Initial assembly started with the engine naturally. Stripped of all or any attached components, about the only thing fitted to it, as it sat on it's stand was an anodised oil filler cap from CNC Racing, the first of many aftermarket parts on the shopping list. First job was to refit the anti-knock sensors. Next was the RPM pick up sensor and the cooling system thermostat and hoses. It was also the first of many referrals to the torque settings list for the bike. I simply printed the relevant pages from the workshop manual and ticked them off one by one, as I went along. Rather than repeat myself, take it as read that every fastener be it a bolt, screw nut or washer, shown in images on this thread, unless specified otherwise, is either titanium or stainless steel. Anti-knock sensors (25Nm) and RPM pick up sensor (10Nm) Bought a box of 8mm and 10mm bright heavy duty zinc plated pipe clips, to replace all the stock black steel ones, which corrode way too easily. Purge lines and distributor rail fitted with new clips where necessary. Purge rail and pipework, SAMCO hose kit and thermostat housing back in place. The manual states 2Nm for the clips but I tend to tighten these by feel alone. It is important not to over do it however as the plastic bosses on the T-stat housing are prone to crack or deform if you do and leaks from this region are going to be a major headache if you have to address them later on The thermostat housing itself requires the use of narrow band Jubilee clips. 'Mikalor' are one of the few that make them in stainless steel. The ones SAMCO supply in their kit (JCL make them) are simply too wide. Secondary air system refitted to both cylinder heads Here the secondary air system, thermostat, inter-cylinder hoses, purge lines, knock sensors and MAP sensor hoses, clips etc., have all been fitted. This completes everything that should reside under the airbox of a Panigale V4 and is the last time I'll see it (hopefully!).
I'll try and post up some more content later. Got to visit the hospital this afternoon and some DIY work on a fitted wardrobe in the meantime. Stay tuned for more madness.
I’d like to nominate the bolts that hold the heel guards to the rearsets as the most shite on the bike. I tried to take one of them out recently and I swear that the allen head started to round out before I even got the key into it! It’s crap that many of the smaller bolts are weaker than the threadlock that was applied to them during construction. Any one tried removing the bolt that holds the shift rod onto the gear change spigot? The bolt is made from chocolate and on my 1299 they used red threadlock! Bastards!
My second mistake came when I was dis-assembling the airbox to access the throttle bodies and injectors. In my quest to remove some of the cover bolts (I can attest to "razz's" 'chocolate bolts' experience) I sheared one of them off completely. Ended up drilling it out. Big mistake as I ended up cracking the airbox cover itself, and after a very painful exchange of green folding stuff acquired a new one from Ducati. Never again. Anyhow, the motorised inlet trumpets and all the paraphernalia under the airbox lid, is a somewhat fiddly job and it's essential it's done right, so I made copious notes and photos prior to removing them. Fortunately the workshop manual provided me with a step by step guide to building the whole assembly back up. Having replaced the airbox cover I also had to transfer over various bungs (some of which needed bonding in using Loctite 480) fuel line rubber guides and various clips. Here's the upper and lower airbox halves, along with new/spare injector line rubber clips, blanking plug, ECU and BBS brackets and secondary air system grommet. Some of the injector line clips were actually damaged on the new bike when I removed the old/cracked cover. They are extremely difficult to fit, in that they tend to snap at the slightest provocation, when you try and pull the securing 'teat' through the plastic. I used some butter in the end and a blunt piece of scrap metal rod to persuade them into place from above, as opposed to trying to pull them through from the underside of the airbox cover. Finally got the little sods into position! Having completed fitting of the ancilliary parts to the airbox, next up was installation of the lower half to the engine, the inlet manifolds and injector loom. The OEM inlet manifold bolts were amongst the worst quality fasteners I have ever seen. Every single one went in the bin. Here the lower injector wiring loom is screwed in, again with all new fasteners Inlet manifolds next. These are what hold the airbox to the engine. 10Nm and a dab of Loctite 243. Lower injector plugs all in place. Tie wrap is as per workshop manual instructions to keep 'rear 4' injector wire clear of the trumpet actuating motor linkage. All wiring routeing on the bike and where to use clips, zip-ties etc, is all in the manual. If you follow it religiously it's very straightforward. Lower injector plug Inlet manifolds, lower injectors and loom all fitted. Not an OEM bolt in sight. Next up were the throttle bodies and actuating motors. A few of the 16 bolts that hold this assembly on are very awkward to fit/tighten. It's also imperative that you guard against anything falling into one of the inlet manifolds such as a bolt, as fishing that out, especially if it passes through the valve and into a cylinder would be a total nightmare. Best to take your time on this. Throttle bodies back in place, with actuating motors and both TPS re-connected. The one remaining plug is the power supply for the variable trumpet/inlet tract motor. On the left you can see the outlet for the secondary air system Here's a view from above. This lot must gulp in air at an alarming rate when the bike's at full chat. Next up are the fixed trumpets, these are handed so it's important to get them the right way around. It's easy not to. Again, as with all the airbox fasteners, 10Nm and a dab of Loctite 243 Perhaps the trickiest part, re-fitting the moving trumpet assembly and motor. It's really vital that you pay close attention to the manual and the exact position and orientation of linkages/actuating arms and any wiring so it does not foul any moving parts. There is a LOT going on inside the Panigale airbox! Here you can clearly see the actuating motor and it's associated linkages that raise and lower the upper trumpets. It's almost a shame to cover up this feat of engineering. Next up will be the airbox cover, but that will have to wait for now as I'm due at the hospital in an hour.
