Learned how to ride a bike , this time last year ; the 916 was the poster bike on the wall , always wanted one and an F40 748s came up for the right price as it was my first bike , plus the price of a 916; I decided to pop my cherry on this Few bits when I first got her Goodridge Braided (Carbon) Brake lines Goodridge Braided (Carbon) Clutch line New Clutch and Brake Fluid Brembo smoked front and rear Brake,Clutch reservoirs Tygon Tubing used between reservoirs and master cylinder New Brembo Clutch lever , tightened and tension set CNC racing Brake and Clutch Covers Race-spec Clutch cover bolts Race-spec Brake carrier bolts Stainless Brembo Caliper pinch bolts Brembo front and rear Carbon Ceramic brake pads Ducati Performance Tank pad New uprated Exact Fit starter cables and earth New Starter Solenoid Rear LED with integrated indicators K&N oil filter , Motul 15W50 V300 oil , Gold Plug Stainless steel Sump plug CNC racing Tank cap Billet foot pegs CNC racing Chassis caps R&G Tail Tidy Bike cleaned and ACF50 Chain cleaned and re-greased Next is to address the design flaw in the rear sprocket carrier on the earlier models , the standard sprocket sits on the crush drives (and a secondary bush between the sprocket and the carrier main shafts own bush). Should a crush drive fail in such a way that the rubber core breaks free of the steel outer ring, it leaves the ring free to make its way out of the back of the housing. As a result of this it can drift in towards the swing arm. As it is rotating with the wheel it is able to move out as far as the wheel adjuster castle ring and if it isn't spotted it quickly it will begin to wear the aluminium adjuster away as it cuts ever deeper into the swingarm assembly. Steel to alloy is an unfair fight. Ducati did address a different issue with a newly designed carrier. This concerned the circlip on the carrier shaft. These circlips are prone to wearing the groove wider over time than it was designed for. As a result it lets the whole carrier move towards the swingarm (with equally destructive results as the cush drive problem). A redesign was eventually created at around the end of the 996 production run. They machined off the highly dubious circlip portion of the carrier and fitted a conical spacer to keep the sprocket free of the adjuster and swingarm. Despite the newer carrier being available, it has no effect on the crush drive issue mentioned earlier. Renthal and AFAM make a carrier to address the Crush drive issue , as my Crush drives are at their shelf life , time to upgrade to the new design and use a Conical spacer over the circlips to keep the sprocket free of the adjuster and swingarm. Once this is done , she will be 100% , especially with 2nd hand bikes Sprocket carrier is hell of alot cheaper than a new swingarm Cleaned & protected , new leds, refurbished headlights, new Marchesini Stickers
Fitted some CNC Racing Preload Adjusters , progrips and Barracuda Bar-ends Installed front Rizoma indicators , cracked the nuts on the exhaust , ready for a polish Will try get the exhaust back up to a mirror polish but I suspect, I may have to outsource this, 16 years of corrosion might be too much for my tooling
Fitted ohlins steering damper ; did not think it would make a difference but you can definitely feel the effect adjusting the damper Nice bit of kit
Track Training , earlier this year 748 is perfect for Mondello, never had so much fun ; you can use the bikes full power band , great fun getting the arse to wiggle going down the box , brakes are fantastic, handling; chassis Coming out of Dunlop onto the straight , under acceleration, I even got to experience the front wheel wiggle as the front goes lite , you see the guys do it in Moto GP; bit of fun! Instructors where excellent, really nice lads; push you , Darren smith , want me to follow him , couldn’t keep up ; I was trying but not at that level yet Was with Hugh , it’s 3 bikes per instructor , you get a lot out of it ; you ask them what you want to focus on , they will guide you , brakes, body position, visibility and racing line where the main topics of the day
New air filters , will fit some Gilles rearsets tomorrow, ready for the track day Wednesday New Gilles rearsets , replaced airbox weathered screws with stainless hardware
RCS19 Corsa corta brake master installed Rcs17 Clutch master installed The difference in clutch modulation and brake feel is night and day to the oe but it is 16 years old, alot safer too
I went to the Race track , get 3 sessions un until the clutch started to slip ; new clutch in the next week or two Need to practice getting my knee closer to the tank, not something you pick up on until you see photo's of your position More Great Pics
Nice work, Carlo. See you’ve been dealing with Salvatore. Top bloke. While in there, have a go at regressing the swing arm spindle as they are prone to seizing. Ian
