I thought that the trick to getting a 1098 to handle well was to change the offset on the front forks. Didn't Dan Kyle used to suggest this? When I had mine I did the TTX thing at the back along with a stiffer spring (I weigh only 140 lbs 65 kg but still needed a stiffer spring). Rick Hacket set it up for me (higher front and back) but it always ran wide on the gas out of corners. The 1299 that I have now seems much less prone to this.
Yeah Razz, I would agree that's a bigger part of getting the bike to handle better, and I did that too. I talked to a few folks here in the US who did the rear as well and said it also made a noticeable difference. As for the front end with the stock offset triple clamps I think they are at 34mm or 36mm, I noticed it a little on the street, but a lot more so when I was on the track. I remember in the slower corners it just felt like it was going to fall over if you tipped it in. The high speed stuff was OK, but the slower corners were unnerving with the stock front end. I basically did one track day and it went straight in the garage and on the lift for the mods/updates. Not riding it with stock setup again. I think I had 3 excursions that day where I had to straighten up and just ride it off the track at corner turn in because it felt like it wasn't going to turn. (Was probably more me that the bike). Not a good feeling.
Replying to Ian, Yeah, it got kind of out of hand and I did a stupid thing, I kept track of every quid I spent. So I'll be posting that when done so everyone can see the level of my passion/disease/stupidity. It is a sickness I tell ya... Damn Italians!
Fabrication or Step up? So I'd heard that the 1098SF swingarm was slightly longer and was a cheap alternative to the 1098RS swingarm. I searched eBay and found one in decent shape for about $300 US. I took off the stock one and fitted the SF to see what needed to be done. The right side is the issue in that where the exhaust is routed down from the vertical cylinder, the SF swingarm extends back from the pivot about 35mm to 40mm before it starts to curve in towards the wheel. On the Stock SB swingarm it curves in right at the swingarm pivot bolt. So after trying to have one fabricated and not working out and then trying to do the fabrication myself and send it to a welder/machine shop. I realized that the time and effort was getting to be a bit much. If I had access to a machine shop, I would of loved to create one out of a 1098SF swingarm because I think it looked pretty nice actually and if you spin the Mozzo back towards the frame you can get very close the the 1098RS length. Photos are of the stock 1098 Superbike Swingarm and the stock 1098 Street Fighter showing the roughly 35mm difference where the exhaust hits on the Streetfighter swingarm if installed on the Superbike. Not saying it can't be done, just requires some effort. The rest of the swingarm fits fine. I have a Pirelli SC2 200/60/17 mounted on my track rims and clearance was not an issue except where the vertical exhaust is routed. Mozzo - I love that the Italians have a specific word for part!
1098SF Swingarm fit test on my 1098S "Hit the Wallet" Project. Making sure that the 1098SF Swingarm fits with the Corse Rocker, the Ohlins DU343 and the shorter link from Swingarm to rocker. Yep, everything fits nicely, just need to make room for the exhaust.
While all this trying to fit the 1098SF swingarm is going on, I was on my other bike (a Honda VTX1800F Cruiser for puttin' around with the better half) when a guy in a car coming towards me in the opposite lane decided to turn into me. His left front fender hit my left leg knocking the bike over on top of me and I (Luckily better half was not with me at the time) slid about 15 yards on the asphalt with an 55 stone bike on top of my right foot and lower leg. I was lucky, nothing broken, but lots of road rash and a badly sprained right ankle and foot. So that kind of set me back a couple months. Be careful out there on the street! Anyway, I started looking to see if I could find a 1098RS swingarm and that's how I found this forum. I read thru a few threads and quite liked the comments and info so decided to join. I started a thread and mentioned what I was looking for a 1098RS swingarm and about two months later Lukefrs contacted me and said he had seen a refurbished one for sale on eBay out of Germany. I wound up contacting the seller to get the history and see if it was still available. It was and did include the bolts so I decided to make the purchase (Step up). Be careful, if you buy one of these swingarms because the bolts and the threaded pieces they fit into are are about 120 to 150 quid each! Make sure they are included when you buy one, not only because of the price but they are getting hard to find. Many thanks to Lukefrs for the tip! No real fitment issues to speak of, though fitting it into the frame was as expected, very tight. I had to actually loosen the engine mounting bolts that run through the rear of the case to get this swingarm installed, the stock swinger easily slid in and out once I removed the pivot bolt, not so for the RS swingarm. Also the clearance between the Akrapovic Evo exhaust and the swingarm is tighter than a gnat's ass (less that a piece of paper). Not sure if it's the same with other brands (i.e. Termi) or not?
