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...

Gaining Weight

After spending an unreasonable amount of time and money rebuilding the BAMF last year, I managed to get her half-wet weight (ready to go race but with just a liter of gas in the tank) down from 186kg to 175kg. This bodes well for the power to weight ratio (acceleration) handling and braking. Part of the weight saving was using a trick LiFE battery pack supplied by Durbahn. It saved my 2kg over the stock lead acid battery and it's had loads of cranking power (used it in the BAMF, Fourfiddy, Wee Monster and Duke flattracker).

Somehow after the Snetterton test I managed to run the battery completely flat. Doh! Mr. Durbahn has been really helpful on the phone as we tried different things to try get it recovered. But, it was to no avail... I now have a very expensive Durbahn paper-weight. The BAMF is getting a stock item replacement... not ideal but the Durbahn is just too expensive to replace at the moment... so the BAMF is gaining weight. :-(

But hey... not all is lost. I've shaved 2kg of lard from by body through my gym punishment over the last 6 weeks... so we're evens!