Upper airbox now back in place. You have to be careful to align the small wafer thin sealing strips around the fuel delivery line and the loom where they enter the box, such that you get a good seal when closing the assembly, as it is easy to displace them or pinch them in the process. Here you can see the upper fuel rail and four secondary injectors. If you are interested, the two holes in the top with the lock/unlock markings, into which plugs are fitted, are there to allow you to access and balance the throttle bodies (specifically the amount of throttle movement commanded by the RBW throttle potentiometer).
Main ECU fitted and primary wiring loom. At the bottom of the picture you can see the two map sensors for the front bank of cylinders. When dis-assembling these originally, you need to unclip the connector and remove the map sensor from it's retainer to reveal the bolt that secures it to the airbox. These bolts are literally made of cheese, so needlesss to say (though not shown in this image), they have been replaced with stainless steel bolts. You can also now see the access hole plugs/caps, referred to earlier. The remaining two holes work in conjunction with the secondary electrical support, when fitted. The two connectors in the centre of the picture, are the main feeds into the secondary system. Secondary system ("Medusa"!) fitted, which comprises of the battery compartment, fuse boxes, relays, starter solenoid, battery terminals, rectifier/regulator, Ohlins EC and BBS units and the main loom. I also re-fitted both front and rear cylinder coil packs. All tie wraps, rubber straps/ties and wiring routed as per the workshop manual. Ducati rather helpfully place red markers on certain loom branches to denote specific positions where the loom must be attached. Aside from ACCU, many of the other bolts on the bike are from ProBolt, these being polished stainless steel. I applied dialectric grease to them owing to their role in this instance.
Here's some shots of the engine ready to receive the front frame, with all associated wiring fitted, thermostat, hoses, purge lines, map sensors, airbox, complete fuel injection system, secondary air system, coil packs, rectifier, main ECU, BBS and EC units in place. Excess branches I temporarily "bagged up" so as they would not get in the way when it came to fitting the front frame. You can also see the first of many Cerakoted parts fitted, in this case the front frame support bracket.
RH front frame support bracket now Cerakoted satin black. The first of many coated parts to go back on the bike. Torqued to spec. 24Nm.
Can't stand the suspense (ion), so almost all its components have been Cerakoted. Here is the rear shock absorber mounting bracket that is comprised of two halves.
So its quite a simple engine, then? Looks like a lot more than twice what I had on my 1299... Perhaps @nelly and co really do earn their money when working on these after all!
Perhaps a controversial choice and black would have been too obvious, but I have always been a lover of the magnesium coloured castings and swingarms on earlier Ducatis. It was one of the first decisions I made when I started the project and proved an absolute nightmare for the Cerakoting company to match to the engine casings. Digital photos don't really do the swingarm and frame colour justice, especially under artificial light and varying conditions, but you will just have to trust me in as much as they are an exact match to the magnesium castings on the bike. Thanks again to Carl Harrison Motorcycles who refitted all new roller & needle bearings, seals, bushes and hubs back onto the front frame and swing arm. Swing arm requires a lot of work to re-assemble, not least of which includes pressing in several new bushes, seal and bearings and refitting the eccentric hub. I had the rear brake caliper retaining plate Cerakoted black in my efforts to get rid of the tacky looking (IMHO) silver anodised finish.
If you are paying for someone to work on a V4, it's easy to see why they are so time consuming to maintain. It's not so much the content of the work involved, it's more often than not access to certain components once assembled. One thing I have learned having done similar projects on four previous Ducatis, is that they all require re-assembly in a very specific order, as often one assembly is dependent on another being in place before you can fit it, or will hamper you fitting other parts if not re-fitted in the correct sequence. A good mechanic is worth his weight in gold.
That’s a great build. Love the detail you’re going into, and all for a reason, not just tarting it up.
The front frame being such an integral part of the bike hides a few sub assemblies that must be fitted, before you can marry it up to the engine, namely the air cyclone unit, cooling system pipework and the air intake duct. Here is the upper radiator hose link pipe (Cerakoted black) and mounting bracket. Yes the manual calls for zip ties here which need to be tight but not too tight as you need to be able to adjust the pipe left and right a little when fitting the hoses later on. Here is the inner air intake duct. The rubber seal needs to seat perfectly around the opening at the front of the airbox. White lithium grease helps enormously. You can also see the pipework for the air cyclone unit on the right. In this shot you can see the two retaining clips for the front coil connectors, I didn't spot these when disassembling the bike in the months before, and ended up breaking a connector (see earlier post). Incidentally you can also see just how rough this casting is, almost looks like parts of it are flaking off on the side rails (they're not BTW!) but surely Ducati can do a better job than this? Thankfully none of this is visible once the front frame is on the bike. Here is the frame ready to go back on the bike, complete with inner air duct, cyclone unit and radiator link pipe/bracket
Credit where credits due. That’s a lot of work to undertake and do it it as well as you’re doing is great to see. Following builds like this, always trigger little idea bubbles that get bogged down in day to day servicing work. Food for thought on future projects. Looking forward to seeing the build progress
A few last minute (can't access them easily otherwise) jobs to do before the frame goes back on. Here is the ground wire that sits just inboard of the left hand frame rail, then we have the link hose to the link pipe which fits onto the thermostat housing. One thing worth mentioning is that Ducati place a lot of emphasis on the orientation of the jubilee clips you saw earlier on the thermostat housing hoses, so as once the airbox is in place you can easily access them later to tighten if necessary. You can also see the airbox breather hose, MAP sensor tubing and purge line on the left. The latter is capped off anyway, when you fit the Akrapovic exhaust. The large hexagonal black bolt on the engine under the airbox is one of two cam chain tensioner bolts, which was the subject of a check-torque recall on earlier bikes Secondary air system actuator valve bolts
Running out of time today, so I might post up more later. For now at least, here the frame is reunited with the engine....at last! Its a VERY snug fit and design and a good example of mass centralization Custom made stainless steel frame bolts (4 in all) - 90Nm