Hey Gimlet, Based on the info you provided I did some research and found a shop that races 1198s here in the US. There are just north of Atlanta Georgia here in the southeast. The "Ducshop" I talked to a guy who has been building engines for some time and is factory trained. He pretty much reiterated everything you mentioned. Bottom end can spin bearings, best to blueprint, balance, Pistal pistons, deck it, cylinder bore to about .003 as stock is about .001 and can cause issues if run at high rpm for any length of time. Cost is about $4500 if I supply engine. Then they perform custom tuning/custom mapping. I should get an 1198 engine to start with, but I kind of like the idea of the 1098 being the last of the non traction control Ducs. My traction control is in my wrist. We'll see... Oh and no more racing. Been there, done that. I'm not that foolish anymore. But I do enjoy getting out and flogging that V-twin! It's aural therapy!!! I just enjoy my track days now. I can avoid getting the red mist and stay well within the confines of sanity. I do so enjoy a track day when I can put the bike back in the van still looking the way it looked when I rolled it out in the morning.
Oddly enough, yes. I did consider this, but there's a bit of an issue. The 15mm that this give you is about 1 chain length, but you know when you extend the chain you need two lengths, as they alter between inner/outer/inner/outer plates. It did not seem to be enough to make a difference once you rotate the Mozzo to set the change tension correctly. Also if you look on the inside of the swingarm when you have the Mozzo out, you can see that there is reinforcement for the original hole for the locating bolt, but where the other one is, that is 15mm further back, it does not have the same wall thickness for whatever reason(?). I'm sure it would work fine, but just didn't seem to make sense to me to do it. Funny you posted that video. That guy is out of Ohio and I've watched many of his video's before, he does a good job of describing things in his various videos.
The SF swinging arm is already 2" longer than the SB. I have to say though, even with that extra length my fettled SF wheelies very very easily. Lack of fairing is contributing as well. On low speed corner exits it almost slows it down because it will rear up so readily if there's a whiff too much gas. But its huge fun and I'm thankful its a standard model. The TC would spoil the party. I love the fact the bike feels so analogue. No ride-by-wire, no TC, no ABS. Just a big gutsy engine with an instant throttle response and somewhere to sit. Mine used to have that won't turn, won't turn, whooa turning to much feeling from the front end. A vast improvement came from giving up on Pirellis and switching to Metezeler M7rrs. And I've lifted the forks. I can't say I feel the need to change the geometry any more. I'm very happy with the handling though I'll revise that if an improved steering damper doesn't deliver the finishing touch.
Damn, I had a 916 imposed into the Shire, sitting on it's side stand but it wont upload. Anyway you get the gist.
Have some work to do today on the Red Bitch. Need to make sure the tank protector where the key goes has enough clearance for the Steering damper mount on the rear part of the top triple. Since it was moved back 4mm, it now rubs the protector. Then I'm going into the Ohlins FGRT 211 Forks to install the smaller spacer to give me the extra 10mm suspension travel on the front end, from 120mm to 130mm. Always an oily experience. But... with this libation (pictured) I'm ready for the job! I told ya, I've got it bad... Someone told me that if you drink a couple of Ducatio Macchiato's while working on your bike, it will alleviate anything bad from happening and you will have no left over fasteners or bolts when the job is completed.
OK, moving on to controls now. I've looked at a lot of the options that were available, and decided that the CNC Racing Althea Kit looked very well designed with some adjustment availability. By looking at photos of Checa's bike it also appears to be the same rearsets that Checa used and if good enough for him, then by God they're good enough for me. They also have folding toe pieces on both shift and brake levers when I'm getting over to that 64 degree lean angle... (Yeah right!) Anyway, it was an easy choice for both the Triples and Rearsets and the fact that they were black nicely complemented the new black RS swingarm too. I'm not so much into shiny look at my bike kind of bling, but I am into go fast, proven, race functionality and how that drives the design. To me, bling is factory race bikes with exotic materials; titanium, magnesium, carbon in all the right places. I love the Ducati factory triples and handlebar clamps made of of magnesium, but Damn they are way pricey! That's my kind of bling.
With all the upgrades completed, I took the bike to Virginia Int'l Raceway April 8th, 9th. I did the California Superbike School with a friend of mine. The upgrades made a HUGE difference. Bike was amazing! Completely different as compared to stock. So balanced and Neutral, mid corner adjustments (when I buggered up the entry) no issue. Power down hard exiting slow speed corners, trailing it in hard on the brakes, no issues. Just poised and predictable. Absolute huge difference in the way it handled. Set suspension based on Dan Kyle's notes and my weight. Compression, Rebound and Preload, were mid range settings so there is a little tweaking to do still. I think I can improve on the turn in and quick direction change (Still a tad slow). But other than that it was a hoot! AT VIR you exit the last turn pretty fast in 3rd grear, front straight was full honk in 5th. My little 1098S was flying by more than a few 1199's and 1299's. Big smile under my helmet... I have a Torque Values spreadsheet for the 848/1098/1198 and the Dan Kyle notes on suspension I like to post here but the site won't let me upload a Word Doc file, any suggestions???
