been bollocks to the wall since April on the bike. Between this, work and organizing stuff for my wedding (this Saturday! :-)  I haven't had much time to do a few posts. I've done my bit on the bike and dropped it off for an exhaust and tune-up last week. So, here's the first update in roughly chronological order...

My mate Steve Mann at MTS Classics has been helping me loads with little bits 'n pieces... even turning a socket-cap into a light-weight oil sensor blanking plug...

A couple of grams here... a couple of grams there... it all counts!

Struggled with the brakes on this bike since I got it. Some brand new callipers from Mode Performance... great value, but not money I'd intended spending. At least I have peace of mind with the callipers. Still not happy with the feel of the lever though. 

I've robbed a Brembo radial master cylinder of my old Aprilia... the lever comes too far back to the bar for my liking. Not sure on the way forward with that one (without throwing more cash at the brakes).  Any suggestions?

Some nice looking clip-ons. They look light-weight, but are only a few grams lighter than the OEM steel ones. Ducati made those SPs good! At least a bent bar can be swapped out in a few minutes with these. Rentals are a bit heavier and I don't like the all those numbers an markings on them. These look trick.

The front half of a 3-piece carbon air-box from on of my sponsors - Peter from Oronero. A shame to cover it in foil... but if it keeps the air being sucked in a few degrees cooler, it's worth it.

The standard battery tray is pretty heavy and made for one of those lead-slab batteries. Needed to sort that. Got some ally together, planned, measured, cut, drilled and took it down to Steve Mann to get some TIG treatment....

... a lick of paint and hey-presto!

This drops nearly half a kilo in the quest for more lightness :-)

More coming soon...

Triumph Scrambler

Here's a sweet lookin' Truimph scrambler by Kingston Custom

Thanks Cafe Racer Culture blog for the link.

Ducati GT-R Cafe Racer

Here's something nice from Spirit of the Seventies... a 'Ducati GT-R Cafe Racer'. It's almost too 'nice'. I love it :-)